Poetry Spoken Here

Haiku master Randy Brooks is featured. Brooks reads his poems, discusses teaching haiku, and the aural and social traditions of the form. Brooks is proprietor of Brooks Books haiku publishing house. Robert Hass’ book, "The Essential Haiku," is reviewed in the second part of the show.

Wisconsin poet, John Sierpinski reflects on his personal poetic journey and how he has been influenced by beat poets. Freesia McKee discusses her experience bringing poetry into prisons.

Poetry and music is the subject of this special episode which features historic recordings by Carl Sandburg, William Butler Yeats and Allen Ginsberg as well as interviews with singer-songwriter Brian Laidlaw and composer Ellie Rourke.

Chicago performance poet, Jacqueline Nicole Harris discusses her inspirations, and reads examples of her passionate work. In the second part of the show, Maria Mazziotti Gillan talks about her book, "Writing Poetry to Save Your Life: How to Find the Courage to Tell Your Stories" full of advice and wisdom to help writers unlock their creative potential. We also offer a quick remembrance of Frank Sinatra's album of tone poems originally released in 1956.

Andy Karol is a Chicago performance poet whose work has been called “raw, visceral, sensual, and rich in imagery.” She muses about her creative process, the anxieties of parenting, and discusses what inspires her. Learn more about Andy and see videos of her performing on her website: http://www.andykarol.com/ In the second part of the show, we talk with NYC’s Mason Granger. When he is not performing as one third of the Mayhem Poets, he is busy building a poetry app, SlamFind, designed to help poetic travelers locate slam venues and poets across North America. Learn more about SlamFind and sign up yourself or your event at: http://www.slamfind.com/.

A special holiday episode of Poetry Spoken Here examining poetry's long relationship with the themes of family and home. The show opens with a reflection on how those themes are used in Homer's Odyssey, the second oldest work in the western cannon. Next, a conversation with Italian-American poet Maria Maziotti Gillan about her work reflecting on her upbringing in an immigrant family. In the final part of the show, we talk to Bill Schmidtkunz of Sutton, Alaska whose personal search for home lead him ever north.

Poet and artist Emily Calvo discusses her new book, "Lending Color to the Otherwise Absurd" and her recent battle with cancer. While in the hospital, she blogged her experience daily at https://emilyshead.wordpress.com. In the second part of the show, we talk to performance writer Anja Notanja Sieger who creates spontaneous written pieces for any occasion. We talk to her about her wide-ranging projects.

A special themed episode of Poetry Spoken Here examining the theory and practice of Poetry Therapy. We talk to Lynn Kapitan, recent past-president of the American Art Therapy Association, Nick Mazza, founding and current editor of the Journal of Poetry Therapy, and Beth Jacobs, a psychotherapist who uses poetry and expressive writing in her practice.

Poet-photographer, Sharon Auberle, of Door County, WI is featured. Sharon has published several books of poetry, and her photography has graced the pages of her own work as well as that of other poets. For nine years she has authored the website, Mimi’s Golightly Café, which can be found at: http://sharonauberle.blogspot.com. In the second part of the show, we talk with poet-publisher Michael Czarnecki of upstate New York about his 14-week, 48-state reading tour.

Gregorio Gomez runs one of the most notorious open mics in the country at Weeds in Chicago. Gomez has been a fixture in the Chicago poetry scene for many years. He shares with us stories of how he came to be the emcee at Weeds, and why he signs his e-mails "The Ghost Who Walks." In the second part of the show, we talk to Albany poet (and last week's feature) Dan Wilcox about his collection of photos of unknown poets, the largest in the world.

Albany poet and activist Dan Wilcox is featured. He reads poems ranging in subject matter from a coyote who contemplates the many lovers of bored housewives, to a vivid description of the cast of characters at an open mic. In the second part of the show, Chicago Poet, Gregorio Gomez, discusses the impact of being bi-lingual on his writing, and his experience of poetry.

Jude Genereaux of Ellison Bay and Long Lake, Wisconsin. She reads poems of family, the natural world and life with Norb Blei, her partner until his passing in 2013. In the second part of the show we examine the poem “She Walks in Beauty” with Twin Cities professor Geri Chavis, and expert in romantic poetry. Special reading of "She Walks in Beauty" by Paul Geiger.

Jeff Poniewaz passed away in December 2014 after a long battle with cancer. In January 2015, his long-time partner Antler remembered him, reading a selection of his poems at the annual poetry marathon held at Woodland Pattern in Milwaukee. In the second part of the show, host Charlie Rossiter reviews Gary Snyder's new book "This Present Moment."

Special musical episode featuring the harmonica playing of featured poet, Patrick Reninger.

Chicago poet and harmonica player Patrick Reninger is featured. Lawrence Ferlinghetti's new book "Blasts, Cries, Laughter" is reviewed in the second part of the show.

Features the poetry of Wisconsin poet Alice D'Alessio, and a discussion of the intense imagery used by Ted Kooser and James Laughlin.

The inaugural episode of Poetry Spoken Here features an interview/reading with Albert DeGenova, founding co-editor of After Hours: a journal of Chicago writing and art. The second part of the show looks at the impact of how poems are read on their meaning, with comments by Gwendolyn Brooks on her poem "The Pool Players. Seven at the Golden Shovel." popularly known as "We Real Cool."