Poetry
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The History of Literature #523 — Geoffrey Chaucer (with Marion Turner) | A New Podcast About the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike (with AFSCME President Lee Saunders)
Thanks mostly to the achievement and success of his Canterbury Tales, poet Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340s-1400) has been called “the Father of English literature” for more than 500 years. In this episode, Jacke talks to University of Oxford Professor Marion Turner (Chaucer: A European Life; The Wife of Bath: A Biography) about what made Chaucer so special Continue reading
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The History of Literature #516 — Sappho (with Diane Rayor)
When Diane Rayor was in college, a professor recommended a work by a 2600-year-old poet that changed her life. Now, after years of studying and translating the works of Sappho, the greatest woman poet in Ancient Greece, she joins Jacke for a conversation about her book Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works. Help support Continue reading
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The History of Literature #514 — Southern Gothic (with David van den Berg) | My Last Book with Jason Feifer
In the aftermath of a Civil War loss that shattered the region and exposed the moral and cultural fault lines in the populace, writers in the American South responded with stories filled with grotesque, macabre, and shockingly violent elements, developing a genre that came to be known as Southern Gothic. In this episode, Jacke talks Continue reading
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The History of Literature #508 — Lord Byron (with David Ellis) | My Last Book with Ariel Lawhon, Susan Meissner, and Kristina McMorris)
The poet Lord Byron is well known as a passionate revolutionary and a brooding hero who harbors dark secrets. But what about his playful sense of humor? In this episode, Jacke talks to Byron biographer David Ellis (Byron) about the Romantic poet’s flamboyant life and work. PLUS Ariel Lawhon, Susan Meissner, and Kristina McMorris, the Continue reading
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The History of Literature #501 — The Naked World (with Irina Mashinski)
Irina Mashinski is a bilingual Russophone American writer, poet, essayist, teacher, and translator, whose works include Giornata and eleven books of poetry and essays in Russian. She is also the co-editor of The Penguin Book of Russian Poetry. In this episode, Irina talks with Jacke about her childhood in the Soviet Union, her journey to becoming a poet Continue reading
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The History of Literature #493 — Catullus – The Poet of Love and Hate
He loved and he hated. Other than that, not much is known about the life of Catullus, who scandalized the late Roman Republic with his bawdy poems, his aching love for the upper-class married woman he called “Lesbia,” and his invective against Julius Caesar and other Roman notables. In this episode, Jacke takes a look Continue reading
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The History of Literature #491 — Elizabeth Bishop (with Megan Marshall)
Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979) was one of the twentieth century’s most accomplished and celebrated poets. In this episode, Jacke talks to Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Megan Marshall about her personal connection to Bishop, as well as her book Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast. MEGAN MARSHALL is the winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Biography for Margaret Fuller, Continue reading
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The History of Literature #480 — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (with Ritchie Robertson)
In 1878, critic Matthew Arnold wrote, “Goethe is the greatest poet of modern times… because having a very considerable gift for poetry, he was at the same time, in the width, depth, and richness of his criticism of life, by far our greatest modern man.” In this episode, Jacke talks to Ritchie Robertson, author of Goethe: Continue reading
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The History of Literature #479 — Auden and the Muse of History (with Susannah Young-ah Gottlieb)
W.H. Auden (1907-1973) was one of the twentieth-century’s greatest poets – and also one of the most engaged. As he struggled to make sense of the rise of fascism, two world wars, and industrialized murder, his focus turned to the poet’s responsibility in the face of unthinkable horrors. How does a poet begin to address Continue reading
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The History of Literature #467 — TS Eliot and The Waste Land (with Jed Rasula)
In 2022, T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land turned 100 years old – and it’s hard to imagine a poem with a more explosive impact or a more enduring influence. In this episode, Jacke talks to Professor Jed Rasula about his book, What the Thunder Said: How The Waste Land Made Poetry Modern. Jed Rasula is the Helen S. Lanier Continue reading
Jacke Wilson 