Poetry Says

I’ve gradually discovered that Great Uncle Jack Blight was a poet with something to say (and more than a few books under his belt). I delve into his 1965 lecture ‘The Shaping of a Contemporary Poet’, share his advice for other Australian poets (most of which still stands up) and take a few detours into family … Continue reading "Ep 60. John Blight’s old-school advice for Aussie poets"

Set up your tea/biscuits/wine/other treats because this chat with Melinda Bufton is cosy and joyful. Within the first 10 minutes we’ve covered performance, lyrics, the page, the lyric I, rhyme, feminism and constraint. It gets even better from there. Show notes Melinda’s poem The Possible Dream (Buying Jeans Online) My interviews with UK poet and … Continue reading "Ep 59. The Melinda Bufton mixtape"

This episode comes to you from a messy desk, sandwiched between items on a long to-do list and a mostly blocked out calendar. I’m sure you’re familiar with the feeling. Show notes Not writing by Jane Kenyon Antilamentation by Dorianne Laux

I’ve been trying to write a poem in response to Auden for about four years. It’s not going well. So I thought I’d talk to you about the ideas I’m trying to grapple with. Show notes W.H. Auden – Tell Me The Truth About Love ‘People may really be what we first though them.’ E.M. … Continue reading "Ep 57. Auden’s secret Berlin Journal and poems that fall apart"

Past guest Sean Wright joins us again this week to talk about the process of getting his first collection published (!) along with navigating the world of poetry journals. How do you know where to send work? What do you say when you do? We don’t have all the answers but these are our tips on … Continue reading "Ep 56. Getting published."

Ashbery’s poem ‘Your name here’ has been pinned up in my office for almost a decade now. Reading it again in light of his passing, I saw another element of the poem I’d never noticed before. Show notes A review of Your Name Here Sign up for ModPo 2017 on Coursera Al Filreis chats with … Continue reading "Ep 55. Ashbery’s autobiography (in 14 lines)"

Can poets learn something from the world of improv? After chatting with Alistair Baldwin I’m more convinced than ever that the best elements of poetry and comedy are basically aligned. This episode is also for you if you’ve ever hit a wall writing that dreaded 100-word bio… Show notes ‘Disability Impressions Offensive’ Decrees Meryl Streep To … Continue reading "Ep 54. Alistair Baldwin on comedy, permission and Milligan"

Feeling a little sketchy, I went back to Joanne Kyger’s On Time, which led me to a poem about why calendars can be so very scary. Show notes I am afraid (the younger) I am afraid (the elder) I’m Very Busy Now So I Can’t Answer All Those Questions About Beat Women Poets

UK-based psychotherapist Steve Wasserman sees poetry as having a kind of medicinal power, especially when memorised. We chat about using memorisation to step outside the churn of the mind, then Steve recites the very tricky Wallace Stevens poem Final Soliloquy of the Interior Paramour (newly memorised!). Show notes Steve’s podcast Poetry Pharmacy Steve reading Final Soliloquy and discussing … Continue reading "Ep 53. Steve Wasserman on Wallace Stevens and poetic medicine"

Would you let a mic into your poetry workshop? Sydney poets Benjamin Dodds and Mran-Maree Laing were brave enough to let me record while we workshopped three unpublished poems. We wanted to show what the workshop process can be like for those who might feel intimidated by the idea. I think the result is pretty representative of … Continue reading "Ep 52. Inside a poetry workshop"

Grab yourself a beverage, pull up a chair and listen in as I ask Toby Fitch to help me understand Rimbaud, figure out where the keys to poetry are hiding and keep my sense of humour about me along the way. Toby reads us a new, very funny poem during this chat and talks a … Continue reading "Ep 51. Toby Fitch on Rimbaud’s Bloomin’ Notions"

For my 50th episode I wanted to talk about how I got started with this podcast, which took me back to a pretty painful decision point in my life. These are the poems (and quotes) that helped me stop being so busy, sit down and actually make something. Show notes Sonya Tsakalakis on Charlotte Mew … Continue reading "Ep 50. ‘All the practice you get makes you better.’"

In an episode that spans countries, languages and histories, Melbourne poet Gemma Mahadeo shares the poem Calypso History Lesson from Fred D’Aguiar’s book The Rose of Toulouse. We start off with some thoughts on Ted Hughes’ Crow before D’Aguiar’s poem takes us in all sorts of directions, from Hansonism to urban foxes to West Indian cricket commentary. Show … Continue reading "Ep 49. Gemma Mahadeo on Ted Hughes and Fred D’Aguiar"

Benjamin Solah can recite a calendar of upcoming spoken word gigs from memory. We talk about what spoken word actually is (or might be), whether there’s a particular slam style, how politics plays into this kind of poetry and why you should just get up there and perform at the next open mic. Show notes … Continue reading "Ep 48. Benjamin Solah on spoken word in Melbourne"

Can poems really be ‘dictated’ from somewhere outside the poet? Or is this just a slice of California woo? In his 1965 lecture series Jack Spicer had opinions, and plenty of ’em. Show notes The House that Jack Built: The Collected Lectures of Jack Spicer edited by Peter Gizzi (Wesleyan University Press) My Vocabulary Did … Continue reading "Ep 47. Jack Spicer channels the Martians"

Louise Carter and I get real about feeling like frauds. Why do poets sometimes end up with what’s known as ‘imposter syndrome’? And can we get past it enough to enjoy our accomplishments? Whether you’re new to writing poetry or a widely published poet, I think there’ll be something in this one for you.

I check back in with Eleanor 24 hours after we finished our recording about Emily Berry’s The End. What did she learn? How did she feel? We chat about getting back into reading poetry after a break, feeling like being an outsider/insider and feeling like you may have got it ‘wrong’. Shout out to Jen … Continue reading "Bonus: The day after reading that difficult poem…"

Are poets who write ‘difficult’ poems being intentionally obtuse? Are they trying to hide something? How on earth do you approach poems like these for the first time? Today I chat with ModPo classmate and friend Eleanor about Emily Berry’s The End, just out in Poetry magazine. We make our way through a totally unprepared first … Continue reading "Ep 45. Getting into poetry: Reading a ‘difficult’ poem for the first time"

Anne Carson’s shapeshifting long poem The Glass Essay exists somewhere between lyric, confessional and narrative. The deeper we get into it, the less useful these terms seem to be. They also bring up questions of what we expect from our female poets… Show notes The Glass Essay Anne Carson (as ‘notoriously reticent’) For more on … Continue reading "Ep 44. Anne Carson visits Bronte, post-breakup"

Did studying poetry at school spark your interest or leave you cold? In this episode I chat with my sister-in-law Terri – a Leading Teacher in a K-12 school who’s a passionate advocate of poetry in the classroom. We hear about what connects, what’s challenging and how she matches poetry with curriculum demands. Show notes Caged Bird by Maya … Continue reading "Ep 43. Teaching poetry to kids: From bush ballads to YouTube"