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In each episode Chris Jones invites a poet to introduce a poem by an author who has influenced his, her or their own approach to writing. The poet discusses the importance of this work, and goes on to talk in depth about a poem they have written in response to this original piece.
Episodes
Monday Oct 16, 2023
Monday Oct 16, 2023
In this episode, Chris Jones introduces The Two-Way Poetry Podcast, a biweekly series of interviews where he speaks to poets about their own creative inspirations and practice. He says a little about himself, and discusses the background to the show, reflecting on how writers are influenced by the texts they read.
He reflects on the idea that when poets create poems they are often ‘in conversation’ with other writers’ works. How do poems talk away to other poems? An intriguing prospect if you are eavesdropping on this communication, but also possibly distancing as well if you don’t share the intimate knowledge that is being passed on. This is what the podcast will look to explore in depth: what poets understand about this process of responding to texts, poems that they have read.
In the first upcoming podcast Chris will talk to the poet Rob Hindle about William Blake’s poem ‘The Sick Rose’ and how it influenced, played a part in the writing of his own piece ‘The Sick Rose’ from his collection Sapo (Longbarrow Press).
About this podcast:
I’ve been reading and writing poems all my adult life, really since the day I picked up a book of Wilfred Owen’s poetry as a fourteen year old, and fell in love with this intense use of language on the page.
Poetry has opened many doors for me. I've taught creative writing in a prison, adult education colleges, schools and universities. For the past sixteen years I’ve been a lecturer in creative writing at Sheffield Hallam University.
One of the biggest rewards of being a writer is getting to meet other poets, reading their work, and having the time to talk to them about their inspirations and craft.
I’ve thought for a long while now about the idea that when poets create poems they are often ‘in conversation’ with other writers’ works. I think poems talk away to other poems - which can be intriguing if you are eavesdropping on this communication, but also possibly distancing as well if you don’t share the intimate knowledge that is being passed on. I often wonder what poets understand about this process of responding to what they have read. This is what this podcast series looks to explore in depth: through each episode, I invite a writer to talk about poets and poems that have moved, provoked, stimulated them. I then ask my guest to perform his, her or their own work and ask them to reflect on how they have responded to these ‘touchstone’ pieces.
Although the format of each episode is roughly the same, each exchange is different. Each poet has their own way of interpreting this idea of being ‘influenced’ by another writer’s work. I hope you enjoy listening to these episodes as much as I enjoyed meeting the writers, asking them about the impact that poetry has made on their lives, and recording their own poems and conversation.