Poetry Unbound in Conversation — Don McKay

Poetry Unbound

On Being Studios

Arts, Relationships, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality, Books, Society & Culture

4.9 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2026

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“I still have the best three-point shot of any Canadian poet born before 1943” is one of the first things that acclaimed poet Don McKay says in this expansive and intimate exchange. We are thrilled to offer this conversation between Padraig and Don, recorded from a virtual interview held on the occasion of Don receiving the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Griffin Poetry Prizes. After touching on his early devotion to basketball, Don speaks of his lifelong passion for geology and birds, how Newfoundland is considered “opera for geologists”, and why he favors membership over mastery when it comes to relating to Earth’s other living creatures. We invite you to subscribe to Pádraig’s weekly Poetry Unbound Substack, read the Poetry Unbound books and his newest work, Kitchen Hymns, or listen to all our Poetry Unbound episodes.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi friends, Podrigo Tuma here. Thanks very much for listening to Poetry Unbound. In between Poetry Unbound
0:08.0	seasons and we have season 11 that will start later in 2026. We have a whole host of interviews that I've
0:14.6	done with poets over the last two years. Poetry Unbound in Conversation, we call them. I've loved the
0:20.8	opportunity to talk to poets about
0:22.4	their craft, how they see the world through the lens of poetry and what this art form does for them.
0:28.6	These Poetry Unbound in Conversation episodes deepened my curiosity about language and art.
0:35.1	I trust they will for you too.
0:44.5	Today you'll hear from the acclaimed Canadian poet Don Mackay. We'll be discussing his career spanning more than four decades dedicated to poetry at the intersection of perception
0:49.5	and the natural sciences, especially geology and the living world.
0:58.7	This episode comes from a virtual interview held on the occasion of Don McKay receiving the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Griffin Poetry Prizes.
1:04.5	A special thanks to everyone at Griffin Poetry Prices for organizing and hosting this event,
1:10.0	and a huge thanks to Don's
1:12.0	neighbour who allowed him to use her home and computer for the interview, and of course, his
1:17.3	publishers at Penguin Books. So friends, welcome to Poetry Unbound in Conversation. Here I am
1:23.6	in conversation with Don McKay.
1:35.0	Hello, my name is Padraig Otuma, and I am delighted to be with Don McKay, who has been awarded the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from Griffin Poetry Prizes.
1:39.7	Don, congratulations on your success and this lifetime achievement award.
1:45.3	Thank you very much, Patrick.
1:46.8	It's been a great honor and a privilege to be so connected.
1:54.5	I wonder if I could start with you as a teenager.
1:57.3	I saw an interview where you described yourself as a teenager as a pseudo jock,
2:02.1	which made me surprised that you went on then to study English.
	...

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