This week I had fun chatting to Sydney-based poet Benjamin Dodds, author of Regulator published by Puncher and Wattman. We get a window into his current project about ‘ethically troubling scientific discoveries’, then hear the prose poem Ape by Russell Edson. (Put down your breakfast while listening to this one.)

Benjamin also reads his beautiful poem Surrogacy. Next we cover how he shares work with Stuart Barnes, ask why Billy Collins might have a Coldplay problem, and reveal how Tori Amos got us through high school.

This week I’m attempting to answer a listener question: How do I get into poetry?

Poems in this week’s episode:

Bonus poems (if you’ve got other ideas for starter poems, let me know!):

You can find plenty of qualified peeps ready to guide you into poetry on Coursera, edX, Poetry Foundation, iTunesU (check out Open Yale Courses to start with) and YouTube (here’s a great lecture on Eliot’s The Wasteland).

Finally, have a browse through some of the Aussie journals publishing exciting new poems today like Cordite, Verity La and Meanjin.

This week I got to talk with Lisa Brockwell about three poems that play with the theme of ‘the girl in the poet and the poet in the girl’. We also cover why it’s important to keep reading even when the poems go quiet, the question of poetry ‘scenes’ and, importantly, HBO’s Looking.

This week’s poems:

This week I make a case for the short WWI poem Adelstrop by Edward Thomas. Then things get a little experimental as I try to answer the question: How does this poem operate in 2016? (Mild spoilers towards the end for Helen Macdonald’s beautiful memoir H is for Hawk.) 

If you’re keen to go deeper into this type of poetry you can find the free lectures I’m talking about at Open Yale Courses. (Langdon Hammer is the charming English literature professor you never had.)

You might already know Robbie Coburn as co-host of the fantastic Australian Poetry Podcast (a must listen for AusPo fans).

Today Robbie tells us his own story, from his first publication in Pi O’s Unusual Work to his recent appearance in Poetry magazine. The poem we dive into this week is High Windows by Phillip Larkin, followed by a sneak peak of Robbie’s forthcoming book, The Other Flesh.

In today’s bumper episode I get to have an in-depth chat with Queensland-based poet Stuart Barnes. We cover how he came to poetry through none other than Tasmanian poet Gwen Harwood, then dive into Sylvia Plath’s poem Ariel. We also talk about the art of the remix poem, how to write a cento, and the upcoming launch of Stu’s first book, Glasshouses, out from University of Queensland Press.  

In this episode:

The wonderful PoemTalk podcast tackled Ted Berrigan’s 3 Pages back in 2008. For this episode, I’m jumping in with my own interpretation of this ever-shifting poem.

Listen to Berrigan’s amazing reading here. And if you have your own ideas about this (or any other) poem, get in touch.

Since reading All the dead boys look like me, a poem for Orlando by Christopher Soto (aka Loma), I’ve understood the tragedy that happened there in an entirely new way. I’ve also been thinking about Walt Whitman’s all-encompassing poem Crossing Brooklyn Ferry – a poem that seems to have no boundaries.

If you like the sound of the poetry course I mention this week, you can sign up for ModPo here.

I had a blast talking to Sydney-based poet Louise Carter today about UK poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy and Australian poet Luke Davies. We cover everything from self-doubt to housemates, how copywriting sometimes leads to poetry and what it’s like to have tea with your poetry idol. For bonus points, check out:

This week I got to talk to Australian poet Michele Seminara about Elizabeth Bishop’s mysterious, insistent poem Giant Snail. (Bishop’s One Art and Filling Station also pop up.) Michele is the managing editor of the online creative arts journal Verity La and the author of Engraft, which came out earlier this year.

Want to share your best-loved poem with us? Just say the word…