Episode 35: Poetry with Barbara Ras

Love What You Love

English - March 23, 2021 11:00 - 41 minutes - 14.9 MB
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Previous Episode: Episode 34: The World of Patrick O'Brian with Ian Bradley and Mike Shank

Next Episode: Episode 36: Storm Chasing with Lori Bailey

So you know that I love the poem “You Can’t Have It All” by poet Barbara Ras. In fact I love it so much, I asked her permission to read it on episode 24, and she also gave me permission to release that reading as a standalone recording, which you can also find in this podcast feed.

Well. Of course I also had to get her on the show!

Barbara has an MFA in Creative Writing from University of Oregon, and multiple fellowships, including the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, among others.

Her poems have appeared in the New Yorker, Tin House, Granta, and Orion, as well as other magazines and anthologies, and she has released four collections of poetry: Bite Every Sorrow (LSU Press, 1998), One Hidden Stuff (2006), The Last Skin (2010), and The Blues of Heaven (2021) just released on March 9.

As you might imagine, it was a treat for me to chat with Barbara. We talk poetry as dance; rhythms as close as your heart; poetry in translation; Amanda Gorman; busting myths about poetry; and so much more

So find out why Barbara loves poetry - and why you might learn to love it, too.

You can purchase Barbara's new collection, The Blues of Heaven, anywhere you get books.

Barbara's page on the Academy of American Poets site: https://poets.org/poet/barbara-ras

Poetry Resources:

Academy of American Poets: https://poets.org

Poetry Foundation: https://poetryfoundation.org

Barbara’s favorite nonprofits:

https://earthjustice.org/give/donate-today

https://merwinconservancy.org/donate

https://poets.org/donate

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My favorite nonprofits: