People and Their Poems

People and their Poems is a podcast about the poems that make a difference in our world. In each episode, Sandy talks with a person who has been influenced by poetry and become a poet or a supporter of this literary form, discussing the poems or lyrics that became their mentors, or their muses, as they have explored the world of the poem. You'll also hear the poems of the poets who are your neighbors. Published about two weeks; scroll for latest episodes.

Upcoming Season 1 schedule: Katie Schneider (12/3)

Subscribe by adding People and their Poems to your favorite podcasting tool using this RSS feed (https://anchor.fm/s/a8bcf388/podcast/rss), or use one of the services below online or on your mobile device.

Where Can I Find People and their Poems?

BONUS -- EPISODE 14
SEASON 1

Sandy and Jim discuss an event Jim organized, featuring some of the best poets in Connecticut.Listen in and learn more about the Holiday Peace Poetry Reading - Dec. 15, 7 to 8:30 p.m., presented by the Oliver Wolcott Library - with Jim, Sandy, and many more, including previous People and their Poems guests Jack Sheedy, Patricia Martin, and Faith Vicinanza.

Holiday Peace Poetry Reading Link

EPISODE 13,
SEASON 1

Host Sandy Carlson (peopleandtheirpoems.net and www.sandycarlson.net) visits with Jim Kelleher, who teaches literature and composition at Northwestern Connecticut Community College. He has published three books of poetry and taught in public schools and libraries across northwestern Connecticut.

EPISODE EXTRAS

EPISODE 12,
SEASON 1

In this episode, Sandy talks with Nancy McMillan of Bethlehem, CT. Nancy is the award-winning author of March Farm: Season by Season on a Connecticut Family Farm. Her essay “For the Love of Linen” (CT Lit Anthology 2020) was a Pushcart Prize nominee. Litchfield Magazine publishes her feature stories, one of which won first place in the CT Press Club 2022 Contest. Her work has appeared in Pangyrus, The Sunlight Press, Persimmon Tree, Fiction Southeast, and Edible Nutmeg, and her reviews have run in Connecticut newspapers. She directs the writing program at Arts Escape (Southbury, CT), where she helps students embrace and inhabit their innate creativity.

EPISODE EXTRAS

EPISODE 11,
SEASON 1

Host Sandy Carlson (www.sandycarlson.net), poet laureate of Woodbury, CT, talks with Nadine Cascini and Jim Hinkle, owners of Studio Hill Gallery.

Studio Hill is an art gallery, studio, and shop where artists collaborate their talents to offer their artistic creations in a welcoming and imaginative environment. It features both local and international artists of all different medias, along with a bookstore and gift shop where customers can browse with complementary refreshments. It's located on Main Street in the historic small town of Woodbury.

EPISODE EXTRAS

EPISODE 10,
SEASON 1

Sandy talks with Patricia about the influence of meaningful lyrics on Patricia during the heyday of the Beatles' invasion, about Patricia the roles of mentors, and of responding to opportunity when it presents itself in the development of her craft.

Patricia is an author, poet, performer/actor, and freelance writer/communications professional who has been featured at numerous venues, festivals, on radio and television, and published in various periodicals and anthologies. A member of the Author’s Guild and Nonfiction Author’s Association, Martin is the author of six nonfiction books and a poetry collection. She collaborated on a CD with composer/producer/musician Gus Mancini.

Episode Extras

EPISODE 9,
SEASON 1

In this episode, Sandy talks with Elizabeth Kutepov, a writer, musician, and painter living in Roxbury, CT. Elizabeth, whose stage name is Rap to God, talks about searching for the truth and finding the creative source at the heart of each of us as she discusses the place of writing in her search for personal peace. Her book is available on Amazon.

Episode Extras

BONUS --
EPISODE 8,
SEASON 1

During a trip with Arts Escape of Southbury, CT, to Hollister House Garden in Washington, CT, Sandy wrote two poems that she read at an Arts Escape event Sept. 24, 2022.

Hollister House boasts a classic garden in the English manner, with a loosely formal structure, informally planted in generous abundance situated in the Litchfield hills of Northwestern Connecticut. It's an ideal place to capture a variety of flower photos, spend time painting a landscape, to sit and write, or wander meditatively through the pathways.

Episode Extras

EPISODE 7, SEASON 1

Sandy talks with Southbury, CT, poet and artist Faith Vicinanza, who discusses her role in slam poetry in Connecticut, the influence of others to drive us toward poetry, and the vital relationship between the poet as performer and the audience.

Episode Extras

EPISODE 6, SEASON 1

In this conversation with Litchfield County (CT) poet and writer Jack Sheedy, Sandy talks with Jack about his experiences as a youthful journalist selling a family newspaper, working as a reporter in local journalism as an adult, and his experiences of poetry as both reader and writer. He shares with us a dramatic reading of Robert Browning's poem "My Last Duchess," a poem by Jean Sands "Close but not Touching," both of which inspired him. He also reads his own work "The Wanting "Place."

Episode Extras

EPISODE 5, SEASON 1

In this episode, Sandy talks with poet and children's author Donna Marie Merritt of Watertown, CT. Donna talks about the down-to-earth poetry she read as a young person that showed her it's OK to be yourself. Donna also reflects on the symbotlic relationship between her life and her poetry.

Episode Extras

BONUS --
EPISODE 4,
SEASON 1

In this bonus episode, Sandy talks about the importance of "remembering" during a Woodbury (CT) Arts Association Arts Walk Thursday, Aug. 18.

This episode is a part of the Studio Hill Sessions, talks that Sandy has given during the open mic sessions at the gallery during the event.

Studio Hill Gallery at 507 Main Street South in Woodbury, Connecticut hosts a spoken word event as part of the Arts Alliance of Woodbury's walk on the third Thursdays of the month from May through August. This video is from my contribution to the event, which developed into a conversation about what it means to remember.

Episode Extras

EPISODE 3, SEASON 1

In this episode 3, Sandy talks with Woodbury, CT, poet Amy Dorio (@amy_dorio on Twitter), an educator who writes poetry. Amy reflects on her father's influence on her interest in and pursuit of poetry and the potential for poetry to transform students' lives as they learn to read poetic language as well as to write it.

Episode Extras

EPISODE 2, SEASON 1

In this episode, Sandy talks with Polly Brody of Southbury, CT, a prolific lifelong writer who has written memoirs and essays as well as poems. Polly talks about the experiences and texts that have influenced her writing as well as how her writing has influenced her life. She reads a poem by contemporary American poet Mark Doty as well a work of her own.

Episode Extras

EPISODE 1, SEASON 1

In the inaugural episode, Connecticut poet Pat Mottola, who is president of the Connecticut Poetry Society, and Sandy talk about art history and poetry, the significance of red dresses, Pat's connection to veterans, and Pat's poetry. Listen as Pat reads “What Do Women Want?” by Kim Addonizio and her own poem, "I Shelve My Lovers Alphabetically," which you can read on this page on Pat's poems page when you scroll to the bottom.

You can order two of Pat's books - Under the Red Dress and After Hours - from Amazon, and learn more about Pat on her website.