Kaveh Akbar

In this episode, sponsored by Dear Highlights: What Adults Can Learn from 75 Years of Letters and Conversations with Kids (Highlights Pres, Aug 10), Kaveh Akbar discusses ‘Pilgrim Bell’ (Graywolf, Aug 3), a stellar sophomore poetry collection in which “words assume physical, palpable form—as reverberations in the mouth and ear—but can just as easily take on a spectral aura, reminding us of worlds and selves no longer within reach….” (Andrew Chan, The New Yorker). Then our editors join with their reading recommendations for the week, including books by Reem Faruqi and Mikela Prevost, Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, Peter Bergen, and Anthony Veasna So.