On February 4th, Mitchell Kaplan interviewed Elisa New and featured poet Richard Blanco for LitHub’s podcast, “The Literary Life.” Kaplan, the longtime owner of independent bookstores Books & Books and co-founder of the acclaimed Miami Book Fair, focused his questions on their experience bringing Blanco’s poem “Looking for The Gulf Motel” to the screen. 

Speaking on his experience as a poet, Blanco noted that: “Often people say ‘I don’t get poetry.’ And I ask, when was the last time that you read a poem? Maybe 20 years? It’s not that you don’t get poetry. You haven’t given it a chance probably since high school.” Luckily for Blanco, Poetry in America is fighting against that initial resistance: “Poetry in America is taking poetry out there,” he said, “letting people have access to it in ways they might not have otherwise.”

During the interview, Blanco and New also announced an upcoming event with Books & Books: in person March 11th at The Sanctuary of Arts 410 Andalusia Ave Coral Gables, FL