Episode 199 with Jared Beloff, Reflective Thinker, Painter of Beautiful Imagery and Debut Standout Author of the Climate Change-Themed Poetry Collection, Who Will Cradle Your Head

Notes and Links to Jared Beloff’s Work

 

   For Episode 198, Pete welcomes Jared Beloff, and the two discuss, among other topics, an early reading challenge that supercharged his voraciousness, contemporary and not-so contemporary writers who left an imprint on him with their visceral work and distinctive worldbuilding, his quick rise to published and acclaimed poet, and pertinent themes in his collection, including nostalgia, indifference, a fading and changing ecosystem, and the myriad effects of climate change.

 

 

    Jared Beloff is the author of the Who Will Cradle Your Head (ELJ Editions, 2023).

   He earned degrees at Rutgers University (BA in English) Johns Hopkins University (MA in English Literature, specializing in the novel and Romantic/18th Century Literature).

   Jared has been an adjunct professor at Queensborough Community College, an English teacher and a teacher mentor in NYC public schools for 16 years.

   Jared is currently a peer reviewer for The Whale Road Review. His poetry can be found in Contrary Magazine, Barren Magazine, KGB Bar Lit, The Shore, Rise Up Review, Bending Genres and elsewhere. His work has been nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Queens, NY.

Buy Who Will Cradle Your Head

 

Jared's Website

 

From Identity Theory: “Cracking Open Clams: A Conversation Between Jared Beloff and Candice Kelsey”

At about 2:35, Jared talks about a reading challenge that put his reading intake into high-gear

 

At about 4:25, Jared updates on his reading this summer/including The Sealey Challenge

 

At about 5:25, Jared reflects on the psychological/philosophical roots of his reading, especially his early reading

 

At about 7:35, Jared lists some formational and transformational works and writers, like Angels in América and English Patient, as well as Pablo Neruda, Bishop, and Forche’s work

 

At about 10:00, Jared reflects on how his own work reflects that which he has read and enjoyed throughout his life

 

At about 11:30, Jared responds to Pete’s questions about how he has been inspired and moved

by fiction and poetry written about climate change; he cites Allegra Hyde’s impressive work, as well as work by Hila Ratzabi, Craig Santos-Perez, and Claire Wahmanholm; 

 

At about 14:40, Jared shouts out Diane Seuss, who blurbed his collection, and how her work informs his, as well as how Obit and its metaphors “blew [him] away”

 

At about 15:20, Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky is highlighted as a stimulus for Jared’s writing

 

At about 16:25, Pete highlights Mai Der Vang’s Yellow Rain, and Nguyen and Anthony Cody are shouted out by Jared as influential in his work

 

At about 17:35, Jared talks about seeds for his collection, especially the “Swamp Thing” poems by Jack Bedell and the ways Todd Dillard uses “wonder”

 

At about 23:05, Pete highlights the collection’s first poem, one “After” Aimee Nezhukumatathil; Jared discusses the methodology of these “After” poems, the ideas of a “muse,” and how he often writes after what/who he teaches

 

At about 27:50, Jared discusses the background and content of “Animal Crackers”

 

At about 30:45, Pete compliments Jared on his work regarding his children, and Jared talks about thinking through poems and “allowing wonder to stay” despite “grief-laden” poems

 

At about 34:30, Jared explains how he used climate change as a proxy a(or vice versa?) for other types of grief both personal and societal 

 

At about 35:40, Pete highlights profound lines and asks about Sasquatch’s importance throughout the collection

 

At about 39:50, Pete and Jared talk structure in Jared’s collection, including the diamond/pyramid structure and its uniqueness and power 

 

At about 41:30, Jared shouts out Diana Khoi Nguyen’s work and using some structural stimuli

 

At about 45:05, Pete cites meaningful lines revolving around nostalgia and ideas of energy; he asks Jared about a cool and clever and depressing poem involving the Golden Girls

 

At about 48:15, Pete asks Jared his views on nostalgia in his work; Jared connects nostalgia with climate change circumstances 

 

At about 51:15, Indifference in the face of climate emergencies is discussed, and Jared discusses “complic[ity]” and political choices

 

At about 53:00, Jared responds to Pete’s questions about climate change advocacy in the system  “tied/tired” as used in a poem

 

At about 54:00, Jared gives history on Freshkills and its history and eccentric future

 

At about 55:30, Jared reads the portion of the above poem that features the collection’s title and explains the title’s genesis 

 

At about 59:00, Jared discusses exciting new projects 

 

At about 1:01:30, Jared shouts out places to buy his book

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   Please tune in for Episode 200 with Adam Vitcavage, who is the founder of Debutiful, a website and podcast where readers can discover debut authors. The podcast was named one of the Best Book Podcasts by Book Riot, Town and Country, and Los Angeles Review of Books in 2022. His criticism and interviews have also been featured in Electric Literature, Paste Magazine, Literary Hub, Phoenix New Times, among others. 

   The episode will air on August 22.