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Poetry Unbound

Short and unhurried, Poetry Unbound is an immersive exploration of a single poem, hosted by Pádraig Ó Tuama. Pádraig Ó Tuama greets you at the doorways of brilliant poems and walks you through — each one has wisdom to offer and questions to ask you. Already a listener? There’s also a book (Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World), a Substack newsletter with a vibrant conversation in the comments, and occasional gatherings.

Poetry Unbound Bonus — Walter de la Mare

9 mins; March 09, 2026

Leonard Cohen — Book of Mercy “I,8”

16 mins; March 06, 2026

Billy-Ray Belcourt — Subarctica

17 mins; March 02, 2026

Ruth Irupé Sanabria — Carne

17 mins; February 27, 2026

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha — Dukka

15 mins; February 23, 2026

Rachel Mann — #TDOR

20 mins; February 20, 2026

Sanah Ahsan — Ramadan’s Greeting

15 mins; February 16, 2026

Kevin Hart — Prayer

16 mins; February 13, 2026

Harryette Mullen — LUVTOFU

14 mins; February 09, 2026

Stewart Henderson — How To Speak Love In A Storm?

15 mins; February 06, 2026

Dante Micheaux — Theologies for Korah

18 mins; February 02, 2026

Oksana Maksymchuk — Arguments for Peace

20 mins; January 30, 2026

Armen Davoudian — Coming Out of the Shower

16 mins; January 28, 2026

Orlando Ricardo Menes — Grace

15 mins; January 23, 2026

Cyrus Cassells — Jasmine

14 mins; January 19, 2026

W.S. Merwin — For The Anniversary of My Death

15 mins; January 16, 2026

Kimblerly Blaeser - my journal records the vestiture of doppelgangers

20 mins; January 12, 2026

Poetry Unbound in Conversation — Marie Howe

58 mins; December 19, 2025

Poetry Unbound in Conversation — Lorna Goodison

54 mins; December 12, 2025

Denise Duhamel — How It Will End

17 mins; March 03, 2025

Fady Joudah — [...]

12 mins; February 24, 2025

Benjamin Zephaniah — To Michael Menson

12 mins; February 17, 2025

Carmen Giménez — Ars Poetica

15 mins; February 10, 2025

Rick Barot — The Singing

17 mins; February 03, 2025

Diannely Antigua — Another Poem about God, but Really It’s about Me

16 mins; January 27, 2025

Don McKay — Neanderthal Dig

14 mins; January 20, 2025

Ernesto Cardenal — Give Ear to My Words (Psalm 5)

17 mins; January 13, 2025

Diego Báez — Inheritance

20 mins; December 20, 2024

Danielle Chapman — Trespassing with Tweens

16 mins; December 16, 2024

Richard Langston — Hill walk

12 mins; December 13, 2024

Robert Hayden — Those Winter Sundays

12 mins; December 09, 2024

Taylor Johnson — Pennsylvania Ave. SE

13 mins; December 06, 2024

Kinsale Drake — Put on that KTNN

14 mins; December 02, 2024

Poetry Unbound — Season 9 Trailer

1 min; November 25, 2024

Closing: Poems as Teachers (ft. Kai Cheng Thom) | Ep 7

12 mins; May 17, 2024

Yehuda Amichai — Poems as Teachers | Ep 6

14 mins; May 17, 2024

Jericho Brown — Poems as Teachers | Ep 5

13 mins; May 16, 2024

Mosab Abu Toha — Poems as Teachers | Ep 4

16 mins; May 15, 2024

Constantine P. Cavafy — Poems as Teachers | Ep 3

17 mins; May 14, 2024

Joy Harjo — Poems as Teachers | Ep 2

17 mins; May 13, 2024

Introducing: Poems as Teachers (ft. Wisława Szymborska) | Ep 1

10 mins; May 12, 2024

Thomas Lux — Refrigerator, 1957

14 mins; February 23, 2024

Rita Wong — flush

15 mins; February 19, 2024

Maria Dahvana Headley — Beowulf

15 mins; February 16, 2024

Michael Klein — Swale

14 mins; February 12, 2024

Ray Young Bear — Our Bird Aegis

13 mins; February 09, 2024

Suji Kwock Kim — Search Engine: Notes from the North Korean-Chinese-Russian Border

15 mins; February 05, 2024

Amber McBride — ROLL CALL: NEW TAROT NAMES FOR BLACK GIRLS

16 mins; February 02, 2024

Carl Dennis — Breath

15 mins; January 29, 2024

Elisa Gonzalez — To My Twenty-Four-Year-Old Self

14 mins; January 26, 2024

Ofelia Zepeda — Deer Dance Exhibition

15 mins; January 22, 2024

Sandra Cisneros — When in Doubt

14 mins; January 19, 2024

Kandace Siobhan Walker — Three Mangoes, £1

15 mins; January 15, 2024

Francisco Aragón — Asleep You Become a Continent

13 mins; January 12, 2024

Conor Kerr — Winter Songs

14 mins; January 08, 2024

Valencia Robin — The Coup

14 mins; January 05, 2024

Eugenia Leigh — How the Dung Beetle Finds Its Way Home

15 mins; January 01, 2024

Poetry Unbound — Season 8 Trailer

1 min; December 18, 2023

Clint Smith with Krista Tippett — What We Know in the "Marrow of Our Bones"

65 hours 43 mins; November 13, 2023

BONUS: Truth-seeking and the Symphony of Language with Henri Cole

64 hours 44 mins; September 01, 2023

BONUS: Making Space for the Erotic with Aimee Nezhukumatathil

60 hours 50 mins; August 30, 2023

BONUS: Poetry That Pays Attention with Patricia Smith

68 hours 16 mins; August 28, 2023

Maya C. Popa — They Are Building a Hospital

15 mins; July 28, 2023

Jenny Mitchell — A Man in Love with Plants

13 mins; July 24, 2023

Vidyan Ravinthiran — Artist

13 mins; July 21, 2023

Mark Turcotte — Dear New Blood

15 mins; July 17, 2023

Wo Chan — the smiley barista remembers my name

12 mins; July 14, 2023

Amanda Gunn — Ordinary Sugar

17 mins; July 10, 2023

J. Estanislao Lopez — Alternate Ending: The Escape of Jephthah’s Daughter

13 mins; July 07, 2023

BONUS: A Conversation with Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe

38 mins; July 03, 2023

Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe — Blue

17 mins; July 03, 2023

Charif Shanahan — Present Moment

15 mins; June 30, 2023

Brenda Cárdenas — This Is Why

15 mins; June 26, 2023

Nithy Kasa — Blouse

11 mins; June 23, 2023

Selina Nwulu — Replay

13 mins; June 19, 2023

John Lee Clark — Self Portrait

13 mins; June 16, 2023

Kay Ulanday Barrett — Pantoum for recital when my mom said, don’t let them see you cry

13 mins; June 12, 2023

dg nanouk okpik — In a Lock of Hair

13 mins; June 09, 2023

On Poetry and Patronage: An Invitation to Love Us

1 min; June 07, 2023

Benjamin Gucciardi — The Rungs

15 mins; June 05, 2023

Rowan Ricardo Phillips — Never Again Would Birds’ Song Be the Same

12 mins; June 02, 2023

Alexander Posey — The Dew and the Bird

11 mins; May 29, 2023

José Olivarez — No Time to Wait

11 mins; May 26, 2023

Safia Elhillo — Ode to My Homegirls

12 mins; May 22, 2023

Poetry Unbound — Season 7 Trailer

1 min; May 15, 2023

Ada Limón with Krista Tippett — “To Be Made Whole”

72 hours 36 mins; February 20, 2023

BONUS: A conversation with Lorna Goodison – and the humans behind Poetry Unbound

28 mins; December 22, 2022

Danusha Laméris — Bonfire Opera

14 mins; December 16, 2022

Rumi — You wake the dead to life

15 mins; December 12, 2022

Naomi Shihab Nye — I Feel Sorry for Jesus

15 mins; December 09, 2022

Victoria Adukwei Bulley — not quiet as in quiet but

14 mins; December 05, 2022

Benjamín Naka-Hasebe Kingsley — small talk or in my hand galaxies

18 mins; December 02, 2022

Dan Vera — Norse Saga

12 mins; November 28, 2022

Solmaz Sharif — Self-Care

14 mins; November 25, 2022

Dunya Mikhail — Eva Whose Shadow Is a Swan

14 mins; November 21, 2022

Aaron Caycedo-Kimura — What’s Kept Alive

13 mins; November 18, 2022

Kevin Goodan — We give…

14 mins; November 14, 2022

David Whyte — Leaving the Island

15 mins; November 11, 2022

Andrés N. Ordorica — Mis raíces

14 mins; November 07, 2022

Laura Villareal — My Worries Have Worries

12 mins; November 04, 2022

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Poetry Unbound

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