Tag: Poetry

Ep. 96 Uprooted

Nina Padolf is a poet who writes about family history, trauma, and memory. Her poems exist at the intersection of personal history and that which we often prefer not to discuss. Thankfully, during our podcast we were able to have a deep and meaningful conversation about poetics, identity, and Dr. Padolf reads for us.

You can buy Uprooted from the big Borg Online Retailer, OR you could contact Nina at ninapoet[at]gmail[dot]com. You can also check out her readings at Riverstone Books in Pittsburgh on September 30th at 7 PM and at the Uprooted Book Launch Reading at White Whale Books in Pittsburgh on November 9th at 7.

As always, a little bit of swearing spices things up.

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Ep. 93: Gilded Age End Time Cheeseburgers

John Grochalski is a poet, novelist, editor, and junk wax collector. Not sure we talk about any of those things, but we do have a lively conversation about poo on pizza, 21st Century America, and people who poo in public in 21st Century America. It’s a well rounded convo, really. Eating a Cheeseburger During the End Times is already out and can be bought through Barnes and Nobel. The novel P-Town Forever will be out soon.

And we swear, a lot.

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Ep 90: Imbibe the Eternal Grin

Judith and Charles Brice are a husband and wife poetry double threat. Together for 4 decades, they became poets as they neared retirement. On this episode, Judith and Charlie discuss their poetics and read from their new books. We talk about what how living with another poet enhances their craft and where their poetics differ. Charlie reads from The Broad Grin of Eternity, and Judith reads from both Imbibe the Air and Shards of Shadows: A Covid Diary. See what I did with the title of the episode there?

You can buy all these books from the Borg Internet Book Seller, but if you email Judy at JBriceMD[at]gmail[dot]com or Charlie at Charlie.Brice[at]gmail.com, you can score signed copies directly from the poets.

Charlie didn’t know you could swear on this podcast, but when he learned he could, he did.

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Ep. 88 From the Back

James Benger is a fantastic poet from Kansas City, and his new book is entitled From the Back. From the Back is a collection of poems about the kinds of characters one could have found in every dive bar in every town in this country before Covid struck.

During the course of our conversation, we get nostalgic about bar life, and talk about the man-drama that often comes with being in a band. We discuss the importance of practicing one’s craft everyday if you can. James also wraps up The Bottom 5 with a tale of the WORST drive-in double feature combo that anyone could bring a young child to.

After listening to our extended conversation you are going to want to hear more of From the Back, and the best way to buy it is from James directly by emailing him at JamesBengerAuthor[at]gmail[dot]com. However, buy From the Back from a chain store if you must. You can also listen to James read his works on Bandcamp.

James uses his poetry for civic engagement. He is on the board of The Writers’ Place in Kansas City. He helps curate the Riverfront Readings series. He is proud to be a part of Words Save Lives. And the proceeds from the 365 Poetry anthologies he edits go to Operation Breakthrough.

I might swear like once.

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Episode 87: Stories We Never Tell

Janette Schafer stops in to the first podcast she ever listened to in order to talk about her new book Something Here Will Grow available from Main Street Rag. During the course of our conversation we talk about where poems come from, whether or not everything that makes it to a poem actually happened, and Janette reads 3 great poems.

It’s nice to be back from hiatus, and always there’s swearing.

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Episode 83: Tilted World & the Economy of Words

Bart Solarczyk is a Pittsburgh poet whose ability to capture a moment in time with very few words fills me with envy and admiration. His new book Tilted World is out on Low Ghost Press, and in this podcast Bart reads extensively from the book (Hey, they’re short poems!), and we talk poetics, de-industrialization, and the inherently surreal nature of Lunchables.

You can get all of Bart Solarczyk’s books (including Tilted World, Walt Whitman’s Watching, Right Direction, and Vicodin and the Christian Broadcasting Network) directly from him at a reading or hit him up via email at bsolarczyk[at]comcast[dot]net if you’re not local. However, the best thing to do is to hit him up at the Tilted World Book Launch Party on Saturday February 22, 2020, where you can also say goodbye to the Coffee Buddha.

As always, there’s light but pleasant swearing.

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Episode 69: Party Line

In an attempt to forge new frontiers of podcastdom We’re All Gonna Die tries our hand at podcasting over the phone, and I’m sorry about the constant hum.  I ran noise reduction and the compression software multiple times, and well…it’s at least an amusing conversation between myself, Stephanie Brea, Jason Baldinger, and all the way from a U-Haul parking lot in Kansas City James Benger.

During our talk we discuss the holiday season, why labor and poetry go together, James and Jason’s great new book Little Fires Hiding, the 5th Annual Bah Humbug:Writers Wrestle with the Holiday Spirit reading, and James has to get out of his car and explain why he’s talking on the phone in a U-Haul parking lot

At this point, I try to earn the explicit tag on every single podcast.

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Episode 65: This Useless Beauty

Frequent, and frequently entertaining, guest Jason Baldinger stops by to discuss the publication of two new books This Useless Beauty and The Ugly Side of the Lake (written with John Dorsey).  During the course of our conversation we discuss American decay, the nostalgia trap, and what it’s like to grow old in an era when everything seems to be falling apart.  You can buy This Useless Beauty from Alien Buddha Press and The Other Side of the Lake from NightBallet Press, or better yet, go to The This Useless Beauty/The Ugly Side of the Lake Dual Launch Party on Thursday, August 9, 2018 at Brillobox.  There is also a launch party in Cleveland at Visible Voice Books on Friday, August 10th.

Jason might be the one guest that swears more than I do.

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Episode 57: Nasty Women and Bad Hombres

For this episode, editors Deena November and Nina Padolf stop by to discuss their new anthology of poetry entitled Nasty Women and Bad Hombres.  During the course of our conversation we discuss what it means to have community at this moment in history and why it is important for poetry and the arts to confront our contemporary crisis in democracy.  One can get a copy of this great collection of poems through Amazon after November 9, 2017, or better yet message Denna and Neena through the Nasty Women and Bad Hombres Facebook page to get a copy right from the source. One can also pick up a copy of the Nasty Women and Bad Hombres book release party at the Tiki Lounge on the South Side of Pittsburgh on November 9, 2017 at 7PM.  Deena is also the curator of the Staghorn Poetry Series at Staghorn Coffee in Greenfield.

Features strong language and a baby fart.

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Episode 56: Love Poems, Nothing but Love Poems

We have four guests this time out to talk about a great new anthology of poems entitled Unconditional Surrender from Low Ghost Press.  We have editors Kristofer Collins and Scott Silsbe, as well as contributors Stephanie Brea and Richard Gegick. Stephanie and Richard read their contributions.  Kristofer and Scott discuss the construction of this beautiful, surprising, sad, and tender collection.  In the process I get on my high horse about being confident in your creativity, we reference Roland Barthes several times, and we find out which of our guests would like to see what Stalin would think of Frank Sinatra.

You can (and really, really freakin’ should) buy the collection at a number of Pittsburgh’s fine independent bookstores as well as directly from Low Ghost Press through Amazon. Also, check out Low Ghost Press on Facebook for details about the December book launch event.

I’m not the only one who swears this time.

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