Close Readings
Close Readings is a poetry podcast hosted by Kamran Javadizadeh, a poetry critic and professor of English. Each episode features a conversation with a leading poetry scholar about a single short poem they love. The discussion offers an expert's perspective on the poem and explores bigger questions about how poetry works, what it can accomplish, and how it might change our lives.
Episodes
Siobhan Phillips on Marianne Moore ("Armor's Undermining Modesty")
"What is more precise than precision? Illusion." I talked with my friend, the scholar Siobhan Phillips, about Marianne Moore's poem "Armor's Undermining Modesty." Siobhan Phillips is a professor of English at Dickinson College, where she teaches courses on American literature of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, food studies, and creative writing. She is the author of The Poetics of t
Megan Quigley on T. S. Eliot ("The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock")
"Do I dare / Disturb the universe?" I've been waiting to record this episode for a long time: Megan Quigley, my dear friend and colleague, joins the podcast to talk about T. S. Eliot and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."Megan Quigley is an associate professor of English at Villanova University, where she is also on the Irish Studies and Gender and Women's Studies faculties. She is the author
Daniel Katz on Jack Spicer ("Psychoanalysis: An Elegy")
How is a poem like a session of psychoanalysis? The scholar Daniel Katz joins the podcast to talk about a fascinating poem that poses that question, Jack Spicer's "Psychoanalysis: An Elegy." Daniel Katz is Professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies at the University of Warwick and is the author of several books and articles on modernism, modern and contemporary poetry, and psychoan
Lindsay Turner on Alice Notley (Waltzing Matilda: "Dec. 12, 1980")
The third in our series of conversations about the late Alice Notley. Lindsay Turner returns to the podcast to discuss a selection from Waltzing Matilda, "Dec. 12, 1980." A poet, critic, and translator, Lindsay Turner is the author of the poetry collections The Upstate (University of Chicago Press, 2023) and Songs & Ballads (Prelude Books, 2018). Her translations from the French
Joyelle McSweeney on Alice Notley (The Descent of Alette)
The second in a series of conversations about the poet Alice Notley, who passed away on May 19, 2025. The poet and critic Joyelle McSweeney joins the podcast to talk about selections from Notley's epic The Descent of Alette. (A brief note on audio quality: we listen to three recordings of Notley reading from her book during this episode. The volume on playback of those recordings seems somewh
Nick Sturm on Alice Notley ("At Night the States")
After a long break, the podcast returns with an episode on the late Alice Notley, who passed away on May 19, 2025. Nick Sturm joins us to discuss Notley's elegy for her husband Ted Berrigan, "At Night the States." Nick Sturm teaches at Georgia State University in Atlanta. His book on small press print culture, publishing communities, and the New York School is forthcoming from Columbia Univer
Huda Fakhreddine on Hiba Abu Nada ("Pull Yourself Together")
What can a poem do in the face of calamity? This was an extraordinary conversation. Huda Fakhreddine joins the podcast to discuss "Pull Yourself Together," a poem that Huda has translated into English and that was written by the Palestinian poet, novelist, and educator Hiba Abu Nada. Hiba was killed by an Israeli airstrike in her home in the Gaza Strip on October 20, 2023. She was 32 years old.&nb
Emily Wilson on Sappho ("Ode to Aphrodite")
This is the kind of conversation I dreamed about having when I began this podcast. Emily Wilson joins Close Readings to talk about Sappho's "Ode to Aphrodite," a poet and poem at the root of the lyric tradition in European poetry. You'll hear Emily read the poem in the Ancient Greek and then again in Anne Carson's English translation. We talk about the nature of erotic desire, what it's like to ha
Robert Volpicelli on W. H. Auden ("In Memory of W. B. Yeats")
"Poetry," according to this episode's poem, "makes nothing happen." But as our guest, Robert Volpicelli, makes clear, that poem, W. H. Auden's "In Memory of W. B. Yeats," offers that statement not as diminishment of poetry but instead as a way of valuing it for the right reasons.Robert Volpicelli is an associate professor of English at Randolph-Macon College and the author of Transatlantic Moderni
Margaret Ronda on Walt Whitman ("This Compost")
How does life grow from death? When we taste a fruit, are we, in some sense, ingesting everything the soil contains? Margaret Ronda joins the podcast to discuss a poem that poses these questions in harrowing ways, Walt Whitman's "This Compost."[A note on the recording: from 01:10:11 - 01:12:59, Margaret briefly loses her internet connection and I awkwardly vamp. Apologies! Rest assured the r
Michelle A. Taylor on Patricia Lockwood ("The Ode on Grecian Urn")
What is a poem worth? What does beauty do to the person who wants it, or to the person who makes it? Michelle A. Taylor joins the pod to talk about Patricia Lockwood's poem "The Ode on a Grecian Urn," a wild and funny and ultimately quite moving poem (which is also, obviously, a riff on Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn").Michelle A. Taylor is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Emory University’s Fox Center for
Sylvie Thode on Tim Dlugos ("The Far West")
How might a poem map the passage from life to death? Sylvie Thode joins the podcast to talk about a fascinating poem by Tim Dlugos, "The Far West." Sylvie is a graduate student in English at UC Berkeley, where she works on poetry and poetics, with particular interest in the poetry of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Though that focus roots her in the 20th century, she has written on poetry from a range o
Marisa Galvez on William IX ("The Song of Nothing")
For the first time in the run of this podcast (though certainly not the last!) today we have a poem in translation. Marisa Galvez joins Close Readings to discuss "The Song of Nothing," a poem by the first attested troubadour, William IX. The poem is something like 900 years old, and Marisa helps us see both its strangeness and the sense in which it feels like it might have been written yeste
Stephanie Burt on Allan Peterson ("I thought all life came from the alphabet")
Very few scholars have as much enthusiasm for poetry as Stephanie Burt, and so it was a delight to have her back for this episode. Steph has been in the news of late for offering a (very popular) course at Harvard on Taylor Swift, and we begin this episode by talking in fascinating ways about the long history of the relation between popular music and poetry. And then we move on to this
Paul Fry on William Wordsworth ("A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal")
Some of the most profound insights I have ever had as a student of poetry occurred in the classroom of Paul Fry, and so this episode really is a dream for me. Paul Fry joins the podcast to talk about William Wordsworth's poem "A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal." Just an eight-line poem, but it opens for us into some big questions: Where does Wordsworth fit into the history of autobiography and poe
Keegan Cook Finberg on Harryette Mullen ("Dim Lady")
What kind of love do we find in comparison? Keegan Cook FInberg joins the podcast to discuss Harryette Mullen's poem "Dim Lady," which is simultaneously a love poem and a (perhaps?) loving tribute to Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 (itself a love poem and parody). Keegan is an assistant professor of English at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is finishing a book called Poetry in Gen
Eric Lindstrom on James Schuyler ("Empathy and New Year")
"New Year is nearly here / and who, knowing himself, would / endanger his desires / resolving them / in a formula?" So asks James Schuyler in this episode's poem, "Empathy and New Year." No resolutions for me this year, but instead an indulgence, a gift to myself, and I hope to you: my friend Eric Lindstrom rejoins the podcast to talk once again about Schuyler, poetry, and friendship.Eric Lindstro
David B. Hobbs on George Oppen ("Ballad")
Why might a poet set poetry aside for more than two decades and then return to it? What would the return sound like? When, as a young man, George Oppen stopped writing poetry, it was because, in his words, "I couldn't make the art I wanted to make while also pursuing the politics I wanted to pursue." David Hobbs joins the podcast to discuss "Ballad," one of the poems Oppen wrote upon his return to
Jahan Ramazani on Derek Walcott ("A Far Cry from Africa")
How can a poet choose between his language and his idea of home? A postcolonial turn this week, as Jahan Ramazani joins the podcast to talk about Derek Walcott's "A Far Cry from Africa."Jahan Ramazani is University Professor and Edgar F. Professor and the Director of Modern and Global Studies in the Department of English at the University of Virginia. He is the author of several books, most recent
Elisa Gabbert on Sylvia Plath ("Lady Lazarus")
What a searching, stimulating conversation this was. Elisa Gabbert joins the podcast to talk about a poem she and I have both long loved, Sylvia Plath's "Lady Lazarus."Elisa is a poet, critic, and essayist—and the author of several books. Her recent titles include Normal Distance (Soft Skull, 2022), The Unreality of Memory (FSG Originals, 2020), and The Word Pretty (Black Ocean, 2018). She has a n
Hanif Abdurraqib on Umang Kalra ("Job Security")
A conversation I've been wanting to have for a long time: Hanif Abdurraqib joins the podcast to talk about Umang Kalra's poem "Job Security."Hanif is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. He is the author of A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance, A Fortune for Your Disaster, Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest, They Can't Kill Us Until
Ellen Bryant Voigt on Louise Glück ("Brooding Likeness")
The last of three episodes in our cluster on Louise Glück: one of her oldest and dearest friends, the marvelous poet Ellen Bryant Voigt joins the podcast to talk about Louise's poem "Brooding Likeness." Ellen's books of poetry have recently been assembled into a staggering single volume, Collected Poems (Norton, 2023). She is also the author of two books of prose: The Flexible Lyric (Georgia,
Langdon Hammer on Louise Glück ("A Foreshortened Journey")
The second episode in our cluster on the great Louise Glück, who won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature, and who passed away on October 13.Lanny Hammer rejoins the podcast to talk about his friend and colleague Louise and her poem "A Foreshortened Journey." Langdon Hammer is Niel Gray, Jr. Professor of English at Yale University, where he studies poetry and its place in the culture. Among his
Elisa Gonzalez on Louise Glück ("A Village Life")
After a little hiatus, the podcast returns with a cluster of new episodes on the great, late poet Louise Glück, recipient of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature. Louise passed away on October 13. First up we have the brilliant poet and writer Elisa Gonzalez, who knew Louise as both teacher and friend. Elisa has chosen the poem "A Village Life" for our conversation.Elisa's first collection of p
Jeff Dolven on Sir Thomas Wyatt ("They Flee from Me")
"Dear heart, how like you this?" There's really nothing better than that, is there? I talked to Jeff Dolven about Sir Thomas Wyatt's gorgeous poem "They Flee from Me." It's one of the hottest poems I know, and after talking to Jeff I know it much better. Jeff Dolven is Professor of English at Princeton University, where he teaches courses in poetry and poetics, especially of the English Rena
Matthew Zapruder on James Tate ("Quabbin Reservoir")
How is poetry like skipping stones across the surface of a lake? How might a poem be like an undelivered letter or package? Matthew Zapruder joins the podcast to talk about James Tate's "Quabbin Reservoir," a poem that raises those and other questions—and does so with Tate's gorgeous ear for weird idiom, full of both humor and feeling. (For the backstory on the place this poem is—at least on its s
Priscilla Gilman on William Cowper ("The Castaway")
How does suffering separate the person going through it from their friends and loved ones? Priscilla Gilman joins the podcast to talk about a poem that takes on that question in literal terms—it tells the tragic story of a sailor who drowns as his shipmates are forced to sail away—and that sees it, at the same time, as a question we all have to face, William Cowper's "The Castaway."Priscilla Gilma
Kristin Grogan on Lorine Niedecker ("Poet's Work")
What kind of work is the work of poetry, and how does it compare with other kinds of labor? We have the perfect pairing of poem and critic to think through that question on this episode: Kristin Grogan joins the podcast to talk about Lorine Niedecker's "Poet's Work."Kristin is assistant professor of English at Rutgers University, where she works on poetry, poetics, modernism, American literature,
Gillian White on Elizabeth Bishop ("Over 2,000 Illustrations and a Complete Concordance")
What if life were like a book that you could open at will and know in real time? Gillian White joins the podcast to talk about Elizabeth Bishop's fascinating poem "Over 2,000 Illustrations and a Complete Concordance." Gillian is an associate professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan, where she also runs the Poetry and Poetics Workshop. She is
Walt Hunter on Gwendolyn Brooks ("kitchenette building")
What a delight this was, to talk to my friend Walt Hunter about the marvelous Gwendolyn Brooks poem "kitchenette building." Walt is an associate professor and the Chair of the Department of English at Case Western Reserve University. He is the author of two books of criticism: Forms of a World: Contemporary Poetry and the Making of Globalization (Fordham UP, 2019) and The American House Poem,
Evan Kindley on Kenneth Koch ("One Train May Hide Another")
How should we deal with the fact that we have to read the lines of a poem in order, one after another—or, for that matter, that we have to live our days one after the other? That's some of what comes up in my conversation with Evan Kindley about Kenneth Koch and his funny, didactic, and haunting poem "One Train May Hide Another."Evan is an associate editor at the Chronicle Review. He is the author
Johanna Winant on Emily Dickinson ("My Life had stood — a Loaded Gun —")
I've been waiting for a chance to talk about an Emily Dickinson poem on the podcast, and no one better to do it with than my friend Johanna Winant. She chose "My Life had stood — a Loaded Gun —" for our conversation. (If you're curious, you can find an image of Dickinson's manuscript here.)Johanna is an assistant professor in the Department of English at West Virginia University, where she works o
Dan Chiasson on William Butler Yeats ("Among School Children")
"How can we know the dancer from the dance?" You may know the line, even if you don't know the poem it ends. I had the great pleasure of talking with one of the most accomplished poetry critics of our time, Dan Chiasson, about that poem, William Butler Yeats's fascinating "Among School Children."Dan Chiasson was born and raised in the city of Burlington, Vermont, and received a BA in 1993 from Amh
Sarah Osment on David Berman ("Governors on Sominex")
I talked with my friend Sarah Osment about "Governors on Sominex," a poem by David Berman. In addition to being a poet, Berman was the frontman and lyricist of the band Silver Jews.Sarah works in the Writing Program at the University of Chicago, where she teaches courses in Media Aesthetics. She has devoted her intellectual energy to more public-facing projects since earning her PhD in English&nbs
Andrew Epstein on John Ashbery ("Street Musicians")
An episode I've been waiting for from the beginning: Andrew Epstein joins the podcast to talk about John Ashbery, one of the most important poets of the last hundred years, and his beautiful and haunting poem of mid-career, "Street Musicians."Andrew is Professor of English at Florida State University and the author of three books: Beautiful Enemies: Friendship and Postwar American Poetry (Oxford U
Harris Feinsod on William Carlos Williams ("To Elsie")
Harris Feinsod joins the podcast to talk about William Carlos Williams, his great book of 1923, Spring and All, and one of its strange and unforgettable poems, "To Elsie."Harris is an associate professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies at Northwestern University. He is the author of The Poetry of the Americas: From Good Neighbors to Countercultures (Oxford UP, 2017) and the co-translat
Virginia Jackson on Phillis Wheatley ("To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth")
Hard to think of a scholar who's had a more significant influence on poetry studies in the last two decades than Virginia Jackson, and so what a thrill it was for me to welcome her onto the podcast to discuss the legendary Phillis Wheatley and her poem "To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth."Virginia Jackson is the UCI Endowed Chair in Rhetoric at University of California, Irvine. She
Willard Spiegelman on Amy Clampitt ("Losing Track of Language")
How does poetry emerge out of an ordinary life? Willard Spiegelman joins the podcast to talk about "Losing Track of Language," a poem by Amy Clampitt, a poet who was, in the words of our guest, one of the great "late bloomers" in American poetry.Willard Spiegelman is the author of Nothing Stays Put: The Life and Poetry of Amy Clampitt (Knopf, 2023). He was for many years the Hughes Professor
Oren Izenberg on Allen Grossman ("The Life and Death Kisses")
What do poems require of the persons who make them, in order for those persons to be known in them? Oren Izenberg joins the podcast to talk about that question and a strange and wonderful poem by Allen Grossman that takes it on, "The Life and Death Kisses."Oren Izenberg is an Associate Professor of English at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of a monograph, Being Numerous: Po
Maya C. Popa on Gerard Manley Hopkins ("Spring and Fall")
One of those poems that makes you feel like its ending is perfect, inevitable. I talked with Maya C. Popa about Gerard Manley Hopkins's "Spring and Fall." Maya is a poet, critic, scholar, and teacher. She is the author of two full-length collections of poetry: American Faith (Sarabande, 2019) and Wound is the Origin of Wonder (Norton, 2022). She is the poetry reviews editor at Publishers Week
Evie Shockley on Ed Roberson ("Open / Back Up (breadth of field)")
What a gift this conversation was. I talked to Evie Shockley about a poem from Ed Roberson's book City Eclogue, "Open / Back Up (breadth of field)."Evie is the Zora Neale Hurston Distinguished Professor of English at Rutgers University. She is the author of five books of poetry, including the just-released suddenly we (Wesleyan UP, 2023). She is also the author of Renegade Poetics: Black Aesthetic
Kimberly Quiogue Andrews on Wallace Stevens ("Man Carrying Thing")
"The poem must resist the intelligence / Almost successfully." So begins this episode's poem, "Man Carrying Thing," by the modernist American poet Wallace Stevens. I got to talk about it with the scholar and poet Kimberly Quiogue Andrews.Kim is an assistant professor of English at the University of Ottawa and the author of The Academic Avant-Garde: Poetry and the American University (Johns Hopkins
Eric Lindstrom on James Schuyler ("February")
"I can't get over / how it all works in together." That's the poet James Schuyler, towards the end of today's poem, "February," a favorite of mine, which I had the great fortune to talk about with an old and beloved friend, Eric Lindstrom.Eric is Professor of English at the University of Vermont and the author of two books: Romantic Fiat: Demystification and Enchantment in Lyric Poetry (Palgrave,
Beci Carver on Thomas Hardy ("The Voice")
A haunting, haunted poem for us today: Beci Carver joins the podcast to discuss Thomas Hardy's poem for his late wife, "The Voice."Beci is a lecturer in 20th-century literature at University of Exeter and the author of Granular Modernism (Oxford UP, 2014). Her articles have appeared in journals like Textual Practice, Critical Quarterly, Modernism/modernity, and Essays in Criticism. She is also ver
Christopher Spaide on Terrance Hayes ("The Golden Shovel")
What a thrill it was to talk with Christopher Spaide about one of the great poems of this century, Terrance Hayes's "The Golden Shovel."This is a two-for-one Close Readings experience, since you can't talk about the Hayes poem without also discussing the Gwendolyn Brooks poem that his is "after," "We Real Cool."Christopher Spaide is a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows, where he focus
Sarah Dowling on Liz Howard ("True Value")
Contemporary poetry finally makes its debut on Close Readings! Sarah Dowling joins the podcast to discuss a thrilling and powerful new poem by Liz Howard, "True Value."Sarah is the author of three poetry collections: Security Posture, Down, and Entering Sappho, which was a finalist for the Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry. Her first scholarly book, Translingual Poetics: Writing Personhood under Sett
Stephanie Burt on Randall Jarrell ("The Player Piano")
Stephanie Burt joins the podcast to talk about Randall Jarrell's breathtaking poem "The Player Piano."Steph is Professor of English at Harvard University, where she works on poetry (particularly of the 20th and 21st centuries), science fiction, literature and geography, contemporary writing, comics and graphic novels, and literature alongside other arts. She is also a poet—her books of poetry incl
Katie Kadue on Andrew Marvell ("The Garden")
What a delight it was to talk to the brilliant Katie Kadue about Andrew Marvell's beautiful and perverse poem "The Garden."Katie is the author of Domestic Georgic: Labors of Preservation from Rabelais to Milton (Chicago, 2021). She is currently a Fellow at the International Network for Comparative Humanities at Notre Dame and Princeton. She has published academic essays on Andrew Marvell, Michel d
Anthony Reed on June Jordan ("In Memoriam: Martin Luther King, Jr.")
Anthony Reed joins the podcast to discuss June Jordan's marvelous poem "In Memoriam: Martin Luther King, Jr."Anthony is Professor of English and the Norman L. and Roselea J. Goldberg Professor of Fine Arts at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of Freedom Time: The Poetics and Politics of Black Experimental Writing (Johns Hopkins UP, 2014) and Soundworks: Race, Sound, and Poetry in Production
Lindsay Turner on Elizabeth Bishop ("The Shampoo")
Lindsay Turner joins the podcast to talk about what is perhaps my favorite love poem ever, Elizabeth Bishop's "The Shampoo." [FYI: For some reason there's a minor technical issue w/my audio quality for the first 3-4 minutes of the episode—sorry!—but, happily, it resolved quickly and doesn't affect the rest of this lovely conversation.]The ShampooThe still explosions on the rocks,the lichens,
Stephen Guy-Bray on George Herbert ("Prayer [I]")
Stephen Guy-Bray joins Close Readings to talk about one of the most beautiful sonnets in the English language, George Herbert's "Prayer (I)." Stephen's most recent book is Line Endings in Renaissance Poetry (Anthem, 2022). In the episode we also refer in passing to a recent academic article of his called "Notes on the Couplet in the Sonnet" and to a recent talk he gave on "Aboutness in Shakespeare
Langdon Hammer on James Merrill ("Christmas Tree")
Our own Very Special Christmas Episode: Langdon Hammer joins the podcast to talk about James Merrill's "Christmas Tree."Langdon Hammer is the Niel Gray, Jr. Professor of English at Yale University and the author of James Merrill: Life and Art (Knopf, 2015). With Stephen Yenser, he edited A Whole World: Letters from James Merrill (Knopf, 2021). He is also the author of Hart Crane and Allen Tate: Ja
Anahid Nersessian on John Keats ("Ode to Psyche")
Anahid Nersessian joins Close Readings to talk about her favorite poem, John Keats's "Ode to Psyche." Anahid's most recent book, the extraordinary Keats's Odes: A Lover's Discourse, is now available in a new edition.Anahid is a professor of English at UCLA and the author of two earlier books: Utopia, Limited: Romanticism and Adjustment (Harvard: 2015), and The Calamity Form: On Poetry and Social L
Brian Glavey on Frank O'Hara ("Having a Coke with You")
Brian Glavey joins Close Readings to talk about one of the great love poems of the twentieth century, Frank O'Hara's "Having a Coke with You." Check out Brian's recent article on the poem in PMLA and his first book, The Wallflower Avant-Garde (Oxford UP, 2016). Follow Brian on Twitter here. You can watch and listen to O'Hara read the poem here and find the full episode of the television serie
Teaser
Not the first proper episode of the podcast but just me, talking for a few minutes about what I hope the podcast will become. The room a poem makes.
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