Ilya Kaminsky — We Lived Happily during the War

Ilya Kaminsky — We Lived Happily during the W...

Up next

Ruth Irupé Sanabria — Carne

Ruth Irupé Sanabria’s delicious and dexterous “Carne” begins with these lines: “I've eaten pork from / pernil to chuletas to chitterlings.” And just in case you were wondering — and even if you’re not — the speaker goes on to list much more of the seafood, poultry, and animal par ...  Show more

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha — Dukka

Loving in the face of violence, danger, and distress is an act of defiance, as demonstrated in Lena Khalaf Tuffaha’s achingly beautiful poem “Dukka”. The Palestinian American writer spotlights seven aspects of love in action — between father and newborn, for example, a journalist ...  Show more

Recommended Episodes

“The End of Poetry” by Ada Limón
On Being with Krista Tippett

An impassioned plea, a yearning for connection — the poem U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón wrote when she says all language failed her. Take in Ada's reading of her piece, “The End of Poetry” — and hear her read more of her work in the On Being episode, “To Be Made Whole.”Ada Limón i ...  Show more

Talking with the Soul: A Dialogue about Life and Death
Ancient Egyptian Poetry

In this Ancient Egyptian poem, a man talks with his own soul about whether it is better to live or die. Read by Barbara Ewing. Translated by Richard Bruce Parkinson. The poem is known from a single copy, c. 1800 BC, whose beginning is lost. It is a dialogue between a man and his ...  Show more

Music in the Great War: Wilfred Owen - The Soldiers' Poet
Between the Ears

Wilfred Owen wrote that he was a 'poets' poet'. He also wrote, in the preface to 'War Poems', 'Above all I am not concerned with Poetry. My subject is War, and the pity of War'. Owen is, then, a soldiers' poet, and the people who figure in his poems are all soldiers. In this Betw ...  Show more

ABBA Voyage, Terence Davies, Zaffar Kunial's poem for George Floyd
Front Row

48 years after the British jury gave them nul points at the Eurovision song contest, ABBA the avatars begin a long term arena residency in London. Samira talks to the director Baillie Walsh and the choreographer Wayne McGregor about creating the show.Terence Davies, director of s ...  Show more