London Writers' Salon
#174: 3 Poets Read Their Work and Talk Craft Choices — Mary Jean Chan, David Whyte and Anthony Anaxagorou (Compilation)
Episode Summary
Poets Mary Jean Chan, David Whyte, and Anthony Anaxagorou read their work and unpack emotional truth, craft choices, and poems built from lived detail.
Episode Notes
Poets Mary Jean Chan, David Whyte, and Anthony Anaxagorou read their work and unpack emotional truth, craft choices, and poems built from lived detail.
You'll learn:
- How early “bad” poems can still be soothing and give you a way through angst.
- Why simplicity of voice can beat complexity when a poem needs clarity.
- How form and layout can carry a poem’s physicality, including a modern sonnet’s constraints.
- How to face writer’s block by writing directly about the ways you can’t write.
- Why repetition works in live readings, helping the audience “hear” what just landed.
- How to mine notebooks for strong lines, then iterate through multiple drafts and edits.
- A simple morning practice for capturing overheard language until you find where the poem starts.
Resources and Links:
About the poets:
Mary Jean Chan is the author of Flèche and Bright Fear (Faber), and their work has won and been shortlisted for major prizes.
David Whyte is a poet and writer whose books include Consolations and The Bell and the Blackbird, alongside ongoing poetry and speaking work.
Anthony Anaxagorou is a poet and publisher, founder of Out-Spoken, and author of After the Formalities and Heritage Aesthetics.