Mary Mackey and Robert Nykodym

On the 5/14/25 Edition of Dr Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Mary Mackey joins the show to discuss her poetics, the planet, and how to preserve hope and joy in the face of catastrophe. In her new book In This Burning World: Poems of Love and Apocalypse, Mackey imagines what life may be like as the climate changes, and how that will move us to mobilize as people. Through her poetic series, she outlines how creating places where grief cannot enter, participating in collective activism, and fostering appreciation of the earth can help offset the impending fear and doom of climate change. Mackey shares two poems titled “Memories of Snow” and “The Kama Sutra’s Kindness: Position #4” before detailing her upcoming book tour, including locations in Davis, San Francisco, Berkeley, and Sacramento. The next guest is Robby Nykodym, who outlines their poetic journey that spanned the length of their undergraduate career, now a featured reader at Poetry Night in Davis. Nykodym describes the intersection between their molecular biology research and writing, outlining the different lenses that the fields take and how they help inform each other. They then read a poem titled “Bless This Body Pale.” Nykodym also discusses some of the thematics of their unpublished manuscript “This White Dress,” and the process of trying to publish that body of work. To end the show, Dr. Andy reads a poem, “Ode to a Nightingale” by John Keats.

Mary Mackey became a writer by running high fevers, tramping through tropical jungles, being swarmed by army ants, and reading. She is the author of 9 poetry collections, including Sugar Zone, winner of a PEN Award, and The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams, winner of the Eric Hoffer Award for Best Book Published by a Small Press. Her poetry has been praised by Wendell Berry, Jane Hirshfield, D. Nurkse, Al Young, Daniel Lawless, Rafael Jesús González, and Maxine Hong Kingston for its beauty, precision, originality, and extraordinary range. She is also the author of 14 novels including The New York Times bestseller A Grand Passion.

Robert Nykodym is a poet and scientist, born and raised in Northern California. Their poetry is deeply personal, exploring the relationships between themself, the land in which they were raised, and the bodies around them every day. In addition to writing poetry, Robert spends their time following his creative vision through collage and photography. They can also frequently be found in the lab, researching molecular biology at the forefront of medicine. Their work has appeared previously in the Open Ceilings literary magazine. 

The Poetry Night Reading Series takes place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, Robby Nykodym, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. Our May 15th Poetry Night will feature local poets Mary Mackey and Robby Nykodym. We meet at 7 PM on the roof of the John Natsoulas Gallery, and we hope you can join us

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, subscribe to his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.