Words That Burn
Claim This Podcastby Benjamin Collopy
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Podcast Overview
<p><br></p><p>Are you curious about poetry but find it a bit intimidating? Tune into Words that Burn, the podcast that aims to demystify poetry, one captivating poem at a time.</p><p>Hosted by Ben, an Irish poetry enthusiast, this podcast takes a closer look at the world of poetic expression and technique.</p><p>Each episode offers a comprehensive analysis of a selected poem, exploring the poet's biography, the cultural and historical backdrop, and the literary techniques that make these works profoundly moving.</p><p>Whether you're a seasoned poetry aficionado or a curious beginner, Words that Burn provides an engaging and approachable way to enhance your appreciation and understanding of poetry.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
8/25/2020
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Recent Episodes
June 24, 2026
An Interview with Belfast Poet Matthew Rice
<p>In this episode of Words That Burn, the poetry podcast dedicated to literary analysis and poetic interpretation, I sit down with Belfast poet Matthew Rice to discuss his new collection Plastic: a book-length poem mapped across a single night shift in an invented plastics factory. It's published by Fitzcarraldo Editions.</p><p>Born from his PhD at the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queen's University Belfast, Plastic sits at a rare intersection in contemporary poetry: a deeply personal account of fifteen years working factory floors, fused with literary devices and techniques drawn from medieval romance, Gothic literature, and pop culture.</p><br><p>We discuss the historical context behind the collection, tracing Rice's place within a tradition of working-class and "factory poets" like Philip Levine and Larry Levis, and explore how Sir Gawain and the Green Knight becomes a recurring avatar for the speaker's own quest through the night.</p><p>This conversation doubles as a poetry education in itself, perfect whether you're new to contemporary poetry or already fluent in poetic analysis.</p><br><p>We chat about:</p><p><br></p><ul><li>How timestamps and form mirror the malleability of plastic itself</li><li>The Gothic undercurrents running through a hyper-modern, industrial setting</li><li>Literary allusion: from Wolverine comics to Kubrick's Gotham to Fassbender's Prometheus, and how pop culture deepens poetic meaning</li><li>The poet biography behind the book: Rice's journey from factory worker to MA and PhD in poetry</li><li>A live reading of two poems from the collection, including the recurring Gawain sequence</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Whether you're after rigorous poem discussion, a beginner-friendly entry point into poetry interpretation, or simply want to hear from one of the most original voices in Irish poetry and Global poets writing today, this episode of this poetry podcast offers a rich, accessible deep-dive into a genuinely singular collection.</p><p><br></p><h3>Follow Matthew Rice:</h3><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/pawnsacrifice/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">On Instagram</a></p><p><a href="https://fitzcarraldoeditions.com/books/plastic/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Buy His Collection</a></p><p><br></p><h3>Follow the Podcast:</h3><p><br></p><p><a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/wordsthatburn/p/an-interview-with-belfast-poet-matthew?r=th4eb&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Read the Interview on Substack</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/wordsthatburnpodcast/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Follow the Podcast On Instagram</a></p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/wordsthatburn" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Follow the Podcast on X/Twitter</a></p><p><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@wordsthatburn2?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Follow the Podcast on Tiktok</a></p><p><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/wordsthatburn.bsky.social" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Follow the podcast on Bluesky</a></p><br><p><strong>Time Stamps:</strong></p><br><p>00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro</p><p>00:40 Inside the Book Plastic</p><p>02:17 Factory Poetry Gap</p><p>03:40 Molds and Poetic Form</p><p>06:05 Long Poem in Sections</p><p>07:38 Poetry as Escape</p><p>11:23 Dream Time and Imagination</p><p>12:34 Mapping Time on Shift</p><p>16:19 Gawain on the Factory Floor</p><p>19:47 Reading a Gawain Poem</p><p>21:00 Reviews and New Meanings</p><p>22:55 Pop Culture Allusions</p><p>24:14 Fosse One Sentence Novel</p><p>25:05 Wolverine And Prometheus</p><p>27:37 Factory As Monster</p><p>29:31 Kubrick City Character</p><p>31:28 Flesh Meets Machine</p><p>36:01 Gothic Hauntings And Swift</p><p>38:12 Gotham Politics And Capital</p><p>42:12 Prologue Ritual And Verbing</p><p>45:54 Hidden Easter Egg Poem</p><p>47:44 Final Thoughts And Thanks</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
June 15, 2026
Interview with Dublin Poet Mark Ward
<p>Welcome back to Words That Burn, the poetry podcast where host Benjamin Collopy takes a closer look at the verse that shapes our world.</p><br><p>Whether you're here to deepen your poetry appreciation or are simply looking for accessible poetry for beginners, the goal is to make poetry education engaging for everyone.</p><p>In this episode, Ben sits down for an in-depth poem discussion with Mark Ward, an incredible voice in modern Irish poetry. They explore Mark's compelling poet biography; from his early days writing in Dublin to his work as a playwright, before jumping into a full poem deep dive of his brand-new collection, Real Estate ( from Salmon Poetry).</p><p>Listeners will get the mechanics of Mark's poetry explained by the poet himself. Through thoughtful poetry analysis, Ben and Mark unpack the evocative literary devices used to capture everything from the collapse of a relationship to the profound grief of losing a beloved pet.</p><br><p><br></p><h3>Key Topics Discussed</h3><ul><li><strong>The Architecture of Verse:</strong> Why Mark considers every line of a poem to be "prime real estate" and the importance of leaning into subjects that scare you.</li><li><strong>Grief and the Physical World:</strong> A close look at the sequence Nine Lives, dedicated to Mark's cat, Carbon, which beautifully captures the tactile realities of caregiving and loss.</li><li><strong>Body Horror & Metaphor:</strong> Exploring the complex imagery and literary devices in the poem Hunger, where inner anxieties warp physical, domestic spaces.</li><li><strong>Documenting Queer History:</strong> How poetry serves as an alternative lineage, with a focus on 1992, a piece that memorializes Dublin's 1980s and 1990s gay culture.</li><li><strong>Subverting Expectations:</strong> A reading and analysis of Slow Evening, a joyful and tender poem that acts as a poignant rebuke to the tragic "Bury Your Gays" narrative trope.</li></ul><h3><br></h3><h3>About the Guest</h3><p><br></p><p><strong>Mark Ward</strong> is a poet, playwright, and short story writer based in Dublin. He is the author of two full-length collections with Salmon Poetry: Nightlight (2023) and his latest release, Real Estate. His diverse body of work also includes six chapbooks ranging from sonnets to queer ekphrastic verse, and his plays have been staged at the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival.</p><br><p><br></p><h3>Follow & Support Mark:</h3><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/faekplastiksteev?igsh=MXg4YWswdGNlb3Y0Zg==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">On Instagram</a></p><p><a href="https://booksupstairs.ie/product/real-estate-2/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Buy the book here</a></p><p><a href="https://www.salmonpoetry.com/details.php?ID=648&a=365" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">or here</a></p><br><p><br></p><h3>Follow the Podcast:</h3><p><br></p><p><a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/wordsthatburn/p/interview-with-dublin-poet-mark-ward?r=th4eb&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Read the interview on Substack</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/wordsthatburnpodcast/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Follow the Podcast On Instagram</a></p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/wordsthatburn" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Follow the Podcast on X/Twitter</a></p><p><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@wordsthatburn2?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Follow the Podcast on Tiktok</a></p><p><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/wordsthatburn.bsky.social" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Follow the podcast on Bluesky</a></p><br><p><strong>Time Stamps:</strong></p><br><p>00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro</p><p>01:01 What Real Estate Means</p><p>03:04 Building Poem Sequences</p><p>05:00 Revisiting Old Work</p><p>06:29 Writing Breakup Darkness</p><p>11:05 Nine Lives and Pet Grief</p><p>13:16 Reading Carer Aloud</p><p>14:44 Desire and Physicality</p><p>17:41 Hunger Image Craft</p><p>20:43 Reading Hunger Aloud</p><p>22:35 Desire Versus Self</p><p>24:15 Writing From Observation</p><p>26:04 Finding Poetry Mentors</p><p>28:14 Ekphrasis And Queer Lineage</p><p>31:42 Poetry As Cultural Memory</p><p>36:18 Reading Poem 1992</p><p>38:24 Slow Evening And Gay Joy</p><p>42:47 Closing Thanks</p><br><p><br></p><p><br></p><h3><br></h3><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
May 26, 2026
Deconstruction by Mary Ruefle
<p>Welcome back to <strong>Words That Burn</strong>, the podcast taking a closer look at poetry. In this episode, host Benjamin Collopy offers a close reading of Mary Ruefle’s four-line masterpiece, “Deconstruction.”</p><p>This brief but devastating poem masterfully bridges ancient myth with the unbearable weight of modern existence. Benjamin situates Ruefle as a master storyteller and meticulous "sentence maker," breaking down how four short lines can bend time, space, and human memory.</p><p><br></p><h4>In This Episode, We Explore:</h4><ul><li><strong>The Sirens & The Metatextual Turn:</strong> How Ruefle uses Homer’s The Odyssey to force us to look inward. The poem presents a brilliant metatextual idea: that the Sirens actually sang The Odyssey itself, seducing listeners with the terrible, irresistible story of their own lives. We explore how the poem’s subtle shift from “I” to “we” invites shared introspection about how we remember, retell, and mythologise ourselves.</li><li><strong>Erasure vs. Found Poetry:</strong> Using Ruefle's own remarks, we distinguish her specific practice of erasure (or blackout) poetry from standard found poetry, highlighting the intent and precision required to carve a poem out of an existing text.</li><li><strong>Erasure as Survival:</strong> We connect "Deconstruction" to Ruefle’s broader lectures on reading, memory, and survival. Discover why picking apart existing texts isn't just an artistic choice, but a vital coping mechanism for processing life’s overwhelming excess.</li></ul><p><br></p><br><p><a href="https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/08/12/erasure-notebooks/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mary Ruefle's Erasure Notebooks</a></p><p><br></p><h3>Follow the Podcast:</h3><p><br></p><p><a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/wordsthatburn/p/deconstruction-by-mary-ruefle?r=th4eb&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Read the Script on Substack</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/wordsthatburnpodcast/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Follow the Podcast On Instagram</a></p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/wordsthatburn" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Follow the Podcast on X/Twitter</a></p><p><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@wordsthatburn2?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Follow the Podcast on Tiktok</a></p><p><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/wordsthatburn.bsky.social" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Follow the podcast on Bluesky</a></p><br><p><strong>The Music In This Week's Episode:</strong></p><p>'Memories Of Stone' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au</p><br><p><strong>Time Stamps:</strong></p><p>00:00 Sirens and Self Story</p><p>00:27 Why This Poem</p><p>01:28 Mary Ruefle's Style</p><p>03:02 Erasure Poetry Explained</p><p>04:53 Reading the Poem</p><p>05:43 Metatext and Reading</p><p>06:50 Sirens in The Odyssey</p><p>08:21 Erasure as Survival</p><p>11:22 Title Does the Work</p><p>12:47 Why It Stays With Us</p><p><br></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
93 total episodes available
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Frequently asked questions
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- What is Words That Burn?
<p><br></p><p>Are you curious about poetry but find it a bit intimidating? Tune into Words that Burn, the podcast that aims to demystify poetry, one captivating poem at a time.</p><p>Hosted by Ben, an Irish poetry enthusiast, this podcast takes a closer look at the world of poetic expression and technique.</p><p>Each episode offers a comprehensive analysis of a selected poem, exploring the poet's biography, the cultural and historical backdrop, and the literary techniques that make these works profoundly moving.</p><p>Whether you're a seasoned poetry aficionado or a curious beginner, Words that Burn provides an engaging and approachable way to enhance your appreciation and understanding of poetry.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p> - How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates bi-weekly.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 9 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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