In this episode, Roy Foster reads "Sailing to Byzantium" by William Butler Yeats. Foster is the Emeritus Professor of Irish History at the University of Oxford and the author of many books, including his classic, two-volume biography of Yeats, published in 1997 and 2003. In a review of the first volume published in the New York Review of Books, the Irish novelist John Banville wrote: “W.B. Yeats: A Life is a great and important work, a triumph of scholarship, thought, and empathy such as one...

This IPRP Poetry Playlist features three selections from Brendan's debut chapbook, Forgotten Frequencies, out now from North Dakota State University Press. The books were printed in a limited edition at The Braddock News Letterpress Museum in Braddock, ND and assembled by hand by students in the publishing program at North Dakota State University in Fargo. Purchase a copy of Forgotten Frequencies here. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Brb9k6kD6TMxl5YKT4VZ5 Subscribe...

In this episode, musician and writer Dessa reads an excerpt from “Natural Enemies of the Conch” by Alan Dugan. Dessa first gained prominence as a rapper with the Twin Cities hip hop collective Doomtree, but has since worked across many genres and creative disciplines. She has collaborated with the Minnesota Orchestra, published a memoir and poetry collections, and even hosted a BBC science podcast. Her fantastic new album, Bury the Lede, is an embrace of dance floor-ready pop...

Think of the storm roaming the sky uneasilylike a dog looking for a place to sleep in, listen to it growling. –ELIZABETH BISHOP For each IPRP Poetry Playlist, we curate a selection of three poems, loosely thematically related, presented with musical score, but without any commentary or historical context. We encourage you to approach these short episodes with the same relaxed attitude you might take toward a playlist on a burnt CD, given to you by a friend, which you casually...

In this episode, Tish Harrison Warren reads “Possible Answers to Prayer” by Scott Cairns. Warren is an Anglican priest and the author of two award-winning books, Liturgy of the Ordinary and Prayer in the Night. She also writes a weekly newsletter for the New York Times on “faith in private life and public discourse.”  “Possible Answers to Prayer” by Scott Cairns appears in Slow Pilgrim, published by Paraclete Press. Cairns is an American poet born in 1954. Much of his work explores...

What would it be like to experience a selection of poems with the same relaxed attitude you might take toward a playlist on a burnt CD, given to you by a friend, which you casually pop in on a long road trip? That's the question we're exploring with this new, extra-short episode format, which we'll be publishing in-between our full-length releases. We’re calling it a Poetry Playlist: three poems, loosely thematically related, presented with musical score, but without any commentary or...

In this episode, Alissa Rubin reads an excerpt from the ancient Greek epic The Iliad. Rubin is a Senior International Correspondent for The New York Times. She worked previously as the Bureau Chief in Baghdad, Paris, and Kabul. In 2016, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting for "thoroughly reported and movingly written accounts giving voice to Afghan women who were forced to endure unspeakable...

In this episode, Makoto Fujimura reads an excerpt from “Burnt Norton” by T. S. Eliot. Fujimura is a leading contemporary painter whose work fuses abstract expressionism with traditional Japanese painting styles. He is also the author of several books, including Art + Faith: A Theology of Making, out now from Yale University Press. https://open.spotify.com/episode/22qWbZwSKOZFHnuq7jxzb2 T. S. Eliot was an influential modernist poet, playwright, and literary critic born in St....

In this episode, Theo Padnos reads “The Drunken Boat” by Arthur Rimbaud. Padnos is an American writer and journalist. In 2012, he was kidnapped and held captive for two years by an Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria. His new book about the experience, "Blindfold: A Memoir of Capture, Torture, and Enlightenment," was described in the Atlantic as "the best of the genre, profound, poetic, and powerful." https://open.spotify.com/episode/0E57BTo2FI63XOPVyjsqrZ Arthur Rimbaud was a...

In this episode, Hrishikesh Hirway reads "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by William Butler Yeats. Hirway is the creator and host of several acclaimed podcasts, including Home Cooking (with Samin Nosrat), The West Wing Weekly (with Joshua Malina), and Song Exploder (which is now also a Netflix original series). On top of all that, Hirway manages a career as a composer and recording artist. At the beginning of this interview, you'll hear a short clip from his new single, "Between There and Here...

In this episode, Bon Appétit Editor-in-Chief Dawn Davis reads “Sonnet 171” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Davis joined Bon Appétit in November 2020 following a long career in book publishing. Through her visionary work at Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins, Davis oversaw the publication of numerous influential best sellers — from “The Pursuit of Happyness” by Chris Gardner to “The Known World” by Edward P. Jones.  Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American poet born in 1892. She became...

In this episode, Grian Chatten reads “The Windhover” by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Chatten is the frontman of the Irish post-punk band Fontaines D.C., recently described by NME as "the new heroes of the rock resurrection." The members of the group met while attending music college in Dublin and initially bonded over a shared love for Irish literature. Their second album, A Hero's Death, has been nominated for a 2021 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. Gerard Manley Hopkins was an English poet and...

In this episode, Alec Soth reads "Of Modern Poetry" by Wallace Stevens. Soth is a photographer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has published over twenty-five books and has been called a "living legend" and "one of the most important photographers working today" by the Washington Post. Soth's recent photo book, I Know How Furiously Your Heart is Beating, is a stunning collection of portraits and interiors from around the world. Soth has described the collection as an attempt to "strip the...

In this episode, Sheryl Paul reads from "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman. Paul is a counselor working in the tradition of Jungian depth psychology. She runs the popular blog and website, Conscious Transitions, and is the author, most recently, of The Wisdom of Anxiety: How Worry & Intrusive Thoughts Are Gifts to Help You Heal. Paul writes of anxiety not as a disorder to be eradicated, but as a wise messenger from the unconscious and an invitation to self-trust. A key companion on Paul’s...

In this episode, Jennifer Crandall reads "Keeping Things Whole" by Mark Strand. Crandall is a documentary filmmaker and journalist. She is the creator, most recently, of Whitman, Alabama – a must-watch web series in which Alabama residents recite passages from Walt Whitman's poem, "Song of Myself." Crandall has described the project as "an experiment in using documentary and poetry to reveal the threads that tie us together — as people, as states, and as a nation." “Keeping Things...

In this episode, Robert Alter reads from his translation of the Song of Songs. Alter is a literary critic and translator based at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2018, he published a landmark, one-man translation of the entire Hebrew Bible – the culmination of over two decades of scholarship. The Song of Songs – sometimes referred to as the Song of Solomon – is a book of the Hebrew Bible, typically dated to the 4th century BCE. The Song of Songs, 4:8 – 5:1,...

In this episode, Enrique Martínez Celaya reads “Elegy for Ramón Sijé” by Miguel Hernández. Martínez Celaya is a world-renowned painter, sculptor, and the author of On Art & Mindfulness, among other books. He lives and works in Los Angeles. Miguel Hernández (1910-1942) was an early 20th-century Spanish poet. The elegy featured in this episode was written after the death of his close friend and mentor, Ramón Sijé, in 1935. The score heard throughout this episode was created...

In this episode, composer Libby Larsen reads “Wolf Song in Los Angeles” by Bill Holm. Larsen is one of the most prolific and most performed living American composers. Bill Holm (1943 - 2009) was a poet and essayist who lived in western Minnesota. Throughout the episode, you’ll hear excerpts from Larsen’s musical setting of “Wolf Song in Los Angeles” - performed by Clara Osowski, with piano accompaniment by Casey Rafn. “Wolf Song in Los Angeles” by Bill Holm appears in the collection...

In this episode, On Being Project founder and CEO Krista Tippett reads “God speaks to each of us as he makes us” by Rainer Maria Rilke. She shares how the poem gave her courage and resolve during the creation of her public radio show, Speaking of Faith, in 2003. In the years since, Speaking of Faith has grown and evolved into The On Being Project, a media and public life initiative exploring the intersection of spiritual inquiry, science, social healing, community, poetry, and the...

In this episode, U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar reads “Conversations about home (at the deportation centre)” by Warsan Shire and reflects on the many meanings of home. On November 6, 2018, Omar became the first Somali American, and one of the first two Muslim women elected to U.S. Congress. She represents Minnesota's 5th congressional district. This interview was recorded in 2017, when Omar was still serving in the Minnesota State House of Representatives. “Conversations about home (at...

In this episode, entomologist Dr. Marla Spivak reads “When Grapes Turn to Wine” by Rumi and discusses the changes in consciousness needed to rectify our relationship with the non-human world. Dr. Spivak is a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow known for her groundbreaking research on bee behavior and biology. “When Grapes Turn to Wine” by Rumi, translated by Robert Bly, appears in the book If Bees Are Few: A Hive of Bee Poems, published by University of Minnesota Press. A portion of all proceeds...

In this episode, playwright Harrison David Rivers reads “For My Own Protection” by Essex Hemphill and discusses the use of the poem in his recent play, This Bitter Earth. Rivers is the recipient of fellowships from the McKnight and Jerome Foundations and is a core writer at the Playwright's Center. “For My Own Protection” by Essex Hemphill appears in the collection Ceremonies, published by Plume. As always, the Haiku Hotline (612-440-0643) is open for your short poems and poetic...

In this episode, Chris Kraus reads “Miserable Life” by Steve Levine and discusses how New York School poetry influenced the development of her distinctive style. Kraus is the author of I Love Dick (now an Amazon Original Series) and, most recently, After Kathy Acker. “Miserable Life” is used by permission from To and For (Coffee House Press, 1992). Copyright © 1992 by Steve Levine. Keep up with Chris Kraus' latest releases at Semiotext(e). As always, the Haiku Hotline (612-440-0643)...