Design Matters from the Archive: Eileen Myles

On this episode: poet Eileen Myles on poetry, fame, and politics. “We’re going to find out what resistance means now. Never in my adult life have I had this kind of challenge.”

Debbie introduces us to Eileen:

I am always hungry and wanting to have sex. This is a fact. That is the opening of Eileen Myles’ “Peanut Butter”. If you haven’t read Eileen Myles’ writing, please start. It’s blunt, it’s open, it’s funny, it’s moving, and there’s a lot of it. More than 20 books of it, in fact. She started off in the East Village poetry scene in the 1970’s, and for decades she’s been famous in the poetry world. Very recently she vaulted to a new level of renown when the Amazon show Transparent modeled a character on her who read her poems. It’s a rare and wonderful thing when a poet makes waves in popular culture and Eileen Myles has done just that. She’s here to talk about her life as a poet, her role as a highly outspoken feminist, and yes, about the election.