REVIEW: ALL THE BLOOD INVOLVED IN LOVE (HAYMAKET BOOKS)
June 29, 2022
Maya Marshall’s debut interrogates the current sociopolitical nature and its threat to reproductive rights, choice, and Blackness. – Caitie L. Young
author
SPEAK FREELY: NAMING AND UNNAMING THE SELF
June 27, 2022
Brookins, Melt, and Tran all address the process of naming and unnaming from different perspectives. Together, these poems will help foster understanding and empathy around the language we use with one another. – Ronnie K. Stephens
TPQ20: S3EP4 – KHALISA RAE
June 27, 2022
Join Chris in conversation with Khalisa Rae, author of Ghost in a Black Girl’s Throat (Red Hen Press), about passions, process, pitfalls, and poetry!
REPLAYS: SURPRISE BY CHLÖE BAILEY
June 21, 2022
Not into too many surprises
Unless it’s a special occasion
And whenever I’m with you
It’s a cause for a celebration
– Reggie Johnson
REVIEW: ALL THE FLOWERS KNEELING – PAUL TRAN (PENGUIN POETS)
June 21, 2022
Paul Tran’s long-awaited debut collection, All the Flowers Kneeling, is a fierce reminder that Tran is one of the most talented and visceral poets writing in America today. – Ronnie K. Stephens
REPLAYS: SAVE ME BY DANNY LONDON & HALFOFYOU
June 15, 2022
Running from the fears
When it’s coming from the inside
No more counted out
No where for me to hide
Who knows what happens when
Pain and perseverance collides?
– Reggie Johnson
RELEASE DAY: HALF-BRED – ANTHONY SALANDY
June 14, 2022
Order your copy of A.R. Salandy’s Half-Bred! Only 100 copies available!
TPQ20: S3EP2 – JENNIFER HUANG
June 13, 2022
Join Chris Margolin of The Poetry Questions in a sit-down with Jennifer Huang, author of Return Flight (Milkweed Editions), to talk about passions, process, pitfalls, and poetry!
TPQ20: S3EP1 – ADA LIMÓN
June 6, 2022
Sit down with Chris and Courtney Margolin, as they talk with Ada Limón, author of The Hurting Kind (Milkweed Editions), about passions, process, pitfalls, and poetry!
BROWN STUDY: Ọbáfẹ́mi Thanni
May 27, 2022
Thanni paints the scenery for us clearly—the love between families, the high stakes involved in pursuing change (fly/break, free/remembered), and nestled in these intense bonds, intense violence. – Jeni De La O
SPEAK FREELY: MENTAL HEALTH AND THE POETICS OF COLLECTIVE HEALING
May 25, 2022
Discussing mental health in the classroom can be incredibly daunting, especially as educators face public criticism and accusations of indoctrinating students. – Ronnie K. Stephens
REPLAYS: WAVES – RUSS
May 24, 2022
Sometimes I feel overwhelmed and I just need to breathe
Inhale exhale put my mind at ease
– Reggie Johnson
TALK TO ME: ALEAH DYE
April 27, 2022
I think the brevity comes somewhat from the fact that I see this glow, this halo, around my intimacy so clearly. I see it, I feel it, I say it. And that’s that. It comes (ah, another pun!) easy. – Aleah Dye
SPEAK FREELY: NATIONAL POETRY MONTH EDITION
April 20, 2022
This month, I’m sharing some of my favorite pedagogical practices to introduce during National Poetry Month, as well as some of the poems I return to in my classes year after year. – Ronnie K. Stephens
TPQ20: S2EP15 – COURTNEY LeBLANC
April 18, 2022
Join Chris in a one-on-one with EiC of Riot in Your Throat Press and author of and Winner of the Jack McCarthy book prize (Write Bloody, 2023), Courtney LeBlanc, about passions, process, pitfalls, and Poetry!
REVIEW: YEAR OF THE UNICORN KIDZ – JASON B. CRAWFORD (SUNDRESS PUBLICATION)
March 21, 2022
These are painful in a glorious way – a healing kind of hurt. This collection offers a safe space for queerness and self and love. – Courtney Margolin
REPLAYS: LITTLE STORY – KEHLANI
March 1, 2022
The nightmare is when all the magic stops
Boogeyman syndrome, stay away
– Reggie Johnson
TPQ20: S2EP8 – MX. FAYLITA HICKS
February 28, 2022
Join Chris and Courtney of The Poetry Question in a sit down with Mx. Faylita Hicks, author of Hoodwitch (Acre Books) and EiC of Black Femme Collective, about passions, process, pitfalls, and Poetry! LISTEN IN HERE: https://anchor.fm/tpq20/episodes/MX–FAYLITA-HICKS-e1f0ctn FAYLITA HICKS (she/they) is the author of HoodWitch (Acre Books, 2019), a finalist
REVIEW: HEADLESS JOHN THE BAPTIST HITCHHIKING – C.T. SALAZAR (ACRE BOOKS)
February 24, 2022
“The idea of losing blood to be filled with salvation, to make sacrifices, to hitchhike trying to find a way home – these speak to overarching themes throughout”. – Amanda Rabaduex
REVIEW: BLOODFRESH BY EBONY STEWART (BUTTON POETRY)
February 22, 2022
Stewart is at her best, masterfully blending her understanding of craft with her keen ear for orality to offer a collection readers will be talking about for years. – Ronnie K. Stephens
TPQ20: S2EP5 – JAE NICHELLE
February 16, 2022
Join Chris and Courtney in a sit down with @CropTopAssassin, author of The Porch (@yesyesbooks), in a conversation about passions, process, pitfalls, and poetry!
REVIEW: THIS HOUSE – REHEMA NJAMBI (THE EMMA PRESS)
February 15, 2022
“When we write about family, we tread a complicated tightrope between sentimentality and honesty; The way that Njambi writes about family is what pulls each poem together”. – Caitie L. Young
TPQ20: S2EP3 – KB
February 9, 2022
Join Chris, of The Poetry Question, in a one-on-one with KB, author of How To Identify Yourself with a Wound (Kallisto Gaia Press), about passions, process, pitfalls, and poetry!
REPLAYS: JOHNNY P’S CADDY – BENNY THE BUTCHER & J. COLE
February 8, 2022
Done giving you a reason
You can’t take my words
And make your own
You don’t have your own seasoning
Soon you’ll learn there’s no appeasing me
Within good reasoning
– Reggie Johnson
SPEAK FREELY: EBONY STEWART TRANSFORMS LIVED EXPERIENCES INTO AWARD-WINNING LITERATURE
February 2, 2022
“…let us be intentional in recognizing the incredible contributions that women of color have made & continue to make, not just in literature but in all fields”. – Ronnie K. Stephens
EVERYTHING IS A POEM: SPAM AND SOY SAUCE SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH RICE
January 13, 2022
There’s a deep hurt I feel when I share my food with others and they respond with, “That looks gross!” – Alex Dang
TALK TO ME: CLAIRE TAYLOR
November 17, 2021
“I wonder if I can write an entire manuscript centered around the lines from [the Growing Pains] theme song. And that is what I did”. – Claire Taylor
REPLAYS: OVER – DRAKE
August 16, 2021
The song served as a reintroduction for my love for writing. For the first time, I was able to combine my love for both music and writing together.
REPLAYS: SEEING GREEN BY NICKI MINAJ, DRAKE, & LIL’ WAYNE
May 18, 2021
I been doing this here since Wayne’s dedication
I been doing this here, hear the dedication
I’ve been doing this hair, na look at the transformation
Went bald on everyone
And look how things shaping up
If you ain’t growing with me
Then you had to be cut
“MY MFA ONLY MADE MY BLENDER WHIR FASTER”: TALK TO ME: CHRISTINE SLOAN STODDARD
May 13, 2021
I used discarded camera and computer parts to print into clay tablets. I bleached chicken bones, spray-painted various objects, drew large-scale oil pastel scenery, and cut up old books all for art installations.
REVIEW: GOD’S BOY – ANDREW HAHN (SIBLING RIVALRY PRESS)
May 3, 2021
If this is what it means to be godly, why would anyone stay? And if you are already considered to be straying, why not have some fun with it?
“THE READER THINKS THEY’RE IN ON THE JOKE”. – TALK TO ME: SHAWN BERMAN
April 28, 2021
I’m inspired a lot by stand-up comedians, so a lot of my work is me pretending I’m on stage telling a joke, trying to draw the audience in. – Shawn Berman
BROWN STUDY: “SELF PORTRAIT AS A MERMAID OR DEAD GIRL” – GAIA RAJAN
April 1, 2021
BROWN STUDY: “SELF PORTRAIT AS A MERMAID OR DEAD GIRL” – GAIA RAJAN
I started thinking about who owns grief, how memory and grief affect the body, and soon enough, the poem turned into an elegy for someone I’ve lost.
REPLAYS: PEACHES – JUSTIN BIEBER
March 23, 2021
REPLAYS: PEACHES – JUSTIN BIEBER
We’ll be the one Justin sang about
saying love was until the end of time.
HUSTLE & BUSINESS OF POETRY – KHALISA RAE AND SOFIA FEY
March 12, 2021
HUSTLE & BUSINESS OF POETRY – KHALISA RAE AND SOFIA FEY
Ranging from tips & tricks, to gripes, to gratitude, we have a lot to say! Welcome to the Hustle & Business of Poetry.
REVIEW: TRICKS OF LIGHT – THADDEUS RUTKOWSKI (GREAT WEATHER FOR MEDIA)
February 17, 2021
REVIEW: TRICKS OF LIGHT – THADDEUS RUTKOWSKI (GREAT WEATHER FOR MEDIA)
He seems to consider care to be of utmost concern, not just for family, but also for strangers.
REVIEW: WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP – JESSIE LYNN McMAINS (BONE & INK PRESS)
February 11, 2021
REVIEW: WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP – JESSIE LYNN McMAINS (BONE & INK PRESS)
They are unafraid to show the awfulness and bitterness, old beliefs and traditions, terrible acts inflicted by the people who inhabit the snowy state.
REVIEW: SENTIMENTAL VIOLENCE — GABRIELLE HOGAN (GHOST CITY PRESS)
January 27, 2021
REVIEW: SENTIMENTAL VIOLENCE — GABRIELLE HOGAN (GHOST CITY PRESS)
As we all know, though, joy does not exist without violence — not for Tonya, and not for any of us.
#TPQ5: SAMUEL ADEYEMI
January 25, 2021
#TPQ5: SAMUEL ADEYEMI
What will Samuel Adeyemi include in today’s #TPQ5? Find out inside!
“WHICH REQUIRES ME TO BEND LANGUAGE TO MY WILL” – TALK TO ME: TAYLOR BYAS
January 21, 2021
“WHICH REQUIRES ME TO BEND LANGUAGE TO MY WILL” – TALK TO ME: TAYLOR BYAS
I absolutely code switch because there isn’t an aspect of my life that doesn’t request that sort of labor from me. It’s built into my life, and therefore it manifests in my poetry. – Taylor Byas
“I CAN’T TALK ABOUT HERITAGE WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT RHYTHM” – TALK TO ME: JASON B. CRAWFORD
January 14, 2021
“I CAN’T TALK ABOUT HERITAGE WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT RHYTHM” – TALK TO ME: JASON B. CRAWFORD
That’s just it, dance is part of the language. Trying to figure out how to express me loving my friends sometime is about twerking with them. Sometimes it’s just watching them do it
POWER OF POETRY #51: “FORM/MEANING” – VINCENT PERRONE
July 23, 2019
At this moment I’m typing in my apartment. A dog barks from a neighbor’s yard. A petal drops from the vase of wildflowers on my desk. And still I am in my parents basement playing with an eight-track recorder.
POWER OF POETRY #35: “Dreams/Facts” – Matthew Mayfield
April 3, 2019
POWER OF POETRY #35: “Facts/Dreams” – Matthew Mayfield: “….I strive to be that ONE person who keeps you closer to Life and one step away from the trigger.”
POWER OF POETRY #34: “Some Slightly Connected Thoughts on Crafted Vulnerability, Stage Fright, Beauty, and Gratitude” – STEVIE EDWARDS
October 5, 2015
I am trying to write poems that stand inside of uncertainty and still find things to praise. And I don’t think it matters if I praise my sore legs that keep walking me home from work each night, or if I praise the relief of night rain in my first Carolinian July, or if I praise an idea of a home I miss, or if I praise the mild infection in my right nipple for not being cancer, or if I praise my friend who has stomach cancer but keeps living beyond the rational limits doctors have suggested—it is all praising living. It is all beholding the terrible beautiful uncertainty of being human and saying thank you. I don’t think there’s anything more beautiful than gratitude, and poetry helps me to access it.
THE POWER OF POETRY #13: “YOU TALK TOO MUCH” – CRISTOPHER GIBSON
July 7, 2015
You Talk Too Much – Cristopher Gibson “CRISTOPHER!” Is what I recall most about school, the dinner table, church, or really anywhere I was with other people as a child. Anyone who knows me knows that I talk…a lot. As a kid this was in hyper drive. I
THE POWER OF POETRY #11: DUNCAN SHIELDS
June 30, 2015
The Power of Poetry – Duncan Shields Poetry uses language to surpass language. That is the central thought I’ve come to believe during my relationship with the spoken and written word. Effective poetry resonates with people. It evokes a response in the listener (or reader) that’s different from looking at