From the Catbird Seat: Poetry from the Library of Congress

This episode, the third and final in a special three-part series, chronicles Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith’s travels to rural Kentucky in March 2018 as a pilot for her second-year project, “American Conversations: Celebrating Poems in Rural Communities.” Rob Casper of the Poetry and Literature Center will reflect on the trip with help from Phillip Justice, Ashton Ricketts, and Maurice Manning. We’ll also hear clips from one of Tracy K. Smith’s Kentucky events, and close out the podcast series with reflections from Anya Creightney and our poet laureate herself.For more about this episode, visit the From the Catbird Seat blog. Learn even more about “American Conversations” by visiting the project online.

This episode, the second in a special three-part series, chronicles Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith’s travels to rural South Carolina in February 2018 as a pilot for her second-year project, “American Conversations: Celebrating Poems in Rural Communities.” Rob Casper of the Poetry and Literature Center will reflect on the trip along with Tracy K. Smith, Congressman James Clyburn, and Ruth Franklin.For more about this episode, visit the From the Catbird Seat blog. Learn even more about “American Conversations” by visiting the project online.

This episode, the first in a special three-part series, chronicles Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith’s travels to rural New Mexico in January 2018 as a pilot for her second-year project, “American Conversations: Celebrating Poems in Rural Communities.” Anya Creightney of the Poetry and Literature Center will reflect on the trip, and we’ll hear from a few of the folks our poet laureate met on the road.For more about this episode, visit the From the Catbird Seat blog. Learn even more about “American Conversations” by visiting the project online.

On the eighth episode of From the Catbird Seat, former Poet Laureate Charles Wright speaks with Rob Casper about his term as poet laureate, and we listen to highlights from Wright’s inaugural reading at the Library of Congress in September 2014.

On the seventh episode of From the Catbird Seat, Rob Casper goes behind the scenes with Matthew Zapruder, editor at large of Wave Books and the former director of the Bagley Wright Lecture Series, about the six Bagley Wright lectures hosted at the Library of Congress between 2013 and 2016. The lecture series features leading mid-career poets as they explore, in-depth, their own thinking on the subject of poetry and poetics. We’ll listen to three poets who delivered Bagley Wright lectures at the Library of Congress: Dorothea Lasky, Timothy Donnelly, and Terrance Hayes.

On the sixth episode of From the Catbird Seat, Rob Casper chats with former Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera about his experience serving as a judge for the 2015 National Book Festival Youth Poetry Slam, and what established writers can learn from emerging writers. Then, we’ll listen to clips from the 2015 Youth Poetry Slam.

On the fifth episode of From the Catbird Seat, Rob Casper goes behind the scenes with Ghanaian poet and editor Kwame Dawes about the February 2017 “Conversations with African Poets and Writers: African Poetry Book Fund Spotlight” event at the Library of Congress. Dawes discussess the formation of the African Poetry Book Fund, an organization that promotes and advances the development and publication of the poetic arts of Africa, and then we’ll listen to event clips featuring African Book Fund editorial board members Chris Abani, Matthew Shenoda, and Aracelis Girmay; and poets Chekube O. Danladi, Safia Elhillo, Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, and Hope Wabuke.

On the fourth episode of From the Catbird Seat, Rob Casper chats with former Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey, who reflects on her 2013 conversation with singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash at the Library of Congress. We’ll listen to clips from that event, which navigates the power of lyric language, the intersections of songwriting and poetry, and the influence of the two artists’ fathers—Johnny Cash and Eric Trethewey.

On the third episode of From the Catbird Seat, Rob Casper goes behind the scenes with Betty Sue Flowers, Mary Szybist, and Danielle Legros Georges, the jurors of the 2016 Bobbitt Prize for Poetry. They discuss their decision to award the prize to Claudia Rankine for her book Citizen, and to Nathaniel Mackey for Lifetime Achievement. Then, we’ll listen to a segment from the April 2017 prize event with readings by Rankine and Mackey.

On the second episode of From the Catbird Seat, Rob Casper goes behind the scenes with Ron Charles, editor of The Washington Post‘s Book World, about the origins of “The Life of a Poet” series at the Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital in Washington, DC. Ron Charles hosts the series, launched in 2013, which features in-depth conversations with some of the country’s most important poets. We’ll also listen to clips from three “The Life of a Poet” events.

On this inaugural episode of From the Catbird Seat, Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith speaks with Head of the Poetry and Literature Center Rob Casper about her first term as laureate, and looks ahead to her second term. We’ll also listen to clips from Smith’s inaugural reading, which took place on September 13, 2017 in the Library’s Coolidge Auditorium.