This week, everyone at the table comes bearing gifts — not their own poems, but someone else's genius they can't stop thinking about. Tim kicks things off with Alan Shapiro's "Closer," a breakup poem disguised as a baseball play-by-play, before Brian O'Sullivan brings us Alicia Ostriker's "Demeter to Persephone," a myth retelling with a shockingly modern mom voice. We also get our first bite of Joe Barca's pick, James Wright's classic "A Blessing" — don't worry, we'll finish that one next week. Close reading, scansion, and a little bit of poem-crush confession, all in one sitting.

At the Table: Katie Dozier, Timothy Green, Dick Westheimer, Joe Barca, and Brian O'Sullivan.

Mary Oliver is widely considered the most popular English-language poet of recent generations. In this episode, we put her work head-to-head against revered poet Jack Gilbert by analyzing three random poems from each of their collections. We explore themes of light and darkness, accessibility, and poetic craft in this lively discussion. It's poet vs. poet. Who will win this time?

At the Table: Katie Dozier & Timothy Green

Katie & Tim take a look at his new book, Poems for Katie. Tim shares his poems, discusses how the subconscious comes into play, and talks about the power of prompts. How did poetry help him find his way? Tune in this week to find out. At the table: Katie Dozier & Timothy Green.

In this raw episode, Katie talks about Residency Review: A Memoir in Verse. She shares poems from her new book, and together Katie and Tim explore the emotional landscape that went into crafting it.

At the Table: Katie Dozier & Timothy Green

It’s AGNI vs. New England Review in a literary-magazine duel for the ages—or at least for the slightly over-caffeinated poetry set. As always, we never know where these duels will lead us, and this one includes a heated discussion of imagism and its evolution. Which journal will reign supreme? Tune in to turn the pages. At the table: Katie Dozier & Timothy Green

When it comes to meter, free verse poets have been known to ask, “what’s in it for me?!” In part two, Katie and Tim keep the party going with Susan Spear, Brian O’Sullivan, Chelsea McClellan, and Christiana Doucette, moving into visible form, hidden form, terza rima, repetition, rhyme, humor, and one thing not often discussed within the realm of meter: free verse! 

At the table:

Katie Dozier

Timothy Green

Susan Spear

Brian O’Sullivan

Christiana Doucette

Chelsea McClellan 

Patterns are all around us, and meter doesn’t have to be scary--even with its mysterious little slash marks reminiscent of gaping wounds. In part one of this two-part conversation, Katie and Tim talk with Susan Spear, Brian O’Sullivan, Chelsea McClellan, and Christiana Doucette about how English verse actually moves—from the big drumbeat of alliterative verse to the sneakier pleasures of iambs, speech stress, and scansion. Susan Spear and David Rothman’s book Learning the Secrets of English Verse: The Keys to the Treasure Chest is featured.

At the table:

Katie Dozier

Timothy Green

Susan Spear

Brian O’Sullivan

Christiana Doucette

Chelsea McClellan 

In this episode, we're once again joined by ONE ART: A Journal of Poetry's editor, Mark Danowsky to talk about how Katie and Mark began curating the yearly haiku anthology. We continue sharing some of the great poems curated in this years' anthology.

At the Table:

Katie Dozier

Timothy Green

Mark Danowsky

In this episode, we're joined by ONE ART: A Journal of Poetry's editor, Mark Danowsky to talk about how Katie and Mark began curating the yearly haiku anthology. We share some of the great poems curated in this years' anthology.

At the Table:

Katie Dozier

Timothy Green

Mark Danowsky

It's been a while since our last duel, so we were primed to come out swinging for this episode, which pits Volume 57.1 of Modern Haiku up against Poetry magazine's March 2026 issue. How will the short poems stack up against the longer ones? Tune in to find out who reigns victorious!

At the Table: Katie Dozier & Timothy Green