On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along the Way Gregory Kearns speaks to Martin Kratz the poetics of touch, his interesting relationship with the German and English languages, and the importance of co-curation at Manchester Poetry Library.

Martin Kratz is a poet, translator, and programme manager at Manchester Poetry Library. He was co-editor of Mount London (Penned in the Margins, 2014) and the author of a poetry pamphlet, A Skeleton’s Progress (Poetry Salzburg, 2018).

Books and other things

A Skelton’s Progress: https://www.poetrysalzburg.com/skeleton.htm

You can also use our affiliate link for Bookshop to find most of the books by most of the guests from the show. They are organised into lists for each series. If you use this link, we get a fraction of the money you spend: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/series-five-the-poems-we-made-along-the-way             

We’d also recommend enquiring with your local bookshops or libraries as well.

Manchester Poetry Library: https://www.mmu.ac.uk/poetry-library

Things to read/watch/listen/etc in relationship to this interview:

Commemoration Day of Ferdowsi 2021, Martin Kratz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVjhZx2pt60

Martin Kratz and Scott Lilley : York - European Poetry Festival 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6p_cNyl5Ig

The Usual

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Theme tune: Joe Chesterman-March who can be found here: https://joecm.co.uk    

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On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along the Way Gregory Kearns speaks to Natalie Shapero about line breaks, stand up comedy and only writing in iambic pentameter for the first 7 years of being a poet.

Natalie Shapero is a poet and teacher. Her most recent collection is Stay Dead published in the UK by Outspoken Press and in the US by Copper Canyon Press. And of course it was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize. Her previous collections include Popular Longing, Hard Child and No Object. She teaches at UC Irvine.

Thank you to the T.S. Eliot Prize for facilitating this episode as part of a series of interviews with poets shortlisted for the 2025 prize. www.tseliot.com/prize/prize-year/the-t-s-eliot-prize-2025/        

Books and other things

Stay Dead: https://www.outspokenldn.com/shop/staydead

Popular Longing: https://www.coppercanyonpress.org/books/popular-longing-by-natalie-shapero/

Hard Child: https://www.powells.com/book/hard-child-9781556595097

No Object: https://www.powells.com/book/no-object-9780983368670

You can also use our affiliate link for Bookshop to find most of the books by most of the guests from the show. They are organised into lists for each series. If you use this link, we get a fraction of the money you spend: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/series-five-the-poems-we-made-along-the-way            

We’d also recommend enquiring with your local bookshops or libraries as well.

Things to read/watch/listen/etc in relationship to this interview:

Natalie Shapero talks about her work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWAiZLPfoME

Natalie Shapero Drunk as a Poet: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/natalie-shapero/id1735261299?i=1000731801211

The Usual

Make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing and if you enjoyed this episode consider sharing it with a friend or anyone else you think might also like it.

Theme tune: Joe Chesterman-March who can be found here: https://joecm.co.uk    

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along the Way Gregory Kearns speaks to Catherine-Esther Cowie about persona poetry as a type of mask work, how we are thoughtful about not perpetuating violence when we write about it, and making sure we don’t use craft to obscure the heart of the poem.

Catherine-Esther Cowie is a poet, fiction writer and visual artist. She was born and raised on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. She attended high-school, undergrad and graduate schools in Canada and the US. Currently, Catherine-Esther resides in Illinois. Her work has been nominated for AWP Intro Journal, a Pushcart Prize and Best New Poets 2018 and 2019. Her visual art was nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology 2023. Her debut Collection Heirloom is published by Carcanet .

Thank you to the T.S. Eliot Prize for facilitating this episode as part of a series of interviews with poets shortlisted for the 2025 prize. www.tseliot.com/prize/prize-year/the-t-s-eliot-prize-2025/       

Books and other things

Heirloom: https://www.carcanet.co.uk/9781800174795/heirloom/

You can also use our affiliate link for Bookshop to find most of the books by most of the guests from the show. They are organised into lists for each series. If you use this link, we get a fraction of the money you spend: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/series-five-the-poems-we-made-along-the-way           

We’d also recommend enquiring with your local bookshops or libraries as well.

Things to read/watch/listen/etc in relationship to this interview:

Young Critic Aphra Le Levier-Bennett reviews Catherine-Esther Cowie's Heirloom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysqPl9nMfT0

Poetry Today: 9/15/2025 Esther Cowie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFF5bSSEJXw&t=255s

ROSALÍA: The LUX Interview | The Zane Lowe Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCcoi3Tzv_Y

The Usual

Make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing and if you enjoyed this episode consider sharing it with a friend or anyone else you think might also like it.

Theme tune: Joe Chesterman-March who can be found here: https://joecm.co.uk    

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along the Way Gregory Kearns speaks to Isabelle Baafi about Dungeons and Dragons, how being a poetry critic effects the writing of poetry, and exploring poetic forms.

Isabelle Baafi is a poet and editor based in London. Her debut collection Chaotic Good won the Jerwood Prize for Best First Collection, is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and is shortlisted for the T.S, Eliot Prize. She is the Reviews Editor at Poetry London and is a Ledbury Poetry Critic, an Obsidian Foundation Fellow and board member at Magma.

Thank you to the T.S. Eliot Prize for facilitating this episode as part of a series of interviews with poets shortlisted for the 2025 prize. www.tseliot.com/prize/prize-year/the-t-s-eliot-prize-2025/      

Books and other things

Chaotic Good: https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571390953-chaotic-good/

You can also use our affiliate link for Bookshop to find most of the books by most of the guests from the show. They are organised into lists for each series. If you use this link, we get a fraction of the money you spend: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/series-five-the-poems-we-made-along-the-way          

We’d also recommend enquiring with your local bookshops or libraries as well.

An incomplete list of poems/books mentioned in this episode:

American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/143917/american-sonnet-for-my-past-and-future-assassin-598dc83c976f1

A man is dragging a dead dog by Jack Underwood: https://poetryarchive.org/poem/man-dragging-dead-dog/  

January Children by Safia Elhillo: https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9780803295988/the-january-children/

Cannibal by Safiya Sinclair: https://safiyasinclair.com/cannibal

Things I read/watched/etc in the lead up to this interview:

In Conversation with Isabelle Baafi: https://forwardartsfoundation.org/in-conversation-with-isabelle-baafi/

sub(VERSE)ive: In Conversation with Isabelle Baafi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU4Blu8Ke-c&t=1107s

The Usual

Make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing and if you enjoyed this episode consider sharing it with a friend or anyone else you think might also like it.

Theme tune: Joe Chesterman-March who can be found here: https://joecm.co.uk     

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along the Way Gregory Kearns speaks to Gillian Allnutt about reading poems out loud during the drafting stage, writing persona poetry, and hating punctuation.

Gillian Allnutt is a poet based in the northeast of England. She has published 10 collections of poetry including Nantuckert and the Angel and Lintel which were both shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize in 1997 and 2001 respectively. Of course, Gillian’s most recent collection Lode published by Bloodaxe has been shortlisted for this years TS Elliot prize. She won the Northern Rock Foundation Writer’s Award in 2005 and received a Cholmondeley Award in 2010.

Thank you to the T.S. Eliot Prize for facilitating this episode as part of a series of interviews with poets shortlisted for the 2025 prize. www.tseliot.com/prize/prize-year/the-t-s-eliot-prize-2025/     

Books and other things

Lode: https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/product/lode-1376

Wake: https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/product/wake-1183

How the Bicycle Shone: https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/product/how-the-bicycle-shone-860

You can also use our affiliate link for Bookshop to find most of the books by most of the guests from the show. They are organised into lists for each series. If you use this link, we get a fraction of the money you spend: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/series-five-the-poems-we-made-along-the-way         

We’d also recommend enquiring with your local bookshops or libraries as well.

Things I read/watched/etc in the lead up to this interview

Interview on Monk Gallery mentioned in the episode: https://monk.gallery/interviews/gillian-allnutt-under-northern-skies-divinations-of-a-warrior-poet/

Gillian Allnutt Talks About Her Work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T56nzN_giwo

The Usual

Please give the show a five star rating on whatever podcasting app you are listening to this on.

Tell us what you thought of this episode by posting on Instagram. You can find us @ThePoemsWeMade.

Make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing and if you enjoyed this episode consider sharing it with a friend or anyone else you think might also like it.

Theme tune: Joe Chesterman-March who can be found here: https://joecm.co.uk    

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along the Way Gregory Kearns speaks to Vona Groarke about being selected for the Ireland Professor of Poetry, how government investment in the arts has a positive cultural impact, and the importance of not divulging to much about your writing practice. 

Vona Groarke has written numerous volumes of poetry, all published by The Gallery Press. Including: Shale, X, Double Negative, and most recently Infinity Pool which, of course, was shortlisted for 2025’s TS Eliot Prize. Vona teaches at the Centre for New Writing at the University of Manchester and was recently selected as the Ireland Professor of Poetry.

Thank you to the T.S. Eliot Prize for facilitating this episode as part of a series of interviews with poets shortlisted for the 2025 prize. www.tseliot.com/prize/prize-year/the-t-s-eliot-prize-2025/    

Books and other things:

Infinity Pool: https://gallerypress.com/product/infinity-pool/

Link (Poet and World): https://gallerypress.com/product/link-poet-and-world/

Hereafter The Telling Life of Ellen O’Hara: https://nyupress.org/9781479835324/hereafter/

You can also use our affiliate link for Bookshop to find most of the books by most of the guests from the show. They are organised into lists for each series. If you use this link, we get a fraction of the money you spend: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/series-five-the-poems-we-made-along-the-way        

We’d also recommend enquiring with your local bookshops or libraries as well.

Things I watched in the lead up to this interview

Vona Groarke talks of passion, architecture, and sonnets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRZDldxhDlk&t=34s

Speech by President Higgins to celebrate Vona Groarke as the new Ireland Professor of Poetry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxyDMTzKgcE

Vona Groarke talks about her work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gtj70aF894 (this wasn’t actually out before our interview but it is good nonetheless)

The Usual

Please give the show a five star rating on whatever podcasting app you are listening to this on.

Tell us what you thought of this episode by posting on Instagram. You can find us @ThePoemsWeMade.

Make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing and if you enjoyed this episode consider sharing it with a friend or anyone else you think might also like it.

Theme tune: Joe Chesterman-March who can be found here: https://joecm.co.uk    

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along the Way Gregory Kearns speaks to Sarah Howe about flow states, the pedagogical difficulties of the writers’ workshop, and the changing landscapes of poetry criticism.

Sarah Howe is a poet and editor. She has published two collections of poetry including her debut Loop of Jade which won the TS Eliot Prize in 2015 and then Foretokens published in 2025. Previously she taught poetry and creative writing at King’s College London and is now the Poetry Editor at Chatto and Windus.

Thank you to the T.S. Eliot Prize for facilitating this episode as part of a series of interviews with poets shortlisted for the 2025 prize. www.tseliot.com/prize/prize-year/the-t-s-eliot-prize-2025/   

Books and other things:

Foretokens: www.penguin.co.uk/books/470921/foretokens-by-howe-sarah/9781784746131

Loop of Jade: www.penguin.co.uk/books/419789/loop-of-jade-by-sarah-howe/9780701188696

You can also use our affiliate link for Bookshop to find most of the books by most of the guests from the show. They are organised into lists for each series. If you use this link, we get a fraction of the money you spend: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/series-five-the-poems-we-made-along-the-way       

We’d also recommend enquiring with your local bookshops or libraries as well.

Things I watched in the lead up to this interview

Sarah Howe | Two Systems || Radcliffe Institute: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDHa4OEqaeo&t=1076s 

An interview with Sarah Howe, winner of the T. S. Eliot Prize 2015: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-ShuXnfBKk

The Usual

Please give the show a five star rating on whatever podcasting app you are listening to this on.

Tell us what you thought of this episode by posting on Instagram. You can find us @ThePoemsWeMade.

Make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing and if you enjoyed this episode consider sharing it with a friend or anyone else you think might also like it.

Theme tune: Joe Chesterman-March who can be found here: https://joecm.co.uk    

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along the Way Gregory Kearns speaks to Nick Makoha about the Obsidian Foundation, the layering of many gazes, and self-discovery through art.

Nick Makoha is a poet, playwright and founder of the Obsidian Foundation. He has published two collections, his first Kingdom of Gravity and his most recent The New Carthaginians published by Penguin Press and of course shortlisted for the 2025 T.S. Eliot Prize.

Thank you to the T.S. Eliot Prize for facilitating this email as part of a series of interviews with poets shortlisted for the 2025 prize. www.tseliot.com/prize/prize-year/the-t-s-eliot-prize-2025/  

Books and other things:

The New Carthaginians: www.penguin.co.uk/books/463875/the-new-carthaginians-by-makoha-nick/9781802067064

Kingdom of Gravity: www.peepaltreepress.com/books/kingdom-gravity

You can also use our affiliate link for Bookshop to find most of the books by most of the guests from the show. They are organised into lists for each series. If you use this link we get a fraction of the money you spend: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/series-five-the-poems-we-made-along-the-way      

We’d also recommend enquiring with your local bookshops or libraries as well.

Obsidian Foundation: obsidianfoundation.co.uk/

Things I watched in the lead up to this interview

sub(VERSE)ive: In Conversation with Nick Makoha: www.youtube.com/watch?v=URpxb1PAh0k&t=2885s

Basquiat Revolution: From Policing To Parties, Family & Fab 5 Freddy Recount Artist's Work (2022): www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg8aA9VRHKQ&t=1450s

Jean Michel Basquiat Interview - Patty Astor & Fab 5 Freddy on the Fun Gallery: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa8LBtaOsxs

The Usual

Please give the show a five star rating on whatever podcasting app you are listening to this on.

Tell us what you thought of this episode by posting on Instagram. You can find us @ThePoemsWeMade.

Make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing and if you enjoyed this episode consider sharing it with a friend or anyone else you think might also like it.

Theme tune: Joe Chesterman-March who can be found here: https://joecm.co.uk   

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along the Way Gregory Kearns speaks to Clare Pollard about breaking your own rules, poems being like haunted houses, and the word poetess.

Clare Pollard is a poet, novelist, children’s author, translator non-fiction writer and editor. She wrote her first poetry collection The Heavy-Petting Zoo (published by Bloodaxe) was written while she was still in school. Her other books include The Modern Fairies, The Untameables, Delphi and her most recent collection of poetry The Lives of the Female Poets is published by Bloodaxe. 

Links to writing

Lives of the Female Poets: https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/product/lives-of-the-female-poets 

Incarnation: https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/product/incarnation-1134

Look, Clare ! Look!: https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/product/look-clare-look--817

Delphi: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/447396/delphi-by-pollard-clare/9780241995266 

You can also use our affiliate link for Bookshop to find most of the books by most of the guests from the show. They are organised into lists for each series. If you use this link we get a fraction of the money you spend: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/series-five-the-poems-we-made-along-the-way     

We’d also recommend enquiring with your local bookshops or libraries as well.

Clare's Poetry Circle Substack: https://clarespoetrycircle.substack.com/

Things I watched in the lead up to this interview

Launch reading by Emilie Jenlinek, Clare Pollard and Jessica Traynor (Bloodaxe): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He4JaXNJzdw

Clare Pollard in conversation with Helen Eastman (Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUqZU6JNJo0&t=205s

Poetry as a way to gain control | A Drink with Clare Pollard (Idler): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmB955IJFJg 

The Usual

Please give the show a five star rating on whatever podcasting app you are listening to this on.

Tell us what you thought of this episode by posting on Instagram. You can find us @ThePoemsWeMade.

Make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing and if you enjoyed this episode consider sharing it with a friend or anyone else you think might also like it.

Theme tune: Joe Chesterman-March who can be found here: https://joecm.co.uk   

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along the Way Gregory Kearns speaks to George Szirtes about form, translation, and the exact moment that he decided that he wanted to become a poet.

George Szirtes is a poet, memoirist, editor and translator. He has published numerous collections of poetry including Reel (which won the TS Eliot Prize), Mapping the Delta and his most recent collection Fresh Out of the Sky published by Bloodaxe. He has translated numerous Hungarian writers into English including 2025’s Nobel Prize for Literature winner László Krasznahorkai.

Fresh Out of the Sky: https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/product/fresh-out-of-the-sky-1280

The Photographer at Sixteen: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/george-szirtes/the-photographer-at-sixteen/9780857058553/

The London Review Bookshop documentary focusing on George produced by Anthony Wilks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_IwmwUH570

You can also use our affiliate link for Bookshop to find most of the books by most of the guests from the show. They are organised into lists for each series. If you use this link we get a fraction of the money you spend: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/series-five-the-poems-we-made-along-the-way        

We’d also recommend enquiring with your local bookshops or libraries as well.

Please give the show a five star rating on whatever podcasting app you are listening to this on.

Tell us what you thought of this episode by posting on Instagram. You can find us @ThePoemsWeMade.

Make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing and if you enjoyed this episode consider sharing it with a friend or anyone else you think might also like it.

Theme tune: Joe Chesterman-March who can be found here: https://joecm.co.uk    

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.