Breaking Form: a Poetry and Culture Podcast

The queens swear to tell the hole truth, and nothing butt the truth to commemorate the 100th episode of Breaking Form. Support Breaking Form! Review the show on Apple Podcasts here .  Buy our books: Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. Read Carl Phillips's "As from a Quiver of Arrows." Or see...

Terrance Hayes talks about fatherhood, witnessing, and getting a D in high school English. Support Breaking Form! Review the show on Apple Podcasts here .  Buy our books: Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. Publisher's Weekly calls the book "visceral, tender, and compassionate." James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. Writing in L...

The queens get between the covers with Terrance Hayes ahead of the release of new works of poetry and prose on July 18. Support Breaking Form! Review the show on Apple Podcasts here .  Buy our books: Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. Publisher's Weekly calls the book "visceral, tender, and compassionate." James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from...

The queens bust out their microscopes and examine poetic DNA. Support Breaking Form! Review the show on Apple Podcasts here .  Buy our books: Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. Publisher's Weekly calls the book "visceral, tender, and compassionate." James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. " Romantic Comedy, " writes Dia...

The queens are joined by Randall Mann to discuss discomfort, cage-dancing, and how to deal.  Support Breaking Form, if the spirit so moves you: Review Breaking Form on Apple Podcasts here .  Buy our books: Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. Randall Mann is the author most recently of DEAL: New & Selec...

The queens talk diction, the political history of language, and naked octogenarians. Support Breaking Form, if the spirit so moves you: Review Breaking Form on Apple Podcasts here .  Buy our books: Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. Words that we identify as "forbidden" (in case you want to try...

The ladies express what they've got whether you're ready or not in this episode about banned poetry. Support Breaking Form, if the spirit so moves you: Review Breaking Form on Apple Podcasts here .  Buy our books: Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. Read mor e of the Judy Blume NPR  interview on...

The queens get beachy, play f*ck marry kill with a Pulitzer winner, and fabricate some fab poets' drag names. Support Breaking Form, the spirit so moves you: Review Breaking Form on Apple Podcasts here .  Buy our books: Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. Watch Carl Phillips read from Then the War: an...

The queens try to say it clearly and make it beautiful, no matter what, in this episode  revisiting Bruce Weigl's poem "The Impossible." TW for sexual assault and pedophilia. If you need resources, for yourself or a loved one, regarding sexual assault and pedophilia/incest, please visit https://www.rainn.org. Support Breaking Form, the spirit so moves you: Review Breaking Form on Ap...

All tea, no shade: the queens spill their favorite--and least favorite--books from beloved poets.  As the great poet said, "If equal affection cannot be..." etc, etc. Please support Breaking Form by: Reviewing Breaking Form on Apple Podcasts here .  Buying our books: Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way...

The queens talk poetry through the lyrics of our diva & icon: Cher, who'll turn 77 on May 20. Review Breaking Form on Apple Podcasts here .  Please support Breaking Form and buy Aaron's and James's  books: Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. Cher appeared twice on the show Will & Gra...

These queens need a hero, not a zero in this episode of heroic percentages. Review Breaking Form on Apple Podcasts here .  Please support Breaking Form and buy Aaron's and James's  books: Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. In the Season 5 Finale of Game of Thrones, Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey)...

This episode's got Aaron sweating, then Miguel Murphy joins the queens for some flaming hot poetry takes. Review Breaking Form on Apple Podcasts here .  Please support Breaking Form and buy Aaron's and James's  books: Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. Or, if you'd like to shop indie,...

The queens get quick (and dirty), summarizing a poet's oeuvre in one sentence. If you'd like to support Breaking Form , please consider buying Aaron's and James's  books (both 2023): Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. When James says that Aaron makes a "Stuck the Landing" flo...

The queens discuss how poetry uses us as they highlight the work of Ruth Stone and Hayden Carruth. Support Breaking Form and buy James's and Aaron's new books: Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. Please consider supporting the poets we mention in today's show! If you need a good indie bookst...

Aaron and James stop all the clocks with this episode exploring elegy. Support Breaking Form and buy James's and Aaron's new books: Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. Watch the iconic scene from Four Weddings and a Funeral in which Auden's "Funeral Blues" is read. Listen to Dylan...

Get ready to spin the bottle! The queens cause some jeopardy in this trivia-filled episode. Support Breaking Form and buy James's and Aaron's new books: Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. And please consider supporting the poets we mention on today's show at your favorite independent bookse...

The queens return to the Poetry Gay Bar and talk mixers & pretty dicks. f you want to support Breaking Form, please consider buying James and Aaron's new books. Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. See Spencer Reese read "The Upper Room" from The Road to Emmaus here (~3.5 min) Watch the p...

The queens get fictional with Manuel Muñoz, who joins us to talk about boundaries: between poetry and fiction, between land and desire. If you want to support Breaking Form, please consider buying James and Aaron's new books. Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. Manuel Muñoz is the author most recently...

The queens get fictional, discussing the poetry equivalents of best supporting actresses with guest Manuel Muñoz. Kay Ryan won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for her book The Best of It: New and Selected Poems (2010). Randall Mann's Deal: New and Selected Poems is currently out from Copper Canyon Press. Watch Olympia Dukakis's famous "Why do men cheat?" scene in Moonstruck. When...

The ladies talk about James's new book, ROMANTIC COMEDY , and James reads the title poem and talks about sex, survival, and Chicago brides. Find us at AWP: Thursday: 10:35-11:50 Panel: Building Virtual Community. Rms 440-442, Level 4, Summit Building. 12-12:30 pm Aaron signs STOP LYING at the U of Pittsburgh Press booth # 301 in the book-fair 7pm James reading at Seattle Beer Company 1427 Wes...

Pop off, queen! If poets could be covered by musicians (instead of musicians covering poems), you'd get...POP POETS Buy STOP LYING, Aaron Smith's new book of poems, just out from the Pitt Poetry Series. Aaron will be signing copies of the book at AWP on Thursday, March 9 from 12:00-12:30 at the University of Pittsburgh Press (Booths 303, 301). Buy ROMANTIC COMEDY , James's new book...

The queens talk break-up poetry in a special post-Valentine's Day extravaganza! You can see Poem 225 (“I’m ‘wife’ – I’ve finished that”) in Dickinson’s handwriting here  Di mentions her essay, “Divine is Mine: Poetry’s Reckless Declarations,” which appears in The Practicing Poet: Writing Beyond the Basics, edited by Diane Lockward and published in 2018 by Terrapin Books. Take a gander here. Y...

The queens talk love and sex and worm shit--with extra special guest, Diane Seuss! Buy Aaron's new book, STOP LYING. Buy James's new book, ROMANTIC COMEDY. Follow Diane Seuss on Twitter at @dlseuss and on Instagram at @dseuss If you want to sing along with us to Foreigner's “I Want to Know What Love Is” but you don't know the song, you can watch the video here .  Read Camille D...

The queens play The Poetry Pyramid! Pyramid is the collective name of a series of American television game shows that has aired several versions domestically and internationally. The original series was The $10,000 Pyramid, and it debuted on March 26, 1973.  You can read  Jorie Graham’s poem “San Sepolcro” (the first poem in her second book, Erosion ) here .   Read more about  Flesh-plastique  by...