I Offer Poetry

I Offer Poetry asks the question, why don’t we share poetry like we share music? Host Elizabeth Ellson interviews people from all walks of life and gives them the opportunity to share a poem that their heart holds onto. Guests tell the stories that bring their chosen poem to the forefront of their mind. This podcast aims to share poetry the way that we share music: fluidly and accessibly. It’s a little bit linguistic, it’s a little bit rock and roll.

Side B - On Poetry Giving Us Permission To Be Gentle 12/27/2021

Kiran Subramaniam - On Using Poetry To Cope With Big Feelings 12/20/2021

Kiran Subramaniam - On Using Poetry To Cope With Big Feelings In the final guest episode of Season One, Elizabeth hosts her friend Kiran Subramaniam and they discuss the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley. Kiran Subramaniam is a writer & performer living in Los Angeles by day, who dreams of the North Carolina mountains and beach by night. She currently works on the show Hightown as seen on Starz. She's a fan of chewy raspberry licorice, books, Spotify, and international architecture. Her first dog will be named Toby, a la the curmudgeonly Toby Zielger of The West Wing. During their discussion of the poem ‘To William Shelley’ the conversation floats from the surface aspects of Percy’s scandalous personal life, all the way to the depths of the poetic mind/body split and our souls becoming one with nature. In unpacking a poem which centers on the loss of a child, the two women take an opportunity to explore their ideas of what parenthood and having a life outside your chest might feel like. As with many episodes, this conversation includes investigation into punctuation choices and how universal it feels to run out of words when we have lost the irreplaceable. Join us for a guest episode which touches on many genuine, tender heartstrings but also pokes fun at Percy’s inarguably hipster, would-be Perez Hilton cover-story-worthy life. Timestamps: 00:00:48 Guest Introduction 00:03:05 Poem Reading (Kiran) 00:04:41 Author Info 00:07:46 Kiran’s Relationship to the Poem 00:28:14 Pause / Poem Reading (Kiran) 00:35:30 Reflection & Offering Poem & Links: I.O.P. Lexicon: Lustre: (noun) a gentle sheen or soft glow, especially that of a partly reflective surface Italian Translation: non e piu come era prima || it is no longer as it was before Where to find Kiran: | Instagram | Twitter Where to find our host Elizabeth: | Twitter Where to find us: | Instagram | Twitter | Produced & Edited by John Campione: | Music | Art /episode/index/show/iofferpoetry/id/21540605

Side B - On Poetry About A Fiercer Mother Mary 12/13/2021

Gregory Sinche - On Poetry As A Way To Organize Your Mind 12/06/2021

Side B - Poetry Allowing Space For Grief In The Everyday 11/29/2021

Stephen Stern - On Poetry Infusing Life Lessons 11/22/2021

Stephen Stern - On Poetry Infusing Life Lessons This week on I Offer Poetry Elizabeth interviews her high school Honors Organic Chemistry Teacher, Mr. Stephen Stern. You read that correctly; Elizabeth took an honors level science class. It obviously didn’t pan out for her, but she still adores Mr. Stern and was thrilled to discuss all things creative in this episode. Stephen Stern was born and raised in California and moved to Elizabeth’s hometown of Columbus, OH in 1993 while his wife attended veterinary school at The Ohio State University. He and his wife ended up making Columbus their home; they have been married for 29 years, have two children together, and Mr. Stern continues to teach high school in the suburbs just outside of OSU campus. In their catch-up Mr. Stern and Elizabeth discuss the strong ties to art passed down through family members, what it means to grow up and experience loss, and how excellent Mr. Stern is at encouraging his students, no matter their interest level in science. This episode honors those we’ve lost and gives Elizabeth the chance to say thank you to a teacher that helped her make it through grieving her father. It is a very special episode and we hope you’ll find a lot of inspiration in the words of Kipling and the discussion surrounding his poetry. “It could be from triumphs or losses, but sometimes you just go forward because that's life. And that's what my parents taught me. And maybe the poem taught me a little bit about that; there's good, there's bad, there's things that go along the way. You’ve got to meet them the same way. And I'm not always even keeled, I can't say that I’m like this poem all the time, but at least there's something there that I saw growing up that helped get me back to a centerline when I need to be.” -Stephen Stern Timestamps: 00:00:24 Guest Introduction 00:05:12 Poem Reading (Stephen) 00:07:28 Author Info 00:09:02 Stephen’s Relationship to the Poem 00:19:21 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth) 00:25:27 Reflection & Offering Poem & Links: I.O.P. Lexicon: Knave: (noun) a dishonest or unscrupulous man. Sinew: (noun) a piece of tough fibrous tissue uniting muscle to bone or bone to bone OR the parts of a structure, system, or thing that give it strength or bind it together. Where to find our host Elizabeth: | Twitter Where to find us: | Instagram | Twitter | Produced & Edited by John Campione: | Music | Art /episode/index/show/iofferpoetry/id/21153641

Side B - On Poetry Expressing Universal Emotion 11/15/2021

Side B - On Poetry Expressing Universal Emotion In this week’s Side B, Elizabeth brings us the poem Unending Love by Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore’s notable influence on 20th century Indian literature is made all the more impressive by his being the first non-European to earn a Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1913. Unending Love is a poem about how universal our emotional landscapes can be, remembrance of the shy sweetness of meeting, and the merging of all love through song and poetry. It is a perfect piece for I Offer Poetry, a chance to explore how poetry gives everyone a voice, whether writer or reader. This episode flaunts November birthdays, the deep abiding friendship of Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, and Elizabeth’s love for commas. Come listen to a piece of poetry Elizabeth found while Wikipedia diving and see how she rounds out the episode celebrating her close friends. “That's what this poem right now, in this moment in my life, represents. This idea that we can be so loved and so seen by friends. That that is what a beautiful numberless love is, is the amount of love that I feel from the friends in my life.” - Elizabeth Ellson Timestamps: 00:00:58 Poem Reading (Elizabeth) 00:02:58 Author Info 00:04:52 Elizabeth’s Relationship to the Poem 00:16:27 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth) 00:21:38 Reflection & Invitation to Write Us! Poem & Links: I.O.P. Lexicon: Polymath (noun) : a person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning Palilogy (noun) : repetition of a word for emphasis Pole-star (noun) : A pole-star or polar star is a bright star, nearly aligned with the axis of a rotating astronomical body; it's a star that seemingly “doesn't move”, aiding in celestial navigation; this star is at times also known as polaris Fount (noun) : a spring of water; fountain OR a source or origin: i.e. a fount of inspiration Where to find our host Elizabeth: | Twitter Where to find us: | Instagram | Twitter | Produced & Edited by John Campione: | Music | Art /episode/index/show/iofferpoetry/id/21148757

Natasha Wright - On Poetry Fueling Self Empowerment 11/08/2021

Natasha Wright - On Poetry Fueling Self Empowerment This week on I Offer Poetry Elizabeth and her guest, Natasha Wright, discuss the inimitable power of Maya Angelou. Natasha lives in Washington, D.C. and currently serves as the Senior Advisor in the Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). In this role, Natasha is responsible for developing and implementing many of ACF’s strategic initiatives. Prior to starting this role in April 2021, she served for two years as a legislative analyst within the Office of Legislative Affairs and Budget at ACF. Our guest brings in the famous poem ‘Still I Rise’ and tells us about how these words continue to resonate at every age she revisits them. After explaining she was coached by her mom into performing this poem for a childhood talent show, Natasha also reveals she had the opportunity to audit a class taught by Maya Angelou in college. We examine the different lenses of self respect and confidence Angelou weaves into her writing and the evolution of femininity throughout. Natasha also opens up about how the line “Still I rise” comes to her in tough moments and what it means to embrace her natural instincts to lead others and make life better for those around her. “[Maya Angelou] is truly embracing her femininity through this poem, [asking] 'does my sexiness upset you?' Because that is just who she is. Why are we trying to hide it, or mask it, or make it less than; to make others feel comfortable, to the detriment of ourselves? Timestamps: 00:00:44 Guest Introduction 00:03:28 Poem Reading (Natasha) 00:05:30 Author Info 00:08:35 Natasha’s Relationship to the Poem 00:19:08 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth) 00:34:38 Reflection & Offering Poem & Links: I.O.P. Lexicon: Haughtiness: (noun) full of ; ; Where to find Natasha: | Instagram Where to find our host Elizabeth: | Twitter Where to find us: | Instagram | Twitter Produced & Edited by John Campione: | Music | Art /episode/index/show/iofferpoetry/id/21081398

Lou Mitchell - On The Lyricism of Brandi Carlile 11/01/2021

Lou Mitchell - On The Lyricism of Brandi Carlile Another first for the podcast; Concert Deconstruction. Elizabeth has invited a wonderful musician friend to dissect lyrics as poetry after attending a concert and getting to experience their live performance. Introducing Lou Mitchell, a singer songwriter from California who spent the majority of her childhood either in the dirt or out on the delta. Like any other small-town kid, she couldn’t get out of there fast enough. She spent the majority of her twenties trying to blend in with the city only to realize she’ll always have a little more dirt on her shoes than the rest. Lou started writing music right out of high school, mostly using it as an outlet as she ran in circles trying to find her place in the industry. She took a surprising turn back to her country roots and immediately felt at home within her music as it called on the most authentic version of herself. In this week’s episode Lou and Elizabeth sing the praises of Brandi and her brilliant band. In terms of witnessing their performance, there is much commendation of the excellent musicianship of the entire group and fawning over the joy emanating from Brandi herself. Related to the lyrics themselves there is a great deal of discussion over how romantic relationships age and the honor it is to have a human safe space. Lou dives deep on how the song is not a standard structure and therefore lends itself to poetry so innately. Elizabeth crosses her fingers that writer Phil Hanseroth intentionally included a couplet in the song’s ending. Although Elizabeth slips up once or twice and calls Lou by her full first name, Lauren, she is thrilled to celebrate the release of Lou’s first single. Newly available on Apple Music and Spotify, 'Wholesome' is a country song for those who are still finding themselves and accepting with grace and enthusiasm that they might just be really good at makin’ dumb decisions. “[The lyrics are] written in four separate parts… and it's sort of out of the format that I'm used to writing in and that on the radio we're used to listening to, because [typically] you start with a verse and then pre chorus, chorus, and it's sort of in this structure that we're a little bit confined to. This song is so beautiful because it's just like, here's the first part of the story and the second and the third, and then we're going to come back and the fourth is the same. Lyrically the same as the first stanza, but by the time the song is over, it means so much more and has a different meaning. So I think that just the way that they broke the convention was really what stood out to me.” - Lou Mitchell Timestamps: 00:00:11 Guest Introduction 00:01:23 Lyric/Poem Reading (Lou) 00:02:57 Author Info 00:05:19 Lou’s Relationship to the Lyrics/Poem 00:15:56 Pause Lyric/Poem Reading (Elizabeth) 00:23:15 Reflection & Offering 00:25:58 Outro / Sample Lou’s First Single Poem & Links: I.O.P. Lexicon: Couplet: (noun) two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit Where to find Lou: | Instagram | Twitter Lou Mitchell Music: Where to find our host Elizabeth: | Twitter Where to find us: | Instagram | Twitter Produced & Edited by John Campione: | Music | Art /episode/index/show/iofferpoetry/id/20997986

David Guerra - On How A Poem Ages With Us 10/25/2021

David Guerra - On How A Poem Ages With Us On this week's episode Elizabeth is excited to introduce her dear friend, David Guerra, who quickly takes the reins and teaches her more about Tennessee Williams, the conquest of Mexico City, and what it means to get deeply vulnerable about family. Our guest David is an award winning actor, director, teacher and performing artist. He was born and raised in Los Angeles and has worked and collaborated with a lot of respected institutions within Southern California, including the Center Theatre Group, the Geffen Playhouse, and the experimental physical theatre company that is Theatre Movement Bazaar (TMB). With TMB David has won Ovation Awards, traveled to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with multiple productions, as well as toured in several cities in China. As a teaching artist, David intentionally turns every classroom into a theatre space and creates a level playing field for both the arts and academia. While exploring The Christus of Guadalajara by Tennessee Williams, Elizabeth and David explore the themes of religion, sacrifice, and, as David puts it, the subtext of death. Come with us to investigate how the poem picks up speed, asks us to reflect on mortality, and encourages us to pay respect to our mothers. Come listen to David share the many lenses through which he views this poem and how he believes art seeks us. “This is the thing Elizabeth, you know, the art?... in a way instead of you seeking it seeks you. Well, I don't know if it fell in my lap... but I'm serious. I don't think I sought it.” - David Guerra Timestamps: 00:00:47 Guest Introduction 00:03:14 Poem Reading (David) 00:05:55 Author Info 00:08:44 David’s Relationship to the Poem 00:23:29 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth) 00:35:00 Reflection & Offering Poem & Links: I.O.P. Lexicon: Gitana: (noun) a Spanish female Gypsy Lachryma Christi: literal translation is "tears of Christ" ALSO the name of a celebrated Neapolitan type of wine Flagellation: (noun) flogging or beating, either as a religious discipline or for sexual gratification Where to find David & TMB: | Instagram | Instagram Where to find our host Elizabeth: | Twitter Where to find us: | Instagram | Twitter Produced & Edited by John Campione: | Music | Art /episode/index/show/iofferpoetry/id/20846717

Side B - On Poetry Viewing Religion As An Opt Out 10/18/2021

Side B - On Poetry Viewing Religion As An Opt Out In this week’s Side B episode Elizabeth is given a run for her money with the incredible spoken word poetry of Singapore’s Victoria Lim. Religion, by Victoria Lim, is the first spoken word piece to be featured on I Offer Poetry and since it is a lesser known piece, it required our host to do a lot more supposition and exploration of her own feelings and relationship to the poem. Poet Victoria Lim spent her childhood in Penang, Malaysia and moved to Singapore when she was nine. She began writing poetry in 2010 and became Singapore’s National Poetry Slam Champion in 2013. Lim is a theatre practitioner and is especially well known for her contributions to performance poetry. She is a founding member of the all-female spoken word collective, Sekaliwags, and has performed at Lit-Up! Festival (Singapore) and Cooler Lumpur Festival (Malaysia). Throughout this episode we engage with themes of growing up, indulging complacency, and what it means to be a modern romantic partner. Elizabeth sounds off on how she also sees the temptation to use religion as an escape from heavy thoughts and daily patterns. “I love sharing contemporary poets, because I think that's something we miss out on. I've mentioned before I think we do a lot of reading the poetry of, quite honestly, dead white men in the American education system. And I think it's exciting to find new voices, but especially contemporary voices, and remind ourselves that poetry is a living breathing thing. People are still writing poetry.” - Elizabeth Ellson Timestamps: 00:00:48 Poem Reading (Elizabeth) 00:04:42 Author Info 00:06:30 Elizabeth’s Relationship to the Poem 00:25:10 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth) 00:30:17 Reflection & Invitation to Write Us! Poem & Links: I.O.P. Lexicon: Banal: (adjective) devoid of freshness or originality, commonplace Where to find our host Elizabeth: | Twitter Where to find us: | Instagram | Twitter Produced & Edited by John Campione: | Music | Art /episode/index/show/iofferpoetry/id/20846636

Lauren Flans - On Poetry Using Dark Humor To Shed Light 10/11/2021

Lauren Flans - On Poetry Using Dark Humor To Shed Light There is a trigger warning at the top of this episode regarding suicide, as the poem in this week’s episode deals directly with the topic. The discussion surrounding the subject is that of respect for the author's history, but also how the author chose a humorous lens to reflect a dark subject matter. Elizabeth is eager to introduce her longtime friend, Lauren Flans. Lauren is a contemporary multi-hyphenate. She was a recurring cast member on MTV’s Wild ‘n Out and Comedy Central's Another Period. She's an active member of , which is a live comedy and music group in LA and is the current co-host of Coming Out with Lauren and Nicole, a podcast where they host queer folks from all walks of life to tell the tales of how they came out. In their discussion of Dorothy Parker’s Resume Lauren notes how the author would likely be cancelled on Twitter, how being bitter and snarky made Parker hopelessly cool, and how she voluntarily offers poetry collections to friends. There are musings on Lauren’s longtime crush on Jennifer Jason Leigh and Elizabeth shares a sexy little John Keats line. “[Dorothy Parker] was smart and had this caustic wit and was living in the 1920’s when everything was repressed and she was like ‘Fuck everything!’ and I just thought that was hopelessly cool.” -Lauren Flans Timestamps: 00:00:00 Trigger Warning (Suicide) 00:00:48 Guest Introduction 00:03:05 Poem Reading (Lauren) 00:03:35 Author Info 00:04:50 Lauren’s Relationship to the Poem 00:14:50 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth) 00:16:30 Reflection & Offering Poem & Links: I.O.P. Lexicon: Wit: (noun) the keen perception and cleverly apt expression of those connections between ideas that awaken amusement and pleasure, intelligence; astuteness. Sardonic: (adjective) characterized by bitter or scornful derision; mocking; cynical Caustic: (adjective) severely critical or sarcastic OR (noun) substance capable of burning, corroding, or destroying living tissue Where to find Lauren: | Instagram | Twitter | Instagram | Twitter Where to find our host Elizabeth: | Twitter Where to find us: | Instagram | Twitter Produced & edited by John Campione | Music | Art /episode/index/show/iofferpoetry/id/20755739

Side B - On the Impossible Desire of Long Distance Love 10/04/2021

Will DaRosa - On Poetry Exploring Escapism 09/27/2021

Will DaRosa - On Poetry Exploring Escapism In our second episode Elizabeth completely ignores the fact that W. B. Yeats has a full first name, as she is on a nickname-only basis with him. This episode features cinematographer, music video director, and filmmaker Will DaRosa. Will’s rapidly-lengthening resume testifies to his dedication to his craft and his growing reputation as one of the fresh talents to work with on the Los Angeles indie-genre scene. As director/dp, his music videos have aired on MTV and VH1 and been viewed millions of times on Youtube. He is also the co-host/co-creator of 2001 The Podcast, which is available everywhere podcasts can be listened to. In this episode Will discusses his love for cinema, finding this poem through a Steven Spielberg film, and worrying that maybe as a white man he shouldn’t be “that guy” who talks about poetry. There is ample discussion over how popcorn reading in school made Will nervous and Elizabeth feel highly prepared. Also Audrey Hepburn gets a mention. “This poem is… it's about humanity. [...] And then you have a robot reading it, there's just something chilling and terrifying about that… you have a robot that nearly is about to cry listening to another robot read a poem written by a human 300 years before it's, I don't know, the ending of that movie is chilling, but this is like a midpoint in the film, and you're really not quite sure. You know the character's journey, what they want, at this point in the film, but when he gets this poem, it kind of breaks his brain a little bit.” - Will DaRosa Timestamps: 00:00:25 Guest Introduction 00:02:55 Poem Reading (Will) 00:05:32 Author Info 00:07:00 Will’s Relationship to the Poem 00:17:03 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth) 00:25:05 Reflection & Offering Poem & Links: Films: I.O.P. Lexicon: Solemn: (adjective) formal and dignified // not cheerful or smiling; serious. Where to find Will: | Instagram | Twitter | Instagram | Twitter Where to find us: | Instagram | Twitter Where to find our host Elizabeth: | Twitter Produced & Edited by John Campione | Music | Art /episode/index/show/iofferpoetry/id/20604827

Introducing Side B - On Poetry Immortalizing Love 09/20/2021

Introducing Side B - On Poetry Immortalizing Love This is the inaugural episode introducing Side B - I Offer Poetry’s ‘minisodes’, so to speak. Our host Elizabeth Ellson is inviting the audience to join the poetry discussion. She lays out the format for Side B, which allows for two readings of a poem and the memory associated with that poem the first time it was discovered. The hope is that this short format will encourage podcast listeners to write in with their stories, which will allow IOP to share even more poetry and give life to the memories we hold on to. In this specific Side B, Elizabeth shares the memory of an iconic Lifehouse song and how it prompts memories of the year 2000 and a series of growing up montages in her brain. Somehow she also ropes Shakespeare into the mix and brings out the immortalizing themes of his iconic Sonnet 18. Who doesn’t love an excuse to rediscover long-dead poets you once read in English class? Throughout the episode there is discussion of seasons changing, how our perceptions of love grow and evolve as we age, and what it might mean to be immortalized in a song or poem. “[Shakespeare] is saying; time diminishes everything. [Time] changes the seasons, it changes how beautiful the sky is… He's got commentary on the weather changing and being for better or worse, but he's saying his love is more lasting, and therefore writing a poem to immortalize his love is what will give life to her forever.” - Elizabeth Ellson Timestamps: 00:04:20 Poem Reading (Elizabeth) 00:05:18 Author Info 00:06:40 Elizabeth’s Relationship to the Poem 00:12:10 Pause / Poem Reading (Elizabeth) 00:15:05 Reflection & Invitation to Write Us! Poem & Links: I.O.P. Lexicon: Temperate: (adjective) showing moderation or self-restraint. Where to find our host Elizabeth: | Twitter Where to find us: | Instagram | Twitter Produced & Edited by John Campione: | Music | Art /episode/index/show/iofferpoetry/id/20526497

Yaani King Mondschein - On Poetry Embracing Letting Go 09/13/2021

Trailer • I Offer Poetry with Elizabeth Ellson 08/25/2021

I Offer Poetry

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