I've been trying to get on my treadmill more often and struggling to find entertaining ways to keep myself on the thing.
Last week I caught up on some poetry podcasts. It really makes the time go quicker but it's difficult to scribble down notes while walking.
Recently (10/29/2013) the PBS NewsHour podcast interviewed Billy Collins. They quoted him as saying, "the problem with poetry is that it encourages the writing of more poetry."
Wow. I'm going to find it harder to defend him now when my other poetry compadres attack him for being a sell-out. I don't think he is but I guess he's a stage hog. Implicit in that comment is the belief that there’s not enough room for the likes of all of us. We're all the “more guppies crowding up the fish tank.” He did have something interesting to say about Alice Fulton’s. He said she put the fun back in profundity.
Recommended: I just subscribed to the podcast of The Missouri Review and listened to the episode interviewing the editors of Electric Literature who also publish a free online journal called "Recommended Reading" that is updated every Wednesday. They talk about the future of online journals and how they compile their recommended list of fiction and what they look for in new work (stories that pop versus preciousness). They say there's and "endless crop of great work" out there.
Not Recommended: I tried listening to an episode of a podcast called The Broad Pod but I didn’t like it. This is mostly readings of science fiction by women.
Highly Recommended: Indie Feed continues to please. The 4/28 episode interviews British poet Anthony Anaxagorou. View his site: http://anthonyanaxagorou.com/
Recommended: The 1/19 episode of PBS NewsHours podcast was about physicians who embrace poetry. This reminded me of the Scottish Poetry Library's project to provide poets to doctors. This podcast interviewed a doctor in Boston and doctor/poet Raphael Compo about his new book, Alternative Medicine. View his site at: http://www.rafaelcampo.com/
They talk about how metaphorical language is used by both poets and doctors who need to communicate complicated issues with patients. Doctors also use poetry to reconnect with the feelings of their clients.
I love any discussion of poetry being used for practical purposes, such as helping doctors reconnect with their own practice.
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