Welcome to Lyric Essentials, where writers and poets share with us a passage or poem which is “essential” to their bookshelf, and who they are as a writer. Today Margaret Stawowy reads “Women and Men,” “Stealing Sugar from the Castle” and “Call and Answer” by poet Robert Bly. 

“In Iron John, there is an emphasis on the archetypes found in old tales and on rites of passage that respect the essence of the wild and untamed aspects of men. Mythological realities help men understand where they came from and who they are in ways that pop culture, and even science cannot address. “Women and Men” is not really about the Mythopoetic Men’s Movement, as some refer to it, but it is written with the elegance and insight that come from his centered masculinity.”—Margaret Stawowy

More: https://sundresspublications.wordpress.com/2015/08/20/lyric-essentials-margaret-stawowy-reads-three-poems-by-robert-bly

Women and Men read by Margaret Stawowy

Welcome to Lyric Essentials, where writers and poets share with us a passage or poem which is “essential” to their bookshelf and who they are as a writer. Laurie Byro Reads “Traveling through the Dark” by William Stafford.

"[He wrote about] the importance of pulleys and buttons, and being "political without being overtly so" by sameness, by not allowing terrorists to prevail. My first poetry group met on 9/11 (I was asked by my boss if I wanted to meet) and of course we did, we had to, there has not been a day in America when folks don't meet to discuss poetry. Stafford... would have insisted that I meet with my group. We have to do what we can in the face of a complicated world."—Laurie Byro

More: https://sundresspublications.wordpress.com/2015/09/17/lyric-essentials-laurie-byro-reads-traveling-through-the-dark-by-william-stafford

Traveling through the Dark read by Laurie Byro

Welcome to Lyric Essentials, where writers and poets share with us a passage or poem which is “essential” to their bookshelf and who they are as a writer. Today William Taylor Jr. Reads “The Heart” by David Lerner.

"When I read David Lerner I don’t feel that he was writing a poem, but rather channeling some ancient truth that burned inside him that he felt we needed to hear."—William Taylor Jr.

More: https://sundresspublications.wordpress.com/2015/10/12/lyric-essentials-william-taylor-jr-reads-the-heart-by-david-lerner

The Heart read by William Taylor Jr.

Welcome to Lyric Essentials, where writers and poets share with us a passage or poem which is “essential” to their bookshelf and who they are as a writer. Today Lauren Camp reads “Failing and Flying” by Jack Gilbert.

"The poem moves from grand and ancient to familiar and communal to individual. After this narrowing, the poet returns again to a human perspective on the legend of Icarus: “…not failing as he fell, but just coming to the end…” That statement is attentive, generous, reasonable. It allows for all our failures." —Lauren Camp

More: https://sundresspublications.wordpress.com/2015/12/07/lyric-essentials-lauren-camp-reads-failing-and-flying-by-jack-gilbert

Lauren Camp reads Failing and Flying by Jack Gilbert

Welcome to Lyric Essentials, where writers and poets share with us a passage or poem which is “essential” to their bookshelf and who they are as a writer. Today Kristin LaTour, whose full-length collection What Keeps Us Alive was released from Sundress this fall, reads “Teaching Experience” by Marge Piercy.

"...there's the irony, that she can be in a classroom and not get through to students, face-to-face, but little me in Ashland, Wisconsin, is learning from her."—Kristin La Tour

Kristin LaTour reads "Teaching Experience" by Marge Piercy

Natalie Easton reads Sex Without Love by Sharon Olds

Shannon Elizabeth Hardwick Reads "Rent" By Jane Cooper

How To Watch Your Brother Die By Michael Lassell

Scott "C" Fynboe Reads "Dear John, Dear Coltrane," by Michael S. Harper

Gabrielle Bates Reads "The Times" by Lucille Clifton

Emilia Phillips Reads "Song" by Briget Pegeen Kelly

Caolan Madden reads “Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices” by Sylvia Plath.

Chen Chen Reads "Lone Star Kundiman" by Patrick Rosal

The poet Sonya Huber reads the poem "Revenge" by poet Elisa Chavez reminding us how to survive in the age of Trump and speaking to all of us, telling us to hang on.

Huber Reads Chavez

Dorothy Chan, author of Attack of the Fifty-Foot Centerfold (Spork Press, 2018), reads Barabara Hamby's poem, "Ode to Sirin."

Barbara Hamby's "Ode To Sirin" Read by Dorothy Chan

Poet Joanna C. Valente reads "Glass Cage" and "Driving in a Downpour" by Kim Hyesoon as translated by Don Mee Choi.

Joanna C. Valente reads Two Poems by Kim Hyesoon

Poet Emma Trelles reads Ada Limón's "The Quiet Machine."

Emma Trelles reads "The Quiet Machine" by Ada Limón

Julie Marie Wade reads Maureen Seaton's poem, "The Realm of the Wide"

Julie Marie Wade Reads Maureen Seaton's Poem, "The Realm of the Wide"

Alexandra Lytton Regalado Reads Aracelis Girmay's "Luam and the Flies."

Alexandra Lytton Regalado Reads Aracelis Girmay's "Luam and the Flies"

Alexandra Lytton Regalado Reads Aracelis Girmay's "Elegy."

Alexandra Lytton Regalado Reads Aracelis Girmay's "Elegy"

Alexandra Lytton Regalado Reads Aracelis Girmay's "Second Estrangement."

Alexandra Lytton Regalado Reads Aracelis Girmay's "Second Estrangement"

Ashley M. Jones reads Lucille Clifton's poem, "Black Women"

Ashley M. Jones Reads Lucille Clifton's Poem, "Black Women"

Ashley M. Jones reads Lucille Clifton's poem, "Sorrows"

Ashley M. Jones Reads Lucille Clifton's "Sorrows"

Ariel Francisco Reads "Love-Struck in New York" by Denise Duhamel

Ariel Francisco Reads "How it Will End" by Denise Duhamel

Lisa Allen Ortiz reads Victoria Chang's poem, "Barbie Chang Loves Evites"

Lisa Allen Ortiz Reads Victoria Chang's Poem, "Barbie Chang Loves Evites"

Lisa Allen Ortiz Reads Victoria Chang's Poem, "Dear P. There Will Be A Circle"

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