John Himmelman, Reginald Dwayne Betts take a populist approach to poetry in new books

The authors of two new poetry collections aspire to reach broad audiences with their work. First, John Himmelman says he wanted to tell stories with as few words as possible. The Boy Who Lived in a Shell, a book of illustrated poems intended for children, is connected by a single narrator, Ivo, who lives in a giant moon snail shell. In today's episode, Himmelman speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about working at a New York library, writing to make himself laugh, and making poetry accessible to short attention spans. Then, lawyer, educator and author Reginald Dwayne Betts spent eight years in prison for a crime he committed at 16. While there, Betts began to write. His latest collection Doggerel plays with the idea of mediocre poetry and a recurring motif of dogs. In today's episode, he speaks with NPR's Michel Martin about his Jack Russell terrier, reading poetry to strangers, and an emotional encounter with the police.

To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday

To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy