Pod Poetry from Wahlström & Widstrand

Podpoesi  - pod poetry - is a new way for Swedish publisher Wahlström & Widstrand to publish its lyrical offering. At  the podpoesi website, listeners can hear poets reading their own poems. First out is poet Magnus William-Olsson, who is also the man behind the podpoesi initiative.

"Readers can listen for free to a poem or a whole collection and easily decide if it's a book of poetry they want to own, which can be bought only the push of a button away," says Åsa Selling, literary director at Wahlström & Widstrand, a division of Bonnierförlagen. "The poets we've contacted so far have been very enthusiastic. And since we've chosen to record from live events, or even the poet's kitchen or a studio at our offices, it's easy and it doesn't take any more time to record than it does to read the poem."

The first poems are from William-Olsson's Ingersonetterna - 27 sonnets with unexpected word associations, nakedly personal and seemingly addressed to someone not unlike the poet's mother, who suffers from Alzheimers.

William-Olsson's book is just the first for a planned collection of pod poetry that will include other Swedish poets. "Eventually, podpoesi will have its own place on the Internet and its own Facebook group," says Selling.