Search a title or topic

Over 20 million podcasts, powered by 

Player FM logo
Artwork

Content provided by C. Derick Varn. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by C. Derick Varn or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.
Player FM - Podcast App
Go offline with the Player FM app!

Impossible Things: A Poet's Journey Through Loss and Translation with Miller Wolf Oberman

1:29:13
 
Share
 

Manage episode 509094976 series 2926241
Content provided by C. Derick Varn. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by C. Derick Varn or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

What happens when grief becomes inheritance? When poet Miller Oberman became a father himself, he suddenly understood something that had shaped his entire life: he had been parented by someone traumatized by the loss of a child. This revelation sparked an extraordinary poetic journey, driving him toward his father's unfinished memoir about the drowning death of his two-year-old son Joshua in 1972.
"Impossible Things," Oberman's second collection, emerges from this intersection of personal and inherited trauma. Through his meticulous craft, Oberman transforms fragments of his father's prose into erasure poems, creating a dialogue between father and son that transcends death. The collection explores how tragedy ripples through generations, manifesting in unexpected ways—like the single small shoe belonging to Joshua that his father kept among his own shoes, a haunting presence throughout Oberman's childhood.
Formal constraints become crucial tools for approaching unbearable subjects. Oberman employs "the beautiful outlaw," a form that systematically omits letters, making it impossible to directly name what's being described. This technique brilliantly mirrors the experience of absence itself, forcing creative circumlocution that often leads to more profound expressions than straightforward language could achieve. As Oberman notes, "I go to therapy to write poems, not the other way around"—a reminder that while poetry may heal, its purpose extends beyond therapeutic release.
Readers familiar with loss will find recognition in these pages, while those intimidated by poetry will discover accessible entry points through the collection's clear narrative framework. Oberman's mission echoes his father's original intention in writing his memoir: to tell others experiencing profound grief that they are not alone. Through exquisite craft and unflinching honesty, "Impossible Things" accomplishes something remarkable—it makes the unspeakable not only speakable but beautiful.

Send us a text

Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to Bitterlake

Support the show

Crew:
Host: C. Derick Varn
Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.
Intro Video Design: Jason Myles
Art Design: Corn and C. Derick Varn
Links and Social Media:
twitter: @varnvlog
blue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.social
You can find the additional streams on Youtube
Current Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic

  continue reading

Chapters

1. Impossible Things: A Poet's Journey Through Loss and Translation with Miller Wolf Oberman (00:00:00)

2. Welcome to Miller Oberman (00:01:36)

3. The Process of Writing Grief (00:15:59)

4. Form as Distance in Poetry (00:30:30)

5. Translation Theory and Poetic Truth (00:45:16)

6. Queer Theory and Poetic Erasure (01:06:04)

7. The Courage to Describe the World (01:20:40)

357 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 509094976 series 2926241
Content provided by C. Derick Varn. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by C. Derick Varn or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

What happens when grief becomes inheritance? When poet Miller Oberman became a father himself, he suddenly understood something that had shaped his entire life: he had been parented by someone traumatized by the loss of a child. This revelation sparked an extraordinary poetic journey, driving him toward his father's unfinished memoir about the drowning death of his two-year-old son Joshua in 1972.
"Impossible Things," Oberman's second collection, emerges from this intersection of personal and inherited trauma. Through his meticulous craft, Oberman transforms fragments of his father's prose into erasure poems, creating a dialogue between father and son that transcends death. The collection explores how tragedy ripples through generations, manifesting in unexpected ways—like the single small shoe belonging to Joshua that his father kept among his own shoes, a haunting presence throughout Oberman's childhood.
Formal constraints become crucial tools for approaching unbearable subjects. Oberman employs "the beautiful outlaw," a form that systematically omits letters, making it impossible to directly name what's being described. This technique brilliantly mirrors the experience of absence itself, forcing creative circumlocution that often leads to more profound expressions than straightforward language could achieve. As Oberman notes, "I go to therapy to write poems, not the other way around"—a reminder that while poetry may heal, its purpose extends beyond therapeutic release.
Readers familiar with loss will find recognition in these pages, while those intimidated by poetry will discover accessible entry points through the collection's clear narrative framework. Oberman's mission echoes his father's original intention in writing his memoir: to tell others experiencing profound grief that they are not alone. Through exquisite craft and unflinching honesty, "Impossible Things" accomplishes something remarkable—it makes the unspeakable not only speakable but beautiful.

Send us a text

Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to Bitterlake

Support the show

Crew:
Host: C. Derick Varn
Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.
Intro Video Design: Jason Myles
Art Design: Corn and C. Derick Varn
Links and Social Media:
twitter: @varnvlog
blue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.social
You can find the additional streams on Youtube
Current Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic

  continue reading

Chapters

1. Impossible Things: A Poet's Journey Through Loss and Translation with Miller Wolf Oberman (00:00:00)

2. Welcome to Miller Oberman (00:01:36)

3. The Process of Writing Grief (00:15:59)

4. Form as Distance in Poetry (00:30:30)

5. Translation Theory and Poetic Truth (00:45:16)

6. Queer Theory and Poetic Erasure (01:06:04)

7. The Courage to Describe the World (01:20:40)

357 episodes

All episodes

×
 
Loading …

Welcome to Player FM!

Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices.

 

Copyright 2025 | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | | Copyright
Listen to this show while you explore
Play