Kate Daniels describes herself “as a poet who has always been interested in what could not or should not be said.” Just in time for Mother’s Day, she talks about the truth of motherhood – its strangeness, its wonder, and its lusciousness. She fearlessly tells of her experiences breast feeding, raising children, and falling in love – and trusts that these stories of gritty, juicy living have a collective significance. They are not meant to be kept secret but joyously shared.

Kate Daniels is a recent recipient of a Guggenheim Award, a Professor of English at Vanderbilt University and author of four volumes of poetry: The White Wave and The Niobe Poems, from the Pitt Poetry Series, and Four Testimonies and A Walk in Victoria’s Secret, from LSU Press. Her poetry explores aspects of gender-based and Southern working-class experience.

First launched in April 2013 to celebrate National Poetry Month, WBEZ now continues our weekly series, The Gift – produced by Stanzi Vaubel and curated by Rachel Jamison Webster, author of September: Poems. This project is a collaboration with UniVerse of Poetry, a station partner that aims to celebrate poets from every nation in the world.  Each piece drops us into a poets’ inner life, reminding us of the gift of being human among others.