Poet Laureate Ada Limón discusses her poem 'The End of Poetry' exploring themes of nature, spirituality, grief, and authentic human connections. Hear her passionate plea for connection and how language failed her in this emotional piece.
Ada Limón challenges traditional poetic themes, advocating for deeper exploration of human experience.
The episode highlights a need for more authentic and raw emotional connection in poetry, addressing universal struggles and vulnerabilities.
Deep dives
Exploration of the Overwhelming Themes in Poetry
The podcast delves into the saturation of poetic themes, expressing a desire to move away from traditional motifs like nature, faith, and personal reflection. It critiques the repetitive nature of these themes, highlighting a longing for deeper, more profound exploration. The speaker emphasizes a yearning to transcend conventional poetic subjects and to delve into more complex and challenging aspects of human experience.
Call for Connection and Emotional Depth
The episode calls for a deeper emotional connection in poetry, moving beyond surface-level observations and exploring the essence of human existence. It reflects on themes of isolation, desperation, and the search for meaning, urging for a more visceral and authentic portrayal of these universal emotions. The speaker encourages a shift towards addressing profound human struggles and vulnerabilities, seeking a raw and powerful connection with both the self and the reader.
An impassioned plea, a yearning for connection — the poem U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón wrote when she says all language failed her. Take in Ada's reading of her piece, “The End of Poetry” — and hear her read more of her work in the On Being episode, “To Be Made Whole.”
Ada Limón is the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. She’s written six books of poetry, including The Carrying, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry, and Bright Dead Things, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her most recent volume is The Hurting Kind. As poet laureate, she edited the collection You Are Here, part of her signature project focusing on how poetry can connect us to the natural world. She is a 2023 MacArthur Fellow, a former host of the poetry podcast The Slowdown, and an instructor in the MFA program at Queens University of Charlotte, in North Carolina.
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