Poetry Pause

In this episode, we take Maya Angelou's poem Still I Rise as a catalyst and inspiration. We chat about writing as protest, appropriation, and Maya Angelou's status as phenomenal woman. Writers mentioned include Amanda Gorman, Langston Hughes, WS Merwin, Bob Dylan, Colston Whitehead and Lucy Hannah. With poet Mark Lewis, bookseller Lorna Lee and psychologist Philippa Davies, and recorded in the old book room, Chapter One bookshop at Narberth Museum, West Wales. Music attribution: Attribution Code"Spy Glass" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Three poetry nerds who are a curator, a translator and a psychologist, discuss love poems in Chapter One Bookshop at Narberth Museum, West Wales. We chat about the dark side of love, whether love poetry needs to be romantic, and whether some love sentiments are best kept private. Featuring poems by Pablo Neruda, Tony Harrison and TS Eliot, this is an auditory hors d'oeuvre to a live love themed Book Bar at Chapter One.

In this episode, we chat through our community poetry projects including unsung Women of West Wales, Poems on the Pitch, and the Llandeilo town poem, for Llandeilo Lit Fest.

In this episode, we discuss new poetry voices in Wales, of poets Rhiannon Hooson and Kathy Miles. We discuss the possibilities of Welsh Gothic, and what else in happening in poetry in Wales which excites us. This episode features a most helpful interview with Kathy Miles for aspiring poets.

We discuss Gwyneth Lewis in this episode, first National Poet of Wales. One of us is a massive fan-girl and the other is a little bit out of her depth... This episode is dedicated to super-humanist, super-culture-lover, super-hippy and super-gardening-guru Alan Tuck, who lived next door to the cowshed and enjoyed our podcast.

In this episode, we discuss and analyze the poetry of Gillian Clarke, former National Poet of Wales and winner of the Queen's Award for Poetry. We find huge affinity with the poet, and are big fan girls!

In this episode, we investigate the amazing poetry of medieval poet, Gwerful Mechain. She champions body positivity, humour, standing up for women's rights - and all from fifteenth century Wales. We also discuss poems by Menna Elfyn, Sheenagh Pugh, Gwyneth Lewis, Amanda Lovelace and Sharon Olds.

We discuss why poetry gives us hope and heals us, with guest poet Natalie Holborow, coming from Llandeilo Lit Fest. We include poems by Seamus Heaney, Adrienne Rich and Grace Nichols. Natalie's collection 'Small' is published by Parthian Books.

In this episode, we discuss and consider Imtiaz Dharker's story, her gifts and contribution. Our guest contributor, Luise Thomas, chooses Imtiaz Dharker's 'Litter' as inspiration for item poems, which we write in response. Luise Thomas is a published poet whose collection is called 'Life Love Loss'.

In this episode, we discuss and get inspired by Maya Angelou and her poem 'Still I Rise'. We discuss her amazing achievements, her story and contribution as civil rights activist. Maya Angelou wrote seven autobiographies, several poetry books, wrote, produced and directed film and tv and performed a poem at Bill Clinton's inauguration. She won Emmys, 50 honorary degrees and continued to enthrall on the lecture circuit into her 80s.

In this episode, we discuss and get inspired by a poem by Wislawa Szymborska. We investigate how lists, a filmic approach and reportage contribute to a poem of high emotional impact. Nobel prize winner, Wislawa, was unassuming, a funster - and in some ways, most ahead of her time. We read her poems in translation; Emma gives insights into her relationship with the poems she translates. And we'd love to hear your responses to this episode over in our Facebook group.

In this episode, we discuss and get inspired by a Billy Collins poem. We look at depth and lightness in poetry, and how accessibility can get enemies. We consider having a persona as a poet and how this sits with authenticity. Coleridge gets a brief mention and we experiment practically with a 'welcome mat' poetry technique. We'd love to see your responses to this episode in our Facebook group.