Podcasts
I present a regular poetry podcast for the Scottish Poetry Library. The idea is simple — poetry is not just an academic, high-brow, esoteric, wanky medium for the middle-aged bourgeoisie. Yes, it is often turgid and unreadable. Most TV is turgid and unwatchable but I still tune in for Curb Your Enthusiasm. And, just like tv, jazz, ballet and comic books — poetry, I feel, helps us articulate and understand our emotional lives in an ever more confounding and complicated world. So, when I say, “I went to buy strawberries yesterday and had a Larry David moment with the shop keep” you understand. Similarly, when I eat a wild strawberry I think of Helen Dunmore or Edwin Morgan and how “There were never strawberries / like the ones we had / that sultry afternoon.” New words, images, smells, stories and sounds are vital. We need these things to understand our own lives. Poetry helps. So does Daredevil, so does the modern art museum, so does Coltrane and Daniel Kitson. And with that in mind, I try to interview stand-up comics, musicians, total idiots, and people you might not expect to appreciate and enjoy the dark verse. We try to highlight interesting collections or great poems, to offer guidance to all those who think that poetry might have something to offer them but just don’t know where to start.
Start here.
These podcasts are produced by Colin Fraser and they wouldn’t be any good or even exist without him.
They comprise a seductive selection of interviews conducted by Ryan, poems, snippets of events and music. If you would like to send a question, suggestion or just a hello to Ryan or Colin, please drop us an email!
Or subscribe without iTunes (RSS)
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We visit Amherst, Massachusetts, home of Emily Dickinson, where Ryan talks with Dickinson experts Tevis Kimble, curator of special collections at the Jones Library, Emily Dickinson House director Jane Wald as well as the charming poet and tour guide Henk Rossouw. |
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Elizabeth Burns, Kevin Williamson & Michael Pederson Elizabeth Burns reads from her recent collection Held and we also chat to legendary publisher, poet, novelist, cosmologist, editor Kevin Williamson and poet, script doctor, ex-exile Michael Pedersen, organisers of new Edinburgh poetry night, Neu! Reekie! |
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Award winning Scottish poet Tom Pow takes us on a tour of his remarkable Dying Villages poetry project which was exhibited here at the Scottish Poetry Library last year… |
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In our holiday season podcast we have a bumper stocking of poetry goodies for you. We start off with the marvellous Hailey Beavis and Jed Milroy with their track “Snow”. For mains we present Paul Muldoon and Norman McBeath talking about their poetry and photography project Plan B. And there might be a special something at the end… |
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We chat with Rob A. Mackenzie, author of The Opposite Of Cabbage (Salt), associate editor at Magma magazine and organiser of the monthly Poetry At… series… |
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Double podcast extravaganza! Ryan chats with founding director of the Scottish Poetry Library, Tessa Ransford, and they discuss the founding of the Library in 1984, vegetarian haggis, Tessa’s own memories of the Edinburgh poetry scene and more… |
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Presenter Ryan Van Winkle turns the spotlight on himself for a change and recreates the reading he gave in Edinburgh this week for the launch of his first book, Tomorrow, We Will Live Here. Includes themes and language of an adult nature… |
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In the second of our Norman MacCaig themed podcasts, we chat with Mandy Haggith about her relationship with the Assynt loving poet and how his concerns about land ownership and respect for the landscape inform her own work and activism. |
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As part of the centenary celebrations for Norman MacCaig, Ryan chats to poet and novelist Andrew Greig about his recent book, At the Loch of the Green Corrie, about his quest to find MacCaig’s favourite fishing spot. |
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Excerpts to celebrate a marvellous year of podcasts, plus special halloween track by friends White Heath! |
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In honour of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, storyteller Judy Paterson chats to Ryan about the relationship between storytelling and poetry, her own experiences as a child with Shakespeare and lets you know where you can find storytellers in Edinburgh. |
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We have the great pleasure to chat with acclaimed poet Vicki Feaver. She delights Ryan with her refreshing outlook on the poetry world, her fantastic work and her very infectious sense of humour… |
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Storyteller and poet Margot Henderson who works in Findhorn chats to Ryan about her preoccupation with nature, traditional folk stories from the area and dialect… |
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In the second of our Black Isle trilogy, Chris Powici, editor of Northwards Now, discusses his magazine with our intrepid Ryan in Residence while they were both up in the Black Isle last month… |
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Poet, novelist and short-story writer Angus Dunn, one of the founders of the Black Isle Words Festival talks to Ryan about how his work comes from a sense of feeling at home in the Black Isle, why he eschews publishing a poetry collection and we also get to hear a few of his poems. |
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Donald discusses his non-fiction book on St Kilda, The Guga Hunters, the importance of place in poetry, the difference between island and mainland poetry and his new book which focuses on the Italian Chapel in Orkney. |
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Scottish literary powerhouse Ewan Morrison – filmmaker, novelist and short-story writer – talks to Ryan at the Edinburgh International Book Festival about the poetry of the shopping mall, his latest multimedia project. |
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Kathleen Jamie & Lorraine Mariner at #edbookfest Lorraine Mariner, after her event in the Spiegeltent and award winning poet Kathleen Jamie, who reads some of her remarkable new work… |
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Ryan chats with Chris King via Skype, about Les Murray, Ece Ayhan, Stefene Russell, how to score a poem, zombies… |
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Scientist, thinker and poet Petrucci unravels an engaging discussion with Ryan on poetry, poetics, science, the challenges of pushing the boundaries in poetry and much else… |
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Poet and former director of the StAnza poetry festival, discusses the highlights of his StAnza career, what he thinks makes a good poetry festival, his own work and his creative improvisations as part of jazz-poetry combo Trio Verso. |
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David O’Doherty chinwags with Ryan about jazz, literature, comedy, the pressures of working in the creative industries, good stand-up, his favourite poetry and much else… |
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Poet, playwright, bicyclist and novelist Kevin MacNeil chats to Ryan about why he’s glad he started off life as a poet, the challenges of performance and why he describes himself as a “writer” rather than a “poet turned novelist… |
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Ryan and Gerry Cambridge talk about how the Dark Horse magazine got started, whether it is possible to say what an editor is looking for in a magazine and muse the general state of literary magazine culture in the UK and the US… |
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SPL poet of month for July, Kei Miller, reads from his new book A Light Song of Light at last month’s West Port Book Festival… |
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SPL and West Port Book Festival’s Peggy looks back at the poetry of last year’s fest, and forward to what’s coming this year… |
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Ryan chats to Chase Twichell about ecological views, the intricacies of the poetry publishing world in the US and what it’s like to release a collected works… |
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Mining, Pablo Neruda, Scots poetry, Arabic translation and more with Rab Wilson and Ryan… |
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Do not adjust your dial! Musician Jed Milroy live from the WSPL Radio: Real Poetry Radio with Ryan ‘the Wolf’ Van Winkle and Colin ‘the Copter’ Fraser… |
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Poet, publisher, bookseller and beekeeper Sally Evans talks and reads from her own work… |
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A reading from celebrated Guatemalan Maya Indian poet Humberto Ak’abal together with his Scots translator James Robertson and English translator Rosemary Burnett. |
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William Letford & My Kappa Roots Talking to exciting new poet William Letford, a few jazzy words from Jim Carruth and a track from My Kappa Roots |
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Celebrating Edwin Morgan’s 90th birthday on 27 April 2010 in Glasgow… |
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Ryan visits the Southbank Centre and talks with many fascinating creative folk. Also features Bellowhead’s wonderful ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner collaboration |
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The Clark Gable of poetry speaks to Ryan about music, comic books and more. |
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Dennis O’Driscoll & Penelope Shuttle StAnza and poetry festivals, how poetry has reacted to the increased popularity of readings, Cornish ice-cream and what it’s like to publish a first collection… |
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Tom Pow Tom Pow talks to Ryan about his Dying Villages project, his imminent residency at the SPL, and various other projects… |
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StAnza 2010Some of the atmosphere at Scotland’s International Poetry Festival, StAnza, with comments from poets Jim Carruth, Karen Solie and Jay Bernard |
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Owen Sheers Ryan chats to poet and actor Owen Sheers about his ‘Poet’s Guide to Britain’ series for BBC TV, and about his early career… |
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Ryan chats with recent creative writing poetry graduates Aiko Harman and Dave Coates about poetry, the challenges of getting into the poetry scene and what it means to be “a Poet”. Also featuring Sheila K Cameron track, ‘Two Inches Tall’, read by Tom Conti. |
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Ryan chats with editor and author Stuart Kelly about the poet John Berryman and they muse the current state of modern poetry, its future, the purpose of the critic and chew the literary cud. |
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Alastair White and Sean Watson from Edinburgh based band White Heath chat music, metal, poetry and their Carry A Poem picks, and we offer you our pub quiz and a belated chance to join in and win! |
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Ryan sits down with Edinburgh Makar Ron Butlin, to talk about the place his poems come from and what it’s like to write for musicians. Also features excerpt from the short opera ‘The Voice Inside’ by composer Lyell Cresswell. |
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Colin takes in the atmosphere at the One Book One Edinburgh Carry a Poem Campaign launch, chatting to people about the poems they carry, and being quizzed by Ryan about the ones he carries. |
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John Glenday talks about and reads from his new collection Grain (Picador) and we hear Kim Edgar’s wonderful musical response to John’s poem ‘Nothing to Hold Onto’. |
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Maoilios Caimbeul & Mark O. Goodwin Maoilios Caimbeul (Myles Campbell) and Mark O. Goodwin chat to Ryan about their recent book, The Two Sides of the Pass (Two Ravens Press, 2009), a conversation in poems across two languages and the landscape of the Isle of Skye. |
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Poet, novelist and playwright Hamish MacDonald, director of creative writing centre Moniack Mhor talks to Ryan during a recent trip north. We also have a haunting track from Shelia K Cameron, “Last Night I Dreamed About Doris Lessing”. |
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Twas the Night Before Festivus Ryan and SPL director Robyn Marsack speak about their journeys from the U.S. and New Zealand respectively, and the poems they’ve carried with them, and there’s a specially commissioned interpretation of Clement Clarke Moore’s ‘Visit From St Nicholas’ |
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Christmas poetry pressie recommendations from Ryan and SPL staff, then Kapka Kassabova tells us her thoughts on poetry, in conversation with Ryan… |
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Francis Bickmore, Toby Mottershead and Black Diamond Express Francis Bickmore of Canongate Books and Toby Mottershead of Black Diamond Express have an appreciation of ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ in common. They tell Ryan all about it… |
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Chemical Poet Alasdair Maloney and actors Gilchrist Muir and Jamie Gordon Bumper edition in which Ryan shoots the breeze with actors Gilchrist and Jamie, and featuring a fascinating chat with and track from Chemical poet Alasdair Maloney… |
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Emily Ballou, author of The Darwin Papers, contemplates the meaning of home and Charles Darwin, and Ryan performs his poem ‘Bluegrass’, with musical accompaniment from Jed Milroy… |
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Julia Bird, Andrew Philip & GPS… Ryan talks to poet Andrew Philip, Colin talks to poet and live literature organiser Julia Bird, and we find out more about the project known as GPS… |
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An interview with Jen Hadfield, gorgeous music from Lise Sinclair and the poems Ryan carries with him. |
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Number 6 sees Ryan in conversation with poet Kona Macphee, and Kim Tebble performs his “The Raven, the Knight and the Queen of the Birds”. |
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Podcast number 5 features an interview Ryan conducted with Iraqi poet and novelist Sinan Antoon, and hip hop track ‘Sunshine’ by Mammoth… |
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Our fourth podcast is born! From William Blake’s sick rose to Robert Alan Jamieson’s Shetland, with fine tuning from Edinburgh based band Saint Jude’s Infirmary and musings upon donkeys and art to boot… |
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The third poetry podcast, with Burns – new responses, sung, recited from memory and read in Czech… from Douglas Dunn to Poetry Schmoetry, feast your ears! |
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Ryan talks to J L Williams, plays tracks by Laertes, Why Are You Crying? and spoken-word artist Myra Davies’ ‘Goodbye Belfast’, and starts a quest for his favourite opening line… |
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In our first podcast, Ryan Van Winkle recommends books by Sam Meekings and Sharon Olds, and reads some Hart Crane. Hear songwriter Billy Liar on Stevenson, plus a live performance of his new single “It starts here.” |
