In a taxi, a poet speaks to the driver. It’s the only taxi in town. He mentions travel, mentions Afghanistan, that he was there with the forces. She’s from Afghanistan and the conversation continues — awkward; complicated; him trying to say good things, but failing; her feeling like she should rescue him, but deciding not to. War is upended by the point of v ... Show More
Oct 5
Poetry Unbound in Conversation — Martín Espada
“Politics by themselves are necessary but not sufficient … [and] poetry by itself is necessary but not sufficient. We must find a way to bring them together,” says Martín Espada, a poet and professor. With crystalline language, an all-seeing gaze, and innate musicality, he writes ... Show More
55m 40s
Sep 18
Poetry Unbound in Conversation — Amanda Quaid
After actor, dialect coach, and teacher Amanda Quaid was diagnosed with a serious illness in 2021, she responded by trying something new — she wrote poetry. She says, “I was looking for an art form that allowed me to be with uncertainty in a beautiful way.” The result is a captiv ... Show More
51m 38s
Sep 4
Poetry Unbound in Conversation — Haleh Liza Gafori
Poet, translator, and musician Haleh Liza Gafori describes the revered 13th-century Persian poet Rumi as “a good pal to humanity”. As she puts it, “He's rooting for our liberation.” In this exuberant conversation recorded for the 2025 Greenbelt Festival, she reads some of her tra ... Show More
57m 32s
Nov 2021
Aria Aber Reads Frank Bidart
Aria Aber joins Kevin Young to read “Half Light,” by Frank Bidart, and her own poem “Dirt and Light.” Aber is a Whiting Award recipient, a current Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, and the author of “Hard Damage,” which won the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry. ... Show More
37m 42s
Mar 2018
Naomi Shihab Nye — Your Life Is a Poem
“When you’re in a very quiet place, when you’re remembering, when you’re savoring an image, when you’re allowing your mind calmly to leap from one thought to another, that’s a poem.” Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “Kindness” has traveled around the world. She grew up between Ferguson, M ... Show More
51m 55s
Jan 2024
Kaveh Akbar Finds Meaning in Martyrdom
Kaveh Akbar weighs every word that he writes. An accomplished and published poet, any reader can tell that he understands the undeniable power of language with his first novel, called Martyr! Engaging, funny, fascinating and downright beautiful, Martyr! grabs your attention by th ... Show More
38m 17s
Jan 2024
Kaveh Akbar's novel 'Martyr!' is a journey of identity, addiction and poetry
Halfway through today's episode, author Kaveh Akbar tells NPR's Scott Simon that his life is a summation of "private joys amidst collective grief and private grief amidst collective joy." It's a contrast that contextualizes his emotionally dark yet deeply funny debut novel, Marty ... Show More
8m 22s
Nov 2022
Two poetry collections find beauty in unexpected places
Poet Franny Choi knows that marginalized communities have been facing apocalypses forever. But in her new book, The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On, she uses their survival as a way to look forward. In this episode, she tells NPR's Leila Fadel how understanding that pai ... Show More
20m 21s
Aug 2025
"The Unprompted," a poem that AI will never understand | Salome Agbaroji
What happens when a poet talks back to AI? In an electrifying performance, Salome Agbaroji performs her original spoken-word poem, "The Unprompted," weaving a powerful reflection on humanity, technology and what no machine can match.Vote for our show in the Signal Awards for Most ... Show More
6m 30s