Poetry Unbound in Conversation — Don McKay

About this episode

Acclaimed poet Don McKay discusses his passions for basketball, geology, and birds in a conversation celebrating his Lifetime Achievement Award.

“I still have the best three-point shot of any Canadian poet born before 1943” is one of the first things that acclaimed poet Don McKay says in this expansive and intimate exchange. We are thrilled to offer this conversation between Padraig and Don, recorded from a virtual interview held on the occasion of Don receiving the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Griffin Poetry Prizes. After touching on his early devotion to basketball, Don speaks of his lifelong passion for geology and birds, how Newfoundland is considered “opera for geologists”, and why he favors membership over mastery when it comes to relating to Earth’s other living creatures. We invite you to subscribe to Pádraig’s weekly Poetry Unbound Substack, read the Poetry Unbound books and his newest work, Kitchen Hymns, or listen to all our Poetry Unbound episodes.

People in this episode

Host: Padraig

Guest: Don McKay

Topics covered

• poetry
• interview
• geology
• birds
• basketball
• lifetime achievement
• nature

Keywords

• Don McKay
• poetry
• geology
• birds
• basketball
• Griffin Poetry Prizes
• nature

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Griffin Poetry Prizes

Places: Newfoundland

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