PoetryNow

Series produced by The Poetry Foundation

Series image

If you've ever been curious about why and how a poem gets made, PoetryNow is a weekly 4-minute, modular radio program that offers an audio immersion into the concept of a poem. Listen to and follow the inner workings of a new poem as poets read and talk about their work on PoetryNow, a presentation of The Poetry Foundation.

The series will feature 52 episodes available for stations to broadcast in any quantity or combination, at no cost, starting June.


176 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: Quraysh Ali Lansana, poet, Credit: Alan Tarin
Quraysh Ali Lansana recalls a compromised night on the U.S./Mexico border.

Bought by KALW, KHSU, PRX Remix, and KENW


  • Added: Mar 20, 2017
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Kaveh Akbar, poet, Credit: Paige Lewis
Kaveh Akbar describes a nascent sexuality emerging in a life troubled by alcohol.

Bought by KALW and KENW


  • Added: Mar 09, 2017
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Shane McCrae, poet
Shane McCrae imagines the life of the adopted son of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Bought by KALW and KENW


  • Added: Mar 06, 2017
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Philip Jenks, poet
Philip Jenks considers the word “dust,” from Biblical language to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

Bought by KALW, KENW, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Feb 24, 2017
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Hannah Brooks-Motl, poet, Credit: CS Ward
Hannah Brooks-Motl reflects on the course of a life and its future

Bought by PRX Remix, KENW, and KALW


  • Added: Feb 17, 2017
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Roberto Tejada, poet, Credit: Hillsman Jackson
Roberto Tejada guides through an underworld of surveillance.

Bought by KALW and KENW


  • Added: Feb 13, 2017
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Eric Amling. poet
Eric Amling remembers the death of a beloved celebrity and considers a world saturated in pharmaceuticals.

Bought by KALW and KENW


  • Added: Feb 06, 2017
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Monica McClure, poet, Credit: David Worthington
Monica McClure imagines a prophet in the forest who collects the lives of men.

Bought by KALW, KHSU, KENW, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jan 30, 2017
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Garrett Caples, Credit: Suzanne Kleid
Garrett Caples pays tribute to poet Bill Berkson, a personal friend and a central figure in American poetry since the 1960s.

Bought by KALW, KHSU, and KENW


  • Added: Jan 23, 2017
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Joshua Clover, poet, Credit: C. Dingler
For the 2017 Presidential Inauguration, Joshua Clover offers to read poetry at the White House.

Bought by KENW, KHSU, KRZA, KMUD, New Hampshire Public Radio and more


  • Added: Jan 11, 2017
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Rachel Galvin, poet, Credit: Nicholas Barberio
Rachel Galvin contemplates the politics of complicity.

Bought by KALW, KHSU, and KENW


  • Added: Dec 21, 2016
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Yusef Komunyakaa, poet
Yusef Komunyakaa remembers a swimming hole frequented as a child.

Bought by KALW, KENW, KHSU, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Dec 30, 2016
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: John Yau, poet, Credit: Eve Aschheim
John Yau meditates on mortality and the remembrance of the dead.

Bought by KALW, KHSU, KENW, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Dec 19, 2016
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Andrew Joron, Poet
Andrew Joron mediates on the cycle of the moon in language that shifts and slips in meaning.

Bought by KHNS, KALW, and KENW


  • Added: Dec 12, 2016
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Yolanda Wisher, poet, Credit: Ryan Collerd
Yolanda Wisher wonders about the type of heart the Tin Woman might long to have.

Bought by KHSU, KENW, and KALW


  • Added: Dec 05, 2016
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Idra Novey, poet, Credit: Donata Zannoti
Idra Novey imagines the thoughts of a man pregnant with a panda bear.

Bought by KHSU, KALW, and KENW


  • Added: Nov 28, 2016
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Patricia Spears Jones, poet, Credit: Rachel Eliza Griffiths
Patricia Spears Jones considers the dynamics of race through the lens of a 1930s Mae West film.

Bought by KHSU, KALW, and KENW


  • Added: Nov 21, 2016
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Margaret Noodin, poet, Credit: Troye Fox
Margaret Noodin sings a poem in Anishinaabemowin and discusses Native American languages and heritage.

Bought by KZMU Moab Community Radio, KHNS, KHSU, KALW, and KENW


  • Added: Nov 16, 2016
  • Length: 03:59
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Dara Wier, poet, Credit: Julia Johnson
Dara Wier meditates on the mind’s need for security and sanctuary from a troubled world.

Bought by KALW, PRX Remix, and KENW


  • Added: Nov 07, 2016
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Jose Javier Zamora, poet , Credit: Ana Ruth Zamora
Javier Zamora describes his journey as a young migrant crossing the desert into the U.S.

Bought by KHSU, KALW, KENW, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Oct 26, 2016
  • Length: 04:00
  • Purchases: 4