Poetry Off the Shelf

Episodes

• We Hold These Truths 01.07.2026 45m

  America at 250.
• An Act of Mercy 16.06.2026 49m

  Serena Chopra on prairie grass, manic rage, and the memories in her ears.
• Don’t Make Any Noise 02.06.2026 46m

  J Brooke on testosterone, incinerators, and the mobster at home.
• The Act of Touching 19.05.2026 40m

  Chris Crowder on muscles, privacy, and being Captain Safety.
• Hereafter Parties 28.04.2026 55m

  Arielle Hebert on Florida, driving with the windows down, and tallying up the dead.
• A Handful of Dust 14.04.2026 49m

  Iain McGilchrist on Rip Van Winkle, the poet's brain, and the real word for sunshine.
• The Wrong Details 31.03.2026 57m

  D.S. Waldman on the left hand, losing his brother, and introducing the most wounded part.
• The Character in the Corner 17.03.2026 53m

  Sony Ton-Aimé on radical joy, pig blood, and the ancestors we forgot.
• Those Bodies We Borrowed 03.03.2026 58m

  Monica Ferrell on robot apples, Playboy bunnies, and botox vs. crow's feet.
• What It Takes to Be a Man 17.02.2026 56m

  James Ciano on sports, masculinity, and the desperation to belong.
• How to Survive on an Island 03.02.2026 48m

  Stephanie Niu on being lost at sea, crab bridges, and finding the heart of the world.
• The Multiverse of Me 20.01.2026 43m

  Diamond Forde on poison, fan fiction, and writing the Great American Vampire Novel.
• Poets We Lost in 2025 30.12.2025 36m

  Remembering Ellen Bryant Voigt, plus a few words on mortality by Andrea Gibson.
• An Old Face 16.12.2025 56m

  Amanda Quaid on cancer, being bad in New York, and erotic hands. 
• An Impossible Wish 02.12.2025 45m

  Tracy K. Smith on her Hello Kitty notebook, automatic writing, and the afterlife. 
• Body of Water 18.11.2025 56m

  Chet'la Sebree on fertility, the ocean, and sonnets about menstruation.
• What Heaven Looks Like 04.11.2025 46m

  brittny ray crowell on grief, the scent of burning leaves, and finding her way back.
• We Dream of Each Other 21.10.2025 48m

  Kay Gabriel on embarrassment, labor organizing, and the discipline of hope.
• Glow in the Dark 30.09.2025 50m

  Martha Silano in memoriam: on blushing knees, fairy houses, and preparing your kids for loss.
• Mentor for Life 16.09.2025 1h 4m

  Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize winner Rigoberto González on immigration raids, rhythm, and his father’s last words.