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In this Poetry of Resilience interview, U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón reads from her collection The Hurting Kind (Milkweed Editions, 2022) and speaks about the emotions she writes from and the importance of poetry for healing with hosts and poets Danusha Laméris and James Crews.
“The backend / algorithm will be coded on keyboards / by the actual hands of mothers who, / in another life, called themselves writers,” reads Ryann Stevenson from “Decision Tree,” which appears in her collection, Human Resources (Milkweed Editions, 2022), winner of the 2021 Max Ritvo Poetry Prize, in this conversation with Richie Hofmann. Human Resources is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
“Is it okay to begin with the obvious? I am full of stones,” reads Ada Limón from “The Magnificent Frigatebird,” a poem from her latest collection, The Hurting Kind (Milkweed Editions, 2022), in this reading and conversation with Patricia Smith at Books Are Magic in Brooklyn.
“[The poem] allows for a place for the reader to breathe,” says Ada Limón in this 2019 reading and conversation about her books of poetry with Washington Post book critic Ron Charles, hosted by the Library of Congress. “In that empty space we actually bring ourselves to the page, so that the writer is not the only person experiencing the poem, but the reader is part of that journey.”
“Instead begin with the body—itself a kind / of ending.” In this Poetry.LA video, torrin a. greathouse reads from their debut collection, Wound From the Mouth of a Wound (Milkweed Editions, 2020), and speaks to Mariano Zaro about writing through multiple identities and connecting trauma, disability, and transness.
“For me, the whole book is about questions and having no answers.” In this Charis Circle video, Victoria Chang reads from her book Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence, and Grief (Milkweed Editions, 2021) and speaks about filling in silence with imagination in a conversation with Anjali Enjeti.
“To think I’ve gone / to all this trouble / just to lose / my looks & mind.” In this Poetry Society of America video, Devon Walker-Figueroa reads her poem “Noise Cancelling,” which was selected by Amit Majmudar as the winner of the 2021 Lucille Medwick Memorial Award. Walker-Figueroa speaks about her debut collection, Philomath (Milkweed Editions, 2021), in “A Freeing Space: Our Seventeenth Annual Look at Debut Poets” in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
“I cannot say if the emptiness is / a grand celestial body or a vacuum / so complete nothing can escape.” Michael Kleber-Diggs reads from his debut poetry collection, Worldly Things (Milkweed Editions, 2021), winner of the 2020 Max Ritvo Poetry Prize, and speaks with Tracy K. Smith in this celebratory virtual event. Worldly Things is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
In this episode of Curated Conversation(s): a Latinx Poetry Show, Benjamin Garcia speaks about the writing process for his debut poetry collection, Thrown in the Throat (Milkweed Editions, 2020), with his former teacher and mentor Dana Levin. For more Garcia, read his installment of Writers Recommend.
“The storm funneled through town with destructive intent. / Fractured tree limbs, toppled fences, rippled shingles / like tufts of hair.” In this PBS NewsHour video, Fady Joudah reads “House of Mercury” from his poetry collection Tethered to Stars (Milkweed Editions, 2021), which is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
