Poets & Writers Theater

“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.

“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.

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.

In this Milkweed Editions video, Aimee Nezhukumatathil introduces torrin a. greathouse who reads from her debut poetry collection, Wound From the Mouth of a Wound (Milkweed Editions, 2020), winner of the Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry. greathouse is featured in “A Life in Poetry: Our Sixteenth Annual Look at Debut Poets” in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“I wonder if, you know, all of us poets are actually starting from that place—where elegy is the starting point for everything that we do,” says Rick Barot about the inspiration for his latest poetry collection, The Galleons (Milkweed Editions, 2020), in this conversation with Jane Wong, author of Overpour (Action Books, 2016), for Seattle Arts & Lectures. The Galleons was longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award in poetry.

Let Him Go is a film adaptation of Larry Watson’s 2013 novel of the same name published by Milkweed Editions, which tells the story of a couple on a dangerous journey to reclaim their young grandson. Written and directed by Thomas Bezucha, the film stars Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, and Lesley Manville. 

“I was writing just about the experience of grief and life amidst dying...then I wanted to tell stories that made my parents alive, that brought them back to life and made it clear why this was such a loss.” In this A Word on Words interview, Margaret Renkl talks about her debut essay collection, Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss (Milkweed Editions, 2019), which is featured in “5 Over 50” in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“To deprivatize is not the same as to make public. A field is only natural or private after so much hurt.” In this short film, Jos Charles offers a preface for her poetry collection feeld (Milkweed Editions, 2018), which was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in poetry.

Ada Limón speaks about her poetry collections Bright Dead Things (Milkweed Editions, 2015) and The Carrying (Milkweed Editions, 2018) with PBS Books at the 2018 AWP Annual Conference & Book Fair. Limón is interviewed by Carrie Fountain in “The Poetry of Perseverance” in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“—my body lights up for life / like all the wishes being granted in a fountain / at the same instant—” Max Ritvo reads his poem “Afternoon” in a short video animated by Nate Milton for WNYC’s Only Human podcast. Ritvo’s debut collection, Four Reincarnations, is forthcoming in November by Milkweed Editions.

"As the writers we're publishing are succeeding, that's where we are succeeding." Daniel Slager, publisher and CEO of Milkweed Editions in Minneapolis, speaks about the nonprofit, independent book publisher and their mission to identify, nurture, and publish transformative literature.

"What puts the mean in some of us?" Ada Limón reads her elegy, "Marketing Life for Those of Us Left," in this video for the Academy of American Poets. Limón's fourth poetry collection, Bright Dead Things (Milkweed Editions, 2015), is a finalist for the 2015 National Book Award.

“[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.”

“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. 

“If a white girl tries to tell you what your brown skin can and cannot wear for makeup, just remember the smile of an axolotl.” In this video for Milkweed Editions, Aimee Nezhukumatathil discusses and reads from her debut essay collection, World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments, which was named the 2020 Barnes & Noble Book of the Year. For more, read a Q&A with Nezhukumatathil by Ross Gay from the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“This brown girl from Chicago also loves the outdoors.” In the book trailer for her fourth poetry collection, Oceanic (Copper Canyon Press, 2018), Aimee Nezhukumatathil describes her motivation for writing and her passion for the natural world. Her illustrated collection of nature essays, World of Wonder, is forthcoming from Milkweed Editions.