Mary Oliver is one of the most beloved—and most often most dismissed—American poets. Katie Dozier and Timothy Green look beyond the familiar story of the nature poet, exploring Oliver’s life, craft, popularity, and the tension between the deeply personal and strangely impersonal in her work. Along the way, we read and discuss some of her most famous poems, including “The Journey” and “Wild Geese,” and ask what made her poetry connect with millions of readers.

At the Table: Katie Dozier & Timothy Green.

Over twenty years ago, the  Los Angeles Times called our guest "the most despised—some would say most feared—man in American poetry.” We invited Alan Cordle Villegas to talk about Foetry.com—the website he created, initially anonymously, with the tagline: “Exposing fraudulent contests. Tracking the sycophants. Naming names.” Would he do it all again? What does it mean to be transparent in an opaque world?At the Table: Katie Dozier, Timothy Green, and Alan Cordle Villegas.

Marie Howe went from eldest of nine in Rochester, to winning a Pulitzer Prize last year. Lucia Perillo was a wildlife biologist and park ranger, and later a MacArthur genius—writing about MS with more jokes than most poets manage about anything. This week’s Duel puts What the Living Do head-to-head with Inseminating the Elephant—Who wins? Tune in and see whose lines land the strongest!

At the table: Katie Dozier & Timothy Green.

With the aim of getting to more listener questions, Rattle editors Timothy Green and Katie Dozier return to demystify the editing process. When is a poem publishable? Tune in to hear our thoughts on many different aspects of poetry editing.

What goes into editing one of the largest poetry magazines? In this multi-part series, Rattle editors Timothy Green and Katie Dozier pull the curtain back on the process, offering up their own insights into surprising aspects of the process as well as fielding questions from listeners. More to come!

At the Table: Katie Dozier & Timothy Green.

Timothy Green and Katie Dozier go head-to-head in a Poetry Duel between The Arkansas Review and Fourteen Hills, each armed with randomly-picked poems they think can take the other magazine down. They read, debate, and question each other’s taste, as always! Together, they decide which literary journal wins bragging rights—all while talking contemporary poetry, editing, and what actually makes a poem memorable.

At the Table: Katie Dozier & Timothy Green.

Part two of our "bring a poem you love" experiment picks up where we left off, finishing out Joe Barca's pick, James Wright's "A Blessing" (yes, THAT ending). Then Dick Westheimer digs into the dirt with Ada Limón's "The Burying Beetle," and we close out with Billy Collins' "The Art of Drowning." Craft talk, scansion, and a few strong opinions!At the Table: Katie Dozier, Timothy Green, Dick Westheimer, Joe Barca & Brian O'Sullivan.

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.