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Happy New Year! What better way to start the year than with some poetic banter from Robin and Peter?  For the first Planet Poetry episode of 2021  we invite Mario Petrucci to take us on his extraordinary poetic pilgrimage from science to spirit. Mario reads from acclaimed collections, including his spanking new book: afterlove (and as a special Planet Poetry bonus get a free book from Mario Petrucci's back catalogue). Plus Robin and Peter steel themselves to  seize their latest thorny issue: the prose poem and chat about Anne Carson and Claudia Rankine.  

Christmas is coming and we're feeling blissed out.... or are we?  The title of Jack Underwood's collection Happiness makes Robin happy, but so do Christmas carols, and nothing is ever as it seems on the surface. Meanwhile Peter gets all lyrical about lights and the seasonal slow boat to Guernsey, and in an extended book reviews segment we chew over some of our favourite collections this year including John McCullough's Reckless Paper Birds, Ilya Kaminsky's Deaf Republic, Maureen N. McLane's What I'm Looking For  and Caleb Femi's Poor.

Is that glass eye staring at you? In this episode we persuade Tess Jolly to tell us about her dark alchemy, transforming fear into hauntingly beautiful poetry. She shares some spine-tinglers from her published work, including her new Blue Diode collection, Breakfast at the Origami Cafe.  We quiz Krishan Coupland editor of Neon , the literary magazine with flavours of horror and science fiction, and learn about the dreamlike qualities that unnerve and excite him.  Plus Robin and Peter swap tips on what to do when your poetry submissions are rejected.

It's all in the detail... Katrina Porteous takes us from the micro quantum world beyond human vision out to the furthest reaches of the universe as we discuss her Bloodaxe collection Edge, and Sarah Salway shares her insights on close observation for poets, books she goes back to, and her collection Digging up Paradise. Plus, our random musings on fireworks and plant names, and Peter introduces us to Greek poet Katerina Angelaki-Rooke. 

Water, water everywhere!  This week we interview Clare Shaw, who discusses and reads from her book Flood triggered by the flooding of her hometown in 2015 -- and the upwelling of emotion caused by the breakdown of a relationship, and the dark currents of wider narratives.  Plus we chat with Elizabeth Murtough co-editor of  Channel, Ireland's Environmentalist Literary Magazine. Meanwhile Peter reads a poem by Edward Thomas and Robin one by Alice Oswald, and there's a bit of chat about poetry magazines...

Ready to explore Planet Poetry? In our first episode we meet multi-award winning poet Pascale Petit and explore the lush Edens of her poetry. Hear Pascale talk frankly about the troubling shadows cast by her mother and father on her life and work.  Enjoy her readings from several collections, including the recently published Tiger Girl, which describes the sanctuary offered by her relationship with her Indian grandmother.  In this episode Robin and Peter also share thoughts about Home Farm by Janet Sutherland and Wild Nights: New & Selected Poems by Kim Addonizio. 

Welcome to Planet Poetry, the new poetry podcast produced and presented by Peter Kenny and Robin Houghton.  Join us as we explore the world of poetry, talking with editors, influencers, poets and even non-poets. We'll also chat about what we've enjoyed reading lately, argue over thorny issues and generally chew the poetry cud over the odd pint. Interviewees include Pascale Petit, Clare Shaw, Sarah Salway, Mario Petrucci and many more!