VS (Poetry Foundation)

Franny and Danez get to talk to a poet they’ve stanned for many a year–Eduardo Corral! A poet and Professor at NC State, Eduardo’s newest book Guillotine came out last year. He talks about writing into loneliness, sticking with the wound, the sublimity of bad reality TV, and much more.

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On our last guest interview (oh god!), the squad is joined by masterful poet and overall champion Rachel McKibbens. Recording from the spooky, amazing bar she runs in Rochester, Rachel breaks down her comfort with violence, the power of stopping without providing an ending, the joy and uniqueness of her Pink Door retreat, and much more.

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For their second episode of season 7, Brittany and Ajanae interview Victoria Chang. During this conversation, they discuss following your imagination and creative impulses, trusting your reader to fill in the gaps in a collection, and hidden talents!

Until Next Time:
Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!
Claudia Rankine: Using poetry to uncover the moments that lead to racism
Virginia Woolf: Virginia Woolf Was More Than Just a Women’s Writer | The National Endowment for the Humanities
Agnes Martin: Documentary "Between the Lines" about the painter Agnes Martin (trailer)
Sharon Olds :Sex, Death, Family: Sharon Olds Is Still Shockingly Intimate

Writing Prompt: This week, when you sit down to write, close your eyes and listen for the first line of the poem. Anytime you get stuck, close your eyes and listen again.

For this episode, Brittany and Ajanae had the privilege of talking with Yona Harvey and Mahogany Browne LIVE at Furious Flower 2024! Join them as they discuss the importance of community spaces, what they’ve learned from sistering and being sistered, finding affirmation in each other’s poetry, the process of shifting genres, navigating the tension between public personas and interior lives, and the misperception of being mean.

Until Next Time:

Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

Mahogany
Fannie Lou Hamer: Fannie Lou Hamer's Powerful Testimony | Freedom Summer
Sonia Sanchez: A Word with Sister Sonia Sanchez | Wildest Dreams
June Jordan: I Must Become a Menace to My Enemies by June Jordan - Poems | Academy of American Poets

Yona
Sister: sisters | The Poetry Foundation 
Mary Lou Williams: Introducing...Mary Lou Williams
Sonia Sanchez: Sonia Sanchez - Poem for Some Women - live @ Def Poetry

Writing Prompt:

Write a poem in response to a poem that affirms you. 

In today’s episode, Brittany and Ajanae have the pleasure of interviewing Safiya Sinclair. Join them as they discuss the craft of switching to memoir, maintaining self-confidence while navigating academia, what their teenage selves would think of them, and the influence Jamaica has on Safiya’s writing.

Until Next Time:
Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!
Audre Lorde: AUDRE LORDE | Poetry is Not a Luxury
Frida Kahlo: Frida Kahlo: The woman behind the legend - Iseult Gillespie
Derek Walcott: Derek Walcott discusses his painting and poetry

Writing Prompt: Who are you writing for? Who is coming after you that you hope your work makes a difference for? Write them a letter.

In this episode, Ajanae and Brittany spend time in conversation with their guest, Golden; listen as they discuss creating a living archive, their space in the lineage of Black Formalist poets, and the ways that self-portraits have shaped their writing practice. Golden also discusses the process of placing their second collection, and leaning into the vulnerability of writing about the self. 

Until Next Time: 
Deana Lawson: Deana Lawson’s Nation
Danez Smith: Danez performs Summer Somewhere
Golden’s family: BTS Glimpse at Golden's Family Archive

This week, Brittany and Ajanae talk with guest Naomi Shihab Nye about the joy and wonder of youth, poets as vessels, editing as an act of devotion, and the complexity of becoming multiple selves over the course of a lifetime. Join them as they process the possibilities that can emerge over a lifetime of being immersed in poetry.

Until Next Time
Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode, and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!
Carl Sandburg: Carl Sandburg- Poet of the People
Mahmoud Darwish: To a Young Poet by Mahmoud Darwish | Poetry Magazine
E.B white: All nearness pauses while a star can grow

Prompt: Create a map. Make each plot point a past, current or future version of yourself. What is significant about each location?

Aurielle Marie hops on the line, and the line will never be the same. The poet and organizer talks about the ways that her poetics and movement work are interwoven, her decision to walk away from a book deal, and much more! 

See more of Aurielle’s work: https://auriellemarie.com/

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Franny and Danez grace us with insight on being grown and dreaming toward the future. These former VS hosts talk with Brittany and Ajanaé about the way sobriety, domesticity, and clarity about their identities as writers is shaping their lives. 

Taylor Johnson is listening, and they’re inviting you to listen too. The poet, whose first collection Inheritance was released into the world last year on Alice James Books, talks with our fearless hosts about how they’re listening for the sounds, colors, words, and structures they’re encountering, what they learn when they listen, and much much more. 

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Friends, we’ve reached the end–Franny, Danez, and producer Daniel say their goodbyes after five wonderful years as the crew of VS. The team reminisces on some of their favorite moments from the show, tells some behind the scenes gems, and gets a lil weepy by the end. As we say in the episode, we are so deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to create this show for you. Thank you for your ears, time, attention, and love. 

Stay subscribed for VS Presents Roll Call, a limited series launching early 2022 about the past, present, and futures of Black poetry, as well as VS season 6 with our new hosts and producer!

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During this episode of VS, poet and multidisciplinary artist Farah Chamma joins Brittany and Ajanae. Listen in as they discuss the importance of trusting your intuition, the nuances of language, suffering and passion, as well as the necessity of defining oneself as an artist and a person. 

Until Next Time:

Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Hussein Barghouthi: POETRY IN DIALOGUE THE POET HUSSEIN BARGHOUTHI part 1
• Hanane Hajj Ali: AMERICAN THEATRE | Hanane Hajj Ali, ‘Jogging’ for Survival in Beirut
• El Rass: My Battle
• Berimbau: The Berimbau: Musical Instrument Or Icon Of Resistance Against Oppression?

Writing prompt:

Write a contrapuntal evaluating a habit or activity in your life by the ways it contributes to and relieves suffering.

We’re dancing in the reflection pool with the inimitable Sarah Kay. On this penultimate interview led by Franny and Danez, the magnificent poet and poetry community member talks about what happened when she turned internal in the pandemic, the relationship between public persona and personal growth, and the gift of connecting with the form that she’s trying to pay forward to as many people as possible. Savor this convo, pals–we’re almost at the end of the road!

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On today’s episode, Brittany and Ajanae speak with 2023 Ruth Lily fellow and author of Black Pastoral, Ariana Benson. Join them for this episode as they discuss nature, artistic influences, sensuality, and soap operas. 

Until Next Time:
Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!
Gwendolyn Brooks: We Real Cool / Gwendolyn Brooks at 100 by The Editors | Poetry Foundation
Bob Ross: Why Is Bob Ross Still So Popular
2 Chainz: 2 Chainz Interview - Get Inspired and Go Inside His Nail Salon and Restaurant

Writing Prompt:
In honor of Ariana Benson’s “Theodicy” series, take any non-human thing and explore what it might believe about God it it could talk. 

On today’s episode of VS, Brittany and Ajanae speak with Alexa Patrick about all things nostalgic. Join them as they discuss playfulness as a craft tool, memory as a poetic foundation, the harms of being the only, prom season, desire, and having a crush on everything!

Until Next Time: 

Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Morgan Parker: Award-winning poet Morgan Parker talks motivation behind new essay book
• Toi Derricotte: Toi Derricotte: Creativity in Isolation, part 1 of 3
• Hilary Duff: Metamorphosis

Writing Prompt: 

Write an ode to your favorite coming of age ritual.

For this episode, Ajanae and Brittany interview poet Jubi Arriola-Headley; join them as they discuss the role of humor and play in their poetics, the straightforwardness of erotic writing and kink, and navigating their tensions with masculinity.

Until Next Time: 

Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Prince: FLASHBACK: Prince Talks About the Meaning of Life in Rare '97 Interview
• Black gay writers of 70’s/80’s: Our Black Gay Creatives of the 1980s | Medium
• James Baldwin: I Am Not Your Negro | James Baldwin on the Dick Cavett Show | Netflix

Writing Prompt:

Write a hermit crab poem that functions as a schedule. Make everything on this schedule an appointment for a kind of pleasure.

During today’s episode, Brittany and Ajanae talk with Ayokunle Falomo, author of the poetry collection Autobiomythography Of. Join them as they discuss the intertwining of mythology, time, and history, as well as the responsibilities of parenthood, keeping secrets, and navigating the multiplicity of the self. 

Until Next Time: 

Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Lucille Clifton - Lucille Clifton, The Killing of the Trees
• James Baldwin- Where To Start With James Baldwin | The New York Public Library
• Aṣa - Aṣa - Good Thing (Official Video)
• Ai Ogawa - Ai | The Poetry Foundation

Writing Prompt: 

Write a contrapuntal with two different origin stories for yourself or someone else. 

Today Brittany and Ajanae interview Willie Lee Kinard III, author of Orders of Service. During this episode, they discuss Willie’s history with music, doublespeak as maximalism, queerness as a foundation for craft choices, and developing a love for the land. 

Until Next Time:
Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

Lynn Harris: E. Lynn Harris's Biography
Mariah Carey: It’s Mariah Carey Season, Darling
Kirk Franklin: How Kirk Franklin Revolutionized Gospel And Made Hip-Hop A More Spiritual Place | The FADER
Andre 3000: Andre 3000 Says He NEEDS To Create In Rare Interview

Writing Prompt: Make a playlist of music that scores your poems. Listen to it while revising a poem.

Come dance in the unknown with Shira Erlichman! Franny and Danez talk with the brilliant poet and musician about how she’s always thrived in the mystery, what she has learned about transformation from both her mental health journey and meditation practice, first draft explosions, her study of death and dying over the course of the pandemic, and much more!

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In October of 1871, the oldest University in Nashville TN, teetered on the brink of collapse. To survive, Fisk University staked its last $40 on a set of field hymns and 10 descendants of American slavery. The singing group carried melodies their families shared in secret from the cotton fields of middle Tennessee to the high court of the Queen of England. The landmark tours of the Fisk Jubilee Singers rescued a university, gave Nashville its identity, and set the course of American music. 

One hundred fifty years later the journey of the Fisk Jubilee Singers continues. Immerse yourself in the music and voices of the original chorus and hear how their stories are transformed through poetry in this one-hour special “Three Castles and the Music City.”

Produced in partnership with Nashville Public Radio [WPLN]
Hosted by: Destiny Birdsong
Co-Written and Produced by: Joshua Moore and Colleen Phelps
Editing by: Anita Bugg
Transcription by: Ayinde Jean-Baptiste

Poets:
Destiny Birdsong
Ciona Rouse
Bryan Byrdlong

On this week’s episode, Brittany and Ajanae sit down with Alexis Pauline Gumbs; during this interview, they discuss the gift of literary inheritance, unlearning the colonial lens, and allowing curiosity and awe to guide one’s research practice. Alexis also discusses the process of writing a biography on Audre Lorde, a longtime teacher and guide.

Until Next Time:
Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode, and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!
Fannie Lou Hamer- Songs My Mother Taught Me
Fred Hampton-Fred Hampton on Revolution And Racism
Dionne Brand- History as Imagination: Black Dreaming as Liberation | Project Myopia

Writing prompt: For a week, read a poem of a writer you admire every day before writing.

Join us this week in Atlanta, where Brittany and Ajanae sit down with Maya Marshall to discuss Maya’s debut collection, All the Blood Involved in Love (Haymarket Press). This conversation centers around choice, obligation and priorities, both on and off the page. Listen as they navigate falling in love, managing illness, choosing between work and family, and much more!

Until Next Time: 
Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode, and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!
Charles Bukowski: The Difference Between a Bad Poet and a Good one is Luck
Nina Simone: Nina Simone Little girl blue
Black Woman Barista at Coffee Shop

Writing Prompt: Write a poem where the reader gets to choose their own ending. This may involve writing the poem in multiple stanzas or sections and asking the reader to skip ahead. 

On this week’s episode, Brittany and Ajanae continue their mini tour of the South in Houston, Texas. Next, they talk with Texas Poet Laureate Lupe Mendez about familial responsibility, masculinity, education, and the preservation of memory. 

Until Next Time:

Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode, and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

1. José Alfredo Jiménez - El Ultimo Trago
2. Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation
3. Sylvia Plath - Daddy

Prompt: Write a singular moment or story from three separate generations of your family. The stories do not have to have any obvious connection.

This week, Ajanae and Brittany have the honor of interviewing Toi Derricotte. The trio speak candidly about preparing for death, the complexity of being a Black women poet, and the origin story of Cave Canem. They also explore the importance of community, trust, and intimacy as tools for survival. 

Until Next Time: 
Ruth Stone: Ruth Stone's Vast Library of The Female Mind
Galway Kinnell: Wait
Lucille Clifton: On What Poetry Is
James Baldwin: From Meeting the Man

Writing Prompt:
While we wait for the next episode, we challenge you to set your intentions by writing a haiku each morning!

In today’s episode, Kemi Alabi talks about poetic practice, pleasure, and play as it presents in their collection Against Heaven, winner of the Academy of American Poets First Book Award (Graywolf, 2022). In this conversation, they discuss the relationship between the secular and profane, subverting and breaking language, and the importance of embracing grief and the emotional body.

Kemi will be reading at the Poetry Foundation on Dec 8th, 2022 – more info below!

Monica Sok is on the pod! Franny and Danez talk with the author of A Nail the Evening Hangs On, which came out in 2020 on Copper Canyon, about working through a traumatic collective history and coming out the other side, the delight of learning Khmer in pandemic times, finding a home for her mind, and much much more. This one is a gem, friends!

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The VS fam returns to kick off Season 5! After an announcement about the future of the show, we get into a great conversation with the wonderful poet Ada Limón. We talk birds, epiphanies, loneliness, and much more. Plus, a new game and a goofy-ass outro. Enjoy!

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A short statement from Brittany and Ajanaé regarding current events.

Danez and Franny have the honor and pleasure of chopping it up with the brilliant Randall Horton on this episode of the show. Randall, whose newest collection {#289-128}: Poems just dropped this month, talks about coming to know his story so that he could eventually write about it, resisting being boxed in as a poet who was incarcerated, and what he’s learned from his collaborations with jazz musicians. Get into it!

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On this #VSfromHome episode, Danez and Franny dip into a chock-full mailbag full of your wonderful questions! Plus, we hear seven poems that listeners wrote and submitted in response to the prompts that Danez and Franny shared two episodes ago. Want more poems? Then check out the special episode released alongside this one, which features a cornucopia of listener-submitted poems that Franny and Danez selected.

Listener poems in this episode:

“On the Street Marked ‘Dead End’” by Christopher Crowder
“Hold Me by the Stem” by Dante Clark
“The Duvet Whispers to the Sex Swing” by Nova Cyprus Black
“Things I Didn’t Know I Loved” by Fatima Malik
“Untitled” by Simon Crow
“What my dresser misses” by Lindsay Stewart

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Aria Aber knows how to find the space between the buildings, the beauty in the ruins. The poet talks with Franny and Danez about her masterful book Hard Damage, sharing the fragments of her past with her family, writing toward city and landscape, and much more. 

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Well, turns out the world can turn upside down. In the midst of social isolation and self-isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Franny and Danez tapped in from their homes in Massachusetts and Minneapolis, respectively, to talk about how they’re processing the absurd and unsettling time, what isolation has taught them, and the role of artistry in this crisis. Plus, they each read a new poem, send out a call for mailbag questions, and share some WRITING PROMPTS FOR Y’ALL!

PLEASE share your questions for the hosts and the poems that you write to the prompts with us by emailing a voice memo recording of you reading your poem to vsthepodcast@gmail.com, so we can include them in next month’s VS episode!

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Douglas Kearney is developing some new armor for his people. The visionary poet breaks down how he is exploring the limits and possibilities of poems as protection, how he loves to share what he’s learned across generations, the power of drum machine prosody, and much more.

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On today’s episode, Brittany and Ajanae chat with Amanda Johnston; join them as they discuss choosing joy, intentional literary citizenship, the history of Torch Literary Arts, recurring selves in the work, and existing in the here and now.

Until Next Time: 

Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Lucille Clifton - i am accused of tending to the past by Lucille Clifton
• Krista Franklin - ARTIST FEATURE: KRISTA FRANKLIN - EP2
• Wura-Natasha Ogunji - Interview with Wura-Natasha Ogunji | "Alpha Crucis – Contemporary African Art"
• Beyonce - The Business of Being Beyoncé Knowles-Carter | GQ

Writing Prompt: 

In the spirit of Amanda’s Praisesong project, choose a member of your community and write a praisesong or ode to them.

On today’s episode, Ajanaé and Brittany talk to Vanessa Angélica Villarreal! Listen in as they discuss mushrooms, quantum entanglements, borders, the ethics of daughters-memory, and the role of Fantasy and The Future in the Western literary canon. 

Until Next Time: 

Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo: Pedro Páramo | Official Trailer | Netflix
• Jordan S. Carroll- Speculative Whiteness: Exploration Log 7: Interview with Jordan S. Carroll, author of Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right (2024)
• The Dragon Age Games; South of Midnight: South of Midnight - Accolades Trailer

Writing Prompt: 

Write a poem for your favorite television or book character. 

Ladan Osman steps into the studio with a knowledge of her journey and a commitment to share. The poet and filmmaker talks about how she has traversed the complex and scarring world of the poetry industry, the ways that she pushed herself toward making different media, what she hopes for the poets emerging in her wake, and much more. Plus, some quality shoutouts to the bees and important postcolonial board game critiques.

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On today’s episode, Brittany and Ajanae have the pleasure of interviewing Jos Charles. Over the course of this interview, they discuss finding beauty and healing and revisiting younger versions of ourselves, the ways that neurodivergence shapes our writing practice, and the way that devotion has shifted their poetics over time. We also get a surprise pop in from Jos’ cat, Faye!

Until Next Time
Edouard Glissant: Homage to Edouard Glissant, Martinique’s whole world poet
Johann Sebastian Bach: Trio Sonate No. 5 in C major, BWV 529 (Bach Organ Works in February)
Emily Dickinson: Fame is a bee. (1788) by Emily Dickinson | Poetry Foundation

During this episode of VS, Brittany and Ajanae are joined by poet and advocate Daad Sharfi. In this episode, they discuss the reconstruction of memory, boundary setting, real and imagined borders, and the absurdity of the legal system. 

Until Next Time: 

Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Family whatsapp: Types of People on Family WhatsApp Groups | MostlySane
• June Jordan: June Jordan -- "Poem about My Rights"
• The work of her friends: You Can't Create Alone: On Fostering Literary Community - The Millions
• To All My Friends by May Yang - Poems | Academy of American Poets

Writing prompt:

For this poem, choose a memory. Assign it a color. How does this color tint or shift the memory? Make it more or less true?

After Franny’s episode talking with Cam Awkward-Rich, Danez goes one-on-one with their buddy Michael Lee, a Norwegian-American writer, youth worker, and organizer in Minneapolis. The dynamic duo talks about grief’s place in poems, Michael’s traumatic brain injury, obliterating whiteness, and some fond memories together.

Pick up Michael’s book The Only Worlds We Know

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Tune in this week as Brittany and Ajanaé interview Jacqui Germain about her debut collection, Bittering the Wound. In this episode, they discuss cartoons as a space of enjoyment, St. Louis as a persona, the intimacy of specificity, and the necessary role of contradictions in everyday life. 

Until Next Time:
Here’s some content for you to engage with and a writing prompt to keep you entertained until next time!
Joy James: The Revolution Cannot Be Institutionalized
Toni Morrison: Toni Morrison on capturing a mother’s ‘compulsion’ to nurture in ‘Beloved’
Gene from Bob’s Burgers: ‘Bob’s Burgers’ Voice of Gene, Eugene Mirman, Reflects on 200 Episodes

Writing prompt: Document a location or a city that is important to you as a character. What is their voice? Aesthetic? Do they have quirks? A favorite food?

During today’s interview, Brittany and Ajanae sit down with Sarah Ghazal Ali. Listen in as they discuss writing as a spiritual practice, honoring matrilineage, the importance of disbelief, the failed project of purity, and the generative force of fixed forms.

Note: this episode was originally recorded in fall of 2024. 

Until Next Time: 

Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Mary Szybist: Mary Szybist Accepts the 2013 National Book Award
• AGHA SHAHID ALI: Remembering Agha Shahid Ali
• Farida Khanum: Farida Khanum in concert : Malika-e-Ghazal in India

Writing Prompt: 

Write a litany of doubts or disbeliefs.

Show Description

Can any label or identity explain our freedom, our community or history? How do you identify and what does it mean? In this special episode with Jasminne Mendez, Darrel Alejandro Holnes and Raina J. León explores the fluidity of terms and identity as Black Latinx,o,e,a people from the diaspora. Work featured by Toni Morrison, Aracelis Girmay, Alan Pelaez Lopez and Elizabeth Acevedo. Episode produced by Cin Pimentel. Transcription by Victor Jackson.

Show Notes 

Social Media for Darrel - @blackboytraveljoy (Insta) and darrelholnes.com (website)
Books: Stepmotherland (Notre Dame University Press, 2022); Migrant Psalms (Northwestern University Press, 2021)

Social Media for Raina - @rainaleon (IG, Twitter, Facebook) and rainaleon.com (website); @storyjoyinc on IG and Twitter and storyjoyinc.com and check out acentosreview.com and @acentosreview on IG and Twitter and Facebook
Books and other work: Canticle of Idols ( CW Books, 2008); profeta without refuge (Nomadic Press, 2016); Areyto to Atabey: Essays on the Mother(ing) Self (Alley Cat Books, 2019); Boogeyman Dawn; sombra : (dis)locat

Social Media for Jasminne - IG/Twitter: @jasminnemendez 
Website: www.jasminnemendez.com

Social Media for Cin- Cin Pim - cinpim.com 

Additional list of Afro-Latinx authors to check out

★  Jasminne Mendez
★  Darrel Alejandro Holnes
★  Raina J. León
★  Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa
★  Grisel Y. Acosta
★  Willie Perdomo
★  Aracelis Girmay
★  Alan Pelaez Lopez
★  Ariana Brown
★  John Murillo
★  Elizabeth Acevedo
★  Thea Matthews
★  Kay Nilsson
★  Dizzy Jenkins
★  Avotcja
★  Yesenia Montilla 
★  Roberto Carlos Garcia
★  Mathew Rodriguez
★  Azuah
★  Adriana Herrera
★  Aya de León
★  Sulma Arzu-Brown

Prompts for teachers considering teaching the podcast

★ When you consider the title of the podcast, What the water carries, what comes to mind?
★ Listen to the quotation from Toni Morrison. What does it mean to you?
        ○ Read the essay, The Site of Memory, after you have listened to the podcast. How are the ideas of the podcast and the essay in conversation with one another?
★ In this prompt, watch Aracelis Girmay read another section from The Black Maria. Have you ever been suspected of doing or being something or someone you are not?  Write about that. In partners, tell this story to someone else. After you have shared this story, tell your partner who you are or how you want to be seen and in answer, your partner should say, “I see you you for who you are and who you want to be”. Write about what it is to hear that sentence from someone who is not your family or dearest friend.
★ Consider the term Latinx? What does it mean for you? One of the poets mentioned, Alan Pelaez Lopez, talks about how the “x” is a sign of a wound, not a trend. What do they mean? How does the essay complicate your understanding of what it means to be Latinx?
★ What are the songs that you keep on repeat, the songs that you need to hear over and over again, the songs that reveal an important part of who you are? Listen to “La Rebelión” by Joe Arroyo. Now read the poem from Elizabeth Acevedo mentioned in the podcast. Follow Acevedo’s form to write your own poem
        ○ First stanza: reveal a memory of a particular moment when you heard that song you love
        ○ Second stanza: incorporate a line or a word from the song you love and how it connects to your body or reveals who you are
        ○ Third stanza: tell us about the place around this memory.  Where is the story you are telling taking place?
        ○ Fourth stanza: Show is you dancing or moving to this music that you treasure.

It’s Toaster Time! This week’s guest, Toaster Henderson, is a poet, teaching artist at Young Chicago Authors, and cofounder of Big Kid Slam, an all-ages slam in Chicago that’s subverting the form’s expectations and carving some really great space for poets age 18-21. The squad talks about what makes Big Kid Slam so special, the links between zoos and schools and prisons, bringing his focus to the page, and much more. Plus, we debut a BRAND NEW GAME!

Follow Toaster: 
https://www.instagram.com/toastersmodernlife/

Check out Big Kid Slam: 
http://instagram.com/bigkidslam

Poems Read:

Transit by Toaster

Circus by Toaster

NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

For this episode, Brittany and Ajanae interview Samiya Bashir. During this conversation, they discuss Samiya’s role as Executive Director of Lambda Literary, Black opera, opening the door for queer writers, and writing the poem that unlocks the project.

Until Next Time: 
Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!
Torkwase Dyson: Desert X | Torkwase Dyson
David Bowie: david bowie interview 1973
June Jordan : June Jordan -- “Poem about My Rights”
Cornelius Eady: Poet Cornelius Eady on exploring the everyday lives of Black people in America

Writing Prompt: Write a poem only in dialogue. Title it with the name of a theory or theoretical framework. 

The illustrious francine j. harris is in the proverbial building, and we couldn’t be more thrilled. The award-winning poet breaks down the transformative potential of being a hater, mourning the loss of anonymity at the open mic, championing the poets she’s in lineage of, and much much more.

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Nandi Comer climbs in the ring with Franny and Danez for this wonderful, warm episode of VS. The Detroiter, whose new book Tapping Out is available now from Northwestern University Press, talks about her love of lucha libre mexican wrestling, writing into a tradition that isn’t her own, the ways that academia can rob poets of their humanity, and DETROIT!

Pick up Nandi’s book Tapping Out here: https://nupress.northwestern.edu/content/tapping-out

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VS Season 4 wraps up with a whisper, a bang, a smile, and a hug from Naomi Shihab Nye! The legendary poet brings a fistful of sunshine to her conversation with Franny and Danez about learning from her four year-old grandson, holding onto hope and wonder, the magic and utility of child brain, creating welcoming poems, and so much more. 

NOTE: VS is going to be taking its customary break between seasons, but will be returning for a fifth season next year. Stay tuned for updates!

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Y’all are some good-ass writers! When we put out the call for poems in response to our prompts, we didn’t know we were going to get such a wonderful collection of pieces from you beautiful listeners. We couldn’t include them all in Episode 6, so we put together a special listener-only episode full of your work. Enjoy what your podpeople have created!

Listener poems in this episode:

“Untitled poem for the apocalypse” by Angelina Mazza
“What we need right now” by Anneka Hooft
“Independence Song” by Belinda Munyeza
“Hell’s Kitchen” by Bobby Larson
“Taxidermied Peacock” by Bri Marino
“Dispensed With” by Ciel
“A Reminder From This World” by Haru Matsuura
“Untitled” by Irene Vazquez
“The Gathering” by Isobel Rutherford
“A poem by a half-finished painting in my living room” by Jake Pruitt
“Girl in Isolation” by Jireh Deng
“How many different shades of blue” by Latifa Akay
“The Coffee Table Speaks During Quarantine” by Mehrnoosh Torbatnejad
“april, 2020” by Mina Yu
“My imagination decides the size of my fear” by Nicole Arocho Hernandez
“The Analog Who Broke the Camel’s Lap-top” by Carlos Pittella
“Voicemail No. 47” by Quentin Felton
“The Stovetop Misses Talking Shit” by Raji Ganesan
“Invisible Speaker - Garden Mouse” by Oluwaseun Olayiwola
“In the World Right Now” by Tiffany Wong-Jones
“Instructions for a Contemporary Pastoral” by torrin a. greathouse

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Franny and Danez get their hands dirty with the inimitable Aracelis Girmay! The prolific and wonderful poet talks about the childhood joy of dirt, parenting in a pandemic, how she centers truth in her poetry, and much more. Plus, we start off with a potential new name for the show…?

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Ross Gay joins VS with his boisterous laugh and brilliance on hand. The poet and professor breaks down the ways we’re all entangled, the elegant lessons mycelium can teach us for a post-capitalist world, getting undergrads to write sock puppet operas, and much more!

Buy Ross’ new book Be Holding: https://upittpress.org/books/9780822966234/

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Destiny O. Birdsong is happy to up to her elbows in the mess of life. The poet, essayist, and fiction writer talks about the joy of creating complex characters, writing auto-fiction, building books from a joke, and much more!

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On today’s episode, Ajanaé and Brittany talk to Vanessa Angélica Villarreal! Listen in as they discuss mushrooms, quantum entanglements, borders, the ethics of daughters-memory, and the role of Fantasy and The Future in the Western literary canon. 

Until Next Time: 

Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo: Pedro Páramo | Official Trailer | Netflix
• Jordan S. Carroll- Speculative Whiteness: Exploration Log 7: Interview with Jordan S. Carroll, author of Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right (2024)
• The Dragon Age Games; South of Midnight: South of Midnight - Accolades Trailer

Writing Prompt: 

Write a poem for your favorite television or book character. 

To close out season six, Brittany and Ajanae record LIVE in Detroit with guests Aricka Foreman and Tommye Blount. Join them as they discuss the history of the Detroit School of poets, building authentic community, knowing when a project is done, and creating alternate spaces for Black Queer folks to thrive.

Until Next Time
Here’s some content for you to engage with and 2 writing prompts to keep you entertained until next time!

Tommye Blount: 
Bridget Pegeen Kelly - Remembering Brigit Pegeen Kelly
Bill T. Jones - How Bill T. Jones’ ‘Deep Blue Sea' explores the collective ‘we’ of the American people
Carl Phillips - Carl Phillips: Poetry of the Irreconcilable

Aricka Foreman
Lorna Simpson - Lorna Simpson – ‘Everything I Do Comes from the Same Desire’ | TateShots
Toni Morrison - Toni Morrison Discusses Freedom of Expression and the Writer's Role
Alice Coltrane - Alice Coltrane 16mm doc. 1970 (Black Journal) rare

Writing Prompts
Choose the work of 3 peers to study. Identify one craft decision that each executes well and attempt to write a poem that achieves each of them.
Journal towards this: What does being a literarycitizen mean to you? Set a list of intentions for how you’d like to support writers in your community.

Tommy Pico might not like games, but he came to play. The poet, screenwriter, and podcaster talks about adjusting to life off of the road, stepping into a role in a TV writers room, beginning to write as a social media practice, instinct vs. taste, the texture of balls on one’s taint, and so much more. Plus, a fastpunch round for the ages!

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On this weeks episode, Brittany and Ajanae continue their mini-tour of Atlanta with an interview with Mia. S. Willis. During this conversation, they discuss learning to slow down, avoiding the “full length” book pressure, and language as a material culture; they also think fondly on friendship, connection, and Black colloquialisms. 

Until Next Time:
Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode, and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!
Scott Willis: For a taste of his energy, listen to: Ja Rule- Livin It Up
James Baldwin: 4 Must See Interviews With James Baldwin
June Jordan: Notes on the Peanut

Writing prompt: Make time this week to write poems that you won’t share with anyone. Note any shifts in your experience with the process. 

Tara Betts is on a mission to be herself. The poet, editor, and professor comes through to talk about celebrating your people, her relationship with wearing the mask of respectability, the economic challenges of working as a poet, and much more. 

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On today’s episode of VS, Brittany and Ajanae interview Courtney Faye Taylor about their award winning collection Concentrate. Listen in as they discuss writing with an ethic of care, studying oneself as a writer, the nuances of Black girlhood, and the construction of Concentrate.

Until Next Time: 
Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

Toni Cade Bombara: Toni Cade Bambara
Black women’s dialogue: For Our Girls: A Conversation with Black Women | The Conversation Remix
A24 Movies: Moonlight | Official Trailer HD | A24

Writing Prompt: What research is vital to the art you are making? Add journal entries to research documents you are collecting.

All The Apostles are Black, All the Saints Queer, and All of Them Are Brave: towards a queer canon (Pt.2) 

Hello, hi Beloveds! Welcome back to the second installment of our Roll Call episode. We are your hosts, Kopano Maroga and Maneo Mohale, and we are sluts for history and sluts for discourse and are going to be picking the brains of our fabulous guests Koleka Putuma (featured in part 1) and Nakhane (featured in part 2) speaking all things blackness, South Africanness, craft, microaggressions, white twinks and black queer ancestors. We are joined in these episodes by voicenote interludes from black, queer South African artists Gugulethu Duma (aka Dumama who opens and closes the show), Lindiwe Mngxitama and Kneo Mokgopa. Special thanks to our magnificent producer, Maia McDonald, and our generous mentors, Danez Smith and Jenna Wortham, for holding space for us and holding our hands through the process. 

Big, black, slutty love!

Maneo & Kopano

Hosted by: Kopano Maroga and Maneo Mohale

Featuring: Nakhane, Kneo Mokgopa, and Gugulethu Duma

Produced by: Maia McDonald

On this very special one-on-one episode of VS, we get a peek inside the blanket fort that Franny has built and get to listen to her chat with poet and professor Cameron Awkward-Rich (who also happens to be her boo). They talk about the pros and cons of isolation, the forces and spaces that created Cam’s newest book Dispatch, and, most importantly, their illustrious cat Bean.

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During this episode of VS, Brittany and Ajanae interview poet and novelist Phillip B. Williams. Join them as they talk about the process of writing an epic novel, embracing character’s autonomy, Morrisonian poems, and the responsibility of freedom. 

Until Next Time: 

• Nina Simone: To Be Free
• Gabriel García Márquez: What To Know About The Master Of Magical Realism & Nobel Prize Winner | TIME
• Love Song by Henry Dumas | Poetry Foundation
• What does it mean to be human? | Sonia Sanchez | TEDxPhiladelphia

Writing Prompt:

Who is your favorite writer? Write 3 rules that seem to guide their writing. Write a poem following those rules.

Aricka Foreman is going deep. The formerly aspiring marine biologist and current excellent poet talks about her love of the ocean, her new collection Salt Body Shimmer, how she digs into the emotional depths and then pulls herself back out, and much more.

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All The Apostles are Black, All the Saints Queer, and All of Them Are Brave: towards a queer canon (Pt.1)

Hello, hi Beloveds! We are Kopano Maroga and Maneo Mohale and we have the absolute honour of hosting this 2 part episode of Roll Call for you produced by the Poetry Foundation. We are sluts for history and sluts for discourse and are going to be picking the brains of our fabulous guests Koleka Putuma (featured in part 1) and Nakhane (featured in part 2) speaking all things blackness in these episodes. South Africanness, craft, microaggressions, white twinks and black queer ancestors. We are joined in these episodes by voicenote interludes from black, queer South African artists Gugulethu Duma (aka Dumama who opens and closes the show), Lindiwe Mngxitama and Kneo Mokgopa. Special thanks to our magnificent producer, Maia McDonald, and our generous mentors, Danez Smith and Jenna Wortham, for holding space for us and holding our hands through the process. 

Big, black, slutty love!

Maneo & Kopano

Hosted by: Kopano Maroga and Maneo Mohale

Featuring: Koleka Putuma, Gugulethu Duma, Lindiwe Mngxitama

Produced by: Maia McDonald

In this episode, Wes reflects on his transition from being a youth to adulthood as it relates to the poetry scene, level of empathy, and approach to wonder.

torrin greathouse is in the VS house! The author of Wound from the Mouth of a Wound, Torrin talks about queering form with the utmost intention, examining what community actually means, returning to martial arts after many years, searching for truth in journalism and poetry, and much more!

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Recorded back before COVID-19 sent the VS team home to different corners of the country, Franny and Danez sat down with poet Paige Lewis for a good ole fashioned in-person chat. Paige breaks down Beta Fish, the nonbinary epic they’re writing, the power of focusing on the micro, and more. 

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When many people think of experimental Black poetry, they imagine Jazz, or spoken word, or vernacular––they “envision” sound. But what about poetry you can see? In this episode, Keith S. Wilson talks with poets Alison C. Rollins and Chaun Webster about visual poetry. What is it? Where does it come from?  What strange things does it do to our sense of time?

Show Notes:
Hosted by: Keith S Wilson
Produced by: Original Sound Design and Production by Justin Zullo
Transcription by:Kristen Jeré
Featured work: “A Song by Any Other Name” by Alison C Rollins and “Untitled” from Wail Song by Chaun Webster

On today’s episode, Brittany and Ajanae spend time in conversation with Bettina Judd, who is an amazing poet, scholar, and Professor of African American Studies at Emory University. Join them as they discuss the validity of symbols, living out the tarot, how interior concerns shape research and experimentation, and the importance of Black, queer women seeing themselves reflected in theoretical practices.

Until Next Time

Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Lucille Clifton: Lucille Clifton: A Poet's Life and Legacy
• Beverly Guy-Sheftall: Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought
• Clark Sisters: Karen Clark Sheard - Finally Karen Live (Full DVD)

Writing Prompt: 

Write a research question for a part of speech. Conduct your experiment for this question through a series of poems.

We’re off over the rainbow with the wonderful wizard of this pod, Suzi F. Garcia! The poet and editor takes Franny and Danez on a deep dive into the nuances and oddities of The Wizard of Oz, and it’s a wild wild world. Come down the yellow brick road with the squad!

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Carl Phillips swings by the zoodio (zoom studio) for a ticklish and insightful convo on this episode. The poet and professor talks about the power of interiority, how his relationship to the erotic has changed as he’s grown older, and much more. 

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For this first episode of Season 7, Brittany and Ajanae decided to answer audience questions generated via social media. Join them as they tackle hot topics, their writing process, how they navigate friendship and business, and much more!

Until Next Time:
Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode, and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!
The City Girls: City Girls Talk Work Ethic, Chemistry & Loyalty Before The Glow Up...PERIOD | Home Grown Radio
The Clark Sisters Transcendent in its Reach Christine Swenson and Aunjanue Ellis on the Clark Sisters
Toni Morrison: Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am 

Writing Prompt: Reflect and set some intentions with us. List 5 things you are proud of. List 3 things you want to do. Write an affirmation and say it everyday for the next two weeks. 

Remica Bingham-Risher’s reverence for love and relationship is tangible in her work. The author of Soul Culture, Starlight & Error, What We Ask of Flesh, and Conversion talks with Brittany and Ajanaé about the necessity of Black women curating the archive and the value of interiority.

In today’s episode, Brittany and Ajanae have the pleasure of talking to poets and artists Tank (from Tank and the Bangas) and Jamila Woods. Tank and Jamila take time before their tour to talk with our VS hosts about their entryways into poetry, how place influences their sound, the questions they hold in their minds while creating, and of course, how poetry intersects with the rest of their creative practice.

Until Next Time:

Here’s a writing prompt to accompany your experience of the episode to tide you over until we meet again!

Writing prompt:

Revisit one of the earliest poems of yours that you can find. Write a poem in response to it.

Welcome to Season 9! On today’s episode of VS, Brittany and Ajanae chat with Chet’la Sebree about love, the origin of words and theory, chronic illness, vulnerability, and using language to explore our curiosities. 

Until Next Time: 

Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Natasha Tretheway: Natasha Trethewey’s Poems Take Wing on Intimate Details - The New York Times
• Shara McCallum FIELD STUDY: CHET'LA SEBREE IN CONVERSATION WITH SHARA MCCALLUM
• Allison Saar : #5WomenArtists Spotlight: Alison Saar - English with Audio Description

Writing Prompt: 

Research the etymology of a word and write a poem tracing its origin and evolution.

Brittany and Ajanae conclude their mini-tour of the South by interviewing Jericho Brown; in this conversation, the trio discuss breaking bad writing habits, navigating career longevity, and the things that bring them delight (spoiler alert: friendship, r&b and Beyoncé are on the list)! 

Until Next Time:
Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode, and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!
Earth Wind and Fire: Fantasy
Poets of the late 1950’s
The Black Church: The Role of Music

Prompt: Make a playlist of the music that has most deeply shaped your writing.

Season 8 kicks off with Brittany and Ajanae talking with Sarah Lubala, Congolese poet, and author of A History of Disappearance. In this interview, the trio discuss navigating political history and conflict, the role of matriarchal figures in her work, hope as an exercise, and writing about love without leaning into sentimentality. 

Edit: In our conversation, Safia Elhillo was said to be Somali; Safia Elhillo is Sudanese- American.

Until Next Time:

Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Toni Morrison's 'Good' Ghosts : NPR
• The Fight & The Fiddle: Safia Elhillo on Language
• Warsan Shire’s Portraits of Somalis in Exile | The New Yorker

Writing Prompt: Write a portrait poem, imagining a place as a matriarch.

Airea D. Matthews knows her ghosts. The poet and professor talks with Franny and Danez about the spectres and phantasms that live in her work, the ways she wants her poems to exist beyond paper and ink, the journey back to her original name. Plus, a dollop of Greek myth on top!

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Danez and Franny hop on the ole zoom zoom with legendary poet and beard icon John Murillo. John talks about his new book Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry, learning how to focus on the work instead of po-biz, remembering who he writes for, and much more. Plus, a hilarious story involving a staged adulterous act.

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This episode is a roundtable discussion between Brittany, Maurisa, and Ajanae. We discuss the way that friendship has sustained us and been the catalyst for our growth as writers. We also highlight other literary friendships that inspire and guide our practices (i.e Pat Parker and Audre Lorde, Cornelius Eady and Toi Derricotte, Willie Kinard and AsiahMae, etc) and how valuable community is to the development of Black writers.

Hosted by: Maurisa Li-A-Ping, Brittany Rogers and Ajanae Dawkins
Produced by: Camille Mojica
Transcription by: Victor Jackson

Evie Shockley is ready to bring us together. The poet, critic, and professor breaks down how she builds spaces to gather and exchange in her poems, the lineages she pulls from, balancing her critical and artistic lenses, and much more. Plus, some VERY important info about next season of VS!

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Cyrée Jarelle Johnson knows how to find satisfaction on the page. The brilliant poet breaks down where satisfaction lives in his poems, where the confessional meets the surreal, how sexy poetic form can be, and much more.

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Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.

In this episode, black feminist poet and performance artist Gabrielle Civil grapples with the slippery, urgent nature of black time, what she calls the déjà vu. She talks to fellow poets Rashidah Ismaili and jayy dodd, scholar Michelle M. Wright, and visionary six year old Naima about poetry and history, memories and the future. This episode offers sonic experiments, spotlight readings, and intimate chats to bring the déjà vu alive. (Also check out Gabrielle’s new book the déjà vu, available 2/22/22.)

Hosted by: Gabrielle Civil
Featuring: Rashidah Ismaili, jayy dodd, Michelle M. Wright and Naima
Produced by: Tyree Rush
Transcription by: Kristen Jeré

Poets:
Octavia Butler
Nikki Giovanni
Alexis Pauline Gumbs

George Abraham is ready to return. The Palestinian-American poet and professor talks with Franny and Danez about the experience of revisiting their first book Birthright, carving a past and future for themselves in the face of colonialism and homophobia, learning to spur their readers into action, and much more.

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On this episode, we get to talk on this episode with the legend, superstar, and self-proclaimed “baby yoda” Marilyn Chin. We talk about her long journey toward building Asian-American poetics, being the Nicki Minaj for so many young writers (in that all of these bitches are her sons), how she’s balancing quarantine with Youtube rabbit holes, and so much more. Plus, the play-by-play of a legendary physical brawl, in which she scraped with a beloved American poet.

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You’ve just enrolled in one of the best classes anyone could ever take. This week’s guest, Chris Abani, is a master teacher, poet, screenwriter, and thinker who is ready to help you understand, even if the process kicks your butt a little. In this marathon episode recorded before the pandemic descended, Chris talks about the ways our languages shape our understanding of time and space, how the stories of his childhood in Nigeria inform his tongue, the dilemma of writing something important, and much more. Enjoy the lil bit of extra VS in this jumbo-sized episode!

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Carmen Giménez Smith is ready to get down to the word. The poet and editor takes a deep dive with Franny and Danez into how she approaches editing, how she pushes writers to build off of the most effective parts of their poems, how she takes in feedback from her peers, and much more. 

NOTE: VS is nominated for a WEBBY!!!! Vote for us here.

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Cynthia Dewi Oka writes across generations, and what emerges is spectacular. The poet talks with Franny and Danez about flipping spectacle on its head as a way of subverting power, bringing both her mother and her son into the creative process, writing surreality as a young mother, and much more. This is a gem, y’all!

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On this week’s episode, Brittany and Ajanae travel to Houston, Texas for the first interview of their (mini) South tour. There, they talk with Joy Priest about landscape, road trips, the process of creating, putting together a collection, and what happens when Blackness meets theory.

Until Next Time: 

Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode, and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

Read: Sharon Olds - “The Unborn” “After Making Love in Winter” 
Patricia Smith - “When Burning Begins” 
Terrence Hayes - “American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assasin” 

Prompt: Write your own theory of living. Consider: What things must be present for you to feel sustained? What truths ground you? What are the facts that make you possible? 

Poet, scholar, and community builder Eve Ewing joins cohosts Danez Smith and Franny Choi to talk survival, Samurai Jack, desire-based thinking, and more on the first episode of VS.

Poet, educator, and Young Chicago Authors Marketing Director José Olivarez explores adulting and gives some podcast-veteran advice to Danez and Franny.

Erka L. Sánchez stops by the show around the release of not one, but two new books–her poetry collection Lessons on Expulsion and her Young Adult novel I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. She talks finding her rituals, teenage Erika, and more.

VS gets communal with Jacinda Bullie and Darius Parker of Kuumba Lynx, a youth-focused radical arts organization based in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. The squad talks transformative spaces, becoming an institution, writing joyful poetry, and much more. Four voices in effect!

Natalie Diaz joins Danez and Franny to talk the talk on love, language, and words creating worlds on episode 5 of VS.

Chicago legend avery r. young comes through the VS studio and takes poetry off the page with Franny and Danez. The discussion bounces from writing in an enclave, to pain and survival, to holding his mule. Plus, a very special performance.

Check out a preview of the new VS podcast.

Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.

Fatimah Asghar is a poet and creator of the hit web series Brown Girls, which received a development deal from HBO. She talks about the show's evolution, finding her people, and loving her mediocrity.

Raych Jackson swings through the VS studio to talk her win at NUPIC (The National Poetry Individual Competition), the brilliant kidlets in the third grade class she teaches, and remixing biblical tales in her first book, which is in the works. Plus, a new segment makes its debut, with a poem from a VS alum!

Danez and Franny head to Motown and talk with poet, artist, playwright, and self-described sea witch Casey Rocheteau. Together, they write themselves into myth, learn some hidden history, shuffle some cards, and even talk some poetry.

VS wraps up its wonderful first season with the gawd Krista Franklin. The squad hops through time, collapses the continuum, shares some laughs, and ends the first season in style. Plus a very special treat at the end of the episode…