Maria Dahvana Headley — Beowulf
Poetry Unbound16 Helmi 2024

Maria Dahvana Headley — Beowulf

Bro — this is definitely not the “Beowulf” that you read back in school. Maria Dahvana Headley’s gutsy, swaggering translation brings the Old English epic poem roaring into this century, showing you why this tale of fraught family ties, power plays and posturing, and mighty, imperfect people is as relevant as ever.

Maria Dahvana Headley is the New York Times-bestselling author of eight books, most recently Beowulf: A New Translation (MCD X FSG Originals, 2020). Her novel The Mere Wife (MCD X FSG, 2018), an adaptation of the Beowulf poem set in suburban America, was named by The Washington Post as one of its Notable Works of Fiction in 2018. Her essays on gender, chronic illness, politics, propaganda, and mythology have been published and covered in The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Nieman Storyboard, and elsewhere. She grew up in the high desert of Idaho on a survivalist sled dog ranch, where she spent summers plucking the winter coat from her father’s wolf.

Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.

We’re pleased to offer Maria Dahvana Headley’s poem, and invite you to read Pádraig’s weekly Poetry Unbound Substack, read the Poetry Unbound book, or listen back to all our episodes.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jaksot(218)

Poetry Unbound Bonus — Walter de la Mare

Poetry Unbound Bonus — Walter de la Mare

Host Pádraig Ó Tuama shares “The Listeners” by Walter de la Mare, a favorite childhood poem of his, and offers an audio postscript to Season 10 of Poetry Unbound. Later in 2026, he will bring us more ...

9 Maalis 9min

Leonard Cohen — Book of Mercy “I,8”

Leonard Cohen — Book of Mercy “I,8”

Have you ever watched, in awe, as a skilled gymnast or skater lifts off and completes a dizzying number of revolutions in less than a second before landing safely back down? That’s how you may feel up...

6 Maalis 16min

Billy-Ray Belcourt — Subarctica

Billy-Ray Belcourt — Subarctica

Will you leave this episode feeling uplifted, envious, curious, or something else entirely? Yes. Billy-Ray Belcourt’s poem “Subarctica” transports you to a vividly specific time — “the coldest Decembe...

2 Maalis 17min

Ruth Irupé Sanabria — Carne

Ruth Irupé Sanabria — Carne

Ruth Irupé Sanabria’s delicious and dexterous “Carne” begins with these lines: “I've eaten pork from / pernil to chuletas to chitterlings.” And just in case you were wondering — and even if you’re not...

27 Helmi 17min

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha — Dukka

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha — Dukka

Loving in the face of violence, danger, and distress is an act of defiance, as demonstrated in Lena Khalaf Tuffaha’s achingly beautiful poem “Dukka”.  The Palestinian American writer spotlights seven ...

23 Helmi 15min

Rachel Mann — #TDOR

Rachel Mann — #TDOR

Rachel Mann’s “#TDOR” manages to turn a depiction of one side of a conversation about marking Trans Day of Remembrance into a poem that is both empathic and uncompromising. Mann captures the verbal st...

20 Helmi 20min

Sanah Ahsan — Ramadan’s Greeting

Sanah Ahsan — Ramadan’s Greeting

Sanah Ahsan’s evocative “Ramadan’s Greeting” brings us into the thoughts and experiences of a person observing the holiest month in Islam. In nine brief couplets, the poet deftly directs our attention...

16 Helmi 15min

Kevin Hart — Prayer

Kevin Hart — Prayer

“O come, in any way you want” is the first line in Kevin Hart’s marvelous, mystical “Prayer”. So come to this poem — whether for its deliciously sensual language (“bouts of rain”, “wind that wraps”, “...

13 Helmi 16min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

sita
olipa-kerran-otsikko
kaksi-aitia
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
i-dont-like-mondays
ihme-ja-kumma
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
uutiscast
poks
antin-palautepalvelu
kolme-kaannekohtaa
mamma-mia
rss-murhan-anatomia
yopuolen-tarinoita-2
rss-nikotellen
aikalisa
meidan-pitais-puhua
loukussa
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
naakkavalta