The New Yorker: Poetry Erika Meitner Reads Philip Levine
11 snips
May 21, 2025 In this engaging discussion, poet Erika Meitner, who directs the MFA program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, shares insights about the emotional weight of labor through Philip Levine's poignant poem 'What Work Is.' She reflects on the significance of art in expressing the complexities of work and personal relationships. Meitner also explores the themes of connection in her own poem 'To Gather Together,' highlighting the challenges and resilience of human relationships post-pandemic. The conversation touches on poetry's evolution in response to contemporary crises.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Erika Meitner's Levine Connection
- Erika Meitner found Philip Levine's "What Work Is" poem accessible and narratively compelling as a teenager.
- She received encouraging feedback from Levine on her own Detroit project poems, which she cherishes.
The Poem's Exclusion and Inclusion
- Levine's poem starts by excluding the reader with "forget you," challenging who the poem is for.
- The poem blurs lines between artist and laborer, implicating even the poet in the experience of work.
Waiting as Learned Endurance
- Waiting is portrayed as a learned, almost performative skill honed through repeated experience.
- Levine’s poem embodies a working-class realism infused with humor, anger, and defiance that sustains endurance.
