Poetry Off the Shelf

Poetry Foundation

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.

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99 episodes
Updated Tuesday

Episodes99

Newest first

Tuesday · 52 min
Until the Last Second
Maya C. Popa on the monkey at the pet store, beauty, and waking up to the world as it is.
July 14 · 1 hr 11 min
My Old Self
Laura Kolbe on hormones, sainthood, and the trouble with change.
July 1 · 45 min
We Hold These Truths
America at 250.
June 16 · 49 min
An Act of Mercy
Serena Chopra on prairie grass, manic rage, and the memories in her ears.
June 2 · 46 min
Don’t Make Any Noise
J Brooke on testosterone, incinerators, and the mobster at home.
May 19 · 40 min
The Act of Touching
Chris Crowder on muscles, privacy, and being Captain Safety.
April 28 · 55 min
Hereafter Parties
Arielle Hebert on Florida, driving with the windows down, and tallying up the dead.
April 14 · 49 min
A Handful of Dust
Iain McGilchrist on Rip Van Winkle, the poet's brain, and the real word for sunshine.
March 31 · 57 min
The Wrong Details
D.S. Waldman on the left hand, losing his brother, and introducing the most wounded part.
March 17 · 53 min
The Character in the Corner
Sony Ton-Aimé on radical joy, pig blood, and the ancestors we forgot.
March 3 · 58 min
Those Bodies We Borrowed
Monica Ferrell on robot apples, Playboy bunnies, and botox vs. crow's feet.
February 17 · 56 min
What It Takes to Be a Man
James Ciano on sports, masculinity, and the desperation to belong.
February 3 · 48 min
How to Survive on an Island
Stephanie Niu on being lost at sea, crab bridges, and finding the heart of the world.
January 20 · 43 min
The Multiverse of Me
Diamond Forde on poison, fan fiction, and writing the Great American Vampire Novel.
Dec 30, 2025 · 36 min
Poets We Lost in 2025
Remembering Ellen Bryant Voigt, plus a few words on mortality by Andrea Gibson.
Dec 16, 2025 · 56 min
An Old Face
Amanda Quaid on cancer, being bad in New York, and erotic hands.
Dec 2, 2025 · 45 min
An Impossible Wish
Tracy K. Smith on her Hello Kitty notebook, automatic writing, and the afterlife.
Nov 18, 2025 · 56 min
Body of Water
Chet'la Sebree on fertility, the ocean, and sonnets about menstruation.
Nov 4, 2025 · 46 min
What Heaven Looks Like
brittny ray crowell on grief, the scent of burning leaves, and finding her way back.
Oct 21, 2025 · 48 min
We Dream of Each Other
Kay Gabriel on embarrassment, labor organizing, and the discipline of hope.

Poetry Off the Shelf

Until the Last Second

My Old Self

We Hold These Truths

An Act of Mercy

Don’t Make Any Noise

The Act of Touching

Hereafter Parties

A Handful of Dust

The Wrong Details

The Character in the Corner

Those Bodies We Borrowed

What It Takes to Be a Man

How to Survive on an Island

The Multiverse of Me

Poets We Lost in 2025

An Old Face

An Impossible Wish

Body of Water

What Heaven Looks Like

We Dream of Each Other