ModPo goes to the Hudson Valley

In early April 2022, the ModPo team took to to the road and filmed three different discussions for later addition to the ModPo syllabus. First, at Rhinecliff, NY, overlooking the Hudson River, we talked with David Rothenberg about one of his poems, a meditation on the sound of birds, natural music, and the way in which features of the landscape (e.g. water and mountains) can be deemed indistinct or indistinguishable. For this we were joined by Chris Funkhouser. Next, with Chris again joining us, we met up with erica kaufman and Joan Retallack at Bard College and filmed an episode of PoemTalk about Retallack’s famous poetic essay “The Poethical Wager.” Finally, we met up with Stephen Metcalf, host of Slate’s culture gabfest and long-time friend of the Writers House, and drove with him up into the High Peaks region of the Catskill Mountain, where at Frost Valley (Denning township) we filmed two videos about poems by Robert Frost. Here are some photos taken during the trip.