Shepherd, Kamau Braithwaite

Mission Apoeccomplished

It's the last episode of the season and the last episode of your life. PoeTRY is over! We reflect back on three seasons of something no one asked to, and finally answer the mysterious question: why did we give our podcast such a stupid name? We PoeTried and now we've PoeSucceeded. It's another, it's the last, episode of PoeTRY! Poetry RATS [https://www.instagram.com/we.poe.tried/]

Shepherd, Kamau Braithwaite

It's the final poem and penultimate episode of the season! This week we are existing in the context of all in which we have lived as we read Kamau Braithwaite's "Shepherd" from Islands (1969). Go find the gods that lurk within you, it's another episode of PoeTRY! . Listen to and read the poem here [https://genius.com/Kamau-brathwaite-shepherd-annotated]. Kamau Braithwaite's bio was compiled from: * Poetry Foundation [http://Poetryfoundation.org] * Poetry Archive [http://Poetryarchive.org] * The recorded 1995 interview series from the University of Memphis and River City Writers Series (youtube link [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yeCI5IN6N0&t=36s]) * The essay “Nation Language [https://web.uniroma1.it/seai/sites/default/files/E.K.Brathwaite,%20NATION%20LANGUAGE.pdf]” from History of the Voice: The Development of Nation Langauge in Anglophone Caribbean Poetry

To Myself, Franz Wright

It's penultimate poem of season 3! This week we read one of Koya's favorite poems, Franz Wright's "To Myself," from his 1998 collection, Ill Lit. Go buy yourself a nice sandwich and then don't eat it so you can instead take a bite of this week's PoeTRY! Read the poem here [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47565/to-myself]. Franz Wright's Bio was compiled from: LA Times [https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-franz-wright-20150516-story.html] Pleiades Magazine [https://pleiadesmag.com/a-celebration-of-franz-wright-day-1/] NYT [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/16/arts/franz-wright-pulitzer-prize-winner-for-poetry-dies-at-62.html] NPR [https://www.npr.org/2004/04/24/1851833/franz-wright-poet-and-muse] Image Journal [https://imagejournal.org/article/conversation-franz-wright/]

To Hold, Li-Young Lee

'Tis the season! It's that time of the year again, the time we gather 'round the phone speaker to listen to poem from friend of the podcast in our wild imaginations, Li-Young Lee. This week, we're reading "To Hold" from Lee's 2007 stonecold classic, Behind My Eyes. Go tell someone you love about the dream you had last night, and when you do, tell them this week's PoeTRY sent you. Do it! Read the poem here [https://poetrying.wordpress.com/2019/07/01/to-hold-li-young-lee/]. Our excerpt on Li-Young Lee was taken from: Poetandwriters.org [https://www.pw.org/content/interview_poet_liyoung_lee?article_page=2] Chrisricecooper.com [https://chrisricecooper.com/behind-the-eyes-of-gods-hungry-poet/]

Almost a Last Judgment, Jorge Luis Borges

Phew! I thought this was the last judgment, but it's not. It's the one before that, or maybe none at all! We're reading Jorge Luis Borges' "Almost a Last Judgment" as translated for the 2010 volume Poems of the Night (originally published in Borges' second book of poetry, Luna de Frente, published in 1925). There's more oat-talk than you probably want, but it's still a new episode of PoeTRY! Read the poem here [https://whatmoderntimes.com/post/58676238320/almost-a-last-judgement]. Listen to a recitation of the original Spanish here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS16EJEetqM]. Jorge Luis Borges biography was compiled from: The New Yorker [https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/two-new-books-about-borges] Poetry Foundation [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/jorge-luis-borges] Los Angeles Review of Books [https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/ill-be-in-another-world-a-rediscovered-interview-with-jorge-luis-borges/] The Paris Review [https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4331/the-art-of-fiction-no-39-jorge-luis-borges]