Poetry Off The Shelf

Jennifer Jean on foster care, finding her voice, and loving her father as he was.

Mahogany L. Browne on her first kiss, family secrets, and having your book banned.

Janine Joseph on memory loss, car sounds, and a mirror that loves you.

Peter Cole on his brother's death, finding his vocation, and the erotic pull of letters.

Raymond Antrobus on late-night BBC poetry dubs, real people, and becoming a father.

Gabrielle Bates on betrayal, home church, and living in her mother's slaughterhouse.

Marisa Tirado on Selena, cow skulls, and the memory of adobe brick.

Remembering Richard Howard as a poet, mentor, and friend, plus a few words on money by Bernadette Mayer.

Celes Tisdale on similarities, teaching after the uprising, and his mother's favorite poet.

Belarussian poets Valzhyna Mort and Julia Cimafiejeva on magic, transformation, and what's hidden underneath the forest floor.

JoAnna Novak on islands, a plush placenta, and a gift from the suicide hotline.

Alexandra Lytton Regalado on fate, snake mirrors, and the daily work of letting go.

Ama Codjoe on normal naked bodies, solving problems, and her childfree life.

Noʻu Revilla on ancestral history in newspapers, ocean consciousness, and how to be a guest.

Chelsea Harlan on knowledge, creaturehood, and the quest for her mother’s secret sadness.

André Naffis-Sahely on desert sand, rootlessness, and the long shadow of fascism.

Elisa Gabbert on commitment, boredom, and the poem as theater. 

Saeed Jones on accuracy, being funny, and creating what we need.

Chantal Gibson on ancestors, laundry, and Frantz Fanon for beginners.