Poetry Off The Shelf

Tiana Clark on divorce, joy, and taking up space on the page.

Four poets on old stories, cultural memory, and minority languages.

Rebecca Lindenberg on diabetes, a final phone call, and letting yourself fall in love.

Catherine Barnett on improv, misfit details, and the humor in elegy. 

Mike Sonksen on the Los Angeles fires and what it means to love a city in danger.

Helen Vendler and Marjorie Perloff in the words of people who loved them.

Caleb Femi on parties, golden pavements, and the downside of self-awareness. 

Cass Donish on grief rituals, putting on makeup, and letting in joy.

Elisa Díaz Castelo on vertigo, breaking a chicken, and her grandmother's advice for a good life.

Violeta Orozco on the US presidential election, leaving Mexico, and her connection to deep time.

Tyler Mills on the truth, how to love a cockroach, and her grandfather's silence about the bomb.

A.B. Spellman on Jim Crow, alligator suede shoes, and shaking up the art of the castle.

Garth Greenwell on shame, small acts of love, and the patch of snow inside us.

Idra Novey on exile, stereotypes, and making art the center of your life.

Helena and Nicholson Baker on drawing your loved ones, the horrors of the world, and finding your way back to beauty.

Perry Janes on Hollywood, ego, and trying not to break his NDA.

E.J. Koh on distance, broken English, and writing poems that forgive.

Camille Dungy on her garden, writing from the provinces, and the poetry of Anne Spencer. 

Dorothea Lasky on The Shining, writing what you fear, and the ferocity of color.

Merlin Sheldrake on fungi, creativity, and the queerness of nature.