Poets in the Pines Podcast

The Delirium Interviews: Dreams, Memory, & Emotional Truth in Poetry | Josh Stone

Join us as we chat with poet, assistant principal, and Kentucky native Josh Stone. In our conversation, we learn about the ways our childhood home never leaves us—even after it’s demolished—how the perspective of our parents changes over time, and how poets delicately weave emotional truth, universal truth, and ambiguity together in order to create something worth connecting to. He also reads one of his contributions to the anthology, a poem titled “Washed-Out Blue,” and gives insight into the inspiration behind it, as well as what’s coming up next for him. ~ More about Josh: Josh Stone is a poet, percussionist, and assistant principal from Owensboro, Kentucky. He holds a BA in Education with an emphasis in English and an MA in School Administration from Western Kentucky University. Josh enjoys spending time on the marching band field and hiking with his family. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in the Harrow House Journal, The Pensieve, Half and One, Made from Midnight: A Requiem, Wingless Dreamer, and elsewhere. He is currently working on his first poetry manuscript. You can connect with Josh on Instagram & Bluesky @joshstonepoetry. ~ Timestamps: 1:00-3:00 “Washed-Out Blue” Reading 3:30-5:30 Turning Childhood Trauma into Something Beautiful & Dolly and Dali 5:30-6:30 A Collection of Surreal Images 6:30-9:00 House, Body, and Memory 9:00-10:30 Lullabies & Epiphanies 10:30-11:20 Playing with Tension in the Writing Process 11:30-13:30 Our Perspective of Our Parents Juxtaposed with Their Reality 13:30-15:00 Light Inside Demolished Houses 15:00-17:30 You Can Build A New Home 17:30-18:30 Teaching Our Children Resilience 18:30-20:00 Describing Our Mothers 20:00-23:00 Emotional Truth, Universal Truth, and Ambiguity in Poetry 23:00-28:00 Between Leaves and Light ~ Here’s some our favorite quotes from the episode: “Beauty and brokenness can coexist.” “The house has been bulldozed to the ground. But that doesn’t mean it’s not still there.” “Don’t focus on how true it has to be. Focus on the emotional truth.” “Things are going to get better, kiddo.” ~ Thanks for reading, watching, or listening! You can find out more about the editors, the press, the anthologies, and the contributors on our socials: IG: poetsinthepines www.poetsinthepines.com Kelly Miller’s Socials: IG: kellymbooks Anne Ramallo’s Socials: IG: anneramallo Leah Cass’s Socials: IG: elleunchained Josh Stone’s Socials: IG: joshstonepoetry Thanks for reading! It would mean a lot to us if you shared it <3 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit poetsinthepines.substack.com [https://poetsinthepines.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Delirium Interviews: Music, Movement, & Embodiment in Poetry | Cypher

Join us as we chat with poet, engineer, and multidisciplinary artist Cypher. In our conversation, we explore the intimacy of poetry, the connection between music and movement in the creative process, and what it means to create from a place beyond self-consciousness. Together, we discuss dream logic, swamp imagery, the tension between instinct and structure, and how poetry can capture a fleeting moment in time while still holding emotional depth and release. Cypher also reads her contribution to the anthology, “Dancing in the Embers of Night,” and shares the inspiration behind the piece, her relationship with music and form, and details about her upcoming debut poetry collection, The Self is an Ocean. ~ More about Cypher: Cypher is a self-taught brown and queer Tamizh diaspora poet living in Canada. Her work has been featured in DarkWinter Literary Magazine, the Ontario Poetry Society, Arcana Poetry Press, The Ophelia Gazette, and several others. She is currently working on her debut full-length poetry collection, The Self is an Ocean, slated for release in July 2026. You can connect with Cypher on Instagram @cypherspace_101. ~ Timestamps: 2:00-2:40 “Dancing in the Embers of Night” Reading 3:00-4:30 Bedroom Dance Parties, Lady Gaga, and Swamp Queens 4:30-5:40 Capturing Moments Instead of Explaining Them 5:40-7:20 Escaping the Gaze & Writing Without Self-Surveillance 7:20-8:40 Intimacy, Breath, and Creative Release in Poetry 8:40-10:10 Poetry, Creation, and the Liminal Space of Art 10:10-11:10 Being “A Poet in an Engineer’s Body” 11:10-13:30 Form, White Space, and Expanding Rooms 13:30-17:00 Pop Music, Musicality, and Sound in Writing 17:00-18:20 What Makes Writing Feel Alive 18:20-20:30 Childlike Wonder & Making the Familiar Strange 20:30-21:10 Learning the Rules, Then Throwing Them Away 21:10-23:00 Dreams, Shared Experience, and the 80/20 Rule 23:00-25:00 The Self is an Ocean ~ Here’s some of our favorite quotes from the episode: “Sometimes it’s nice to just put a picture frame around a moment.” “I am watching myself being watched.” “Poetry is very intimate because it’s about breath.” “Everything I’m saying has been said before. But I can say it in a fresh way.” “I want you to reintroduce the world to me.” ~ Thanks for reading, watching, or listening! You can find out more about the editors, the press, the anthologies, and the contributors on our socials: IG: poetsinthepines www.poetsinthepines.com Kelly Miller’s Socials: IG: kellymbooks Anne Ramallo’s Socials: IG: anneramallo Leah Cass’s Socials: IG: elleunchained Thanks for reading! It would mean a lot to us if you shared it <3 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit poetsinthepines.substack.com [https://poetsinthepines.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Delirium Interviews: Snails, Transcendence, and The Search for Meaning through Storytelling | Sylvie Althoff

Join us as we chat with writer, editor, teacher, and jazz banjoist Sylvie Althoff. In our conversation, we explore ambiguity, dream logic, transformation, and the strange comfort of unanswered questions. We discuss transcendence through surreal imagery, the limits of language, the body as both home and self, and how writing can become a way of imagining gentler worlds in difficult times. Sylvie also reads an excerpt from her contribution to Made from Midnight: Delirium, “The Other Side,” a surreal and strangely peaceful story about a woman who transcends reality only to discover herself reborn as a snail among countless others on a vast cosmic tree. She shares the inspiration behind the story, the role queerness and embodiment play in her work, and what’s coming next in her growing catalog of speculative fiction. ~ More about Sylvie: Sylvie Althoff is a queer transgender woman who works as a writer, editor, elementary teacher, and jazz banjoist. Her Locus-recommended writing has appeared in venues including Harper’s Bazaar, Escape Pod, Small Wonders, and Lesbians in Space. Her novella Trivial Matters is forthcoming from Android Press. She currently lives in Lawrence, Kansas with her wife, musician and teacher Jen Thomas, their dog Nomi Malone, and their cat Pocket. You can find more of Sylvie’s work at sylviealthoff.com, on Bluesky at sylvie-althoff and on Substack at Sylvie Althoff. ~ Timestamps: 2:00-4:15 “The Other Side” Reading 4:15-6:30 Snails, Transcendence, and the Search for Meaning 6:30-7:30 Carcinization, Trees, and Evolutionary Inevitability 7:30-9:00 Dream Logic, Ambiguity, and the Limits of Language 9:00-10:30 Funhouse Mirrors, Identity, and Transformation 10:30-12:30 Writing Optimism Through Strange Worlds 12:30-13:30 Why the Afterlife Should Be Weird 13:30-15:00 Story Qua Story & Reading Through the Author’s Lens 15:00-17:00 Queerness, Embodiment, and the Universal Through the Specific 17:00-18:00 Snails Carry Their Homes With Them 18:00-20:30 Retreating Inward During Difficult Times 20:30-22:00 Acceptance, Meditation, and Peaceful Resignation 22:00-24:00 Building Worlds Within Ourselves 24:00-27:30 Pirate Radio Stations, Robot Pirates, and other Trivial Matters ~ Here’s some of our favorite quotes from the episode: “Life is great at prompting a lot of wonderful questions and not super long on answers to those questions.” “The other side should be weird too.” “We are all brains in our own jars trying to communicate what’s going on inside.” “There are really no words to fully encapsulate what we’re thinking or feeling.” “I’d rather be on a pirate ship than at Walmart.” “It’s okay to have unanswered questions.” ~ Thanks for reading, watching, or listening! You can find out more about the editors, the press, the anthologies, and the contributors on our socials: IG: poetsinthepines www.poetsinthepines.com Kelly Miller’s Socials: IG: kellymbooks Anne Ramallo’s Socials: IG: anneramallo Leah Cass’s Socials: IG: elleunchained Thanks for reading! It would mean a lot to us if you shared it <3 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit poetsinthepines.substack.com [https://poetsinthepines.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Made from Midnight: Delirium Virtual Contributor Reading

Poets in the Pines Presents: Made from Midnight: Delirium Virtual Contributor Poetry Reading + Open Mic “You cannot know sin in the way that sin knows you…” —JAIMHY “Sorrow is a valley only love could carve.” —Moudi Sbeity “The oak floorboards feel like a blanket of crawfish cracking under my toes.” —J’Nae Join us as we hear the international voices behind our latest anthology. We dive into the works that helped shaped the narrative structure, voice, and style of this book. Get a sneak peek inside and a first look at our new cover! Plus, hear from the editors directly about what exactly goes into structuring an anthology during a live Q & A. Host and Co-Founders Kelly Miller and Anne Ramallo facilitated the event, and 30 poets showed up to share from all over the world—India, Istanbul, UK, Australia, and more. (There’s even a very special clingy kitty guest appearance!) An open-mic portion was held for the last half hour, and the general public was in attendance and able to perform during this time. Contributors (their IGs are linked): Millie Percival [http://instagram.com/milliep_poetry] | Özge Lena [http://instagram.com/lenaozge] | Moudi Sbeity [http://instagram.com/moudi.sbeity] | Vinita Agrawal [http://instagram.com/vinitaagrawal18] | Matthew Pullar [http://instagram.com/matthew.pullar] | Danuta E. Kosk-Kosicka | Jessica Purdy [http://instagram.com/jessica.purdy.735] | Joyce Hayden [http://instagram.com/joyce.hayden] | Steve Bowman | J’Nae [http://instagram.com/phoenix_film_house_] | Erin Schalk [https://www.instagram.com/erin.schalk/] | JAIMHY [https://www.instagram.com/ja.im.hy] | Trevor Tingle | Lara Gaydos [https://www.instagram.com/laraadamsgaydos] | Kelly Miller [https://www.instagram.com/kellymbooks]| Anne Ramallo [https://www.instagram.com/anne.ramallo] | Sarah Carleton | Sarah Carleton’s Bio (please forgive me sarah!): Sarah Carleton writes poetry, edits fiction, plays the banjo, and knits obsessively in Tampa, Florida. Her poems have appeared in numerous publications, including Nimrod, Valparaiso, Rattle, ONE ART, and As It Ought to Be. Sarah’s poems have received nominations for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Her first collection, Notes from the Girl Cave, was published in 2020 by Kelsay Books. Open-Mic Portion: Sky | Millie | Özge | J’Nae | Jessica | JAIMHY | Susan | Steve | Kelly | Anne | You can find out more about the other 50 contributors of Made from Midnight: Delirium over on our IG, where we have spotlights, quotes, bios, and teasers. It really was such a great event, and we are so grateful to all of the support shown by the authors who stayed up late, got up early, and spent their Friday night with us. In its own way, this reading was a sort of liminal space where many moments in time all over the world collided. <3 We would love to hear which poem resonates most with you. Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our community. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit poetsinthepines.substack.com [https://poetsinthepines.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Poetry is Resistance: An Open-Mic Night

Poetry Is Resistance is a live open-mic night held in response to current events surrounding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minnesota—a gathering rooted in the belief that art is not separate from the world, but a way of meeting it. This episode captures an evening where poets and writers came together to speak back to fear, silence, and erasure. Through poetry and personal reflection, participants honored art as protest, witness, and collective care. These readings are raw, urgent, and deeply human, offered not as answers, but as presence. For more, visit poetsinthepines.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit poetsinthepines.substack.com [https://poetsinthepines.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]