The Poetry Saloncast
Episodes
S5 Ep60: Can Art Really Save Us? An Interview with Douglas Manuel about His Latest Book, TroubleFunk
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Troublefunk is an American Love story, and it’s also about the many things that “push against a relationship and against love.” In his book, M...
S5 Ep59: What You Refuse to Remember: An Interview with M.T. Vallarta
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
W. H. Auden says that poetry makes nothing happen. But how do you actually do that? How does a writer embody nothingness? In this interview MT Vallart...
S5 Ep58: The Sailor Moon Transformation Sequence
19 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why This Poem Matters: Listen to Tresha Faye Haefner discuss Rita Mookerjee's poem, "The Silor Moon Transformation Sequence." Hear her explain why it ...
S5 Ep58: False Offering with Rita Mookerjee
19 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Inspiration, mental health struggles and what to make with a giant bag of tapioca starch, this conversation has it all. Rita tells me about her new bo...
S5 Ep57: Sarah Browning: Poetry, Politics and Really Hot Priests
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“If we can’t face it, we can’t change it.” In our interview, Sarah Browning discusses her latest book, Killing Summer (Sibling Rivalry Press, ...
S5 Ep56: Kelli Russell Agodon and Susan Rich: Demystifying the Manuscript
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Please enjoy our interview with Kelli and Susan on their new book! Here are the key take aways I got from our discussion. You don’t necessarily ...
S5 Ep55: Jose Hernandez Diaz: Realism and Surrealism
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jose calls his book, Bad Mexican, Bad American (Acre Books, 2024) “two books in one.” The first section is deeply autobiographical, but the second...
S5 Ep54: Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo - How Love Leads to Revolutions
30 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Audre Lorde Pleasure Activism adrienne maree brown Octavia Butler Chen Chen, “When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities” Khadij...
S5 Ep53: Nadia Colburn: A Dawn Practice to Call Yourself Back
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this interview Nadia discusses her second book of poems, I Say the Sky from published by University Press of Kentucky. You can take Nadia’s 7-Day...
S5 Ep52: Lindsey Royce: Writing With and Without God
13 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do you process the passing of someone you love? In this interview, Lindsey Royce discusses her latest collection, The Book of John. Already an est...
S5 Ep51: Angela Penaredondo - Layered Themes, Layered Voices
17 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tresha talks with Angela Penaredondo about her third collection, nature felt but never apprehended (Noemi Press, 2022). Angela discusses how personal ...
S5 Ep50: Jane Muschenetz - Writing Home
18 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We're born in a specific place with a specific history. How do these arbitrary facts affect us as artists? In this podcast I talk with Jane Muschenetz...
S5 Ep49: DeShawn McKinney: The Value of Deadlines
24 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Can a writer finish a book in time to meet a deadline? In our interview with DeShawn McKinney we discuss the genesis of his first chapbook, father, fo...
S5 Ep48: Joan Kwon Glass: The Tribe of Invisible People
16 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How does a person deal with grief in poetry? In this interview Joan Kwon Glass discusses her first full-length collection, Night Swim, winner of the D...
S5 Ep47: Jon Pearson - A Creative Pep Talk
03 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Do you struggle to make time for your creative self? In this episode, creativity experts and writers Tresha Faye Haefner and Jon Pearson discuss their...
S5 Ep46: Heather Bourbeau: The Poetry of History
07 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
-"We thought we knew a lot about our history. We were wrong." - Heather Bourbeau How do you write poetry about historical people and events? In this ...
S5 Ep45: Jessica Cuello: Does the Lyrical "I" Lie?
18 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do we know what other people know? In this interview Douglas Manuel and Tresha Faye Haefner talk with Jessica Cuello about her third collection, ...
S5 Ep44: How Seasons Stir the Imagination
19 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this interview, host Douglas Manuel gets his chance to interview Lois P. Jones, who interviewed him on Poet's Café. Lois discusses how winter sti...
S5 Ep43: Edward Vidaurre: Waving the Flag of Activism
18 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Get inside the mind of poet-activist, writer, and publisher Edward Vidaurre as Tresha and Douglas ask about his book Cry, Howl from PricklyPear Press ...
S5 Ep42: Kelly Cressio-Moeller: The Moon Wrote This Poem
06 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this interview Kelly Cressio-Moeller discusses how music, art and cinema play into her writing. As a student of art history and a drummer, Kelly de...
S5 Ep41: Ellen Bass: Try Try Again
09 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Does a poem start with an image or with sound? In this interview Douglas Manuel and Tresha Faye Haefner ask Ellen Bass about her writing process. She ...
S5 Ep40: Kelli Russell Agodon: Why Poets Need Restrictions
11 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How can you cope with anxiety? Try writing a book about it. In this interview Kelli Russell Agdon discusses her latest book. Originally she tells us t...
S5 Ep39: Diannely Antigua: Speaking the Words that Are Not Allowed
12 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Were there certain topics that were off limits to talk about when you were growing up? Any words you weren’t allowed to say? In this interview Diann...
S5 Ep38: Tanaya Winder: When Poetry Makes Music
12 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this interview Tanaya Winder discusses the way she has combined poetry and performance with social advocacy to help others feel seen in real life a...
S4 Ep37: Meghan Sterling
14 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this interview Meghan Sterling, author of These Few Seeds (Terrapin Books, 2022), passionately discusses the complexities of love and how profound ...
S4 Ep36: Kai Coggin: Making the Moments Holy
08 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this wide-ranging interview, Kai Coggin tells her story of meeting Sandra Cisneros along with her middle school English class and how the famous au...
S4 Ep34: Welcome Doug Manuel and Season Preview
08 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Big Announcement for the podcast: Kelly Grace Thomas is stepping aside as co-host with Tresha Faye Haefner. Kelly has a new baby! With an infant in ...
S3 Ep33: Brian Sonia-Wallace: Poetry in Service
17 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“What does it mean to call every stranger friend?” That’s a question poet and innovator Brian Sonia-Wallace asks as he discusses his unusual jou...
S3 Ep32: Gustavo Hernandez:
13 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What does it mean to carry a landscape with you when that landscape belongs to someone else? In this interview, Gustavo Hernandez discusses the way po...
S3 Ep31: Lynne Thompson: Embracing the Unknown
08 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Many poets are beguiled by the fundamental where did I come from question. Much of Lynne Thompson’s work traces the threads that influenced her sens...
S3 Ep30: Kim Addonizio: Finding the Voice of a Poem
08 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How do you find your voice? What about the voice of a poem or piece? In this interview Kim talks about her influences, and how they have helped her fi...
S3 Ep29: Cameron Morse: The Poetry of Confession
19 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What can we learn from reading the Confessions of St. Augustin? In this interview Tresha asks Cameron Morse to discuss his latest book, Far Other, tit...
S3 Ep28: Sonia Greenfield - Balancing Grief and Gratitude
19 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How do you find the place in your poetry for your complete self - the sorrow and the joy, the eventful and the mundane, the gratitude and the grief? I...
S3 Ep27: Nancy Lynee Woo: Living your Creative Mission
15 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Do writers have a duty to share their work? In this interview Nancy Lynee Woo discusses what it’s like to come out of an Emerging Writers Fellowship...
S3 Ep26: Jon Pearson: Unhinging Your Mind
21 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Prolific writer, cartoonist and public speaker Jon Pearson talks to Tresha and Kelly about unleashing the inner genius of the imagination. Pearson tal...
S2 Ep25: Creative in Quarantine II - Jennie Linthorst, Arthur Kayzakian, Brian Sonia Wallace
06 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Our second poets panel on surviving 2020 as a writer and poet is chock full of great suggestions and helpful life tips to staying creative and staying...
S2 Ep24: Bonus Minisode - Julie Hartley and Tresha on narrative types
16 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This short segment is an excerpt from last week's interview where Julie Hartley, founder of the Centauri School of Writing and Tresha Faye Haefner tal...
S2 Ep23: Julie Hartley: Founder of the Centauri School of Writing
01 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Listen to this bonus episode to hear Julie Hartley talk about how she turned her love of writing into a career. Julie and her husband founded The Ce...
S2 Ep22: Creatives in Quarantine 1 - Brendan Constantine, Jeannine Hall Gailey, Nancy Lynee Woo
13 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Bonus episode! This week, we gather three amazing poets - Brendan Constantine, Jeannine Hall Gailey and Nancy Lynee Woo - for the first of two panels ...
S1 Ep21: Tresha Haefner and Kelly Thomas Season Two Wrapup
29 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We've interviewed some amazing word artists for Season Two - Arthur Kayzakian, Victoria Lynn McCoy, Marie-Elizabeth Mali, Antionette Brim, and Dorothy...
S1 Ep20: A Writing Prompt You Can Use Everyday
15 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The COVID quarantine has sent our schedule all higgeldy piggeldy, so this week we grant you, our loyal listeners, with this writing prompt from Tresha...
S1 Ep19: Arthur Kayzakian - Writing the Opposite Gender and Letting Language Lead
01 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we interview Iranian-Armenian-American poet, Arthur Kayzakian who has just joined The Poetry Salon as a workshop facilitator! Kazakian...
S1 Ep18: Victoria Lynne McCoy: Processing Grief with Poetry
18 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How do we create a safe space to process our grief through art? Victoria Lynne McCoy discusses Carmen Maria Machado's metaphor of a "house for grief" ...
S1 Ep17: Marie-Elizabeth Mali: Writing Yourself Stronger
11 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Can writing poetry make you a stronger person? In this interview Marie-Elizabeth Mali, author of Steady, My Gaze (2011) discusses the ways writing he...
S1 Ep16: Antionette Brim: Speaking Your Voice to History
04 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Is there a special way poets have of explaining love? What about history? Or the Bible? In this episode, the poet Antoinette Brim discusses the challe...
S1 Ep15: Michelle Bitting: Preparing the Body for Poetry
25 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this interview captivating poet Michelle Bitting discusses the connection between movement, mythology, and writing poetry. A trained actress and da...
S1 Ep14: Dorothy Chan: Food, Sex and Sonnets
19 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Poet Dorothy Chan discusses pleasure, pop-culture, and the addiction she has to writing sonnets. Sonnets, she says, are like appetizers on a menu at a...
S1 Ep13: Second Season Teaser
12 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Our second season launches next week. Listen to this and find out which poets we'll be interviewing in the coming eight weeks. Plus join our growing c...
S1 Ep12: Terrie Silverman: The Magic of Mentoring Storytellers
07 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What is a “Story Mentor” and how does Terrie Silverman, founder of Creative Rites, make magic happen through her mighty teaching powers? Silverman...
S1 Ep11: Paul Shirley: Writer’s Blok, Home of Community and Productivity
23 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How does a former basketball player for the Chicago Bulls wind up with two published books and a writing center in Culver City? How does he keep doz...
S1 Ep10: Jennie Linthorst: What is Poetry Therapy and How is it Different from Writing Class?
17 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
One of the fascinating application of the poetic medium is as a form of healing in therapy. Jennie Chapman Linthorst is a poet, expressive writing tea...
S1 Ep9: Tresha Faye Haefner and Kelly Grace Thomas: What We Learned from Saloncast Season One
05 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Tresha and Kelly close out two months of amazing interviews with a discussion of what they’ve learned. They review their biggest takeaways from thei...
S1 Ep8: Tresha Faye Haefner - Finding the Form to Contain the Chaos of the World
18 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this podcast Armine’ Iknadossian and Kelly Grace Thomas ask Poetry Salon founder Tresha Faye Haefner when and how she decided to make a full comm...
S1 Ep7: Kelly Grace Thomas - Metaphors for the Body, Saying the Unsayable
12 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this podcast, Kelly Grace Thomas discusses how she uses poetry to explore issues that nobody talks about. Her latest book focuses on issues of the ...
S1 Ep6: Alexis Rhone Fancher: Work-Ethics, Sex and Power, and the Writing Community
05 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this interview Alexis Rhone Fancher discusses the value of a near Pavlovian work-ethic, and the ability to detach herself from her writing, even wh...
S1 Ep5: Brendan Constantine: Defending the Moon, Making Big Mistakes, and Finding the Momentum in a Poem
29 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Why do poets still write about the moon? Should we stop? In this interview poet Brendan Constantine discusses the way the moon and the sea and other e...
S1 Ep4: Jeannine Hall Gailey: Having Fun Being Bad, Persona Poems, and Villains of the Poetry World
21 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Do you like Persona Poems? Do you like villains? Do you think powerful women are misunderstood or misrepresented in art? So does Jeannine Hall Gailey,...
S1 Ep3: Douglas Manuel: The Different Stages of Writing, Ruthless Revisions and Trusting the Collisions
14 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ph.D. student and teacher Douglas Manual discusses the different stages of writing a poem, from taking notes on his iPhone, to doing free-writes, to e...
S1 Ep2: Hannah Gamble: Imagination, Discomfort and The Rolodex of Delight
08 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What propels you to the page? Listen to Hannah Gamble talk about her creative writing process, how she lets feelings get cluttered until she is too ve...
S1 Ep1: Arminé Iknadossian: Inspiration, Procrastination, and Giving the Poem Its Space
12 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Does a poet have to write every day? In this podcast, Armine Iknadosian discusses what it means to be a “poet-in-the-world.” For her this means ha...