Q

'Art is where what we survive survives': Kaveh Akbar on the power of poetry

Award-winning poet Kaveh Akbar talks about why he's so passionate poetry and what it's like to be an Iranian-American poet working in America during such a divisive time.
Kaveh Akbar's next poetry collection is called Pilgrim Bell and it will be released next year. (Hieu Minh Nguyen)

Originally published on January 28, 2020

Kaveh Akbar is an award-winning poet and professor of poetry who founded the poetry website Divedapper as well as the poetry podcast All Up in Your Ears. Akbar joined q's Tom Power to talk about why he's so passionate poetry and what it's like to be an Iranian-American poet working in the U.S. during such a divisive time. He also read excerpts from his poems Portrait of the Alcoholic Stranded Alone on a Desert Island and The Palace.

— Produced by ​Cora Nijhawan