We don’t have enough poetry on this show, and it’s time to change that. My guest today is Richard Scott, a contemporary British poet known for his bold, lyrical explorations of queer identity, desire, shame, and the politics of the body. He trained as an opera singer before turning to poetry, and has released two collections, Soho (2018) and That Broke into Shining Crystals (2025). In our conversation, Richard and I go through 4 poems that have inspired his journey as a poet and I was so grateful to have such a fun yet deep conversation with him about poetry, and to learn a little more about this beautiful craft.

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Richard Scott’s four poems were:

• Clair de Lune by Paul Verlaine (1869)

• Flowers by Arthur Rimbaud (written in the early 1870s and first published posthumously in 1886)

• A Part Song by Denise Riley (2012)

• Singing by Mei-mei Berssenbrugge (2020)