EP #419 - 02.18.2022 - Poetry in COVID Times with Kathleen Ossip

·1 hr 8 min·5 clips

Poet Kathleen Ossip discusses how COVID-19 claimed legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar and reshapes artistic expression.

Scott Gabriel Knowles introduces the episode by reading an obituary for Indian playback singer Lata Mangeshkar, who died from COVID-19 complications at age 92. He then welcomes poet Kathleen Ossip, author of 'July,' an NPR Best Book of 2021. Ossip questions being called a disaster expert but reflects on poets grappling with extreme experiences. She describes pandemic life in Hastings on Hudson, New York, recalling the brief sense of freedom after vaccination in spring 2021 before Delta variant concerns resurfaced. Ossip discusses emotional oscillations during the pandemic and how writers capture these fluctuations. She explains revisiting old poems during lockdown, finding she no longer recognized her pre-pandemic self. Ossip reads 'Living Room,' a poem about a sunbeam shadow that evokes bodily preoccupations and unseen existence. She reads 'Stones,' inspired by a walk on an obsolete aqueduct and a debate among friends about whether stones are alive, touching on pandemic loneliness and conflict. Ossip shares 'Puzzle Piece,' a feminist poem personifying a jigsaw piece during family lockdown activities. She reads 'Marriage,' a short poem about frayed tempers in confined quarters. Ossip discusses 'Henry Hudson,' a poem started years before the pandemic and finished during lockdown, adding commentary on empire and exploration. She talks about weekly Zoom poetry exchanges with a friend, finding digital interactions intense and focused. Ossip offers writing advice, suggesting room observation exercises and writing from obsessions. She reads 'The Facts,' a poem grappling with truth, lies, and misinformation during the pandemic. The episode ends with Ossip's thoughts on poetry's rising readership and Amanda Gorman's inaugural poem.

As heard by us

Kathleen Ossip's pandemic poems follow conflict as it moves through lockdown, friendship, and daily life.

Kathleen Ossip's poems become a way of tracking pandemic conflict as it settled into friendship, routine, and basic questions about how people live with one another.

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Hear Kathleen Ossip read a pandemic poem that turns a friendship dispute into a question about conflict, reconciliation, and how people understand existence.

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