Nothing But The Poem – Ross Gay
July 2023
American poet Ross Gay is the subject of the new Nothing But The Poem podcast. The SPL’s regular podcast host, Sam Tongue, takes a deep dive into two of his poems which were discussed at the online monthly meet-up of the Nothing But The Poem group.
Ross Gay was born in Ohio and now teaches at Indiana University. He’s the author of 4 poetry collections and 3 books of essays. His specialist subject is joy! On his website intro it states:
Ross Gay is interested in joy.
Ross Gay wants to understand joy.
Ross Gay is curious about joy.
Ross Gay studies joy.
Something like that.
Robert Eric Shoemaker wrote on the Poetry Foundation website:
Poet Ross Gay takes his office hours in his garden and is often unreachable by technology. Imagine the delight (little delights, perhaps, in his Book of Delights) of being unreachable among the dirt and the plants, or of smiling in discussion with a friend, student, or colleague among the smell of apples trees. Go try it!
The two poems discussed in this podcast are Poem To My Child If Ever You Should Be and Sorrow Is Not My Name