Pandemic Poems - Interview with Kim Stafford

Portland Radio Project

Is poetry important and why? How can words express the difficulty in hard times? Check out the first installment of our new podcast Pandemic Poems to find an answer from Oregon Poet Laureate Kim Stafford! In this episode, PRP co-founder Rebecca Webb interviews Stafford who discusses his father (poet and noted pacifist William Stafford); his own feelings surrounding the pandemic, and his detailed four-step process to create a poem. In addition, Stafford shares three poems entitled, “Shelter in Place,” “For a Daughter in Quarantine,” and “Spring Fever in Lockdown.” He also gives us a little teaser describing his upcoming book, “Singer Come From Afar” out March 2021. Following broadcast, Sundays at 4 pm, episodes will archive here. This episode was broadcast Sunday, April 26th at 4:00 pm. You can hear it at 99.1 FM in the heart of Portland – or stream from anywhere worldwide online. Download the PRP app. Thanks to Producer Jenna Deml, Engineer Chris Arnesen and Editor Kent Randles, with technical assistance from John Thomas.