Best Joanne Diaz and Abram Van Engen Podcasts (2025)

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Episode 91: Joanne Diaz, Two Emergencies 24:40

1d ago24:40

24:40

In this episode, Katy Didden and Abram Van Engen discuss the extraordinary leaps, narrative disjunctions, and temporal frames that fill Diaz's extraordinary ekphrastic poem, a reflection on Bruegel's painting, "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" written in conversation with W.H. Auden's poem "Musée des Beaux Arts." "Two Emergencies," appears in My …

1
Episode 90: N. Scott Momaday, The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee 20:23

9d ago20:23

20:23

This episode explores the incantation and mystic union of Momaday's famous delight poem, ending with a recorded recitation in his own rich voice. We explain anaphora and explore its power, and we trace the links and connections from one thought to the next throughout the poem. Special thanks to Universty of California Television (UCTV) for permissi…

1
Episode 89: Pádraig Ó Tuama, excerpts from Kitchen Hymns 54:50

24d ago54:50

54:50

This episode was recorded on March 2, 2025 at the Phillis Wheatley Heritage Center in St. Louis., Missouri. In this conversation, Pádraig Ó Tuama reads several poems from Kitchen Hymns (Copper Canyon Press, 2024), his newest collection. We discuss subversive speech, belief and doubt, lyrical poetry, the psychology of poetic forms, and the power of …

1
Episode 88: Oksana Maksymchuk, Tempo 29:12

1M ago29:12

29:12

Oksana Maksymchuk joins us for a reading and discussion of "Tempo," a poem that explores the how war causes us to "whirl with / planets and stars that coil / around our fragile core." Oksana Maksymchuk is a bilingual Ukrainian-American poet, scholar, and literary translator. Her debut English-language poetry collection Still City is the 2024 Pitt P…

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Episode 87: Monica Ong, Her Gaze 35:21

2M ago35:21

35:21

In this episode, Monica Ong joins us to discuss "Her Gaze," a visual poem that celebrates the achievements of astronomer Caroline Herschel. "Her Gaze" appears in Planetaria, Ong's new collection that merges archival materials with striking lyric poems. Monica Ong is the author of two books: Silent Anatomies, which was the winner of the Kore Press F…

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Episode 86: Gwendolyn Bennett, I Build America 25:19

2M ago25:19

25:19

Gwendolyn Bennett was a poet, journalist, editor, and activist whose contributions helped to fuel the Harlem Renaissance. In this episode, we read "I Build America," a poem that exposes and critiques the exploitation and suffering of ordinary workers. To learn more about Gwendolyn Bennett, see Heroine of the Harlem Renaissance and Beyond: Gwendolyn…

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Episode 85: Jacob Stratman, To Momento Mori 20:20

3M ago20:20

20:20

In this episode, we read and discuss a poem that takes its inspiration from a painting by Andrew Wyeth. The poem provides a meditation on what we perceive and interpret when we look at a painting, and at one another.By Joanne Diaz and Abram Van Engen

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Episode 84: Ted Kooser, excerpts from Winter Morning Walks 21:10

5M ago21:10

21:10

In this episode, we offer close readings of poems from Ted Kooser's_ Winter Morning Walks: 100 Postcards to Jim Harrison_. Kooser's poems allow us to think about the poem as a social act, as a form of healing, and as a kind of meditation. To learn more about Ted Kooser, visit his website. If you like these poems that we discussed in this episode, p…

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Episode 83: Emily Dickinson, "I went to thank Her–" 20:00

5M ago20:00

20:00

In this episode, we read and discuss Emily Dickinson's poem about the death of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. We discuss Dickinson's innovative syntax, her use of deep pauses, and her meditations on death and grief that create surprising effects in this short lyric. I went to thank Her I went to thank Her— But She Slept— Her Bed—a funneled Stone— With…

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Episode 82: Sidney, Translation of Psalm 52 26:33

5M ago26:33

26:33

Psalm 52 concerns a lying tyrant and God's impending judgment. Mary Sidney, who lived 1561-1621, was an extraordinary writer, editor, and literary patron. Like many talented writers of her time, she translated all the psalms. Here we talk about translation, early modern women's writing, religious engagements with politics, and the power of Psalm 52…

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Episode 81: Niki Herd, The Stuff of Hollywood 37:37

6M ago37:37

37:37

In this episode, Niki Herd joins us to read and discuss an excerpt from The Stuff of Hollywood, a collection in which Herd experiments with a range of forms and procedures to examine the history of violence in America. To learn more about Niki Herd, you can visit her website. The Stuff of Hollywood was just published by Copper Canyon Website. Pleas…

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Episode 80: Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias 21:11

6M ago21:11

21:11

In this episode, we closely read Shelley's "Ozymandias," a poem written in a time of revolution and social protest. We focus on the poem's sonnet structure, its engagement with--and critique of--empire, its meditation on the bust of Ramses II, and its afterlife in an episode of _Breaking Bad. _ To learn more about Percy Bysshe Shelley, click here. …

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Episode 79: W.H. Auden, Musée des Beaux Arts 39:01

7M ago39:01

39:01

In this episode, Shankar Vendantam joins us to read and discuss "Musee des Beaux Arts," a poem that explores the ways in which humans become indifferent to the suffering of others. To learn more about Shankar Vendantam and the Hidden Brain podcast, visit his website. To read Auden's poem, click here. Thanks to Curtis Brown Ltd. for granting us perm…

1
Episode 78: Jericho Brown, Duplex 22:16

7M ago22:16

22:16

In this episode, we read and discuss Jericho Brown's "Duplex," a poetic form that he created in order to explore the complexities of family, violence, and desire. This is one of several duplex poems that you can find in The Tradition (Copper Canyon Press, 2020), the winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize. Thanks to Copper Canyon Press for granting us pe…

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Episode 77: Jennifer Grotz, The Conversion of Paul 26:14

8M ago26:14

26:14

Poetry engages in conversation. Today, we explore a long, beautiful, narrative poem weaving together the work of fellow poets while looking carefully at a Caravaggio painting, all reflecting on illness, death, and friendship. For the poem, see here: https://www.nereview.com/vol-40-no-1-2019/the-conversion-of-paul/ For Grotz's incredible book, Still…

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Episode 76: Philip Levine, What Work Is 24:56

8M ago24:56

24:56

In this episode, we read and discuss Philip Levine's most famous poem, "What Work Is." We consider his deft use of the second-person perspective, the sociability and narrative energy of his poetry, and his deep concern for the insecurity that defines the lives of so working-class laborers. Click here to read "What Work Is": https://www.poetryfounda…

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Episode 75: Du Fu, Passing the Night by White Sands Post Station 18:16

9M ago18:16

18:16

What is a good life, and how do we make sense of the world when it seems like society is collapsing? In this episode, Lucas Bender joins us once again to discuss the work of Du Fu (712-770 C.E.), the great Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty. Luke helps us to see how Du Fu’s “Passing the Night by White Sands Post Station” can be read in multiple ways …

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Episode 74: Diane Seuss, [The sonnet, like poverty] 24:22

9M ago24:22

24:22

This remarkable sonnet dives into issues of poverty, poetry, and grief. We talk about the pedagogy of constraint, while exploring the achievements, including the hardbitten gratitude, embedded in this poem. Thank you to Graywolf Press for permission to read and discuss the poem. Diane Seuss's "[The sonnet, like poverty, teaches you what you can do]…

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Episode 73: Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz, Sonnet 189 24:41

10M ago24:41

24:41

In this episode, Professor Stephanie Kirk guides our reading of Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz’s “Sonnet 189.” Her scholarly insights help us to appreciate the nuances of Sor Juana’s poetry and her importance in her own lifetime and beyond. Professor Kirk read Edith Grossman's translation of "Sonnet 189" from Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: Selected Works. C…

1
Word Made Fresh (and Exciting Updates) 12:35

10M ago12:35

12:35

We're interrupting your summer this week with a few exciting updates about Poetry For All and an excerpt from Abram Van Engen's newly released book, Word Made Fresh. If you want to join Abram for a book launch online on July 9 at 4pm Eastern, register for free by clicking this link. And if you want a free subscription to Image Journal, which is an …

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Episode 72: Victoria Chang, My Mother--died unpeacefully... 20:01

11M ago20:01

20:01

In this episode, we read one of Victoria Chang’s moving poems from her collection OBIT, and discuss how the poem explores the interplay between life, death, grieving, and memory as the poet tries to process her mother’s passing. Thanks to Copper Canyon Press for granting us permission to read this poem, which was originally published in OBIT. Victo…

1
Episode 71: Hopkins, As Kingfishers Catch Fire 23:55

1y ago23:55

23:55

This episode dives into the wonderful world of Gerard Manley Hopkins, the musicality of his language, and the vision he has of becoming what we already are. This poem illustrates the cover of Abram Van Engen's new book, Word Made Fresh. The book explores connections between poetry and faith, and it serves as an invitation to reading poetry of all k…

1
Episode 70: Lauren Camp, Inner Planets 28:29

1y ago28:29

28:29

In this episode, Lauren Camp joins us to read and discuss "Inner Planets," a poem that she wrote during her time as the astronomer in residence at Grand Canyon National Park. She describes her poetic process and the value of solitude in a place full of wonderment. To learn more about the Grand Canyon Astronomer in Residence program, click here. To …

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Episode 69: Live with Marilyn Nelson! 55:17

1y ago55:17

55:17

Our first live performance of the podcast, featuring Marilyn Nelson and a discussion or her amazing poem "How I Discovered Poetry." On January 31, we met at Calvin University for its January Series and spoke with Marilyn Nelson about poetry and her work for a live audience. For more on Marilyn Nelson, visit her website or The Poetry Foundation. Thi…

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Announcement 2:15

1+ y ago2:15

2:15

We share some news about a new website at poetryforallpod.com and a live event next week! https://poetryforallpod.com/By Joanne Diaz and Abram Van Engen

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Episode 68: W.S. Merwin, To the New Year 22:48

1+ y ago22:48

22:48

In the first episode of 2024, we read one of the great poets of the past century, W.S. Merwin, and his address to the new year, considering his attentiveness, his style, and his wondrous mood and mode of contemplation and surprise. Picking up on the "radical hope" we discussed in Dimitrov's "Winter Solstice," we turn to Merwin's sense of what is un…

1
Episode 67: Alex Dimitrov, Winter Solstice 24:27

1+ y ago24:27

24:27

In this episode, we read and discuss a poem that provides a powerful meditation on the longest night of the year. To learn more about Alex Dimitrov, please visit his website. Thanks to Copper Canyon Press for granting us permission to read this poem from Love and Other Poems. During our conversation, we briefly allude to "Love," Dimitrov's wonderfu…

1
Episode 66: Katy Didden, The Priest Questions the Lava 26:10

1+ y ago26:10

26:10

In our discussion of "The Priest Questions the Lava," Katy describes the sentience of the natural world, her erasure of documentary texts, her interest in visual poetry, and the importance of poems that examine ethical and spiritual questions in an era of climate change. To see Katy's erasure, click on the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day featu…

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Episode 65: Du Fu, Facing Snow 23:57

1+ y ago23:57

23:57

In this episode, Lucas Bender guides us through his translation of Du Fu's "Facing Snow," one of the most famous poems in the Chinese language. To learn more about Du Fu's life, work, and cultural significance, please see Lucas Bender's Du Fu Transforms: Tradition and Ethics amid Societal Collapse (Harvard University Press, 2021).…

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Episode 64: Shakespeare, Sonnet 29 19:51

1+ y ago19:51

19:51

In episode 64, we talk about Shakespeare's sonnet 29, a poem about comparison and competition, leading the poet almost to despise himself before, by chance, he remembers his dear friend and is lifted by the deep joy of that relationship. We link our discussion to present-day concerns about social media, the Surgeon General's warning about an epidem…

1
Episode 63: Rumi, Colorless, Nameless, Free 29:56

1+ y ago29:56

29:56

Poet and translator Haleh Liza Gafori joins us to closely read and discuss a poem by Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (1207-1273 CE), one of the greatest of all Sufi poets. We discuss the poetic constraints of the ghazal form, Rumi's encounters with the divine, and the significance of his friendship with Shams, a man who transformed his life and poetic p…

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Episode 62: Kobayashi Issa, Haiku 17:19

1+ y ago17:19

17:19

What makes haiku "the perfect poetic form"? This episode reads three wonderful haiku by Kobayashi Issa and explores what makes them so moving and fun. We use the beautiful translations of award-winning poet Robert Haas in The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, and Issa. To see these haiku and others online, visit The Poetry Foundation here.…

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Episode 61: Ada Limón, "The Raincoat" 18:34

2y ago18:34

18:34

With her quality of attention and focus on vivid, specific images, Ada Limón brings us to a moment of surprising insight in "The Raincoat." "The Raincoat" appears in Ada Limón's book The Carrying by Milkweed Editions. Thank you to Milkweed Editions for permission to read the poem on this podcast. You can find the "The Raincoat" on the Poetry Founda…

1
Episode 60: Li-Young Lee, From Blossoms 19:07

2y ago19:07

19:07

In this episode, we explore the poetry of joy in a world of shade and death, looking to sounds and repetitions while examining how "From Blossoms" speaks back to the poem that immediately precedes it in Lee's great book Rose. For more on Li-Young Lee, see The Poetry Foundation here. Thanks to BOA Editions for granting us permission to read Li-Young…

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Episode 59: Tichborne's Elegy 21:25

2y ago21:25

21:25

In this episode, we read the elegy of Chidiock Tichborne, written the night before his execution, and contemplate the power of repetitions, the balanced precision of a man facing his end, and the drumbeat of monosyllables that takes his imagination beyond the moment of his death. Tichborne's Elegy My feast of joy is but a dish of pain, My crop of c…

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Episode 58: Richie Hofmann, Things That Are Rare 23:57

2y ago23:57

23:57

In this episode, we are delighted to have Richie Hofmann as our guest. Richie Hofmann is the author of two collections: Second Empire and A Hundred Lovers. His poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Yale Review, and many other literary magazines, and he is the recipient of Ruth Lilly and Wallace Stegner fellowships. To learn more …

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Episode 57: Edna St. Vincent Millay, She had forgotten how the August night 23:46

2y ago23:46

23:46

She called herself Vincent, she smoked cigarettes, and she wore shimmery golden evening gowns when she read her poetry to sold-out crowds. Edna St. Vincent Millay was the emblem of the "New Woman" and one of the most important American poets of the twentieth century...but in years after her death, her literary reputation suffered, and only recently…

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Episode 56: Queen Elizabeth, On Monsieur's Departure 18:46

2y ago18:46

18:46

Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was one of the longest-reigning monarchs in all of British history, but she was also a gifted poet. In this episode, we discuss "On Monsieur's Departure," a poem that is inspired by Petrarchan conventions and gives insight into the public and private selves of a powerful queen. (For the text of the poem, scroll to the …

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Episode 55: Kay Ryan, Crib 17:17

2+ y ago17:17

17:17

In this episode, we discuss Kay Ryan's "Crib," a brief poem that begins with an interest in the deep archaeology of language and shifts to a powerful meditation on theft, innocence, and guilt. "Crib" appears in The Best of It © 2010 by Kay Ryan. Used by permissions of Grove/Atlantic, Inc. For more on Kay Ryan and her work, you can visit the Poetry …

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Grant Writing Break 2:59

2+ y ago2:59

2:59

This week, Joanne and Abram take a break to write a grant for the podcast. We very much hope you enjoy Poetry For All. And if you do, please leave us a review, share it with a friend, and let us know! Thank you all for listening.By Joanne Diaz and Abram Van Engen

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Episode 54: Carl Phillips, To Autumn 24:47

2+ y ago24:47

24:47

In this episode, we talk with David Baker about "To Autumn" by Carl Phillips, exploring the way Phillips masterfully achieves a sense of intimacy and restlessness in a lyric ode that tosses between two parts while incorporating the sonnet tradition. For more on Carl Phillips, please visit the Poetry Foundation. For more on David Baker, please visit…

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Episode 53: Carter Revard, What the Eagle Fan Says 25:38

2+ y ago25:38

25:38

In this episode, we focus on the life and work of Carter Revard, an Osage poet whose medieval scholarship informs the structure of "What the Eagle Fan Says." Jessica Rosenfeld, a professor of medieval literature at Washington University in St. Louis, joins us for this discussion. Carter Revard was a prolific poet and scholar. To learn more about hi…

1
Episode 52: Shakespeare, Sonnet 73 19:18

2+ y ago19:18

19:18

This sonnet reflects on the autumn of life and an intimate love, and it turns on that love growing stronger in and through its age, even as the body decays. To learn more about Shakespeare's sonnets, visit Folger Shakespeare page. Our favorite editions of Shakespeare's sonnets are edited by Colin Burrow and Stephen Booth. Sir Patrick Stewart's read…

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Episode 51: Martín Espada, Jumping Off the Mystic Tobin Bridge 30:20

2+ y ago30:20

30:20

To learn more about Martín Espada, click here. To read the poem, click here. This is the first poem that appears in Floaters, the winner of the 2021 National Book Award. To purchase a copy of the book, click here. Photo credit: Lauren Marie Schmidt (cropped to fit dimensions)By Joanne Diaz and Abram Van Engen

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Episode 50: Rafael Campo, Primary Care 22:24

2+ y ago22:24

22:24

In this episode, we discuss how Rafael Campo, a practicing physician, uses blank verse to explore the experience of illness and suffering. Thanks to the Georges Borchardt, Inc. for granting us permission to read this poem. You can find "Primary Care" in Alternative Medicine (Duke University Press, 2013). Links: Campo reads Primary Care Campo Author…

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Episode 49: Lisel Mueller, When I am Asked 19:57

2+ y ago19:57

19:57

In this episode, we closely read Lisel Mueller's "When I am Asked" in order to better understand grief as a deep source of artistic expression. We look at language as a source of connection and hope, even in the midst of sorrow and solitude. With this poem about the making of poetry (an_ ars poetica_), we come to see how one artist turned to the in…

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Episode 48: Joy Harjo, An American Sunrise 21:47

3y ago21:47

21:47

In this episode, we examine The Golden Shovel form and discuss the idea of "survivance" through the work of Muscogee (Creek) poet Joy Harjo, the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States. You can find the text of "An American Sunrise" here, though this is an earlier version of the poem. The final version appears in her finished book of the same title…

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Episode 47: Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass 26:39

3y ago26:39

26:39

In this episode, Christopher Hanlon joins us to discuss an excerpt from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. We discuss the poem's prophetic voice, its patterns of repetition, the connective tissue that binds his ideas and invites readers in, and the cultural context in which Whitman produced his work. To read the text of this poem, click here or see be…

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Episode 46: Lucille Clifton, spring song 17:35

3y ago17:35

17:35

Lucille Clifton (1936-2010) was one of the most powerful poets of the twentieth century. This joyful poem caps a sequence of sixteen poems called "some jesus," which walks through biblical characters (beginning with Adam and Eve) and ends on four poems for Holy Week and Easter. She wrote other poems on the Bible as well, including "john" and "my dr…

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From Talk Easy: Claudia Rankine’s Just Us: An American Conversation 15:33

3y ago15:33

15:33

We’re sharing a special preview of a podcast we’ve been enjoying, Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso, from Pushkin Industries. Talk Easy is a weekly interview podcast, where writer Sam Fragoso invites actors, writers, activists, and musicians to come to the table and speak from the heart in ways you probably haven't heard from them before. Driven by curios…

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Joanne Diaz And Abram Van Engen Podcasts

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