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Words That Burn - Poetry Podcast

by Benjamin Collopy
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Latest episodes

  • An Interview with Poet Stephen de Búrca

    September 9, 2026 · 41 min

    Poet Stephen de Búrca joins me on Words That Burn to talk through his debut collection Atlantic Fret, published by The Gallery Press; a book where sea mist and anxiety share a single word, and where the Atlantic carries both personal grief…

  • An Interview with Poet Leeanne Quinn

    August 20, 2026 · 38 min

    Poet Leeanne Quinn joins Words That Burn to discuss her third collection, Landscape with Question, published by Carcanet Press. Written between Drogheda and Vienna, the collection holds two conversations at once: one with the Irish…

  • Famous Americans and Why They Were Wrong by Kaveh Akbar- Poetry Reading and Analysis

    July 29, 2026 · 23 min

    Welcome back to Words That Burn, the poetry podcast taking a closer look at poetry. In this episode, host Benjamin Collopy offers a close reading of Kaveh Akbar's "Famous Americans and Why They Were Wrong", from his 2021 collection Pilgrim…

  • An Interview with Belfast Poet Matthew Rice

    June 24, 2026 · 49 min

    In this episode of Words That Burn, the poetry podcast dedicated to literary analysis and poetic interpretation, I sit down with Belfast poet Matthew Rice to discuss his new collection Plastic: a book-length poem mapped across a single…

  • Interview with Dublin Poet Mark Ward

    June 15, 2026 · 43 min

    Welcome back to Words That Burn, the poetry podcast where host Benjamin Collopy takes a closer look at the verse that shapes our world. Whether you're here to deepen your poetry appreciation or are simply looking for accessible poetry for…

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  • Deconstruction by Mary Ruefle

    May 26, 2026 · 15 min

    Welcome back to Words That Burn, the podcast taking a closer look at poetry. In this episode, host Benjamin Collopy offers a close reading of Mary Ruefle’s four-line masterpiece, “Deconstruction.” This brief but devastating poem…

  • Shannon Kuta Kelly on Liminal Spaces, Folklore, and Her Debut Collection The Tree is Missing

    March 25, 2026 · 44 min

    In this episode of Words That Burn, I sit down with poet Shannon Kuta Kelly to explore the beautifully haunting landscapes of her debut poetry collection, The Tree is Missing (coming this April from Faber and Faber). Shannon’s work has…

  • Oidhreacht by Louis De Paor

    March 14, 2026 · 28 min

    Celebrate Seachtain na Gaeilge with a closer look at "Oidhreacht" (Heredity), a powerful piece by Irish poet and Gaeilgeoir, Louis De Paor. In this episode of Words That Burn, we explore the complex psychogeography of Ireland and the…

  • Coping by Audre Lorde

    February 17, 2026 · 20 min

    Does the constant barrage of global news make you want to turn off the screens and bury your head? You aren’t alone. In a world that feels like a "round puddle of sunless water," how do we keep going? In this episode of Words That Burn, I…

  • The Solstice by W.S. Merwin

    December 18, 2025 · 24 min

    In the final episode of Words That Burn for 2025, we turn our attention to the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, and the American poet who captured its delicate balance of darkness and light: W.S. Merwin. This episode's poem…

  • An Interview with Irish Poet Clíodhna Bhreatnach

    December 8, 2025 · 42 min

    In this episode of Words That Burn, I'm joined by Irish poet Clíodhna Bhreatnach to discuss her debut pamphlet, Pink Roses and Green. Together, we chat about a collection that sits at the intersection of the "nine-to-five grind,"…

  • This Living Hand by John Keats

    October 29, 2025 · 15 min

    For Halloween 2025, Words That Burn resurrects one of the most chilling poems in English literature: "This Living Hand" by John Keats. This short, macabre poem wasn't published until 77 years after Keats's death, making it feel like a…

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About the show

Words That Burn is a poetry podcast about how poems actually work.Each episode takes a single poem and reads it closely, usually in about 20 minutes. That means the lines themselves first: the sound, the shape on the page, the images, the things left out. Then the life behind the poem, the historical moment it came from, and the technical choices that give the work its charge. The aim is never to settle a poem's meaning but to show what it is doing, clearly enough that you can go back to the page and see it for yourself. Poets covered include: Audre Lorde, Raymond Carver, Mary Ruefle, Kaveh Akbar, Rowan Ricardo Phillips and Annemarie Ní Churreáin, alongside contemporary Irish collections as they appear. Host Ben Collopy also talks to poets about their new books and their craft, including Mark Ward on Real Estate and Shannon Kuta Kelly. How a collection takes shape, what gets cut, and the decisions that never show up in the finished poem. No homework required. You do not need to have read the poet, know the form, or have liked poetry at school. Everything a poem assumes you know, the episode explains. The interpretation is one reader's, offered up for argument rather than settled. Full scripts with citations at wordsthatburn.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.