The Poetry Pharmacy show

The Poetry Pharmacy

Summary: Every couple of weeks I invite someone I like to read me a poem from a poet that they love, a poem they carry around in their Existential First Aid Kit. We then chat about the poem, and I also read them a poem from the Pharmacy. If my guest is a writer, we conclude with them reading a piece of their own work that excites and interests me.

Join Now to Subscribe to this Podcast

Podcasts:

 RMSYL 41: What The Doctor Said by Raymond Carver (read by Nicholas Pole) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 30:47

Nick Pole is good for your soul. Well, he’s good for my soul. Nick and I ran a Mindfulness Based Practitioners group together for a while, once upon a time. I remember our third or fourth session where Nick offered … Continue reading →

 RMSYL 39: Le Pont Mirabeau by Guillaume Apollinaire (read by Anouche Sherman) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 25:07

The machine, the industry that is culture works predominantly with and in the “now”. The official ethos is a warm, mindfully glowing “Be Here Now”. But what that really translates into is “BUY THIS NOW!”. Fair enough. Literature is a … Continue reading →

 RMSYL 37: Queen Victoria by Leonard Cohen (read by H.J. Hampson) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 23:04

I so enjoyed Heather Hampson reading from the International Treasure that is Leonard Cohen that I thought it might be worth commiting to memory some of his favourite songs for my By Heart quest. You would think, having listened to … Continue reading →

 RMSYL 36: A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka (read by Kevin Porter) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 53:16

The covenant of RMSYL has always been that of Mo going to the Mountain. Mo to the Mou, if you like. If you get in touch, and invite me round for a cuppa, as long as you don’t live in … Continue reading →

 RMSYL 35: Meditation XVII by John Donne (read by Rogan Wolf) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 28:13

I sometimes wonder what it must have been like during The Depression trundling around with the Lomaxes, father and son, through Memphis and the deep South, making field recordings out of their car window of those bards of the barrelhouse … Continue reading →

 RMSYL 33: Bones of the Inner Ear by Kiana Davenport (Read by Jarred McGinnis) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 39:48

I love this photo of Jarred McGinnis reading Kiana Davenport‘s incredible ‘Bones of the Inner Ear’. Firstly because it captures something of JM-himself (dude + lovely[1] bloke). But also because it makes me feel like Chazz “Kujan” Palminteri at the … Continue reading →

 RMSYL 32: Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas (read by Kit Spahr) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 36:28

You might notice one or two differences about episode #32 of Read Me Something You Love.  For starters, it’s the first one I’ve done via Skype, and it went so well, I’m planning to do a whole bunch more like … Continue reading →

 RMSYL 31: The Spur of the Moment Stroll and Passers-by by Franz Kafka (read by Shaun Levin) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 31:08

Happy birthday, Franz. I’m not sure if it’s a birthday present you would have ever wanted, but did you know that you’re all set to be included in the update of the Bible of Psychological Pathologies (the Diagnostic and Statistical … Continue reading →

 RMSYL 30: Believe Me by Ali Smith (read by Tania Hershman) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 33:06

 I love the fact that International Short Story Day, June 20th, is celebrated on a  solstice.That’s to say: the day the sun (sol) stands still (sistere). Apart from the rather pleasing philological connection with short days/nights/stories, there might be other … Continue reading →

 RMSYL 28: How To Keep Your Day Job by Rebecca Rosenblum (read by Laura Boudreau) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 40:07:05

O Canada. I’ve been spending a lot of time in Canada recently. Entirely in my head of course. Which is possibly the best place to explore a country, or a city as Calvino showed us in his invisible mindscapes. I’ve arrived … Continue reading →

 RMSYL 27: Tender Is The Night by F.Scott Fitzgerald (read by Wayne Gooderham) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 35:54

I’m always impressed by Big Readers. Not as in girth, though that’s impressive too. No, I’m talking about those people who devour books the ways you and I fritter away time on social media sites for example [insert semi-ironic winking … Continue reading →

 RMSYL 25: Tim The Terrible Tiger by Tessa Potter (Read by Jane) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 7:28

Unless your hypnotherapist records your sessions, it’s unlikely you will ever hear yourself in a regressed state. Of course we’re regressing, progressing, digressing at any given moment of the day, and that’s OK if you’re OK with it. Regression is … Continue reading →

 RMSYL 23: The Gun by Mark Haddon (read by Ted Hodgkinson) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 41:25

I’m hoping I might get a few complaints about this podcast. Firstly, as this is a nominal tie-in with the new Granta 119: Britain issue, nothing really says Britain like a good old whinge. But also because the internet (as … Continue reading →

 RMSYL 22: The History of England by Jane Austen (read by Janina Matthewson) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 23:17

You can learn everything and nothing about a person by the virtual breadcrumbs they scatter across the internet that lead you and the Google bot towards them. Before meeting Janina Matthewson I already knew that she was damn funny and … Continue reading →

 RMSYL 21: Netsuke [excerpt] by Rikki Ducornet (read by Saskia Vogel) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 42:11

The great thing, for me, about RMSYL is the sheer diversity of readers transmitting their love of reading to me, and the texts they choose to do this with. This afternoon I was in Brompton Library listening and then later … Continue reading →

Comments

Login or signup comment.