Ellen Bass is a poet, non-fiction author, and teacher. She is the author of many collections and books including Like a Beggar, The Human Line, and Mules of Love. Ellen’s poems also appear frequently in The New Yorker, American Poetry Review, and many other journals. She’s been awarded three Pushcart Prizes, The Lambda Literary Award, The Pablo Neruda Prize, and The New Letters Prize. Ellen also teaches in the MFA Writing Program at Pacific University. Her newest collection of poetry is entitled Indigo. This is Ellen’s second time as a guest on the show.

In this episode, Ellen and Eric discuss the power of poetry – how it can change us and deepen our experience of and attention to the world around us. Ellen reads some of her incredibly beautiful poetry and as a result, we are indeed changed.

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In This Interview, Ellen Bass and I Discuss the Power of Poetry and…

Her new book of poetry, Indigo
How gratitude and love help her combat fear
Her practice as a poet is to take suffering and make art
The poem that took her 12 years to write
That worthwhile things are hard to do – even for experts
Wanting to be changed after writing or reading a poem
Her poem, Taking My Old Dog Out To Pee Before Bed
Her poem, Enough
What she thinks about when she hears someone else read her poetry as well as how poetry is to be read and heard “out loud”
Her poem, The Long Recovery
Trying not to resist the life we have and instead, hurl ourself more deeply into it
Great poets and their poetry teach us to observe the world more closely and see it as sacred and beautiful
Her poem, Any Common Desolation

Ellen Bass Links:

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If you enjoyed this conversation with Ellen Bass on the power of poetry, you might also enjoy these other episodes:

Ellen Bass (2018 Interview)

Marilyn Nelson

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Ellen Bass on the Power of Poetry