Rattle Poetry

Ron Riekki has a B.S. in Religion, with a focus on Buddhism, and an M.A. in Interreligious Studies, with a primary focus on indigenous religious practice and a secondary focus on Buddhism. His books include U.P., Posttraumatic, My Ancestors are Reindeer Herders and I Am Melting in Extinction, and i have been warned not to write about this. Ron is also a filmmaker and his plays have been performed in Massachusetts, Michigan, Texas, Virginia, Illinois, and New York, and he was selected as a Tennessee Williams Scholar where he studied with Arlene Hutton and Pulitzer Prize-winner Lee Blessing. His most recent book is Blood / Not Blood then the Gates.

Find that here:

https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Not-Then-Gates-Poems-ebook/dp/B0B6Y9YSX8/

As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins.

For links to all the past episodes, visit:

https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/

This Week’s Prompt:

Write a poem in which someone unexpectedly wins something.

Next Week’s Prompt:

Write a poem in haiku stanzas (tercets with lines of five, then seven, then five syllables). Do not make it haiku!

The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

Molly Peacock was featured in issue 32 of Rattle. She is the author of nine books of poetry, including The Widow’s Crayon Box, The Analyst, The Second Blush, and Cornucopia: New & Selected Poems. She is also the author of several books of prose and a memoir, and has written two biographies of painters. Molly served as president of the Poetry Society of America, where she initiated the Poetry in Motion series on New York City’s subways and buses. After moving to Canada, she created The Best Canadian Poetry series, and serves as its general editor.

For more, visit:

https://www.mollypeacock.org

In the second hour, we'll announce this year's Rattle Poetry Prize results live on the air. The winner has not been notified—we'll let them know together.

As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins.

For links to all the past episodes, visit:

https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/

This Week’s Prompt:

I dare you to write a poem in which you dare someone to do something colorful.

Next Week’s Prompt:

Write a poem in which someone unexpectedly wins something.

The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

Dorianne Laux first appeared on episode 44. She published two new books in 2024: Life on Earth, a collection of poems, and Finger Excersizes, a book of essays on craft. She is author of seven books, including Only As the Day is Long: New and Selected Poems which was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and The Book of Men, which won The Paterson Prize.

For more, visit:

https://www.doriannelaux.com

As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins.

For links to all the past episodes, visit:

https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/

This Week’s Prompt:

Write a persona prose poem set in the future.

Next Week’s Prompt:

I dare you to write a poem in which you dare someone to do something colorful.

The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

Ori Fienberg has appeared twice in Poets Respond, and his new book, Where Babies Come From, was just released by Cornerstone Press. Ori is also the author of the chapbooks Old Habits, New Markets (2020) and Interim Assistant Dean of Having a Rich Inner Life (2023). His writing has appeared in Mid-American Review, Ploughshares, Rattle, Smartish Pace, and many other journals and anthologies. A graduate of Oberlin College and the University of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program, Ori teaches poetry for Northeastern University and lives in Evanston, Illinois.

For more, visit:

https://orifienberg.com/

As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins.

For links to all the past episodes, visit:

https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/

This Week’s Prompt:

Find someone’s last words, and use that as an epigraph in a poem where “death” is not mentioned by name.

Next Week’s Prompt:

Write a persona prose poem set in the future.

The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

These highlights from Rattlecast #236 aired on KPFK-Los Angeles (90.7 FM) August 28, 2024. James Crews is the editor of several bestselling anthologies, including The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy and How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope.

Susan Terris began her writing career in children’s fiction, publishing 21 books with major New York publishing houses before dedicating herself to poetry. Since then, she’s published 7 books of poetry, 17 chapbooks, 3 artist's books, and 2 plays. Poems of hers have appeared in Pushcart Prize and Best American Poetry anthologies. Susan is editor emerita of Spillway, former co-editor of Runes, and a poetry editor at Pedestal Magazine.

For more, visit:

www.susanterris.com

As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins.

For links to all the past episodes, visit:

https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/

This Week’s Prompt:

Use the random feature on Wikipedia twice to find two articles. Write a poem about one of the topics, and use the other as the title.

Next Week’s Prompt:

Find someone’s last words, and use that as an epigraph in a poem where “death” is not mentioned by name.

The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

Chris Anderson first appeared on episode 143. Chris is a Catholic deacon, poet, and retired professor of English living in Corvallis, Oregon. He grew up in Spokane, Washington, went to college at Gonzaga University, and attended graduate school at the University of Washington. He taught literature and writing for 38 years, 34 of them at Oregon State University. In 1997 he completed a Masters in Theology at Mount Angel Seminary and was ordained a deacon. Since then, he has served at St. Mary’s in Corvallis, as well as leading retreats and offering spiritual direction. He has written, co-written, or edited 15 previous books, Love Calls Us Here, which was just published by Wild House Publishing. He and his wife, Barb, have lived for many years on the edge of the forest north of Corvallis. They have three children, four grandchildren, and two dogs.

For more, visit:

deaconchrisanderson.com

As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins.

For links to all the past episodes, visit:

https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/

This Week’s Prompt:

Write a poem with your least favorite word to appear in a poem as the title. Include why it’s your least favorite in the submission note.

Next Week’s Prompt:

Use the random feature on Wikipedia twice to find two articles. Write a poem about one of the topics, and use the other as the title.

The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

Siddharth Dasgupta writes poetry and fiction from lost hometowns. His fourth book, A Moveable East, was published in early 2021. A fifth book and third collection of poetry, All These Streets We've Known By Heart, was published in 2022. Siddharth’s literature has appeared or is forthcoming in Prairie Schooner, Prairie Fire, Epiphany, Rogue Agent, Lunch Ticket, Kyoto Journal, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. He has read in cities like Bombay, Lucknow, Mandalay, Galle, Paris, Istanbul, and Dubai. Siddharth serves as Editor, Visual Narratives with The Bombay Literary Magazine, but calls the city of Poona home.

Follow Siddharth on Instagram here:

https://www.instagram.com/citizen.bliss/

As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins.

For links to all the past episodes, visit:

https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/

This Week’s Prompt:

Write a hot haiku sequence.

Next Week’s Prompt:

Write a poem with your least favorite word to appear in a poem as the title. Include why it’s your least favorite in the submission note.

The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

Jennifer Hambrick is a classical musician, broadcaster, and poet. Her full-length poetry collection In the High Weeds won the Stevens Prize. In her haikai work, Hambrick won the Martin Lucas Haiku Award and the HSA Haibun Award. Her haibun collection, Joyride (2021), won the Marianne Bluger Book Award from Haiku Canada. Hambrick served as program chair for the 2023 Haiku North America conference; she resides in Columbus, Ohio. Her new book of haiku is A Silence or Two.

Find more on Jennifer here:

https://jenniferhambrick.com/

As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins.

For links to all the past episodes, visit:

https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/

This Week’s Prompt:

Write a poem that directly references your favorite theatrical play.

Next Week’s Prompt:

Write a hot haiku sequence.

The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

Suzanne Lummis is an influential poet and publisher, educator and arts organizer in Los Angeles. As series editor of The Pacific Coast Poetry Series (Beyond Baroque Books), she edited the anthology Wide Awake: Poets of Los Angeles and Beyond, named one of the ten best books of 2015 by The Los Angeles Times. She teaches for the UCLA Extension Writers' Program and was the Mellon Foundation Institute for the Study of Los Angeles visiting poet at Occidental College, Spring 2017. Her web series, They Write by Night, produced by poetry.la, explores film noir, crime fiction, and writers who incorporate influences from those arts into their poetry.

Find Open 24 Hours here:

https://wsupress.wsu.edu/product/open-twenty-four-hours/

As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins.

For links to all the past episodes, visit:

https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/

This Week’s Prompt:

Write a poem that features multiple unexpected turns, leaps, or voltas.

Next Week’s Prompt:

Write a poem that directly references your favorite theatrical play.

The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.