
173. Kurt Luchs | Tributaries: Essays, verses, and humor
From Arts Calling by Jaime Alejandro Cruz
December 4, 2025 · 1h 5m · Season 1
About this episode
Jaime Alejandro Cruz interviews humorist, poet, and essayist Kurt Luchs about his work and experiences.
Hi there, Today I am delighted to be arts calling humorist, poet, and essayist Kurt Luchs! ( kurtluchs.com ) About our guest: Kurt Luchs was born in Cheektowaga, New York, grew up in Wheaton, Illinois, and has lived and worked all over the United States, mostly in publishing and media. Currently he’s based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. His first poetry publication came at age sixteen in the long-gone journal Epos, right next to a poem by Bukowski. He has also written comedy for television (Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher and the Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn) and radio (American Comedy Network), as well as contributing humor to the New Yorker, the Onion and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, among others. He is author of the poetry collections Death Row Row Row Your Boat (Sagging Meniscus, 2024), Falling in the Direction of Up (SM, 2021), and the humor collection It’s Funny Until Someone Loses an Eye (Then It’s Really Funny) (SM, 2017). His poetry chapbooks include One of These Things Is Not Like the Other (Finishing Line Press 2019), and The Sound of One Hand Slapping (SurVision Press 2022). He won a 2022 Pushcart Prize, a 2021 James Tate Poetry Prize, the 2021 Eyelands Book…
People in this episode
Host: Jaime Alejandro Cruz
Guest: Kurt Luchs
Topics covered
- poetry
- humor
- essays
- publishing
- interview
Keywords
- Kurt Luchs
- poetry
- humor
- essays
- Tributaries
- Sagging Meniscus
- Pushcart Prize
- interview
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Sagging Meniscus Press, American Comedy Network, New Yorker, Onion, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
Books & works: Tributaries, Death Row Row Row Your Boat, Falling in the Direction of Up, It's Funny Until Someone Loses an Eye, One of These Things Is Not Like the Other, The Sound of One Hand Slapping
Places: Cheektowaga, New York, Wheaton, Illinois, Kalamazoo, Michigan
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