Rattle Poetry

Latest Episodes:

ep. 310 - Roberta Beary Sep 23, 2025

Show notes

Roberta Beary (they/she) first appeared on episode 133. Roberta is long-time haibun editor at Modern Haiku and travels the world as Roving Ambassador for The Haiku Foundation. Their new book, Crazy Bitches, includes 80 haibun selected from poems written over a 20-year period, 2004 through 2024. With Lew Watts and Rich Youmans, Roberta Beary is co-author of Haibun: A Writer's Guide (2023). Find more info here: https://robertabeary.com/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins. For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Write a poem about a time you got more than you bargained for. Next Week’s Prompt: Write a persona poem that includes the word “prompt.” 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. 309 - Rattle Poetry Prize Winners Sep 16, 2025

Show notes

In this special episode of the Rattlecast, we announce the winners of the 2025 Rattle Poetry Prize competition, and most of the 11 poets share their prize-winning work. The annual contest offers $25,000 in awards for individual poems. Find more info on the prize here: https://rattle.com/page/poetryprize/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins. For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Pick a specific obscure award and write a poem about it. Next Week’s Prompt: Write a poem about a time you got more than you bargained for. 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. 308 - Matthew Thorburn Sep 09, 2025

Show notes

Matthew Thorburn's latest book is String, a novel in poems, published by Louisiana State University Press in 2023. He’s also the author of five previous books, including The Grace of Distance, a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize, and the book-length poem Dear Almost, honored with the Lascaux Prize, and two chapbooks. His work has been recognized with a Witter Bynner Fellowship from the Library of Congress, the Mississippi Review Prize, and fellowships from the Bronx and New Jersey arts councils and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. A native of Michigan and for many years a New Yorker, he lives and works in central New Jersey. Find more info here: https://www.matthewthorburn.net/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins. For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Write a poem that features electricity. Next Week’s Prompt: Pick a specific obscure award and write a poem about it. 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. 307 - Richard Siken Sep 02, 2025

Show notes

Richard Siken is a poet and painter. His book Crush won the 2004 Yale Series of Younger Poets prize, selected by Louise Glück, a Lambda Literary Award, a Thom Gunn Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His other books are War of the Foxes (Copper Canyon Press, 2015) and I Do Know Some Things (Copper Canyon Press, 2025). Siken is a recipient of fellowships from Lannan Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. He lives in Tucson, Arizona. Find more info here: https://richard-siken.com/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins. For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Write a poem that touches on hair. Next Week’s Prompt: Write a poem that features electricity. 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. 306 - Alora Young Aug 25, 2025

Show notes

Alora Young is a recent college graduate, actor, poet, and author of Walking Gentry Home: A Memoir of My Foremothers in Verse. She was named the 2020-2021 Youth Poet Laureate of the Southern United States, and has performed her poetry on CNN, CBS, the TEDx stage, and more. Young talks with passion and prowess about how the history and impact of spoken word poetry, generational trauma, navigating Black girlhood & womanhood in America, and neurodivergence & creativity. Find more info here: https://alorayoung.com/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins. For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Write a poem in which someone is taken to a surprising school. Next Week’s Prompt: Write a poem that touches on hair. 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. 305 - Gregory Orr Aug 18, 2025

Show notes

Gregory Orr has written thirteen poetry collections, a memoir, and several books of criticism, most recently A Primer for Poets and Readers of Poetry. His poetry collections include Concerning the Book that is the Body of the Beloved and The Caged Owl: New & Selected Poems. The recipient of Fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, he lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. Find more info here: http://gregoryorr.net/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins. For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Write an ekphrastic poem based on a well-known painting that you dislike. Next Week’s Prompt: Write a poem in which someone is taken to a surprising school. 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. 304 - Sneha Madhavan-Reese Aug 11, 2025

Show notes

Sneha Madhavan-Reese is an award-winning writer and author of the poetry collections Elementary Particles and Observing the Moon. Her poems have appeared in publications around the world, including The Best Canadian Poetry in English 2016. Sneha's second collection, Elementary Particles, is inspired by her South Asian heritage and passion for science, and has themes of identity and belonging, language and loss. Elementary Particles was longlisted for the Raymond Souster Award and was a finalist for the Ottawa Book Award. Find more info here: http://madhavan-reese.com/sneha/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins. For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Write a sonnet in which someone sings. Next Week’s Prompt: Write an ekphrastic poem based on a well-known painting that you dislike. 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. 303 - Bill Hollands Aug 04, 2025

Show notes

Bill Hollands was born and raised in Miami, Florida, graduated from Williams College, and received his MA in English as a Dr. Herchel Smith Fellow at Cambridge University. He worked for the New York Public Library and Microsoft before becoming a high school English teacher. He lives in Seattle with his husband and their son. A multiple Best of the Net and Pushcart nominee, he has been a finalist for North American Review’s James Hearst Poetry Prize, Sycamore Review’s Wabash Prize in Poetry, Smartish Pace’s Erskine J. Poetry Prize, and New Ohio Review’s NORward Prize. He reads submissions for Poetry Northwest and is a 2025 Jack Straw Writing Fellow. His debut collection Mangrove is out now from ELJ Editions. Find that book here: https://billhollandspoetry.com/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins. For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Write a Poet’s Respond poem that is in response to an obscure/off-beat news story. Next Week’s Prompt: Write a sonnet in which someone sings. 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. 302 - Best of Poets Respond Jul 28, 2025

Show notes

Back in June 2014, Rattle unleashed its Poets Respond series, thrusting poetry into the heart of the news with raw, immediate verses that tackle the moment. Over 800 poems later, we’ve woven a vivid tapestry of our shared history, now distilled into a stunning new anthology—our first-ever Best of Rattle Awards collection. It’s as unpredictable and electric as the times we’ve lived through. Tune in to this special episode of the Rattlecast, where a stellar lineup of the anthology’s poets will join us to share their work and dive deep into the stories behind their unforgettable poems! Buy the anthology here: https://rattle.com/publications/best-of-pr/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins. For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/ This Week’s Prompt: Write a poem with a specific type of poetic structure, either from the book Structure & Surprise: Engaging Poetic Turns by Michael Theune or the book’s website (https://structureandsurprise.com/). Next Week’s Prompt: Write a Poet’s Respond poem that is in response to an obscure/off-beat news story. 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.

A Conversation with Ruth Reichl Jul 21, 2025

Show notes

This conversation with Ruth Reichl originally appeared in issue #88 of Rattle and was recorded on March 25th, 2025. As a former culinary school student and foodie herself, our associate editor, Katie Dozier, joined in on the discussion. What does food have to do with poetry? Listen in to find out! Ruth Reichl is recognized as one of the most discerning voices in the food world, with accolades as a bestselling author, revered restaurant critic, and culinary industry influencer. Her icon status stems from groundbreaking roles in food journalism, including lead restaurant critic at the New York Times and editor-in-chief at Gourmet magazine. Ruth’s bestselling memoirs include Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir, which chronicles her tenure at the magazine and Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table. Her cookbook My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life received best cookbook accolades from industry peers and booksellers. For TV, Ruth’s PBS series Gourmet’s Adventures with Ruth featured the best cooking schools around the world. Subscribe to Ruth's Substack here: https://ruthreichl.substack.com/

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