Join poetry prof Tara Stubbs (Oxford) as she talks all things poetry with poets, educators, anthologists and even ‘poetry pharmacists’. In each podcast, Tara as...
In this episode, Tara talks to the poetry educator and anthologist Liz Ison. Liz leads poetry walks, as well as running poetry reading workshops in a variety of different spaces, from care homes to pubs. She has also edited the Taylor Swift-inspired anthology Poems for Tortured Souls. We talk about the value of reading poetry out loud, how Liz’s working life is informed by poetry, and how she came into her various roles in the poetry world.
For more on Liz, go to https://societyofauthors.org/soa-member/liz-ison/. You can also find her on Instagram @liz.ison https://www.instagram.com/liz.ison/?hl=en
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33:26
Carol Jacobi
For this episode, Tara talks to Dr. Carol Jacobi, curator of British Art 1850–1915 at Tate Britain. Carol’s curation of 2023’s ‘The Rossettis’ exhibition at Tate Britain fused poems, painting and pre-recorded poetry ‘sound showers’. Carol tells us what inspired her to curate the exhibition in this way, and what she learned about different audiences’ reactions to poetry as well as to art. We also discuss the significance of the women poets and painters in the Rossettis’ story, as well as Carol’s own interests in poetry.
For more on Carol, go to https://britishartnetwork.org.uk/membership/members/carol-jacobi/. You can also find her on Instagram @caroljac0bi https://www.instagram.com/caroljac0bi/?hl=en
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30:37
Jacqueline Saphra
For this episode Tara talks to the poet, activist and agitator Jacqueline Saphra. Jacqueline has published several collections of poetry, but also believes in the power of poetry to debate the big issues and to inspire change. We discuss Jacqueline’s activism, her love of form – particularly the sonnet – and the idea that a poem finds its own shape. We also think about whether poetry can really make things happen.
For more on Jacqueline, go to https://www.jacquelinesaphra.com/. You can also find her on Instagram @jacquelinesaphra https://www.instagram.com/jacquelinesaphra/?hl=en
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26:31
Dinah Roe
In this episode, Tara talks to academic and researcher Dr. Dinah Roe (Oxford Brookes), who runs a project around poetry and care. Dina discusses the origins of the project in her work on the Victorian poet Christina Rossetti, who was a carer herself, and discusses her creative writing workshops with contemporary carers. Dinah also tells us about her own reading and teaching of poetry, and reveals her favourite poems to teach.
For more on Dinah, and on her project on poetry and care, you can follow her on X (@preraphsrule) https://x.com/preraphsrule, and go to the project website, https://carerspoetry.org/.
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27:19
Brian Bilston
In this episode, Tara is joined by ‘the Banksy of contemporary poetry’ Brian Bilston (not his real name). Brian has had huge success sharing his poems over the internet, with over 500,000 followers on social media. He has since published several collections of poetry for different audiences. Today Brian talks about his feelings around having the job title ‘Poet’, how his persona came about, and the poets and poems that inspire him.
For more on Brian Bilston, you can find him on www.brianbilston.com, on Facebook (Brian Bilston), and on Instagram at @brian_bilston https://www.instagram.com/brian_bilston/?hl=en
Join poetry prof Tara Stubbs (Oxford) as she talks all things poetry with poets, educators, anthologists and even ‘poetry pharmacists’. In each podcast, Tara asks her guests about their relationships with poetry, their favourite poets, and the ways they use poetry to think about wider issues that relate to the world we live in. The conversations are informal and wide-ranging, but they all try to ‘demystify’ poetry – challenging and removing some of the barriers to poetry that we often find in education, community and society.
UK