Preston's Poetry Podcast

I'll be rapid-firing haiku! We'll talk about the history of Haiku (Hoku + Haikai) and how to read them! If you wanna check out more on Haiku, check out this great youtube video by Kent Morita and Takahiro Dunn.Guest starring: a teacher in Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan!Production Gustav LethOutro Yentl Tijssens

In this two-part miniseries about two poets' takes on Pieter Bruegel's The Fall of Icarus (c. 1560), I'll be looking at William Carlos Williams' sober take in his Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.Intro: Johnny Loves MeProduction Gustav Worm-LethOutro Yentl Tijssens

We've got a very special episode today by living poet Dr. Donald Platt (Purdue Univ.). We'll be discussing Ekphrastic poems, which are poems written about a work of art. Today's poem, called Cloud Study after John Constable's 1820s Study of Clouds, will be read by the poet himself!You can purchase Platt's Swansdown from the publisher, Grid Books here!Audio and Poem used by Author's permission.Production Gustav Worm-LethOutro Yentl Tijssens

In this episode, I'll be revisiting my grand idea that poetic form follows function. We'll be looking at Edwin Arlington Robinson's great loser, Miniver Cheevy, to address how he uses a system of sound in poetry called prosody to make his point. By the end of this episode, you should have a clearer idea of how I think the form of a poem out to match the content, even enhance it!NOTE: This episode was recorded on different equipment than usual. Let me know if you love it or hate it.Production Gustav Worm-LethOutro Yentl Tijssens

We'll be looking at a poem I revisit often. It has stuck with me through the years, and still to this day delivers. I quote it all the time. It's a poem that will enrich your life -- but poetically speaking, it's a good introduction to poetic form(s) because many of Hopkins' works have a kind of congruence and synchronicity between the content and the form. It's My Own Heart Let Me More Have Pity On.NOTE: This episode was recorded on different equipment than usual. Let me know if you love it or hate it.Production Gustav Worm-LethOutro Yentl Tijssens

What is so special about the work of the American poet and luminary Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), also known as 'The National Poet of the United States'? And how does his literature provide an answer to complex issues? In this special live edition of Preston's Poetry Podcast, poet and writer Preston Losack (originating from Dallas, Texas) welcomes poet Tsead Bruinja, and together they dive into the world of poetry while exploring his monumental work, Leaves of Grass. Tsead and Preston will read excerpts from this timeless masterpiece, share their insights, and discuss Tsead's experience translating America's Bard. Immerse yourself in a sensory journey that is just as captivating, sensual, and inspiring today as it was in 1855.Grasbladen vertaald door 21 dichters (Querido, 2005)Sponsored by: Explore the North, Leeuwarden UNESCO City of Literature, Culturele ApotheekFeaturing (former) Dichter des Vaderlands (2019-2020), Tsead BruinjaOutro composed: Yentl TijssensProducer: Gustav Worm-LethAnd Nicole.

In this episode following the one on Wordsworth, I'll be looking at a not-favorite of mine, The Good Great Man by the giant Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I'll be talking about things I do not like about the poem, as well as some other features of Romantic ideas... ...to demystify them, I guess.Production Gustav Worm-LethOutro Yentl Tijssens

In this episode, I'll be introducing you to what the Romanticism movement was through the Romantic poet of the English language, William Wordsworth, and his 'Daffodils' poem. We'll be talking about his famous definition of poetry, which lasts to this day. Like it or hate it (and if you're here, you probably aren't a big fan), Romanticism still forms the way we think today. Romantic poems are often where the stigma and stereotypes around poetry come from, so we'll be discussing some main ideas and conventions of the movement to put those scary romantics in context! Outro composed by Yentl TijssensProduced by Gustav Leth