Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Poetry Magazine Podcast


This is not a journal, this is not a website or a blog, this is a podcast. In my opinion this is the way that poetry should be shared. Contemporary poetry especially deserves the voice of the writer. It's an amazing way to hear the dialect of the poem, the energy and purpose of the poem. In the podcast there is a fun element that gives to the poetry. The commentators of the podcast are able to catch meaning in the abstract poems without giving a solid conclusion or sense of strict purpose to it.
The commentators of the podcast show the energy of each poem through the words of the writers that are read aloud. They are able to grab points in a poem that they found pungent and they can use the authors voice to help push their points. It's like a harkness discussion but instead of looking in the reading for a quick passage, soundbites are used instead. I really think this pushes meaning in the poetry farther as tones that cannot be heard while reading simply can be expressed through the voice of the author.
There were two very nice poems that gave me strong meaning and purpose. First was Hannah Gambles "Growing a Bear" which speaks about the pains of a middle aged man who wants to regain what he has lost through the years. Hannah's drawn out voice gives every word purpose as it slowly pushes through every lingering stanza. But this allows the reader to really feel every word for its true purpose and catch a meaning that Gambles wants you to collect. The next is Nate Marshall's "Praise Song" which depicts a fight between him and his best friends. As a rapper, Nate already has strong presenting voice but he adds soulful rhythms that gives the feeling that you are listening to a preacher.
The podcast wraps up with a discussion with poet Peter Quartermain on "stubborn poetries." Quatermain says that poetry became so boring to him that he actually took leave from it. He learned as a child that every poem has a strict meaning and that you must dissect it until you find it. It wasn't until he had to teach a class on American Contemporary poetry that he realized that it could be so spontaneous and have multiple meanings for multiple readers.
Quatermain's ideologies summarize my points. I too believe that poetry can be spontaneous and exiting and that this spontaneity can give whole new meanings. I believe the voice of the author can give this spontaneity to help develop new meanings. 

To Listen to the Podcast

Hannah Gamble's "Growing a Bear"

Nate Marshall's "Praise Song"

1 comment:

  1. Sam- I love that you twisted the assignment to fit your interest. I'm thinking that you might be submitting your work to something like this for publication?

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