The New Yorker: Poetry

By WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

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What's The New Yorker: Poetry about?

Readings and conversation with The New Yorker's poetry editor, Kevin Young.

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Kate Baer Reads Ellen Bass

05.17.2023

Kate Baer joins Kevin Young to read “The Morning After,” by Ellen Bass, and her own poem “Mixup.” Baer is the New York Times bestselling author of three poetry collections, including, most recently “And Yet.”

The New Yorker: Poetry episodes:

05.17.2023 Kate Baer Reads Ellen Bass Kate Baer joins Kevin Young to read “The Morning After,” by Ellen Bass, and her own poem “Mixup.” Baer is the New York Times bestselling author of three poetry collections, including, most recently “And Yet.”
04.19.2023 Tributaries: A Conversation with Robin Coste Lewis When the poet Robin Coste Lewis discovered a trove of photographs under her late grandmother’s bed, she recognized them not only as a document of her family’s history during the Great Migration, but also as a testament to Black intimacy ...
09.30.2022 Sandra Cisneros Reads José Antonio Rodríguez Sandra Cisneros joins Kevin Young to read “Shelter,” by José Antonio Rodríguez, and her own poem “Tea Dance, Provincetown, 1982.” Cisneros is the recipient of a 2022 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, a National Medal of Arts, the Ford Foundation’s Art ...
08.31.2022 Diane Seuss Reads Jane Huffman Diane Seuss joins Kevin Young to read “Ode,” by Jane Huffman, and her own poem “Gertrude Stein.” Seuss is the winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the same year’s National Book Critics Circle Award for her collection ...
06.22.2022 Saeed Jones Reads Deborah Digges Saeed Jones joins Kevin Young to read “The Wind Blows Through the Doors of My Heart,” by Deborah Digges, and his own poem “A Spell to Banish Grief.” Jones’s work has received the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction, the PEN/Joyce Osterweil ...
05.25.2022 Eileen Myles Reads Joy Harjo Eileen Myles joins Kevin Young to read “Without,” by Joy Harjo, and their own poem “Dissloution.” Myles has published more than twenty books of poetry and prose. Their honors include the Publishing Triangle’s 2020 Bill Whitehead Lifetime Achievement Award, an ...
04.06.2022 Christian Wiman Reads Patrizia Cavalli Christian Wiman joins Kevin Young to discuss “Far from Kingdoms” and “Outside, In Fact, There Wasn't Any Change,” by Patrizia Cavalli, translated by Judith Baumel, and his own poem “Eating Grapes Downward.” Wiman is a poet, essayist, editor, and translator, ...
12.22.2021 Amanda Gorman Reads Tracy K. Smith Amanda Gorman joins Kevin Young to read “Declaration,” by Tracy K. Smith, and her own poem “Ship’s Manifest.” Gorman served as the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate, received a 2020 Poets & Writers Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, ...
11.24.2021 Aria Aber Reads Frank Bidart Aria Aber joins Kevin Young to read “Half Light,” by Frank Bidart, and her own poem “Dirt and Light.” Aber is a Whiting Award recipient, a current Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, and the author of “Hard Damage,” which ...
10.20.2021 Forrest Gander Reads Ada Limón Forrest Gander joins Kevin Young to read “Privacy,” by Ada Limón, and his own poem “Post-Fire Forest.” Gander is a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the winner ...
05.05.2021 “To Claim What Has Tried to Claim Me”: A Roundtable on Asian-American Poetics In a special episode of the Poetry Podcast, Kimiko Hahn, Monica Youn, Paul Tran, and Megan Fernandes join Kevin Young to read their work, and to discuss Asian-American poetics and the role of poetry in our tumultuous times. Kimiko Hahn, ...
03.17.2021 Toi Derricotte Reads Tracy K. Smith Toi Derricotte joins Kevin Young to read “We Feel Now a Largeness Coming On,” by Tracy K. Smith, and her own poem “I give in to an old desire.” Derricotte is a poet, memoirist, and co-founder, with Cornelius Eady, of ...
12.16.2020 Margaret Atwood Reads Saeed Jones Margaret Atwood joins Kevin Young to read “A Stranger,” by Saeed Jones, and her own poem “Flatline.” Atwood, a prolific poet and novelist, is known for brilliant books such as “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Blind Assassin.” Her many distinctions ...
11.18.2020 Arthur Sze Reads Robert Hass Arthur Sze joins Kevin Young to read “The Problem of Describing Trees,” by Robert Hass, and his own poem “Vectors.” Sze has received the Landon Literary Award, the Jackson Poetry Prize and, in 2019, the National Book Award in Poetry.
09.16.2020 Joy Harjo Reads Sandra Cisneros Joy Harjo joins Kevin Young to read “Still-Life with Potatoes, Pearls, Raw Meat, Rhinestones, Lard, and Horse Hooves,” by Sandra Cisneros, and her own poem “Running.” Harjo is the current Poet Laureate of the United States, as well as a ...
07.24.2020 Radical Imagination: Tracy K. Smith, Marilyn Nelson, and Terrance Hayes on Poetry in Our Times In a special episode of the Poetry Podcast, Tracy K. Smith, Marilyn Nelson, and Terrance Hayes join Kevin Young to read their work, and to discuss its relationship to protest and liberation. Tracy K. Smith served two terms as a ...
06.24.2020 Clarence Major Reads Billy Collins Clarence Major joins Kevin Young to read “Downpour,” by Billy Collins, and his own poem “Hair.” Major’s recent honors include a PEN Oakland Reginald Lockett Lifetime Achievement Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award in the fine arts from the Congressional ...
04.29.2020 Elisa Gonzalez Reads Czeslaw Milosz Elisa Gonzalez joins Kevin Young to read “Gathering Apricots,” by Czeslaw Milosz, translated by Robert Hass, and her own poem “Failed Essay on Privilege.” Gonzalez was recently a Fulbright scholar in Poland, and her work has received support from the ...
03.25.2020 Ben Purkert Reads Jorie Graham Ben Purkert joins Kevin Young to read “Notes on the Reality of the Self,” by Jorie Graham, and his own poem “News.” Purkert began contributing poetry to The New Yorker in 2012, and his début poetry collection, “For the Love ...
02.26.2020 Kwame Dawes Reads Derek Walcott Kwame Dawes joins Kevin Young to read “The Season of Phantasmal Peace,” by Derek Walcott, and his own poem “Before Winter.” Dawes is the author of over twenty books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. His many honors include a 2019 ...
01.22.2020 Ellen Bass Reads Frank X. Gaspar Ellen Bass joins Kevin Young to read “Quahogs,” by Frank X. Gaspar, and her own poem “Because.” A chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Bass has received the Lambda Literary Award for poetry, the Pablo Neruda Prize for poetry, ...
12.23.2019 Mary Jo Bang Discusses Purgatorio Mary Jo Bang joins Kevin Young to to discuss her translation of Dante’s Purgatorio, excerpts of which are featured on newyorker.com. Bang is a poet who has received the National Book Critics Circle Award, a Hodder Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, ...
11.22.2019 Shane McCrae Discusses “Jim Limber in Heaven” Shane McCrae joins Kevin Young to to discuss his poetry sequence “Jim Limber in Heaven,” featured on newyorker.com. McCrae is a poet whose whose work has received such honors as a Whiting Award, an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and a Lannan ...
10.31.2019 Vijay Seshadri Reads Sylvia Plath Vijay Seshadri joins Kevin Young to read “The Moon and the Yew Tree,” by Sylvia Plath, and his own poem “Cliffhanging.” Seshadri is a poet whose work has been honored with the James Laughlin Award and the Pulitzer Prize for ...
09.19.2019 Eliza Griswold discusses "First Person" Eliza Griswold joins Kevin Young to discuss her poetry sequence "First Person," featured on newyorker.com. Griswold is a poet and journalist who has contributed to The New Yorker since 2003. She is the author of, most recently, "Amity and Prosperity: ...
08.28.2019 Ariel Francisco Reads James Wright Ariel Francisco joins Kevin Young to read "By a Lake in Minnesota," by James Wright, and his own poem "Along the East River and in the Bronx Young Men Were Singing." Francisco is a poet and translator who published his ...
07.17.2019 Campbell McGrath Reads Czeslaw Milosz Campbell McGrath joins Kevin Young to discuss “Realism” by Czeslaw Milosz, and his own poem, “The Human Heart.” McGrath has published several poetry collections and received fellowships from the Library of Congress, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation. His ...
06.19.2019 Natasha Trethewey Reads Charles Wright Natasha Trethewey joins Kevin Young to read and discuss Charles Wright's poem "Toadstools," and her own poem "Repentance." Trethewey, a former United States Poet Laureate, is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and a member of the American ...
05.22.2019 Safiya Sinclair Reads Natalie Diaz Safiya Sinclair joins Kevin Young to read and discuss Natalie Diaz's poem "From the Desire Field" and her own poem "Gospel of the Misunderstood." Sinclair is the author of the poetry collection "Cannibal" and the forthcoming memoir "How to Say ...
04.17.2019 Rachel Eliza Griffiths Reads W.S. Merwin Rachel Eliza Griffiths joins Kevin Young to discuss "Rain Light" by W.S. Merwin, and her own poem "Heart of Darkness." Griffiths is a poet and artist who has received fellowships from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Cave Canem Foundation, and Yaddo, ...
03.20.2019 Peter Balakian Reads Theodore Roethke Peter Balakian joins Kevin Young to read and discuss Theodore Roethke's poem "In a Dark Time" and his own poem "Eggplant." Balakian's latest book is "Ozone Journal," which won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
02.20.2019 Craig Morgan Teicher Reads Forrest Gander Craig Morgan Teicher joins Kevin Young to read and discuss Forrest Gander’s poem “Son” and his own poem, also titled “Son.” Teicher is a poet and critic whose collection "The Trembling Answers" received the 2018 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize from ...
11.30.2018 Deborah Landau Reads Anne Sexton Deborah Landau joins Kevin Young to read and discuss Anne Sexton's poem "Little Girl, My Stringbean, My Lovely Woman" and her own poem "Solitaire." Landau's poetry collections include “The Uses of the Body” and “The Last Usable Hour,” both Lannan ...
10.17.2018 Kaveh Akbar Reads Ellen Bryant Voigt Kaveh Akbar joins Kevin Young to read and discuss Ellen Bryant Voigt’s poem "Groundhog" and his own poem "What Use is Knowing Anything If No One Is Around". Akbar is the author of the poetry collection “Calling a Wolf a ...
09.19.2018 Nick Flynn Reads Zoë Hitzig Nick Flynn joins Kevin Young to read and discuss Zoë Hitzig’s poem “Objectivity as Blanket" and his own poem “The King of Fire.” Flynn's latest poetry collection is “My Feelings"; he will publish two new books, "Stay" and "I Will ...
08.21.2018 Catherine Barnett Reads Wislawa Szymborska Catherine Barnett joins Kevin Young to read and discuss Wislawa Szymborska's poem "Maybe All This" (translated, from the Polish, by Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Barańczak) and her own poem "Son in August." Barnett is the author of the poetry collections ...
07.27.2018 Nicole Sealey Reads Ellen Bass Nicole Sealey joins Kevin Young to read and discuss Ellen Bass' poem "Indigo" and her own poem “A Violence." Sealey is the executive director at the Cave Canem Foundation and the author of the poetry collection "Ordinary Beast."
06.20.2018 Tiana Clark Reads Natasha Trethewey Tiana Clark joins Kevin Young to read and discuss Natasha Trethewey's poem "Repentance," and her own poem, "Nashville." Tiana Clark is the author of the chapbook "Equilibrium," which won the 2016 Frost Place Chapbook Prize. Her first full-length book of ...
05.23.2018 Ada Limón and Natalie Diaz Discuss “Envelopes of Air” Ada Limón and Natalie Diaz join Kevin Young to discuss their collaborative poetry project, “Envelopes of Air,” a series of eight poems written in correspondence between the two poets, currently featured on newyorker.com.
03.21.2018 Marie Howe Reads Lucie Brock-Broido Marie Howe joins Kevin Young to read and discuss Lucie Brock-Broido's poem "The American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act" and her own poem "The Star Market."
02.21.2018 Meena Alexander Reads Gerald Stern Meena Alexander joins Kevin Young to read and discuss Gerald Stern’s poem “Adonis," and her own poem “Kochi by the Sea.”
01.17.2018 Terrance Hayes reads Matthew Dickman Terrance Hayes joins Kevin Young to read and discuss Matthew Dickman's poem "Fire" and his own poem “New York Poem."
12.20.2017 David Lehman Reads John Ashbery David Lehman joins Kevin Young to read and discuss John Ashbery's Poem "Worsening Situation," and his own poem "Stages on Life's Way."
11.15.2017 Tracy K. Smith Reads Matthew Dickman Tracy K. Smith joins Kevin Young to read and discuss Matthew Dickman’s poem “Minimum Wage," and her own poem “Declaration.”
10.18.2017 Charles Simic Reads Sharon Olds Charles Simic joins Paul Muldoon to read and discuss Sharon Olds’ poem “Her Birthday as Ashes in Seawater,” and his own poem “The Infinite.”
09.20.2017 Danielle Chapman Reads Zbigniew Herbert Danielle Chapman joins Paul Muldoon to read and discuss Zbigniew Herbert's poem "Mr. Cogito Laments the Pettiness of Dreams," and her own poem "The Tavern Parlor."
08.16.2017 Stephen Mitchell Reads Richard WIlbur Stephen Mitchell joins Paul Muldoon to read and discuss Richard Wilbur's poem "Two Voices in a Meadow," and his own translation of "The Death of Argos," from Homer’s Odyssey.
07.19.2017 Erica Jong Reads John Updike Erica Jong joins Paul Muldoon to read and discuss John Updike's poem "The City Outside," and her own poem "Dear Keats."
06.21.2017 Lia Purpura Reads Carl Phillips Lia Purpura joins Paul Muldoon to read and discuss Carl Phillip's poem "White Dog," and her own poem "First Leaf."
05.20.2017 Tom Sleigh Reads Seamus Heaney Tom Sleigh joins Paul Muldoon to read and discuss Seamus Heaney’s poem “In the Attic” and his own poem “The Fox.”

Older episodes

The New Yorker: Poetry

What's The New Yorker: Poetry about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The New Yorker: Poetry episodes:

Kate Baer Reads Ellen Bass

Tributaries: A Conversation with Robin Coste Lewis

Sandra Cisneros Reads José Antonio Rodríguez

Diane Seuss Reads Jane Huffman

Saeed Jones Reads Deborah Digges

Eileen Myles Reads Joy Harjo

Christian Wiman Reads Patrizia Cavalli

Amanda Gorman Reads Tracy K. Smith

Aria Aber Reads Frank Bidart

Forrest Gander Reads Ada Limón

“To Claim What Has Tried to Claim Me”: A Roundtable on Asian-American Poetics

Toi Derricotte Reads Tracy K. Smith

Margaret Atwood Reads Saeed Jones

Arthur Sze Reads Robert Hass

Joy Harjo Reads Sandra Cisneros

Radical Imagination: Tracy K. Smith, Marilyn Nelson, and Terrance Hayes on Poetry in Our Times

Clarence Major Reads Billy Collins

Elisa Gonzalez Reads Czeslaw Milosz

Ben Purkert Reads Jorie Graham

Kwame Dawes Reads Derek Walcott

Ellen Bass Reads Frank X. Gaspar

Mary Jo Bang Discusses Purgatorio

Shane McCrae Discusses “Jim Limber in Heaven”

Vijay Seshadri Reads Sylvia Plath

Eliza Griswold discusses "First Person"

Ariel Francisco Reads James Wright

Campbell McGrath Reads Czeslaw Milosz

Natasha Trethewey Reads Charles Wright

Safiya Sinclair Reads Natalie Diaz

Rachel Eliza Griffiths Reads W.S. Merwin

Peter Balakian Reads Theodore Roethke

Craig Morgan Teicher Reads Forrest Gander

Deborah Landau Reads Anne Sexton

Kaveh Akbar Reads Ellen Bryant Voigt

Nick Flynn Reads Zoë Hitzig

Catherine Barnett Reads Wislawa Szymborska

Nicole Sealey Reads Ellen Bass

Tiana Clark Reads Natasha Trethewey

Ada Limón and Natalie Diaz Discuss “Envelopes of Air”

Marie Howe Reads Lucie Brock-Broido

Meena Alexander Reads Gerald Stern

Terrance Hayes reads Matthew Dickman

David Lehman Reads John Ashbery

Tracy K. Smith Reads Matthew Dickman

Charles Simic Reads Sharon Olds

Danielle Chapman Reads Zbigniew Herbert

Stephen Mitchell Reads Richard WIlbur

Erica Jong Reads John Updike

Lia Purpura Reads Carl Phillips

Tom Sleigh Reads Seamus Heaney