The New Yorker: Poetry cover image

Catherine Barnett Reads Wislawa Szymborska

The New Yorker: Poetry

CHAPTER

The Strangeness of Foreign Words

There's a real mix of recognition in the poem and then a foreignness I was thinking and a strangeness let's call it. What I am interested in is if you can imagine that situation then what else could you imagine after that? And I think Simorska is great at that. She weirdly is like an improvisational expert because in improv you say if this strange thing is true then what else might be true. So if someone's standing there at the freezer what else could happen, to let the mind move forward, move into the yes of possibility and strangeness. It's not accident but there is a quality what you're mentioning I think of absurd accident almost that then how

00:00
Transcript
Play full episode

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts

Save insights instantly, chat with episodes, and build lasting knowledge - all powered by AI.
App store bannerPlay store banner