Poetry Unbound in Conversation — Adrian Matejka

2026-08-21 · 47 min · episode 20 · 14 entities

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Entities found in this episode

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mentioned Society & Culture concept

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mentioned Arts concept

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mentioned Religion & Spirituality concept

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mentioned Relationships concept

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mentioned Adrian Matejka concept

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Poetry Unbound in Conversation — Adrian Matejka
discusses Society & Culture concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Society & Culture
discusses Arts concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Arts
discusses Religion & Spirituality concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Religion & Spirituality
discusses Relationships concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Relationships
discusses Books concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Books
discusses Spirituality concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Spirituality

companys 2

mentioned On Being Studios company

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hosted by On Being Studios company

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evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: On Being Studios

Episode description as stored

“For me, if a poem doesn't swing, it's really not much of a poem,” says Adrian Matejka, author of the collection Be Easy: New and Selected Poems . His work hums with music, from its references to David Bowie, Miles Davis, and others to its infectious rhythms, repetitions, and rhymes. In this lively conversation recorded in 2024 at the Wick Poetry Center in Ohio, he reads several poems, and he and Pádraig Ó Tuama talk about “the imaginary discotheque” that takes place in Adrian’s head when he writes, how metaphor and simile offer a third space for his ideas to reach people, and his intense interest in exploring “masculinities” in all their expressions and emotions. We invite you to subscribe to Pádraig’s weekly Poetry Unbound Substack , read the Poetry Unbound books and his newest work, Kitchen Hymns , or listen to all our Poetry Unbound episodes . Adrian Matejka is the author of many books of poetry, including most recently Be Easy: New and Selected Poems , which was published by W.W. Norton in 2026. He also serves as the editor of Poetry magazine, and he was poet laureate of the state of Indiana from 2018 to 2019. Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.