Poetry Off the Shelf
Producer Helena de Groot talks to poets about language, dreams, love and loss, identity, connection, anger, discomfort, the creative process, the state of the world and the world of the soul. Hard conversations are welcomed—laughter is, too.
Latest episodes
Nov 30, 2023 • 54min
Cease and Desist
Laura Mullen on academia, death threats, and doing the next brave thing.
Nov 14, 2023 • 46min
Falling Off the Stairs
Daniel Brock Johnson on risk, a T-shirt mantra, and life after the death of his friend James Foley.
Oct 31, 2023 • 47min
Ghost Sister
Sebastian Merrill on the voice of his former self, the underworld, and laughing during yoga.
Oct 17, 2023 • 53min
Living in And Times
Sahar Muradi on cyclical time, leather butterflies, and saying goodbye to her father.
Oct 3, 2023 • 55min
Pen Pals
Sean Cole on loneliness, fear of aging, and what poems can do.
Sep 19, 2023 • 58min
Notes From the Bathhouse
Eric Sneathen on queer utopia, bad writing, and San Francisco in the ’70s.
Sep 5, 2023 • 1h 2min
The Magic Section
Irène Mathieu on pediatrics, suburbs without a TV, and our body's unknown terrain.
Aug 22, 2023 • 45min
My Totally Normal Crisis
Natalie Shapero discusses her poetic style and themes, being a contestant on Wheel of Fortune, working on a film and TV production set, and the intersection of theory and personal experience in poetry. They also explore money thinking, risk in poetry, and the affirmation of life in poems about death.
Aug 8, 2023 • 32min
The Eldest Daughter
Rosanna Young Oh on her parents’ grocery store, leaving poetry, and the duties of the firstborn.
Jul 25, 2023 • 56min
Invisible Hands
Airea D. Matthews on self-interest, starry skies, and her parents’ fateful wedding day.
