Episode 39: Paul Laurence Dunbar, We Wear The Mask
This week, Rafia Zafar joins us to discuss “We Wear the Mask” by the great poet and writer Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906). Rafia leads us in a discussion of Dunbar’s fame and.
Episode 34: Tracy K. Smith, Declaration
In this episode, we discuss erasure poetry and its power to reveal hidden histories and redacted stories through Tracy K. Smith’s erasure of the Declaration of Independence. For the poem (including a.
Episode 28: Countee Cullen, Yet Do I Marvel
Countee Cullen was a major voice of the Harlem Renaissance. Joined by the renowned cultural critic Gerald Early, we here examine together story of Countee Cullen and the astounding sonnet that opens.
Episode 24: Robert Hayden, Those Winter Sundays
Robert Hayden was one of the greatest American poets of the twentieth century. His poems are known for their formal grace and his deep and broad explorations of the African American experience..
Episode 23: Langston Hughes, "Johannesburg Mines"
In this episode, we discuss social poetics, the poetry of witness, and the way poets can speak of the failure of language and the need for silence in the face of trauma..
Episode 15: Amanda Gorman, Chorus of the Captains
Amanda Gorman became the first poet ever to perform at the Super Bowl on February 7, 2021. In this episode we talk about poetry for the masses, mass media, genres of poetry,.
Episode 13: Amanda Gorman, The Hill We Climb
In this episode, we discuss Amanda Gorman’s “The Hill We Climb,” the poem that she recited at the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. We discuss how well.
Episode 8: Toi Derricotte, "The Minks"
Carl Phillips joins us this week to take a close look at Toi Derricotte's "The Minks." Together we consider the art of narrative poetry, the movements of a single-stanza poem, and the.