Poets on Poured Over

We’ve love pouring over each page of Hanif’s poetry collections, A Fortune for Your Disaster and The Crown Ain’t Worth Much. In Hanif’s new book, There’s Always This Year, he plays with time and memory, intimacy and vulnerability, going away and coming home — and leaves everything on the court.

We’ve known him for his poetry (Calling a Wolf a Wolf and Pilgrim Bell) and now we get to know him through his prose. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar is the story of a young Iranian American man searching for meaning through art, addiction, and connection. Kaveh joined us to talk about writing both poetry and prose, collaboration with other novelists, creating compassion through writing and more.

We all wanted more after reading Kwame’s last breathtaking collection (Why Fathers Cry at Night) and now we have it. This Is the Honey is the new poetry collection edited by Kwame Alexander featuring carefully curated poems from contemporary Black poets. Alexander joined us on the show to talk about compiling a collection of pieces, his own connections to this work and themes of identity and community.

Ada Limón, our 24^th US Poet Laureate and host of the poetry podcast The Slowdown, joins us on the show to take us behind the scenes of The Hurting Kind and talk about the purpose of art, honoring the slipperiness of time, the importance and pleasure of reading out loud, her literary inspirations and more. You Are Here.

Ours is the epic and lyrical debut novel by poet Phillip B. Williams, featuring unforgettable characters woven together with folklore and humanity’s search for freedom. Williams joined us to talk about how his characters shaped the story, the influences of poetry on his prose, including myths and legends and more. If you haven’t already, check out Williams’ Mutiny and Thief in the Interior.

Poet Warrior is the indelible memoir by Joy Harjo, the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States. Joy joined us on the show to talk about her family’s stories, making music, Emily Dickinson’s poetry, how reading work out loud helps with the editing process, and more. Looking for more of Harjo’s poetry? Try out An American Sunrise and Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings.

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith (Life on Mars, Wade in the Water) gives readers an insightful look into her life through her latest work. To Free the Captives combines the beauty of a memoir with a grander look at America’s history and future. Smith joined us to talk about family and cultural identity, race and belonging, the importance of poetry and more.

From Please to The Tradition we’re no stranger to the delight that is Jericho Brown. Brown joins us to talk about identity and language, the necessity of treating yourself like a writer, creating a new form of poetry and more.

How the Word is Passed was not only one of our most anticipated books of 2021, but it is the latest work from poet (Counting Descent), teacher and Doctor, Clint Smith. Smith joined us on the show to discuss this powerful portrait of America today, built from our history and Smith’s incredible insight.

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair is a poetic memoir about growing up as a Rastafari woman in Jamaica and how words and writing empowered her voice. Sinclair joined us to talk about the literary connections in her poetry (Cannibal), shedding light on the reality of her upbringing, and the identity that comes with writing and reading.

Louise Erdrich (The Night Watchman, Original Fire) joined us to discuss all things The Sentence — a funny, big-hearted and profound story of second chances and ghosts, books and bookselling, and the messy love between spouses and parents and children.

A Guest at the Feast is a collection of essays by Colm Tóibín on topics ranging from his own cancer diagnosis, how reading the diaries of Thomas Mann led to the creation of The Magician, the works of Marilynne Robinson and more. Tóibín’s work doesn’t stop there — check out his poetry collection, Vinegar Hill, and his upcoming new novel, Long Island.

Maggie Smith’s bestselling You Could Make This Place Beautiful transcends traditional memoir in a staggering take on divorce, motherhood and what it means to be a writer in a way only the poet (Goldenrod, Good Bones) could deliver. Maggie joined us on the show to speak about the vulnerability of sharing your life through words, the freedom of nontraditional literary devices, healing through art and more.

Nightcrawling is a powerful story of family, grief and justice with an unforgettable teenage narrator (and equally unforgettable author). Leila Mottley — the former Youth Poet Laureate of Oakland, California — joined us on the show to talk about writing her first novel at 14, sibling dynamics, the importance of published Black authors, the portrayal of young Black girls in the media, gentrification in Oakland, and much more. Keep an eye out for Mottley’s upcoming novel, woke up no light, out 4/16/24.

Writer, performer, National Book Award Winner (Just Kids), Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Patti Smith joined us on the show to take us behind the scenes of her newest collection, A Book of Days.

Saeed Jones joined us on the show to riff on his incredibly personal and indelible new poetry collection Alive at the End of the World, along with the pervasiveness of grief, and how both he and his writing have changed since he published his memoir, How We Fight for Our Lives.

From Bluets and The Argonauts to her brand new essay collection, we’ve always been fans of Maggie Nelson. Maggie joins us to talk about her new book later this month. Catch her and Jenna riff on all things Like Love, airing 4/11/24.

Remember Us takes readers to Brooklyn in the 70s to examine memory and acceptance through the eyes of one girl from her childhood and beyond. Jacqueline Woodson (the 2015-2017 Young People’s Poet Laureate) joins us to talk about writing for young people, the themes of childhood and nostalgia, creating identity through literature and more.

Take What You Need is a story of home and family, coming of age and making art. Novey (Exit, Civilian) joins us to talk about her connection to the setting of the novel, art and identity, her influences and more.

From Inciting Joy, to The Book of Delights, to The Book of (More) Delights, Ross Gay helps us understand each other, the world and our place in it. Gay joined us on the show to talk about variations on gardening, the connection between sorrow and joy, cover songs, football and footnotes, community, the pleasures of not doing anything, and what’s he’s been reading.

Through choppy waters and unforgiving deserts, this intimate, gripping memoir is an immersive look into the consciousness of a young boy seeking to be reunited with his parents. Javier talks about reliving trauma, growing up undocumented, poetry as a gateway to therapy, and what it was like to give his nine-year-old self back his voice.

A finalist for the National Book Award, poet Honorée Fanonne Jeffers has conjured an epic and indelible story of an American family with her debut novel, The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois. Beautifully written, it’s a book we never wanted to end (and you won’t either).

Hafizah Augustus Geter joined us on the show to talk about her family’s story and her father’s art, which appears in full color throughout The Black Period, who gets to make history and why, and her literary influences. If you’re looking to dive into Geter’s poetry, check out her collection, Un-American.