Rattle Poetry

Latest Episodes:

ep. 340 - Alan Shapiro May 01, 2026

Show notes

Alan Shapiro first appeared in episode 248. He's back with a new book, Diver. He's the author of 15 books of poetry, including Reel to Reel, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Night of the Republic, a finalist for both the National Book Award and The Griffin Prize, two memoirs, a novel, two books of critical essays, and two translations. Shapiro has taught at Stanford University, Northwestern University, Warren Wilson College (in its low residency MFA program for writers), and from 1995 to 2021 he was the William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina. Find more here: https://www.unboundedition.com/product/diver-alan-shapiro-poetry/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. Submit your poems through Submittable by midnight Sunday for a chance to be invited: https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/269309/rattlecast-prompt-poems-online For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/page/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Write a poem that uses the present tense as one of the ways in which it creates tension. Next Week's Prompt: Write a poem which utilizes a quote as the title, and indicate who said it within the body of the poem. The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

ep. 339 - Daniel Donaghy Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

Daniel Donaghy is the author of five poetry collections, most recently Somerset, which was named co-winner of the 2019 Paterson Poetry Prize. His previous poetry collections include Start with the Trouble, and Streetfighting, a Paterson Poetry Prize Finalist. He earned a BA in English from Kutztown University, an MA in English/Creative Writing from Hollins College, an MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry) from Cornell University, and a PhD in English from the University of Rochester. Donaghy was awarded the 2022 Auburn Witness Poetry Prize and a 2019 Artist Fellowship by the Connecticut Office of the Arts. He is Professor of English at Eastern Connecticut State University, where he edits Here: a poetry journal with his students, and serves as Poet Laureate of Windham, CT. He grew up in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, PA, which has inspired many of his poems. Find more here: https://www.danieldonaghy.com/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. Submit your poems through Submittable by midnight Sunday for a chance to be invited: https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/269309/rattlecast-prompt-poems-online For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/page/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Pick a decision that shaped the trajectory of your life and imagine if you’d calculated a different choice. Include at least one scent. Next Week’s Prompt: Write a poem that uses the present tense as one of the ways in which it creates tension. The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

ep. 338 - Matthew Buckley Smith Apr 14, 2026

Show notes

Matthew Buckley Smith first appeared in episode 226. He won the 2025 Rattle Chapbook Prize for The Soft Black Stars. He's the author of Midlife (Measure, 2024) and Dirge for an Imaginary World (Able Muse, 2012). His poems have been featured in American Life in Poetry, Best American Poetry, and Poetry Daily. He hosts the poetry podcast SLEERICKETS. Find more here: https://www.matthewbuckleysmith.com/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. Submit your poems through Submittable by midnight Sunday for a chance to be invited: https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/269309/rattlecast-prompt-poems-online For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/page/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Write a villanelle that features something you see every day–and you’re the only person in the world that does. Next Week’s Prompt: Pick a decision that shaped the trajectory of your life and imagine if you’d calculated a different choice. Include at least one scent. The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

ep. 337 - Brendan Constantine Apr 08, 2026

Show notes

Brendan Constantine first appeared on Rattlecast 108. He's back with a brand new book from Red Hen Press, The Opposites Game. Brendan is a poet based in Los Angeles. His work has appeared in many of the nation’s standards, including Poetry, The Nation, Best American Poetry, Ploughshares, Tin House, Virginia Quarterly, and Poem-a-Day. A popular performer, Brendan has presented his work to audiences throughout the U.S. and Europe, also appearing on NPR’s All Things Considered, TED ED, numerous podcasts, and YouTube. Brendan currently teaches at the Windward School and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Since 2017, has been developing poetry workshops for people with Aphasia and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI). Find more here: https://brendanconstantine.com/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. Submit your poems through Submittable by midnight Sunday for a chance to be invited: https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/269309/rattlecast-prompt-poems-online For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/page/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Write a poem that rallies against its own epigraph. Next Week’s Prompt: Write a villanelle that features something you see every day–and you’re the only person in the world that does. The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

ep. 336 - Lori Jakiela Mar 31, 2026

Show notes

Lori Jakiela was a 2025 Rattle Poetry Prize Finalist for "Build a Bear." She is the author of eight books, including the memoir Belief Is Its Own Kind of Truth, Maybe, which received the Saroyan Prize for International Literature from Stanford University, was a finalist for the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses' Firecracker Award and the Housatonic Book Award, and was named one of 20 Not-To-Miss Nonfiction Books of 2015 by The Huffington Post. Her most recent book, All Skate: True Tales from Middle Life, was published by the great literary underground Roadside Press in 2025. A former international flight attendant, Jakiela directs the writing program at The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, teaches creative writing in the doctoral program at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and leads many community workshops. Find more here: https://www.lorijakiela.net/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. Submit your poems through Submittable by midnight Sunday for a chance to be invited: https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/269309/rattlecast-prompt-poems-online For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/page/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Write about a time you took something more literally than you probably should have. Include as many colors as possible. Next Week’s Prompt: Write a poem that rallies against its own epigraph. The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

ep. 335 - David Mason Mar 24, 2026

Show notes

David Mason first appeared in episode 64. He returns to share his new book, Cold Fire. David grew up in Bellingham, Washington and has lived in many parts of the world, including Greece and Colorado, where he served as poet laureate for four years. His books of poems began with The Buried Houses, The Country I Remember, and Arrivals. His verse novel, Ludlow, was named best poetry book of the year by the Contemporary Poetry Review and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. It was also featured on the PBS NewsHour. He has written a memoir and four collections of essays. He lives with his wife Chrissy (poet Cally Conan-Davies) in Tasmania on the edge of the Southern Ocean. Find the book here: https://redhen.org/book_author/david-mason/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. Submit your poems through Submittable by midnight Sunday for a chance to be invited: https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/269309/rattlecast-prompt-poems-online For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/page/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Pick an obscure holiday that occurs during the next week, and write a poem that celebrates accordingly. Include which holiday/date in the notes of your submission. Next Week’s Prompt: Write about a time you took something more literally than you probably should have. Include as many colors as possible. The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

ep. 334 - Nick Lantz Mar 17, 2026

Show notes

Nick Lantz's poem "Dolorimetry" appeared in issue 88 and won the 2026 Neil Postman Award for Metaphor. He's the author of five collections of poetry, most recently The End of Everything and Everything That Comes After That (University of Wisconsin Press, 2024). His poetry has received several awards, including the Larry Levis Reading Prize, the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writer Award, and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. He teaches in the MFA program at Sam Houston State University and lives in Huntsville, Texas, with his wife and cats. Find more info here: https://www.nick-lantz.com/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. Submit your poems through Submittable by midnight Sunday for a chance to be invited: https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/269309/rattlecast-prompt-poems-online For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/page/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Write a poem about a time you couldn’t keep the correct time straight. Include at least one temporal shift. Next Week’s Prompt: Pick an obscure holiday that occurs during the next week, and write a poem that celebrates accordingly. Include which holiday/date in the notes of your submission. The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

ep 333 - Jane Zwart Mar 10, 2026

Show notes

Jane Zwart teaches literature and writing at Calvin University, where she also co-directs the Calvin Center for Faith & Writing. Her poems have appeared widely in periodicals, including Poetry, The Poetry Review, Ploughshares, The Southern Review, and Threepenny Review. Her first book, Oddest & Oldest & Saddest & Best, was just released from Orison Books. Find more info here: https://www.janezwart.com/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. Submit your poems through Submittable by midnight Sunday for a chance to be invited: https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/269309/rattlecast-prompt-poems-online For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/page/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Write a poem which confesses something that’s secretly seasonal to you, but not so much to others. Next Week’s Prompt: Write a poem about a time you couldn’t keep the correct time straight. Include at least one temporal shift. The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

ep. 332 - Jason B. Crawford Mar 03, 2026

Show notes

jason b. crawford (He/They) born in Washington DC and raised in Lansing, Michigan, is the author of Year of the Unicorn Kidz. Their second collection, YEET! is the winner of the Omnidawn 1st/2nd Book Prize and was published Fall 2025. They have been published in Poetry Magazine, Academy of American Poets, Cincinnati Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, RHINO Poetry, among others. They are a 2023 Emerging Writers Fellow for Lambda Literary and hold their MFA in Poetry from The New School. Find more info here: https://www.jasonbcrawford.com/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. Submit your poems through Submittable by midnight Sunday for a chance to be invited: https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/269309/rattlecast-prompt-poems-online For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/page/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Write a poem that begins precisely where you currently are in life, but lands somewhere else entirely. Next Week’s Prompt: Write a poem which confesses something that’s secretly seasonal to you, but not so much to others. The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

ep. 331 - Alexandra Oliver Feb 24, 2026

Show notes

Alexandra Oliver was a finalist for the 2025 Rattle Poetry Prize. She is the author of three collections published through Biblioasis: Meeting the Tormentors in Safeway (2013; recipient of the Pat Lowther Memorial Award), Let the Empire Down ( 2016), and Hail, the Invisible Watchman (2022). Her libretto for From the Diaries of William Lyon Mackenzie King, conceived in conjunction with composer Scott Wilson at the University of Birmingham, was performed by Continuum Music in Toronto in December, 2017. Oliver is a past co-editor of Measure for Measure: An Anthology of Poetic Meters (Everyman’s Library/Random House, 2015) as well as of the formalist journal The Rotary Dial. She has performed her work for CBC Radio and NPR, as well as at The National Poetry Slam and a murder of festivals and conferences. Oliver teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto and OCAD University. Find her most recent book here: https://www.biblioasis.com/shop/new-releases/hail-the-invisible-watchman/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. Submit your poems through Submittable by midnight Sunday for a chance to be invited: https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/269309/rattlecast-prompt-poems-online For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/page/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Write a poem that examines a surprising aspect of a job you otherwise generally love to do. Next Week’s Prompt: Write a poem that begins precisely where you currently are in life, but lands somewhere else entirely. The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

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