Nicole Sealey on New Yorker Poetry Podcast

Kevin Young hosts Nicole Sealey, the executive director of Cave Canem and author of Ordinary Beast on the New Yorker's poetry podcast. Sealey brings to the conversation her poem, "A Violence," in addition to poetry by Ellen Bass, found in the magazine's archives. In conversation with Young, Sealey explains, "I was just immediately struck by this poem. Not only is it beautiful but it’s so surprising throughout. And Ellen Bass’s conversational style I was really drawn to. Again the surprise and how while I was reading just many of my expectations were just flipped upside down. It’s just a gorgeous, gorgeous poem. I can’t really say enough about the beauty of it." More from the transcript of their discussion, starting there: 

Kevin Young: Let’s have a listen. Here’s Nicole Sealey reading “Indigo,” by Ellen Bass.

[Nicole Sealey reads “Indigo”]

Kevin Young: That was “Indigo,” by Ellen Bass, which appeared in the October 6, 2017, issue of the magazine. So I actually didn’t know this poem well before you picked it. Did you come on it yourself in the magazine, or just looking over it recently or—?

Nicole Sealey: In the magazine. I saw it in the magazine and I was struck by the surprise of it. I initially thought that the speaker in the poem was being a bit judgy, looking at this dude with these tattoos and then she totally flipped the script—

Kevin Young: Yeah—

Nicole Sealey: And said not, not only is she jealous but she—that’s an obsession of hers. She doubled down on her envy.

Kevin Young: Right.

Nicole Sealey: And that was—that was amazing.

Kevin Young: Yeah. And she sort of is desirous that, you know, in this way—

Nicole Sealey: Yes.

Kevin Young: Not just for him physically but for this life of ease, you know, the baby teething on a barbecue bone. I mean, that’s a wonderful primal image. And I think that’s something, there’s something primal about the whole poem. I mean, she’s really invested. I love the title, too. The title really takes you to a different place. I think you’re expecting either something light and airy or something super political—

Nicole Sealey: Of course.

Kevin Young: And she manages to bridge the two and kind of the politics of life, of living, of being alive.

Nicole Sealey: Yeah.

Kevin Young: You know, I think we’re going to get to some of that in your own work. But I wonder how it works here, you know. It seems like there’s a lot of shifts for me.

Read on at the New Yorker.