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
May 3, 2022 • 1h 4min
The Neverending Quest
Sylvie Kandé and her translator Alexander Dickow on the courage of migrants, the limits of language, and an epic without a nation.
Apr 19, 2022 • 54min
The Body You Control
Kim Moore on playing the trumpet, misogyny, and the men we love.
Apr 5, 2022 • 52min
Pushing the Ear
Tommye Blount on transformation, Kids Incorporate, and the joy of drowning in diction.
Mar 22, 2022 • 1h 2min
Blossoms in Ukraine
Oksana Maksymchuk and Oksana Lutsyshyna on life as a refugee, the God of comfort, and the deep roots of the war.
Mar 8, 2022 • 53min
Listen for My Name
Julie Enszer and Elena Gross on community care, the AIDS epidemic, and OutWrite, the conference that shaped queer literary history.
Feb 22, 2022 • 45min
Ghost Diplomat
Hoa Nguyen on photographs, her mother's past with the motorcycle circus, and the quiet ways to talk to ghosts.
Feb 8, 2022 • 53min
My Body, My Stones
Poet and playwright Malcolm Tariq on listening, field trips with his brother, and the perils of dating while Black.
Jan 25, 2022 • 56min
The Big Hollow
Kaveh Akbar on human wondering, fat squirrels, and the best spouse in the world.
Jan 10, 2022 • 58min
A Little Wrong
Bianca Stone on family trauma, wrinkled towels, and the case against self-improvement.
Dec 21, 2021 • 31min
Poets We Lost in 2021
Remembering the life, poetry, and activism of Janice Mirikitani, plus a few words on love by bell hooks.
