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.

Listen in podnod RSS feed Show website

99 episodes
Updated Tuesday

Episodes99

Newest first

Jan 22, 2025 · 33 min
The Age of Fire
Mike Sonksen on the Los Angeles fires and what it means to love a city in danger.
Jan 7, 2025 · 1 hr 8 min
Poets We Lost in 2024
Helen Vendler and Marjorie Perloff in the words of people who loved them.
Dec 17, 2024 · 54 min
Merchant of Joy
Caleb Femi on parties, golden pavements, and the downside of self-awareness.
Dec 3, 2024 · 53 min
You Are Beautiful
Cass Donish on grief rituals, putting on makeup, and letting in joy.
Nov 25, 2024 · 33 min
Our Marvelous Existence
Elisa Díaz Castelo on vertigo, breaking a chicken, and her grandmother's advice for a good life.
Nov 19, 2024 · 42 min
Spirit Times
Violeta Orozco on the US presidential election, leaving Mexico, and her connection to deep time.
Oct 22, 2024 · 50 min
Misclassified
Tyler Mills on the truth, how to love a cockroach, and her grandfather's silence about the bomb.
Oct 8, 2024 · 1 hr 5 min
Where I Live
A.B. Spellman on Jim Crow, alligator suede shoes, and shaking up the art of the castle.
Sep 24, 2024 · 1 hr 1 min
Painting From Life
Garth Greenwell on shame, small acts of love, and the patch of snow inside us.
Sep 4, 2024 · 46 min
Fool’s Errand
Idra Novey on exile, stereotypes, and making art the center of your life.
Aug 27, 2024 · 55 min
Trial and Error
Helena and Nicholson Baker on drawing your loved ones, the horrors of the world, and finding your way back to beauty.
Aug 13, 2024 · 57 min
Rise Together
Perry Janes on Hollywood, ego, and trying not to break his NDA.
Jul 30, 2024 · 49 min
The Magical Element
E.J. Koh on distance, broken English, and writing poems that forgive.
Jul 16, 2024 · 52 min
Ecology of Love
Camille Dungy on her garden, writing from the provinces, and the poetry of Anne Spencer.
Jul 2, 2024 · 46 min
Good For the World
Dorothea Lasky on The Shining, writing what you fear, and the ferocity of color.
Jun 18, 2024 · 53 min
A Stone Worth Addressing
Merlin Sheldrake on fungi, creativity, and the queerness of nature.
Jun 4, 2024 · 58 min
Habitual Sins
Elisa Gonzalez on bisexuality, humor, and working in finance.
May 21, 2024 · 52 min
Style All the Way Down
Joyelle McSweeney on sound, style icons, and the Ovidian landscape of her ear canal.
May 7, 2024 · 53 min
The Fire in Which We Burn
Sara Henning on radical truth, obsessive forms, and letting go of grief.
Apr 23, 2024 · 1 hr 4 min
My Heart and Its Borders
Philip Metres on middle age, writer's block, and praying for the people of Palestine.

Poetry Off the Shelf

The Age of Fire

Poets We Lost in 2024

Merchant of Joy

You Are Beautiful

Our Marvelous Existence

Spirit Times

Misclassified

Where I Live

Painting From Life

Fool’s Errand

Trial and Error

Rise Together

The Magical Element

Ecology of Love

Good For the World

A Stone Worth Addressing

Habitual Sins

Style All the Way Down

The Fire in Which We Burn

My Heart and Its Borders