Ernest Hilbert, Guy D'Annolfo, and Larry Robin joined Al Filreis in the Wexler Studio of the Kelly Writers House to talk about three poems from Thomas Devaney's Getting to Philadelphia (Hanging Loose Press, 2019). Recordings of Devaney performing these poems, “The Blue Stoop,” “Oregon Avenue,” and “A Week in the Childhood of W.C. Fields,” can be found on his PennSound page. (We think it is worth your while to listen to prefatory comments Devaney offers before reading each of these poems: 1, 2, 3.)

The winter solstice will take place this year at 10:03 on the morning of December 21st. It’s an astronomical event thoroughly woven into the fabric of our culture, especially the holidays and festivals that we celebrate at this time of year, which seek light in the midst of our darkest days. For many lovers of contemporary poetry, the solstice also brings bittersweet memories of the late Bernadette Mayer, whose beloved Midwinter Day was written in its entirety on December 22, 1978, when she, Lewis Warsh, and their children were living at 100 Main Street in Lennox, MA.

In this episode, Al Filreis was joined in the Wexler Studio at the Kelly Writers House by George Quasha and Chris Funkhouser. The three discuss Quasha’s ongoing series of preverbs, which Funkhouser has worked for years to record and can be found at PennSound here. 

In this episode, Michael Hennessey presents a podcast version of our annual “Poems of Thanks and Thanksgiving” PennSound Daily post, which marks its 15th anniversary this year. Listen to poems by Joe Brainard, Yusef Komunyakaa, Maggie Nelson, Kate Colby, Charles Reznikoff, and Mark Van Doren as you make your way over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house.

In this episode we present a composite version of Harryette Mullen’s germinal collection Trimmings (1991) — woven together from recordings made in 1987, 1991, and 1992 — and learn more about the book's inspirations, composition, and preoccupations via a lengthy interview on Morton Marcus' The Poetry Show.

SideGig #3 finds Kevin and Paul hosting — or is it hosted by? — Charles Bernstein, poet, scholar, translator, trickster, pugilist, and sweetheart. After Charles reads his poem “Shenandoah,” accompanied musically by his guests, the trio discuss folk songs, forgetting, cognitive and poetic dyspraxia, and what it means not to belong — and to belong with others in your not-belonging.