In addition to Len’s composition, titled The Basic Question, Len and Dennis share other poems – both from the “scientists” section and from other parts of issue #49, including works by:

• George Bilgere
• Lauren S. Cook
• Meg Eden
• Annelyse Gelman
• Alan Fox
• Richard Hedderman
• Lynn Levin
• John Nimmo

Guest reader Joan Maro again joined host Dennis Morton on August 23, 2015 for an hour of back-and-forth poetry reading and discussion. This is Joan’s third guest spot on the Poetry Show, and listeners can look forward to more visits in the future.

Joan read a number of poems from among those published this year in The New Yorker magazine, and also one by Ted Kooser.  New Yorker authors included:

• Davis McCombs
• Tony Hoagland
• T. R. Hummer
• Brenda Shaughnessy
• Diane Seuss

Dennis’ readings were drawn from a number of books, including:

• The Wounded Alphabet, by George Hitchcock (two selections)
• The Crooked Inheritance, by Marge Piercy (two selections)
• Grape Leaves: A Century of Arab-American Poetry
• A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry

The poems in this book have a lot to say about truth, lies, falsehoods, and authority – and the often problematic relationships among them. We should expect no less from a philosopher – Troy teaches that subject at Cal State Chico. At another point in the interview, Troy noted that his students sometimes complain that he answers questions with questions. These poems employ some of that same Socratic approach.

This is Troy Jollimore’s third visit to the Poetry Show. The first was was back in May, 2007, to talk about his first published book, Tom Thomson in Purgatory. Apropos of nothing, the timing of that visit made him the second earliest guest poet in our podcast library. Although the KUSP Poetry Show stretches back into the mists of the early 1970s, we only have podcasts from May, 2007. A second visit, in August 2011, coincided with publication of a second book, At Lake Scugog. 

For our most up-to-the-minute blog readers, be advised that Troy Jollimore will be reading at Bookshop Santa Cruz on Tuesday evening, August 11. This is the regular monthly “second Tuesday” poetry reading, sponsored as always by Poetry Santa Cruz. Joining Troy will be Maggie Paul – also a past Poetry Show guest.

Local poet and animal-rights advocate C. J. Sage visited the Poetry Show on August 2, 2015. She and host Dennis Morton read and discussed poetry primarily about animals. Ms. Sage edits The National Poetry Review, and has five published books:

• Let’s Not Sleep (poetry)
• And We the Creatures (poetry anthology)
• Field Notes in Contemporary Literature (textbook/anthology )
• Odyssea (poetry, 2007)
• The San Simeon Zebras (poetry, 2010)

In addition to poetry, Dennis and C.J. discussed a rescue and sanctuary center for dogs, focused especially on a group of hunting dog breeds known as “sighthounds”.  The center is run by a 501(c)3 nonprofit called Hound Sanctuary Inc. Learn more at houndsanctuary.org.

But before continuing the discussion of spoken-word poetry with Marc, we paused briefly to pay respects to Tilly Shaw, longtime local poet and educator who passed away a few days ago. Dennis read three poems from Tilly’s book, Swimming Closer to Shore (2002, Hummingbird Press). A future show will revisit Tilly’s poetry in more depth. The poems:

• Vroom
• My Mother’s Death
• Quitting Computer Solitaire After Playing 17, 309 Times

Marc Zegans’ first Poetry Show appearance a few weeks ago included readings/tracks from a book-with-CD anthology titled Spoken Word Revolution: Slam, Hip Hop & the Poetry of a New Generation. This time, we hear cuts from the second volume of that collection, titled Spoken Word Revolution Redux, again edited by Mark Eleveld and narrated by Mark Smith. Redux expands the scope of the first volume along with the commonly-understood definition of spoken-word. The Redux collection includes older-style poetry readings alongside more recent forms like slam, hip-hop, etc.

We also got a sneak preview of Marc’s soon-to-be-published poetry collection, titled The Underwater Typewriter (Pelekinesis Press). Marc will be back soon for a show dedicated to the new book.

For the July 19, 2015 Poetry Show, host Dennis Morton again welcomed guest reader Joanie Maro. Readings this time were from new issues of a pair of our favorite poetry periodicals, and from one of Dennis’ favorite poets:

• The Kenyon Review - July August 2015 issue
• Poetry magazine – July August 2015 issue
• Selected Poems by William Matthews

For this week’s Poetry Show, host Dennis Morton welcomed a guest reader – Joanie Maro. It was Joanie’s first appearance on the show, but hopefully not the last. She’s a new member of the Board of Directors of Poetry Santa Cruz, poetry lover (obviously) and intrepid discoverer of out-of-print local poetry publications. Joanie and Dennis shared and discussed a number of poems with listeners.

• Joanie shared poems by: Anne Sexton, Ray Gwyn Smith, Primo Levi, Leslea Newman, Edith S. Herring (from a collection published by the California Federation of Chaparral Poets), Robert Crawford, Maude Meehan, Patti Smith, Eric Berlin, David Sullivan
• Dennis shared poems by: Malena Mörling, Luis Cernuda (from Stephen Kessler’s new book of translations from the original Spanish), Richard Berlin

On the Poetry Show broadcast of July 5, 2015, host Dennis Morton read poetry selections from a variety of sources, including:

• No Heaven, by Alicia Suskin Ostriker (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005)
• The Horse Has Six Legs, edited and translated by Charles Simic (Gray Wolf Press, 1992)
• What Snakes Want, by Kita Shantiris (Mayapple Press, 2015)
• Being Human, edited by Neil Astley (Bloodaxe Books, 2011)

Marc also shared some of his own wry poems, demonstrating (among other things) that humor is often an element of spoken-word. An interesting discussion ensued concerning Marc’s composition process, paying special attention to the sound of the lines and words when performed - in Marc’s words, the “musical possibilities”. For more biography of Marc Zegans, check out this interview on a blog called Creative Life.