It has been awhile since we have posted a "Poetry! What Is It Good For" episode. And this one was not done on Zoom but with the living poets before us at Gebhard's Beer Culture Bar on Manhattan's Upper West Side. For this conversation we talked about running live poetry readings with three poets and organizers: Anton Yakovlev is a well-published poet born in Moscow, Russia; he co-hosts the Carmine Street Metrics poetry reading series. We first heard about Lola Koundakjian when she hosted...

The Poetry Foundation editors write: “When major parts of our lives seem to change in a flash, we are reminded that poetry can help us to cope with new realities and to assess the unknowns ahead. When we are stepping out into uncharted terrain, alone or together, poetry can capture our emotions. It can share our vulnerabilities and scars, along with our strengths.” Today. we are sharing the first program of our new podcast co-produced with Chris Brandt -- “Poetry. What is it good for?” For...

PWIIGF podcast brings together two poets who have something in common read and talk about their work. For this episode we consider how word, image and mass interact within the creative artist.  Rick Mullin’s poetry has been published in many journals and anthologies, including The Dark Horse, American Arts Quarterly, The New Criterion, and Rabbit Ears: TV Poems. His collection “Lullaby and Wheel,” was published in 2019 by Kelsay Books. When he was in his mid-30s Rick visited the Los Angeles...

Coming out of the call for “Black Power” in the 1960s by Malcolm X and others, historian and playwright Larry Neal describes a new breed of Black artist taking on the contradictions of the Black person’s experience in the racist West and developing a “black aesthetic.” For this "Poetry--What Is It Good For?" episode, we talked with one of the lead architects of Black Arts Movement [BAM] poetry, Eugene B. Redmond -- the longtime poet laureate of East St. Louis -- and with poet and Redmond...

We were joined by two world-class poets from Hispaniola -- Jean Dany Joachim writes in Haitian Creole and Spanish poet Rhina P. Espaillat who left the Dominican Republic as a young girl fleeing the Trujillo massacre of 1937. Their poetry cuts to the bone of the immigrant experience in simple but deeply revealing ways. This episode is a lively conversation with lovely people who interpret their poetry in most accessible performances. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Estha Weiner was born in Maine and from an early age, yearned to live in New York City and be an actress. Her early experiences as an actor and working for the BBC clearly show up in her poetry. Amongst her many other books of poetry – At the Last Minute – was published in Ireland in 2019. Her poems have appeared in The New Republic and Barrow Street and many others. Estha is an alum of Sarah Lawrence where she is the founding director of the College’s  NY Alumni/ae Writers Nights.  She is a...

This was a fun +hour talking with two brilliant poets who mentor each other's new work. MERVYN TAYLOR born and lives in Trinidad, and now retired there, Mervyn graduated from Howard and Columbia Universities. He taught at Bronx Community College, The Young Adult Learning Academy, He has published six books of poetry and won the Paterson Poetry Prize for sustained literary achievement.  His poetry focuses on the particular and the personal, but there's always somehow the consciousness of the...

"Poetry! What is it good for?" [PWIIGF] originated as a Bar Crawl Radio series and is now its own podcast. This episode continues our conversation with three poets who advocate and write about the potential of peace in world that celebrates war -- Veronica Golos, Angelo Verga, and Chris Brandt [Chris is also one of the co-hosts of PWIIGF]. This conversation opens with a rendition of "America the Beautiful" performed by the students of the Curtis Institute of Music and conducted by Robert...

In 2002 this country began a war against the Taliban in Afghanistan -- 18 years later – that war continues. Three New York poets, Veronica Golos, Angelo Verga, and Chris Brandt decided that we could not stand by and bemoan U.S. policies. They organized events in which poets expressed their opposition to war’s destruction of life, and efforts to create understanding of life -- in language. Takes this opportunity to visit with three poets sharing their artful, deeply felt, and gut-wrenching...

OK -- sit down -- calm your busy mind -- and get ready to listen to two amazing poets read and talk about their work. Martin Espada is a world-renowned poet who tells the stories of the Puerto Rican diaspora experience. Lauren Schmidt's poems live on the ground -- are raw and brave, exposing the sacred lives of the oppressed and the unspoken secrets of familial love. And a bonus -- Lauren and Martin are married; this is the first time they have talked about how their work and relationship...

"Poetry! What is it good for?" [PWIIGF] is a BCR series focusing on the committed and reverberating poetry of our times -- produced by Chris Brandt of Fordham University, English Dept. -- and member of Witness Against Torture. For this PWIIGF episode, Chris invited two members of the inspiring NYC activist performance group The Peace Poets -- a "family born of Hip Hop, heart, and hope in New York City." In 2014 Peace Poets song "I Can't Breathe" protesting the murder of Eric Garner by...

This episode of "Poetry! What is it good for?" [PWIIGF] was first produced in April 2019 as part of the Bar Crawl Radio podcast. PWIIGF hosts-Chris Brandt, Rebecca Mckean and Alan Winson -- spoke with poets, -- Martha Collins and Sarah Gambito about racial and ethnic borders and the possibility of crossing them in new and healthy ways. We recorded at Gebhard's Beer Culture Bar on W. 72nd Street. Contact Us -- [email protected] See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out...

What about that idea? We recently elected for president a reality-show-celeb-brand-mogul-liar-cheat-con-man-sexual-deviant. How about America chooses a poet for president? This was one of many ideas that came up in our delightful, fun conversations at Gebhard's Beer Culture Bar with three poet/performers who had participated in the World Poetry Movement event called "For a World Without Walls" held at the St. Illuminator's Armenian Apostolic Cathedral  in February 2019. See...

The Poetry Foundation editors write: “When major parts of our lives seem to change in a flash, we are reminded that poetry can help us to cope with new realities and to assess the unknowns ahead. When we are stepping out into uncharted terrain, alone or together, poetry can capture our emotions. It can share our vulnerabilities and scars, along with our strengths.” This is the first program of a new podcast co-produced with Bar Crawl Radio and Chris Brandt -- “Poetry. What is it good for?” ...

Poetry! What is it good for? podcast will launch on August 10th 2021 with a remembrance of the 9/11 tragedy at its 20 year anniversary with Cornelius Eady and J. Chester Johnson. Let us know if you would like to be added to our newsletter with information about upcoming PWIIGF programming. Contact: [email protected] See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.