Thoughtful, in-depth conversations with authors of all genres and other notable people from Chicagoland and around the world. A monthly program from the Deerfield Public Library in Deerfield, IL, hosted by Dylan Zavagno.
Our archives include episodes from the Library's John Cotton Dana Award-winning series, The Fight to Integrate Deerfield: 60 Year Reflection; our Pride Month series, Queer Poem-a-Day; and our local history audio tours.
Our conversation with poet, writer, and translator James Shea, whose extraordinary new collection of poems Last Day of My Face (University of Iowa Press, 2025), was recently published as a winner of …
Our Queer Poem-a-Day "outro" episode, featuring three "extras" for Year 5!
Day 20: Ocean Vuong reads his poem "The Last Dinosaur.” This poem first appeared in a slightly different form in The Boston Review (2021) and in his collection Time is a Mother (Penguin Press, 2022).
…Day 19: Mark Doty reads his poem, “A Display of Mackerel,” which first appeared in his collection Atlantis (Harper Perennial, 1995).
Mark Doty is the author of nine books of poetry. Fire to Fire: New…
Day 18: Rose Zinnia reads her poem, “I'm Like If Mary Oliver Had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.” This poem was originally published in Poetry (April 2025).
Rose Zinnia is a poet, novelist…
Day 17: Nikky Finney reads her poem “Charm,” originally published in her collection The World is Round (InnerLight Publishing, 2003).
Nikky Finney is the author of On Wings Made of Gauze; Rice; The …
Day 16: Oliver Baez Bendorf reads his poem “What the Dead Can Do, which was originally published in West Branch (2021), reprinted in Best American Poetry 2022, and in his book Consider the Rooster (N…
Day 15: Jayson P. Smith reads their poem, “I Arrive in a Place with a High Level of Psychic Distress.” Queer Poem-a-Day is honored to be the first publication of this poem.
Jayson P. Smith is a poet…
Day 14:
Jessica Jacobs reads her poem, "Saturday Services at the Provincetown Shore" from her book unalone (Four Way Books, 2024). Recorded with permission of Four Way Books. All rights reserved.
Je…
Day 13: Francisco Márquez reads his poem, “The Bulge,” first published in The Adroit Journal (April 2025).
Francisco Márquez is a poet from Maracaibo, Venezuela, born in Miami, Florida. His work has…
Day 12: Jaz Sufi reads her poem, “Ode to My Lover's Sequined Dress.” Queer Poem-a-Day is honored to be the first publication of this poem.
Jaz Sufi (she/hers) is a queer Iranian-American poet and ar…
Day 11: Gabrielle Calvocoressi reads their poem, “Miss you. Would like to take a walk with you” originally published in Poetry (October 2021).
Gabrielle Calvocoressi is the author of The Last Time I…
Day 10: Jan-Henry Gray reads his poem “On Therapy,” first published in the anthology Permanent Record: Poetics Towards the Archive (Nightboat Books, 2025), edited by Naima Yael Tokunow.
Jan-Henry Gra…
Day 9: Timothy Liu reads his poem “The Price of Kissing is Your Life,” originally published in the Georgia Review (Spring 2025).
Timothy Liu's most recent books of poems are Down Low and Lowdown and …
Day 8: Lloyd Schwartz reads his poem “Who’s On First?” This poem was originally published in Ploughshares (1981) and reprinted in Who's On First: New and Selected Poems (University of Chicago Press, …
Day 7: Keetje Kuipers reads her poem “Cremello Horse,” which first appeared in the magazine 32 Poems and was then published in Lonely Women Make Good Lovers (BOA Editions, 2025).
Keetje Kuipers’ four…
Day 6: Gaia Rajan reads his poem “Essay on Class,” which originally appeared in Frontier Poetry (2023).
Gaia Rajan is the author of the chapbooks Moth Funerals (Glass Poetry Press 2020) and Killing …
Day 5: Rick Barot reads his poem “Pleasure,” which appears in his recent book, Moving the Bones.
Rick Barot's most recent book of poems is Moving the Bones, published by Milkweed Editions in 2024. Hi…
Day 4: S. Brook Corfman reads her poem “Before & After.” The poem first appeared in Pigeon Pages (2020), in a slightly different form.
S. Brook Corfman is the author of My Daily Actions, or The Mete…
Day 3: Marcelo Hernandez Castillo reads his poem “Eclogue: A Field Guide and Cure.” The poem was published in the recent anthology Like A Hammer: Poets on Mass Incarceration (Haymarket Books, 2025).