The Line Break

Everyone's having a great autumn, and that means it's the perfect time to read poetry. This month, Bob and Chris are thrilled to welcome Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi, author of Disintegration Plain and Easy. Kiik reads "Whale In A Well" by Ben Niespodziany as well as his own "skeleton of glass and marmalade." Then, the guys talk about NBA players who are probably good at emotions.

Find Disintegration Made Plain And Easy here: https://www.neonpajamas.com/pizama-press/disintegration-made-plain-and-easy

Find more Kiik here: https://kiikak.com/

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Poetry is beautiful, but beautiful art isn't always going to leave you feeling cozy. This month, Bob and Chris are thrilled to welcome dear friend Teo Shannon to discuss his debut collection, a chronology of blood. Teo also reads "Everybody Loves A Winner" by Tory Dent, and explains why we're all underrating Brutalist architecture.

Poetry is supposed to make you feel things, and today, the dudes are loving feelings. Bob reads "Contemplating The Cod" by Belle Ling, Chris reads "POEM ENDING WITH SOME ADVICE" by Heather Cristle, and then the guys talk about how much better off every team in the NBA is except the ones that they cheer for.

There is a lot of great poetry out there. Sometimes, it takes a while to get around to reading the greats. Today, Bob reads "Strata" by Richard Siken, Chris reads "Eb Major" by Percival Everett, and then the dudes talk about basketball players they wished they'd watched more.

Check out Bob's book, Utopians In Love, here: https://utopiansinlove.com/

Check out Chris's blog and music here: https://www.lazyandentitled.org/

The Line Break is back! As the poet says, it's been a long time / shouldn't have left you. We didn't mean to, we just had readings to do. Now we're back, reading in your ears. Bob reads "Everything's a Fake" by Fanny Howe, Chris reads"Lupine Nocturne" by Elise Paschen, and then the dudes pine for a Jokic-Giannis Finals in 2026.

Another AWP in the books! We didn't have the energy for guerilla poetry again this year, but we also have something to celebrate: the release of UTOPIANS IN LOVE! Bob's book dropped just before AWP started, and you should both request it at your local library and order it from Game Over Books. On top of all that, the lads discuss conference panels, offsite reading, and street food.

Apologies for the weird audio, recording in hotel rooms is not something we do all the time.

Buy Bob's book: https://www.gameoverbooks.com/store/p/utopians-in-love

Read Bob's blog: https://bobsykora.substack.com/

Spring training is here, and we've brought Sandra Marchetti back! Sandy reads from her forthcoming book, DIORAMA, the three talk about manuscript structure and the vacuum cleaner of Lake Shore Drive, and then Sandy leads the dudes into a discussion of aesthetics in sports.

SANDRA MARCHETTI is the 2023 winner of The Twin Bill Book Prize for Best Baseball Poetry Book of the Year. She is the author of Aisle 228 (SFA Press, 2023), and Confluence (Sundress Publications, 2015). Sandy is also the author of four chapbooks of poetry and lyric essays. Her poetry and essays appear widely in Mid-American Review, Blackbird, Ecotone, Southwest Review, Subtropics, and elsewhere. She is Poetry Editor Emerita at River Styx Magazine. Sandy earned an MFA in Creative Writing—Poetry from George Mason University and now serves as the Assistant Director of Academic Support at Harper College in Chicagoland. You can find out more at: https://sandramarchetti.net/

Order DIORAMA: https://shorturl.at/lW3M3

The hits keep rolling with these guest interviews! Today, Bob and Chris are joined by Justin Carter, author of BRAZOS. Justin reads "Facet" by Dean Young and his own poem "Watching the 2001 Daytona 500 With My Father," and then the guys talk about Justin's writing on the WNBA and college basketball.

Justin Carter is a writer living in Des Moines, Iowa. His first poetry collection, Brazos, was published in 2024 Belle Point Press. Originally from the Texas Gulf Coast, Justin holds degrees from the University of Houston, Bowling Green State University and the University of North Texas, where he graduated in 2019 with a PhD in English. He currently works full-time as an editor at Fubo. He also writes freelance pieces about women’s basketball for a variety of publications.

Website: https://juscarts.com/

Buy BRAZOS: https://bellepointpress.com/products/brazos

The Line Break podcast: the place where Poet Laureates go. This month, Bob and Chris are thrilled to welcome Melissa Ferrer Civil, inaugural Poet Laureate of Kansas City, MO! Melissa reads Angel Nafis's "Ghazal For Becoming Your Own Country" as well as their own poem, "Alambrista," from the book 'Steno Pad.'

Find more Melissa: https://melissaferrerand.com/

Melissa Ferrer Civil (&), (she/they), formerly known as Missy T. Ferrari, is a poet, performer, organizer, and educator living on unceded Kaw, Kansa, Kickapoo, and Oceti Sakowin lands (KCMO). Rooted in the practical and the possible, their spoken word poems and songs are mostly responses to the world around them and their own internal journey. Melissa is the founder of the arts and organizing event series A Nation In Exile.

Melissa received a Bachelor’s Degree in both Creative Writing and Italian from The Florida State University. She has also received her Master’s of Education with a specialization in Urban Education from Park University. She received her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Randolph College. She was also long listed for the Palette Poetry 2021 Emerging Poet Prize. They are a Charlotte Street Studio Resident, a Chrysalis Institute Alumnus, and a Heartlandarts KC Fellow. Melissa Ferrer Civil is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Kansas City, Missouri.

The winter solstice is approaching—the shortest day of the year—which means it's a great time to read one of the longest poems ever written, Bernadette Mayer's 'Midwinter Day.' Bob and Chris each read sections of the poem, talk about the lore behind the writing, and reflect on other "story takes place in a day" books.