"Stories, songs, stanzas, and their real applications." The Southern Collective Experience's radio show, Dante's Old South, featuring poets, prose writers, musicians - and more!
May 2025 Dante's New SouthAlice Hong: Named one of CBC's 2018 “30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30,” Alice is active globally as a violinist and a composer. She performs frequently with the Atlanta Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, and more, and next weekend you can hear a premiere of Alice's orchestral work Eden performed by the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra! Alice is passionate about revolutionizing the classical experience and making classical music more accessible and innovative. Classical Remix Music Festival is her biggest project yet, and she'd really love to see you at this inaugural season's concerts!Fun fact: During COVID, Alice lived in a film bubble for five weeks with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds to film a scene in the Netflix movie Red Notice. Check it out - the movie remains in Netflix's Top 10 of All Time Movies list (although Alice isn't a huge fan of the movie herself).www.aliceyhong.comwww.experienceluxardo.com/buy-tickets/p/classical-remix-gala-concertKit Cummings launched the Power of Peace Project (POPP) in 2010 with a bold mission: to bring hope, healing, and transformation to some of the most dangerous and divided spaces in the world. With deep experience resolving conflict behind prison walls and in at-risk communities, Kit has become a powerful voice for nonviolence, second chances, and real change.On MLK Day 2020, the NAACP honored Kit with the Martin Luther King Jr. “Living the Dream” Award for his civil rights work, prison reform efforts, and impact on underserved youth. In 2021, he was appointed to the Georgia House of Representatives Study Committee on Youth Gangs and Violence Prevention, playing a pivotal role in the passage of HB750, a groundbreaking anti-gang bill.From juvenile prisons to war-torn neighborhoods, Kit has taken POPP across the globe—from Tijuana's La Mesa Prison to South African townships, from U.S. high schools to Eastern European rehab centers, and from urban courts to rural churches. His tools of change? Hope, humility, courage, and compassion.www.kitcummings.comwww.powerofpeaceproject.comDenton Loving lives on a farm near the historic Cumberland Gap, where Tennessee,Kentucky, and Virginia come together. He is the author of three poetry books including Tamp which was a finalist for the Weatherford Award and recipient of the inaugural Tennessee Book Award for Poetry. He is a co-founder and editor at EastOver Press and its literary journal Cutleaf. His fiction, poetry, essays and reviews have appeared in numerous publications including The Kenyon Review, Tupelo Quarterly, Iron Horse Literary Review and Ecotone. And he's a core staff member at Table Rock Writers Workshop. He has a new book of poems coming out in August from Mercer University Press. It's called Feller.www.dentonloving.comAdditional Music Provided by: Pat Metheny: www.patmetheny.comJustin Johnson: www.justinjohnsonlive.comOur Advertisers:Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.comWhispers of the Flight: www.amazon.com/Whispers-Flight-Voyage-Cosmic-Unity-ebook/dp/B0DB3TLY43The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.comBright Hill Press: www.brighthillpress.orgWe Deeply Appreciate:UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.eduMercer University Press: www.mupress.orgAlain Johannes for the original score in this show: www.alainjohannes.comThe host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-orderCheck out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com
April 2025 Dante's Old SouthBuffalo Nichols: Texas based, Milwaukee raised, Buffalo Nichols is known as an acoustic blues guitarist and singer but that isn't the whole story. Two albums into his career, Nichols has proven himself to be an innovative songwriter with lyrics address both personal and political themes with biting insight. His influences range from his time playing in Baptist churches to his many years playing guitar in West African music bands. His experimental and hip-hop influences are displayed as well on his 2023 album, The Fatalist'. Nichols' self-titled debut, released in October 2021, ascended him to the national stage, earning praise and support from NPR Music (‘Tiny Desk (Home) Concert;' All Songs Considered ‘Best of October') to Rolling Stone ('The Fight to Reclaim the Blues' feature; ‘Song You Need To Know'), Bandcamp Daily (‘October Shortlist') to Guitar World, Texas Monthly to Uncut (UK), among many others. www.buffalo-nichols.com/www.instagram.com/buffalonicholsmusic/Odessa Blaine: General oddment and possible cryptid, Odessa haunts the mountains and coffee shops of North Georgia. Her novels and short stories incorporate elements drawn from her Appalachia roots. Odessa has honed her skills as a performance storyteller and loves sharing stories with live audiences. When she's not slinking through the woods or over-caffeinating, Odessa can be found encouraging the creative passions of others by serving multiple writer focused nonprofits based in the Southeast and providing marketing and project management to small businesses. substack.com/@odessablainebsky.app/profile/odessablaine.bsky.socialJenny Bates enjoys seven poetry books, published in numerous NC and international journals. Jenny was a judge for the Poetry in Plain Sight contest through the NC Poetry Society, 2024. Her book of poems, ESSENTIAL has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize 2024. Her newest collection, From Soil and Soul is available. Jenny's books are also available at Malaprops Bookstore in Asheville, Bookmarks, the Book Ferret and The Book House in Winston-Salem, Scuppernongs in Greensboro, NC.redhawkpublications.com/Poetry-c120141004www.malaprops.comthebookhousews.comwww.bookferret.comCynthia Atkins: (She, Her), is a prizewinning poet originally from Chicago, IL and the author of Psyche's Weathers, In the Event of Full Disclosure, and Still-Life with God, and Duets from Harbor Editions. Her work has appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, BOMB, Diode, Cimarron Review, Los Angeles Review North American Review, Permafrost, Plume, and Verse Daily. Atkins has earned fellowships and prizes from Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. SWWIM Residency, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Writers at Work. Atkins lives on the Maury River of Rockbridge County, Virginia, with artist Phillip Welch and their family. More info at: www.cynthiaatkins.comOur Sponsors:Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.comWhispers of the Flight: www.amazon.com/Whispers-Flight-Voyage-Cosmic-Unity-ebook/dp/B0DB3TLY43The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.comBright Hill Press: www.brighthillpress.orgInvisible Strings 113 Poets Respond to the Songs of Taylor Swift: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/777808/invisible-strings-by-edited-by-kristie-frederick-daughertyWe Deeply Appreciate:UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.eduMercer University Press: www.mupress.orgThe Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.comNPR: https: www.npr.orgWUTC: www.wutc.orgAlain Johannes for the original score in this show: www.alainjohannes.comThe host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-orderCheck out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com
March 2025 Dante's Old SouthDesmund Dangerfield is an entrepreneur, educator, and PhD candidate in Educational Leadership, dedicated to student success and community development.With experience in academic recruitment, leadership development, and entrepreneurship training, he has worked with institutions like Prairie View, A&M University and San Jacinto College to equip students with the tools for academic and professional growth. As a business owner, Desmun specializes in photography, brand strategy, and digital marketing.Additionally, he is a social media influencer with 200,000 followers on Instagram, using his platform to engage and inspire diverse audiences. Passionate about innovation and community impact, Desmun blends research, real-world experience, and engaging storytelling to educate and empower others.https://www.sfsinc.org/http://Dangerfieldmedia.comBrian & Amanda Trent are best known on social media as “The Trent Tribe”, where they offer biblical content that they hope will be relatable, understandable and encouraging. They reside in South Carolina with the rest of their Tribe, which is their six kids, two sons-in-law and four grandchildren. Brian & Amanda relocated from southwestern Virginia to Hampton, SC fifteen years ago to pastor Lighthouse Church.They are passionate about family, church, entrepreneurship, community, and recovery.www.trenttribe.comSarah Darling is an American singer-songwriter drawing inspiration from the allure of freedom and beauty. She channels the spirit of 70's California, with echoes from Laurel Canyon, narrating an American road trip story wrapped in nostalgia and sunshine. Infused with a modern aura, her lyrics transport us to a golden era, sung with the warmth of honey vocals and unfiltered honesty.Her credits include five full-length albums, multiple singles, including a #1 on the UK Country charts, and many duets. She has over 20 million streams, 11 million video views, and over 90 appearances on the Grand Ole Opry stage. www.sarahdarling.comAlly Venable is a singer/songwriter/ musician who believes rules are there to be broken. Expectations are there to be defied. Glass ceilings are there to be shattered.Having spent the past decade carving out her own unique space in the male dominated world of blues-rock, Ally Venable's combative sixth album, Money & Power, demands more of both – for herself, for women around the world, and for anyone else who thought they weren't worthy of a seat at the table.Money and power make the world go round. But in the right hands, music can be every bit as potent. Right now, on the heels of 2023's acclaimed Real Gone – an album that hit #1 on the Billboard Blues Charts and was still in contention a year later – Ally is rated amongst the best young singer-songwriters in American roots, saluted by Total Guitar Magazine in its poll of Top 100 Blues Guitarists. www.allyvenableband.comOur Sponsors:Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza & the Case of the Missing Hat:www.dolphinhat.com/product/taco-cat-goat-cheese-pizza-graphic-novelLucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.comWhispers of the Flight: www.amazon.com/Whispers-Flight-Voyage-Cosmic-Unity-ebook/dp/B0DB3TLY43The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.comBright Hill Press: www.brighthillpress.orgWe Deeply Appreciate:UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.eduMercer University Press: www.mupress.orgThe Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.comNPR: https: www.npr.orgWUTC: www.wutc.orgAlain Johannes for the original score in this show: www.alainjohannes.com_______________________________________________Dante's Old South is produced by Michael AmideiThe host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here:www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-orderCheck out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here:brooks-sessions.teachable.com
February 2025 Dante's Old SouthDr. Fubbs: Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, master engineer, cinematographer, editor, actor, designer, recording engineer, Death Row Record-signed artist: linktr.ee/drfubbsKelly J Nelson Founder / Chief Creative Officer / Director:30+ Year entertainment and event industry veteran and award-winning live experience designer, conceptual artist, and theatrical marketing expert. Previous clients include AMC Network Coca-Cola, Accenture, Cartoon Network, CNN, The Atlanta Hawks, Ponce City Market, City of Atlanta. BA In Communications and Visual Art from Florida State University. Previous work: Jack Morton Worldwide then 3 of my own agencies: The Maverick Group (19 Years), LED Experience (15 years) and Oracle Experience Enterprises (1 Year)www.mirthandmischief.liveCoach Lee Wilson has over 20 years in the relationship recovery service and his website is www.MyExBackCoach.comAdditional Music by:Justin Johnson: https: www.justinjohnsonlive.comOur Sponsors:Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza & the Case of the Missing Hat: www.dolphinhat.com/product/taco-cat-goat-cheese-pizza-graphic-novelLucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.comWhispers of the Flight: www.amazon.com/Whispers-Flight-Voyage-Cosmic-Unity-ebook/dp/B0DB3TLY43The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.comThe Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.comBright Hill Press: www.brighthillpress.orgWe Deeply Appreciate:UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.eduMercer University Press: www.mupress.orgNPR: https: www.npr.orgWUTC: www.wutc.orgAlain Johannes for the original score in this show: www.alainjohannes.comThe host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-orderCheck out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com
February 2025 Dante's Old SouthDr. Fubbs: Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, master engineer, cinematographer, editor, actor, designer, recording engineer, Death Row Record-signed artist: linktr.ee/drfubbsKelly J Nelson Founder / Chief Creative Officer / Director:30+ Year entertainment and event industry veteran and award-winning live experience designer, conceptual artist, and theatrical marketing expert. Previous clients include AMC Network Coca-Cola, Accenture, Cartoon Network, CNN, The Atlanta Hawks, Ponce City Market, City of Atlanta. BA In Communications and Visual Art from Florida State University. Previous work: Jack Morton Worldwide then 3 of my own agencies: The Maverick Group (19 Years), LED Experience (15 years) and Oracle Experience Enterprises (1 Year)www.mirthandmischief.liveCoach Lee Wilson has over 20 years in the relationship recovery service and his website is www.MyExBackCoach.comAdditional Music by:Larkin Poe: www.larkinpoe.comJustin Johnson: https: www.justinjohnsonlive.comOur Sponsors:Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza & the Case of the Missing Hat: www.dolphinhat.com/product/taco-cat-goat-cheese-pizza-graphic-novelLucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.comWhispers of the Flight: www.amazon.com/Whispers-Flight-Voyage-Cosmic-Unity-ebook/dp/B0DB3TLY43The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.comThe Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.comBright Hill Press: www.brighthillpress.orgWe Deeply Appreciate:UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.eduMercer University Press: www.mupress.orgNPR: https: www.npr.orgWUTC: www.wutc.orgAlain Johannes for the original score in this show: www.alainjohannes.comThe host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-orderCheck out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here:brooks-sessions.teachable.com
February 2025 Dante's Old SouthDr. Fubbs: Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, master engineer, cinematographer, editor, actor, designer, recording engineer, Death Row Record-signed artistKelly J Nelson (Founder / Chief Creative Officer / Director)30+ Year entertainment and event industry veteran and award-winning live experience designer, conceptual artist, and theatrical marketing expert. Previous clients include AMC Network Coca-Cola, Accenture, Cartoon Network, CNN, The Atlanta Hawks, Ponce City Market, City of Atlanta. BA In Communications and Visual Art from Florida State University. Previous work: Jack Morton Worldwide then 3 of my own agencies: The Maverick Group (19 Years), LED Experience (15 years) and Oracle Experience Enterprises (1 Year).Coach Lee Wilson has over 20 years in the relationship recovery service.Additional Music by:Larkin PoeJustin JohnsonOur Sponsors:Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza &the Case of the Missing HatLucid House PressWhispers of the FlightThe Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.comThe Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.comBright Hill Press: www.brighthillpress.orgWe Deeply Appreciate:UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.eduMercer University Press: www.mupress.orgNPR: https: www.npr.orgWUTC: www.wutc.orgAlain Johannes for the original score in this show: www.alainjohannes.comThe host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-orderCheck out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com
January 2025 Dante's Old South Steve Gillon is a Senior Fellow at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, Scholar-in-Residence at HISTORY, and Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma. Gillon received his B.A. in History from Widener University where he graduated summa cum laude with honors in History. He was named the recipient of the Faculty Prize for maintaining the highest undergraduate GPA. He went on to earn his A.M. and Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown University where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving his Ph.D., Dr.Gillon spent nine years teaching history at Yale University where he won the prestigious DeVane Medal, awarded by the senior members of Phi Beta Kappa to the best undergraduate teacher at the university. In 1994, he accepted a position as University Lecturer in Modern History at Oxford University. Three years later, he returned to the United States at the invitation of the president of the University of Oklahoma to become the founding dean of a new Honors College. www.stevenmgillon.com Nicole B. Gebhardt, MS, CCLS, CECP is a highly accomplished bestselling author, speaker, and transformational coach with a passion for helping families heal and find peace after experiencing pregnancy and infant loss. She also is a huge advocate for individuals struggling with addiction. With a Master's degree in Human Development & Family Studies, specializing in Child Life from the University of Alabama, and a Bachelor's degree in Business Communications from Florida State University, Nicole combines academic excellence with extensive hands-on experience in human development and mental health. A Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS), Nicole also holds certifications as a Sacred Usui Reiki Master, Holy Fire III® and Karuna 2® Reiki Master, and Certified Emotion Code Practitioner. She has also served as a support group leader for infant loss and miscarriage across the country. Her extensive career includes positions as Executive Director at two private preschools, the CEO and Founder of The Worthy Femme and a recognized expert in Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness. For more information about Nicole and her work, visit www.nicolebgebhardt.com and http://spirituallighthousehealing.com and emotioncodereiki.com Michael Logen is a Grammy-Nominated, Multi-Platinum Singer/Songwriter as heard on “Nashville, “One Tree Hill”, “Parenthood”, “SUITS”, “Heartland”, “Virgin River”, “The Fosters”, “The Hills”, “American Idol”, The Olympics, BBC, CMT and NPR. He's been featured in “Rolling Stone”, “Performing Songwriter” and “Billboard Magazine”. Also, a prolific songwriter, Michael has written songs for other artists like Kelly Clarkson (on Grammy-Winning album, “Stronger”), Sister Hazel, Mat Kearney, Jonny Lang, Marc Broussard, Will Hoge, Ashley Monroe, Bucky Covington, Brandon Heath and many more. In touring, he's opened for artists like John Legend, John Hiatt, India.Arie, Jonny Lang, Mat Kearney, Sarah Jarosz and Sister Hazel. More info can be found at www.michaellogen.com Additional Music Provided by: Pat Metheny: www.patmetheny.com Larkin Poe: www.larkinpoe.com Our Sponsors: Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com Whispers of the Flight: www.amazon.com/Whispers-Flight-Voyage-Cosmic-Unity-ebook/dp/B0DB3TLY43 The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Bright Hill Press: www.brighthillpress.org We Deeply Appreciate: UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org NPR: https: www.npr.org WUTC: www.wutc.org Alain Johannes for the original score in this show: www.alainjohannes.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com
January 2025 Dante's Old SouthSteve Gillon is a Senior Fellow at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, Scholar-in-Residence at HISTORY, and Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma. Gillon received his B.A. in History from Widener University where he graduated summa cum laude with honors in History. He was named the recipient of the Faculty Prize for maintaining the highest undergraduate GPA. He went on to earn his A.M. and Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown University where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving his Ph.D., Dr.Gillon spent nine years teaching history at Yale University where he won the prestigious DeVane Medal, awarded by the senior members of Phi Beta Kappa to the best undergraduate teacher at the university. In 1994, he accepted a position as University Lecturer in Modern History at Oxford University.Three years later, he returned to the United States at the invitation of the president of the University of Oklahoma to become the founding dean of a new Honors College.Nicole B. Gebhardt, MS, CCLS, CECP is a bestselling author, speaker, and transformational coach with a passion for helping families heal and find peace after experiencing pregnancy and infant loss. She also is a huge advocate for individuals struggling with addiction. Her extensive career includes positions as Executive Director at two private preschools, the CEO and Founder of The Worthy Femme and a recognized expert in Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness. Nicole is also a licensed teacher, demonstrating her lifelong commitment to child welfare, family support, and making a difference in the lives of others.Michael Logen is a Grammy-Nominated, Multi-Platinum Singer/Songwriter as heard on “Nashville, “One Tree Hill”, “Parenthood”, and more. He's been featured in “Rolling Stone”, “Performing Songwriter” and “Billboard Magazine”.Michael has written songs for other artists like Kelly Clarkson, Sister Hazel, Mat Kearney, and Johnny Lang. When starting out, he played hundreds of shows in prisons across North America the year after graduating high school, before moving to Nashville and signing his first deal.Additional Music Provided by: Pat MethenyOur Sponsors:Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.comWhispers of the FlightThe Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.comThe Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.comBright Hill Press: www.brighthillpress.orgWe Deeply Appreciate:UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.eduMercer University Press: www.mupress.orgAlain Johannes for the original score in this show: www.alainjohannes.comThe host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here:www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-orderCheck out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com
January 2025 Dante's Old SouthSteve Gillon is a Senior Fellow at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, Scholar-in-Residence at HISTORY, and Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma. Gillon received his B.A. in History from Widener University where he graduated summa cum laude with honors in History. He was named the recipient of the Faculty Prize for maintaining the highest undergraduate GPA. He went on to earn his A.M. and Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown University where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving his Ph.D., Dr.Gillon spent nine years teaching history at Yale University where he won the prestigious DeVane Medal, awarded by the senior members of Phi Beta Kappa to the best undergraduate teacher at the university. In 1994, he accepted a position as University Lecturer in Modern History at Oxford University.Three years later, he returned to the United States at the invitation of the president of the University of Oklahoma to become the founding dean of a new Honors College.Nicole B. Gebhardt, MS, CCLS, CECP is a highly accomplished bestselling author, speaker, and transformational coach with a passion for helping families heal and find peace after experiencing pregnancy and infant loss. She also is a huge advocate for individuals struggling with addiction. With a Master's degree in Human Development & Family Studies, specializing in Child Life from the University of Alabama, and a Bachelor's degree in Business Communications from Florida State University, Nicole combines academic excellence with extensive hands-on experience in human development and mental health.A Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS), Nicole also holds certifications as a Sacred Usui Reiki Master, Holy Fire III® and Karuna 2® Reiki Master, and Certified Emotion Code Practitioner. As an active member of the National Speakers Association, she is a sought-after speaker.Nicole's dedication extends beyond her professional credentials. As a military spouse herself, she has volunteered in various leadership roles with the National Guard Bureau Spouses Club, the Air Force Officers & Spouses Club of Washington, D.C., and other military support organizations. She has also served as a support group leader for infant loss and miscarriage across the country.Broken Wings Broken Dreams: A Mother's Life After Infant Loss and MiscarriageThe Healing Cocoon : A Mother's Emergence After Infant and Pregnancy LossThe Queen's Companion Book: Rule Your Throne. Own Your QueendomMichael Logen is a Grammy-Nominated, Multi-Platinum Singer/Songwriter as heard on “Nashville, “One Tree Hill”, “Parenthood”, “SUITS”, “Heartland”, “Virgin River”, “The Fosters”, “The Hills”, “American Idol”, The Olympics, BBC, CMT and NPR. He's been featured in “Rolling Stone”, “Performing Songwriter” and “Billboard Magazine”.Also, a prolific songwriter, Michael has written songs for other artists like Kelly Clarkson, Sister Hazel, Mat Kearney, Jonny Lang, and many more. Michael's live show is a blend of captivating lyrically-based, acoustic-driven Americana/Country and the story-telling behind the songs. Additional Music Provided by:Pat MethenyLarkin PoeOur Sponsors:Lucid House PressWhispers of the FlightThe CrownThe Red Phone BoothBright Hill PressWe Deeply Appreciate:UCLA Extension Writing ProgramMercer University PressNPRWUTCTheme by Alain Johannes The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-orderCheck out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com
December 2024 Dante's Old South Prince Stash: Stanislas Klossowski de Rola is an author, entrepreneur, actor, singer, and music producer. He performed and worked with various bands including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Vince Taylor & The Playboys, during the Swinging Sixties in London, Rome, Paris, and Los Angeles. Made infamous for his arrest with The Rolling Stones founder, Brian Jones, his engagement to Italian superstar, Romina Power, and for being a fashion icon launching the New Romantic look that was all the rage in the ‘70s, Prince Stash comes from a line of scandalous and very colorful figures in his ancestry. Prince Stash currently spends his time between his Italian castle, Californian beach house, and other exotic international locations. www.princestash.com Warren Haynes - A Grammy Award-winning artist, Warren Haynes has been recognized as a cornerstone of the American music landscape and revered as one of the finest guitar players in the world. Throughout his prolific career as part of three of the greatest live groups in rock history – Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule and the Dead –his virtuosic artistry has led to thousands of unforgettable performances and millions of album and track sales. Despite all of the ground that Haynes has covered on his musical journey, the impressive thing is that he still has many miles to explore. On his newest solo album Ashes & Dust, he puts forth one of his most gorgeous, musically rich and personal albums to date. It is endlessly exciting to see one of the most brilliant minds in modern music shine an entirely new light on the depths of his creativity. www.warrenhaynes.net Andrew Mack is the Founder and Managing Editor of Loblolly Press. His commitment to fostering emerging writers particularly those from marginalized or underrepresented communities drives Loblolly Press's mission to showcase contemporary poetry, short fiction, and novels with a distinctly Southern voice. Andrew has published two collections of his own poetry, Weekend Revival and What the River Was. He lives in Asheville, NC with his partner. www.loblollypress.com Justin Johnson has been hailed by Guitar World as a "must-see act", dubbed "The Wizard" for his mastery of stringed instruments, and recognized as Slidestock International Slide Guitar Champion. In 2014, Justin Johnson recorded his debut double album, "Smoke & Mirrors"; a celebration of the art, history, and traditions behind handmade roots instruments. The album saw its official release in March of 2014, as Johnson took the stage to present his signature approach to Roots music to thousands of fans at Port Fairy Folk Festival, Australia's largest and longest-running Folk Festival, thus ushering in the 2014/2015 Smoke & Mirrors World Tour, which spanned mainland Australia and Tasmania, North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom Additional Music by: Six One Five Collective: www.sixonefivecollective.com Our Sponsors: Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com Whispers of the Flight: www.amazon.com/Whispers-Flight-Voyage-Cosmic-Unity- ebook/dp/B0DB3TLY43 The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Bright Hill Press: www.brighthillpress.org We Deeply Appreciate: UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org NPR: https: www.npr.org WUTC: www.wutc.org Alain Johannes for the original score in this show: www.alainjohannes.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com
November 2024 Dante's Old South Jenna Schroeder is a writer, mother of four, and the director of communications for Dolphin Hat Games. Additionally, she is the founder of Little Bird Press, and her creative projects include the inspiring children's book “Are Enchanted Forests Real?” and “Tacoo Cat Goat Cheese Pizza and the Case of the Missing Hat.” Schroeder also contributed to the 2021 book “Peace in the Presence of God: Devotionals for Women with Anxiety” published by Michael Lacey. She earned a bachelor's degree in interpersonal communications from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. For more information visit JennaaSchroeder.com or follow her @jennaaschroeder Michel Stone is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Border Child (Doubleday/Anchor, 2017) and The Iguana Tree (Hub City Press, 2012). She is the winner of the Mary Frances Hobson Prize for Distinguished Achievement in Arts and Letters, the Patricia Winn Award for Southern Literature, and the South Carolina Fiction Award. She holds a BA in English from Clemson University and M.Ed. from Converse University. She is a past board chair of the Hub City Writers Project. These days she writes full time and volunteers at area schools and colleges. She recently completed her third novel. www.michelstone.com Lynne Kemen's full-length book of poetry, Shoes for Lucy,was published by SCE Press in 2023. Woodland Arts Editions published her chapbook, More Than a Handful in 2020. Her work is anthologized in The Memory Palace: an ekphrastic anthology (Ekphrastic Editions, 2024), Seeing Things (Woodland Arts, 2020). Lynne is President of the Board of Bright Hill Press and has served on many other not-for-profit boards. She is an Editor and Interviewer for Blue Mountain Review. lynnekemen.com www.facebook.com/lmkemen/ www.instagram.com/lynnekemen/ Kemen@lynnekemen.bsky.social Echo Montgomery Garrett loves all things Southern, especially the tradition of storytelling. The 40+ year journalist has written 25 books and joined her son Connor Judson Garrett to run Lucid House Publishing during the Pandemic. Lucid House represents 12 authors, and all of its titles have won awards, except the latest releases that have not had time yet. She is the co-founder of Orange Duffel Bag Initiative, a nonprofit that provides life plan coaching to young people (14-24) experiencing homelessness, foster care, and/or extreme poverty. The Nashville native lives with her husband Kevin Garrett in Marietta, Georgia. www.lucidhousepublishing.com Additional Music by: Buffalo Kin: www.buffalokin.com Larkin Poe: www.larkinpoe.com Justin Johnson: www.justinjohnsonlive.com Big Love for Our Sponsors: Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com Whispers of the Flight: www.amazon.com/Whispers-Flight-Voyage-Cosmic-Unity-ebook/dp/B0DB3TLY43 The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Bright Hill Press: www.brighthillpress.org We Deeply Appreciate: UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org NPR: https: www.npr.org WUTC: www.wutc.org Alain Johannes for the original score in this show: www.alainjohannes.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com
October 2024 Dante's Old South Major Jackson is the author of six books of poetry, including Razzle Dazzle: New & Selected Poems (2023) and The Absurd Man (2020). He is also the author of A Beat Beyond: The Selected Prose of Major Jackson . A recipient of fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, The National Endowment for the Arts, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Major Jackson has been awarded a Pushcart Prize and has been honored by the Pew Fellowship in the Arts and the Witter Bynner Foundation in conjunction with the Library of Congress. Major Jackson lives in Nashville, Tennessee where he is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities at Vanderbilt University. He serves as the Poetry Editor of The Harvard Review and hosts the podcast – The Slowdown. www.majorjackson.com Tim Blake Nelson is an actor, writer, director, and producer who has appeared in over ninety films including Just Mercy, Lincoln, Holes, The Incredible Hulk, Meet the Fockers, Minority Report, O Brother Where Art Thou?, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and Old Henry. Other recent acting credits set for release in 2023 and 2024 include The Bricklayer, Bang Bang, Captain America: New World Order, and Invisibles. His playwriting credits include Socrates, Anadarko, The Grey Zone and Eye of God, the last two of which Nelson adapted and directed for the screen. Other film directing credits include O, Leaves of Grass, and Anesthesia the last two of which he also wrote. His first novel, City of Blows, was published earlier this year and will be released as a paperback in early 2024. Geoffrey Owens was born and raised in the Prospect Heights section of Brooklyn, New York. He attended New York City public schools before attending Yale University.He has had a notable career as a teacher and an actor. On television, he played ‘Elvin' on NBC's “The Cosby Show,” as well as roles on numerous other shows, including “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Power,” and “Divorce.” He currently lives in Montclair, New Jersey. He thanks Josette for all her support. https://shorturl.at/y4m5D Seth Ingram is a seasoned film producer, educator, and Creative Director of the Rome International Film Festival (RIFF), where he has elevated the event into one of Georgia's most celebrated showcases for independent cinema. As the founder of the Film Program at Georgia Highlands College, Seth also serves as Division Chair of Film, Theatre, and Digital Entertainment, where he mentors emerging filmmakers. His production work includes films such as Signing Day, Spirit Halloween: The Movie, and Outlaw Posse. Recently, he was named one of Georgia's most influential figures in the creative economy by Georgia Entertainment News. Mobley, acclaimed indie singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, returns with a rhapsodic new single, "Y'r Ghost," via Last Gang Records / MNRK Music Group. Written, performed, and produced by Mobley himself, this release signals his reemergence from the studio, where he's been fervently crafting the sci-fi epic foreshadowed on his late 2022 EP Cry Havoc!. “Y'r Ghost” offers a first glimpse of the next installment of this sweeping sonic and narrative world. www.mobleywho.com Additional Music by: Logan Mac “Dance Under Stars” Special Thanks Goes to Our Sponsors: Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com Whispers of the Flight: https://shorturl.at/eAhoD The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Bright Hill Press: www.brighthillpress.org UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org NPR: https: www.npr.org WUTC: www.wutc.org The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here: https://shorturl.at/Fwv48 Check out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: https://shorturl.at/9bsU3
September 2024 Dante's Old South Holly Haworth's essays appear in The New York Times Magazine, Orion, Oxford American, Sierra, Lapham's Quarterly, Terrain.org, Creative Nonfiction, The Bitter Southerner, and at the On Being radio program blog. They have been listed as notable in The Best American Travel Writing and included in The Best American Science and Nature Writing. Her forthcoming book This Resounding World: A Field Guide to Listening is a recipient of a Robert B. Silvers Foundation grant for Works in Progress. Her first collection of poetry, The Way the Moon, is out now. www.hollyhaworth.com Inam, the author, was born into hardship and affected by Polio but found solace in art, turning pain into beauty. Despite numerous obstacles, he became a celebrated artist through resilience and creativity. Inam's appreciation for Sufi wisdom revealed the universe's mysteries to him. He is also a prolific poet and playwright with international acclaim. The author believes that Sufism is an advanced and more comprehensive version of manifesting self-awareness techniques. One does not need to follow a specific religion to understand and apply the methods and tools described in the book to embark on the path of Sufi personal transformation. All the methods outlined in the book are non-denominational. If you are a fan of Rumi's wisdom, you will love Whispers of the Flight. www.amazon.com/Whispers-Flight-Voyage-Cosmic-Unity-ebook/dp/B0DB3TLY43 Coach Ken Fox is a renowned relationship and ADHD coach, known for his powerful insights and practical strategies that help individuals manage the complexities of ADHD and navigate relationship challenges. With a deep understanding of emotional dynamics and ADHD-related behaviors, Coach Ken provides personalized guidance to empower individuals to improve communication, build stronger connections, and manage emotional regulation. His engaging approach and evidence-based methods have earned him a large following across social media platforms, making him a trusted resource for those seeking to better understand ADHD and cultivate healthier, more fulfilling relationships. www.realcoachken.com Matt Malyon is the founding Executive Director of Underground Writing. He is a prison, jail, and juvenile detention chaplain, and the author of the poetry chapbook, During the Flood. His poetry has received a Pushcart Prize nomination, and his writing in various genres has appeared in a variety of publications and anthologies, including the University of Iowa's 100 Words, Teachers & Writers Magazine, Filid, Iron City Magazine, Rock & Sling, Adam, Eve, & the Riders of the Apocalypse, Measure, and The Stanza Project. t | 360.220.0467 w | undergroundwriting.org facebook | @UndergroundWriting instagram | @_undergroundwriting twitter | @UndergroundinWA Musical Guests: Brad Tursi: www.bradtursi.com Tyler Ramsey: www.tylerramsey.com Special Thanks Goes to Our Sponsors: Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com Whispers of the Flight: www.amazon.com/Whispers-Flight-Voyage-Cosmic-Unity-ebook/dp/B0DB3TLY43 The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Bright Hill Press: www.brighthillpress.org UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org NPR: https: www.npr.org WUTC: www.wutc.org Alain Johannes for the original score in this show: www.alainjohannes.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com
August 2024 Dante's Old South Serene Hakim: Serene Hakim is an agent at Ayesha Pande Literary where she has been since 2015. She represents authors in a variety of genres, from MG fantasy to adult literary fiction to contemporary YA. Serene is interested in both YA and adult fiction that has international themes, highlights a variety of cultures, and focuses on underrepresented voices. Specifically, she's looking for writing that explores identity, home, and family and is currently prioritizing children's books. She loves books that are heartwarming as well those that are heart wrenching. Serene is a member of the Association of American Literary Agents and serves on the DEI committee. DeeDee Cummings is a professional dreamer. She is also an author, therapist, attorney, and mom from Louisville, Kentucky. Cummings founded Make A Way Media in 2014 after struggling to find books with characters who looked like her own children. Books published by Make A Way focus on hope, diversity, social justice, and therapeutic skills for children and adults. Her work has been featured in HuffPost, Forbes, NPR, USA Today, Essence Magazine, Psych Central, Well+Good, and The EveryGirl, among other media outlets. In 2021, she was appointed to the Kentucky Early Childhood Advisory Council by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. Deedee is also the founder of The Louisville Book Festival Cummings believes literacy is a fundamental human right. She is currently working to adapt her latest children's series inspired by the life of her daughter, Kayla Pecchioni (a Broadway actress) to a Broadway musical. Deedee recently founded the Make A Way Mindset program. Her next book is called How To Dream and will be release in October 2024. Deedee Cummings, M.Ed., LPCC, JD Visibility, Marketing, and Dream Consultant Motivational Speaker and Expert on Adversity & EmpathyAuthor of seventeen award-winning books Make A Way Media, Abi Behavioral Health Louisville Book Festival Make A Way Mindset! Robert Dean Johnson directs Eastern Kentucky University's low-residency MFA in creative writing program, Bluegrass Writers Studio. He is the author of a novel, Californium (Plume-Penguin) and a story collection, Delicate Men (Alternative Book). Recent work appears in Baltimore Review, Evening Street Review, and is forthcoming is Permafrost. He lives in Kentucky with his wife, the writer Julie Hensley, their children, and some urban chickens. Bluegrass Writers Studio: https://www.eku.edu/creativewriting/ R Dean Johnson:https://rdeanwriter.com/ Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/rdeanwriter/ FaceBook:https://www.facebook.com/delicatemen/ Threads:https://www.threads.net/@rdeanwriter Brick Lohr is a passionate co-founder of the Ramble Festival, where the spirit of community and live music thrives. An advocate for the live music scene and the community around music, Brick's vision has transformed Ramble into a vibrant gathering that feels like a celebration of the good old days. Alongside his festival work, Brick manages the up-and-coming artist Natalie Brooke, guiding her rising career with the same dedication and enthusiasm that fuels his love for live music.and building community. www.ramblefestival.com Music Provided By: Pat Metheny: www.patmetheny.com Special Thanks Goes to Our Sponsors: Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com Whispers of the Flight: whispersoftheflight.com/book/ The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Bright Hill Press: www.brighthillpress.org UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org NPR: https: www.npr.org WUTC: www.wutc.org The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com
July 2024 Dante's Old South Steven Dunn (a.k.a Pothole, cuz he's deep in these streets) is a Whiting Award winner who was shortlisted for Granta Magazine's Best of Young American Novelists. He's the author of three novels: Potted Meat (Tarpaulin Sky, 2016), water & power (Tarpaulin Sky, 2018), and Tannery Bay (FC2/University of Alabama Press, 2024), which is co-authored with his homie Katie Jean Shinkle. Mathieu Cailler is the author of seven books: one novel, two short story collections, two volumes of poetry, and two children's titles. His stories, poems, and essays have appeared in over one hundred publications, including Wigleaf, the Saturday Evening Post, and the Los Angeles Times. He is the winner of numerous awards, most notably a Pushcart Prize; a Short Story America Prize; and the Paris, Los Angeles, and New England Book Festival Prizes. Connect with him on social media @writesfromla. www.stevencdunn.com Gerardo Pacheco Matus is a Mayan Native and an award-winning poet and educator. Pacheco teaches at Cañada College and writes poetry in California. Recently he won third place in the Southern Collective Experience's Latin-American chapbook contest. Patrick Davis was born on November 12, 1976, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The son of Rusty and Jean Davis, He was raised in Camden, South Carolina before moving to Nashville, Tennessee.[1] to pursue a career in music. Davis attended Camden High School in Camden, South Carolina where he was an honors student and athlete. His interest in music began during high school, and at the age of 16 he joined his father on stage for his first ever performance. His talent developed throughout high school and into his college career at University of South Carolina, where he earned a bachelor's degree in History. It was during this time he became a mainstay of the Columbia, South Carolina music scene and decided to become a professional musician. www.patrickdavismusic.com Jake Diaz is a bartender, mixologist, and loving father to two beautiful daughters. I've been behind the pine for almost 11 years with varied experience that started in fine dining but expanded into many types of bars and restaurants. He's consulted with restauranteurs and bartenders alike as well as teaching zero-proof cocktail classes and is currently studying to be a wine sommelier. His goal is to take great care of people and to spread good bartending habits to professionals and amateurs alike which motivates him to be his best to provide for humanity. If you're ever in the mountains of North Carolina come to The Crown in Brasstown, NC for a unique yet comforting bar experience. thecrownbrasstown.com www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1252282661 Additional Music Provided By: Larkin Poe: www.larkinpoe.com Special Thanks Goes to: Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Bright Hill Press: brighthillpress.org UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org Liberty Trust Hotel: www.libertytrusthotel.com NPR: https: www.npr.org WUTC: www.wutc.org Alain Johannes for the original score in this show: www.alainjohannes.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com
June 2024 Dante's Old South Marcella Prokop is a Colombian American writer and educator living in the northern Great Plains region of the US. Her work has appeared online or in print in the Brooklyn Review, Ploughshares, The Christian Science Monitor, PANK, and other publications. Blog: marcellaprokop.com TedX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn63z6p30TQ facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcella.prokop LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/marcella-prokop X: @MarcellaProkop Nick Kelsh is an author, photographer, and teacher living in upstate New York. He has written and/or photographed nine books including Siblings and Naked Babies with Pulitzer Prize winning author, Anna Quindlen. Kelsh has appeared on The Today Show and Oprah multiple times. www.howtophotographyourlife.com Devon Allman is an American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and record producer. He is the son of musician and singer-songwriter Gregg Allman and has appeared occasionally as a guest musician for Gregg Allman and The Allman Brothers Band. Allman was the founder and bandleader of Honeytribe, also known as Devon Allman's Honeytribe, with whom he released two albums and toured across North America and Europe. Prior to Honeytribe, Allman contributed to several other musical recordings, notably Vargas Blues Band and the A Song for My Father compilation album. He was one of the original members of Royal Southern Brotherhood and contributed to their first two studio albums and toured with them. In 2013, Allman launched his solo career as the Devon Allman Band, and has since released three albums. His latest tour, branded as the Devon Allman Project, features special guest Duane Betts. devonallmanproject.com Julie Stevenson is a literary agent with Massie & McQuilkin in New York. She represents literary and upmarket fiction, suspense, memoir, graphic novels, narrative nonfiction, young adult fiction and children's picture books. She is drawn to storytelling with unforgettable characters, an authorial command of voice, and a strong sense of narrative tension. She looks for work that both entertains and explores the depths of human experience. She's agented #1 New York Times bestsellers and books that have won the Pulitzer Prize, the MWA Edgar Award, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the Carnegie Medal for Excellence, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Caldecott Honor. Before she became an agent, Julie worked in the editorial departments of Tin House and Publishers Weekly. Julie grew up in Missoula, Montana and received her bachelor's degree in English Literature from Washington University in St. Louis and an M.F.A in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College in New York. www.mmqlit.com www.instagram.com/juliestevensonpfarr/ https://x.com/StevensonPfarr Additional Music Provided By: Larkin Poe: www.larkinpoe.com Special Thanks Goes to: Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Bright Hill Press: brighthillpress.org UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org Liberty Trust Hotel: www.libertytrusthotel.com NPR: https: www.npr.org WUTC: www.wutc.org Alain Johannes for the original score in this show: www.alainjohannes.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com
May 2024 Dante's Kristen Arnett is the queer author of With Teeth: A Novel (Riverhead Books, 2021) which was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in fiction and the New York Times bestselling debut novel Mostly Dead Things (Tin House, 2019). Her next novel, STOP ME IF YOU'VE HEARD THIS ONE, will be published by Riverhead Books (March 2025). www.kristenarnettwriter.com Lane Marie is an indie pop artist born, raised, and based out of Athens, Georgia. Her music combines her roots as a classically trained musician, with honest songwriting and alternative pop production chops. Drawing inspiration from artists like Brooke Fraser, Maggie Rogers, and Madison Cunningham, Lane Marie has found a voice truly her own. Released in 2019, Lane Marie's first EP was written out of the experience of the unexpected loss of her father. It explores the grief of losing a loved one, and the journey of finding meaning in their absence. Since then, Lane Marie has sold out regional venues and continued to release singles in preparation for the release of a full album. Follow along with Lane Marie: lanemarie.com https://www.instagram.com/lanemariemusic/ https://www.tiktok.com/@lanemariemusic https://open.spotify.com/artist/5xproO4fQqo0t1wLoXXJcs?si=HEKjixbcRdaBTLI-T4Uhhw Chloé Firetto-Toomey is a British-American poet and essayist living in Miami. She earned an MFA degree from Florida International University and her most recent chapbook of poems, Little Cauliflower, was published in 2019 by Dancing Girl Press. A Pushcart Prize nominee, and winner of the Scotti Merrill Memorial Award in Poetry, you can find her poems, essays, and short stories at poets.org, SWIMM, december, Tupelo Quarterly, The Offing, among others. She is an Author Assistant to President Obama's Inaugural Poet, Richard Blanco. uk.linkedin.com/in/chlo%C3%A9-firetto-toomey-801887215 Olivia Muñoz is a Chicana writer and educator from Saginaw, Michigan. Her work appears or is forthcoming from About Place Journal, San Pedro River Review, Thimble Literary Magazine, and other publications. Special Thanks Goes to: Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Englund Estate: englundestate.com UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org Liberty Trust Hotel: www.libertytrusthotel.com NPR: https: www.npr.org WUTC: https: www.wutc.org Alain Johannes for the original score in this show: www.alainjohannes.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com/p/home
April 2024 Dante's Old South January Gill O'Neil is an associate professor at Salem State University, and the author of Glitter Road (2024), Rewilding (2018), Misery Islands (2014), and Underlife (2009), all published by CavanKerry Press. From 2019-2020, she served as the John and Renée Grisham Writer in Residence at the University of Mississippi, Oxford. She lives in Beverly, Massachusetts. And, my social media so you can tag me: TwitterX: @januaryoneil | Instagram: @januarygilloneil | Facebook: /january.oneil Website: www.januarygilloneil.com Robert Petrillo is a retired English teacher who's currently on the editing team for the OLLI arts and literature journal at the University of Southern Maine, where he also facilitates a poetry workshop. He's been published in several literary journals, as well as in the anthology A Dangerous New World: Maine Voices on the Climate Crisis. His first book, What Passes For a Life, is forthcoming from SCE Press. He lives in Westbrook, Maine. Social Media: TwitterX: @robpetrillo1 / Facebook: Robert Petrillo / Email: robertpetrillo111@gmail.com Michael Jann is an Emmy-nominated late-night comedy writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon for over two decades. He currently teaches screenwriting at UCLA Extension, and writes screenplays with his wife Michele Jourdan, a writer and a gold-medal winning bodybuilder. Michele likes working out so much, she actually married a dumbbell: Mike. www.imdb.com/name/nm0417793/ Tae Lewis, a North Carolina native. discovered his passion for music in church, sparked by Gospel melodies and a serendipitous encounter that led him to love country music at just 13. Despite initial resistance from his family, he immersed himself in the genre. Influenced by Rascal Flatts, Dan & Shay, and Vince Gill, who have all helped shape his distinct sound, making him a true standout in the music city. His breakthrough came with a Sync Placement on the hit TV show "Shameless" for his track "Good Luvin," earning him national recognition. In the Summer of 2023, Tae was also named the Tractor Supply Emerging Artist of the year, receiving mentorship from country music superstars Lauren Alaina and Lainey Wilson. He is also recognized on Season 25 of THE VOICE. www.taelewis.com Special Thanks Goes to: Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through his website: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable course on creative writing as a profession here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com/p/the-working-writer
March 2024 Dante's Old South Chelsey Clammer is the award-winning author of the essay collections Human Heartbeat Detected (Red Hen Press, 2022), Circadian (Red Hen Press, 2017), and BodyHome (Hopewell Publications, 2015). Her work has appeared in Salon, The Rumpus, Brevity, and McSweeney's, among many others. She teaches online writing classes with WOW! Women On Writing and is a freelance editor. www.chelseyclammer.com Dan Veach is the founding editor of Atlanta Review. A poet and translator of Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, and Anglo-Saxon, Dan has won the Willis Barnstone Translation Prize and an Independent Publisher Book Award. His books include Elephant Water, Lunchboxes, Flowers of Flame: Unheard Voices of Iraq, Beowulf & Beyond, Songs of The Cid, and Returning Home: The Poetry of Tao Yuan-ming. Dan has performed his poetry worldwide, including Oxford University, People's University in Beijing, the American University in Cairo, and the Adelaide Festival in Australia. https://irisbooks.com/authors/dan-veach/ Elizabeth Cox has published five novels, a collection of short stories, and a book of poetry. She has won the North Carolina Fiction Award, the Lillian Smith Award for a novel, and in 2013 she was awarded the Robert Penn Warren Award for Fiction. Cox taught creative writing at Duke for seventeen years, and also taught at Wofford College, Bennington College, Boston College, and MIT. She resides in Spartanburg, South Carolina. www.mupress.org/cw_contributorinfo.aspx?ContribID=6439&Name=Elizabeth+Barks+Cox Music by: Patrice Pike Wilder Adkins wilderadkins.bandcamp.com Special Thanks Goes to: Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through his website: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable course on creative writing as a profession here: brooks sessions.teachable.com/p/the-working-writer
February 2024 Dante's Old South Autumn Nicholas: (she/he/they/them) Autumn Nicholas is a gifted songwriter and performer who has amazed audiences around the country. Autumn is one of Music Forward Foundation's Emerging LGBTQ+ Artists for 2023 and one of Nashville Scene's Country Music Almanac 2024 Artists to Watch. www.autumnnicholas.com Emily Strasser's first book, Half-Life of a Secret, is a deeply researched memoir that traces her journey to reckon with the toxic legacies of secrecy of her grandfather's work building nuclear weapons in the atomic city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Emily's work has appeared in Catapult, Ploughshares, Guernica, Colorado Review, The Bitter Southerner, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and Gulf Coast, among others. She was also the presenter of the 2020 BBC podcast “The Bomb.” www.emilystrasser.com Kayla Lookinghorse stands apart from other designers because of her hunkpapa/Itazipco Lakota/Dakota heritage and the way it is artfully woven into her designs. K. Lookinghorse is a contemporary brand that honors the designer's heritage with an aesthetic specific to her tiospaye (family). Her signature symbols, three lines Horizontal pays homage to the past, present and future. As a mother, designer, artist, and tribal citizen, Kayla Lookinghorse has forged her own path by creating iconic printed dresses and signature jackets which are the cornerstone of the K.lookinghorse brand. Working toward bridging the gap and creating space for Authentic-Inspired Native design, not Native-Inspired. From her creations to your closest shop, her collections naturally empower through storytelling and design. www.klookinghorse.com Wilder Adkins is a folk musician, dad, librarian, and gardener from Birmingham, AL. He loves the weight of handmade quilts, and his songs are kind of heavy and comfortable like that. In late summer he can be found every day out by the fig tree scaring away the birds and looking for ripe fruit (for making jam). In winter, he retreats into a cave to sleep for three months and process all that he's learned that year. He's friendly, but you might have to speak to him first. His songs call on an array of influences but frequently touch on the topics of Hope & Sorrow, Faith & Doubt, and sometimes flowers. www.wilderadkins.com Ellen Bass's poetry collections include Indigo, Like a Beggar, The Human Line, and Mules of Love. Among her awards are Fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and The NEA, The Lambda Literary Award, and four Pushcart Prizes. With Florence Howe, she co-edited the first major anthology of women's poetry, No More Masks! and she co-authored the groundbreaking, The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse and Free Your Mind: The Book for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Youth—and Their Allies. A Chancellor Emerita of the Academy of American Poets, Bass founded poetry workshops at Salinas Valley State Prison and the Santa Cruz jails, and teaches in Pacific University's MFA program. www.ellenbass.com Special Thanks Goes to: Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through his website: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com/p/the-working-writer
January 2024 Dante's Old South Stuart Dischell is the author of Good Hope Road (Viking), a National Poetry Series Selection, Evenings & Avenues (Penguin), Dig Safe (Penguin), Backwards Days (Penguin), Standing on Z (Unicorn), Children with Enemies (Chicago), and The Lookout Man (Chicago). His newest work is Andalusian Visions (Unicorn), a book of poetry, photography, and music with international collaborators Cyril Caine and Laurent Estoppey. His poems have appeared in The Atlantic, Agni, The New Republic, Slate, Kenyon Review, Ploughshares, and numerous national and international anthologies, such as Best American Poetry, Good Poems, and the Pushcart Prize. He is the recipient of awards from the NEA, the North Carolina Arts Council, the Ledig-Rowohlt Foundation. and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, he teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. www.stuartdischellpoetry.com Rissi Palmer's gift lies in reaching across all musical boundaries. While she made her mark in Country Music, she is equally at home in R&B music, bringing the entire spectrum of popular music to bear on music she calls “Southern Soul.” The daughter of Georgia natives, Rissi was born near Pittsburgh, PA and spent her adolescent years in St. Louis, Missouri. Raised in a musical family that loved both country and R&B, Rissi was part of a singing and dancing troupe sponsored by a local television station at age 16, and by the time she was 19 years old, she had already been offered her first publishing and label deal. A few highlights throughout her musical career include performances at The White House, New York's Lincoln Center and multiple appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. She has toured extensively across the country and has made numerous national appearances on Oprah & Friends, CMT Insider, CNN, CBS This Morning, GMA, Entertainment Tonight, and FOX Soul's "The Book of Sean" and has been featured in Associated Press, Ebony, Essence, Huffington Post, New York Times, Newsweek, NPR's "All Things Considered", PEOPLE, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. www.RissiPalmerMusic.com. Justin Hamm's most recent book is Drinking Guinness with the Dead: Poems 2007-2021 (Spartan Press 2022). He is the Executive Editor of the Museum of Americana and the creator of Poet Baseball Cards. His poems, photos, stories, and reviews appear in numerous journals. He is a 2022 Woody Guthrie Poet and a recipient of the Stanley Hanks Memorial Poetry Prize. www.justinhamm.net Heather Hartley is the author of Adult Swim and Knock Knock both from Carnegie Mellon University Press. She was the long-time Paris editor at Tin House magazine. Her short fiction, essays, poems and interviews have appeared in or on PBS Newshour, The Guardian, The Literary Review, Slice and other venues. She has presented writers at Shakespeare and Company Bookshop in Paris and has taught creative writing at the American University of Paris and the University of Texas El Paso MFA Online program. She teaches in the Master's program at the University of Kent (UK) Paris School of Arts and Culture. www.heatherhartleyink.com Additional Music by: Wilder Adkins https://wilderadkins.com/ https://wilderadkins.bandcamp.com/ Special Thanks Goes to: Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through his website: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com/p/the-working-writer
December 2023 Dante's Old South The Boxmasters (JD Andrew and Billy Bob Thornton): As a touring band, The Boxmasters have cultivated a rabid cult fanbase across the United States and Canada. Opening for the likes of ZZ Top, Steve Miller, George Thorogood and Kid Rock, The Boxmasters have proven to win over large audiences. As a headliner, frequent stops in Kansas City at “Knuckleheads”, Springfield, Illinois at “Boondocks” and “Merrimack Hall” in Huntsville, Alabama have shown dedicated yet still growing audiences. The Boxmasters performed on “The Grand Ole Opry” in 2015, another in a growing resume of must-play venues. https://theboxmasters.com/ Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum is an author, editor, & ghostwriter. He is Author of three poetry collections, Fight or Flight, Visiting Hours, and Ghost Gear; Assistant Director of the Owsley Fork Writer & Sanctuary; Founder and Editor of PoemoftheWeek.com, The Floodgate Poetry Series, and Apocalypse Now: Poems & Prose from the End of Days; and Acquisitions Editor for Upper Rubber Boot Books. Connect with him at AndrewMK.com or via social media. www.andrewMK.com Poemoftheweek.com Susan Beckham Zurenda taught English for 33 years on the college level and at the high school level to AP students. Her debut novel, Bells for Eli (Mercer University Press, March 2020; paperback edition March 2021), garnered five awards including first place for Best First Book in the 2021 IPPY Awards. Susan has won numerous awards for her short fiction. Her second novel, The Girl From the Red Rose Motel, (Mercer University Press, September 2023) has been named a finalist in the American Book Fest Awards, is a 2023 Shelf Unbound Notable 100 book, and has been nominated for a 2024 Pushcart Prize. The author lives in Spartanburg, SC. Learn more at www.susanzurenda.com Stevie Edwards is the author of Quiet Armor, Sadness Workshop, Humanly, and Good Grief. Her poems have appeared in Poetry, American Poetry Review, The Southern Review, and elsewhere. She is a Lecturer at Clemson University and Poetry Editor of The South Carolina Review. She holds an MFA from Cornell University and a PhD from the University of North Texas. Connor Judson Garrett is a storyteller and a Co-founder of Lucid House Publishing. His obsession with words led him to treat his own life like a story, chasing experiences from Los Angeles to Beirut, Lebanon, while building brands and writing books along the way. Garrett is the author of the novel Falling Up in The City of Angels and the co-author of the Book Excellence Awards Finalist in the Young Adult genre Spellbound Under The Spanish Moss. LucidHousePublishing.com PublishProfitably.com Kevin N. Garrett is an advertising and lifestyle photographer has won awards for clients that include Audi, Google, The Coca-Cola Company, McDonald's, Nike, Westin, The Ritz-Carlton Company, the states of Georgia and New Mexico, and Norwegian Cruise Lines. KevinGarrett.com Nicole Witt is a nationally touring, award-winning songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for her soaring melodies and clever turns of phrase. She just released her first EP “Clear” and finished her first-ever solo European tour. www.nicolewitt.com Insta, FB, YOUTUBE, TikTok: @nicolewittmusic Additional Music by: Wilder Adkins: https://wilderadkins.com/ Special Thanks Goes to: Wild Honey Tees: www.wildhoneytees.com Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through his website: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com/p/the-working-writer
November 2023 Dante's Old South Richard Blanco Selected by President Obama as the fifth Presidential Inaugural Poet in U.S. history, Richard Blanco was the youngest, the first Latinx, immigrant, and gay person to serve in that role. In 2023, Blanco was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Biden from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Born in Madrid to Cuban exile parents and raised in Miami in a working-class family, Blanco's personal negotiation of cultural identity and the universal themes of place and belonging characterize Blanco's many collections of poetry, including his most recent, Homeland of My Body, which reassesses traditional notions of home as strictly a geographical, tangible place that merely exists outside us, but rather, within us. He has also authored the memoirs FOR ALL OF US, ONE TODAY: AN INAUGURAL POET'S JOURNEY and THE PRINCE OF LOS COCUYOS: A MIAMI CHILDHOOD. Blanco has received numerous awards, including the Agnes Starrett Poetry Prize, the PEN American Beyond Margins Award, the Patterson Prize, and a Lambda Prize for memoir. He was Woodrow Wilson Fellow and has received numerous honorary degrees. Currently, he serves as Education Ambassador for The Academy of American Poets and is an Associate Professor at Florida International University. In April 2022, Blanco was appointed the first-ever Poet Laureate of Miami-Dade County. FB: @RichardBlancoPoetry IG: @poetrichardblanco Twitter: @rblancopoet Website: https://richard-blanco.com/ Christa Wells is a singer-songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee, with 20+ years of experience in the music industry. As an independent artist, Christa has released seven solo albums plus several collaborations, developing a signature alt-pop sound that is fresh, soulful and enduring. Her recent albums Velveteen, Pacific, and Redwood chronicle her healing journey through suffering into awakening and aliveness. She has self-published two collections of poetry and prose (Beloved and Before It Gets Lighter) with a third on the way. Wells is also co-founder of ARTIST AND, a creative community which seeks to empower artists through a variety of workshops, retreats and a nine-month creative mastermind program. An award-winning songwriter, Christa has written hit songs for and with Nashville artists such as Natalie Grant, Plumb, and Ellie Holcomb. WEBSITE: https://www.christawellsmusic.com/ ARTIST AND: https://www.artistand.org/ PATREON PAGE: https://www.patreon.com/christawells MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/christa-wells/419222522 Meet Misty Ann, the powerhouse behind Wild Honey Tees, a Southern mama-owned t-shirt haven. With a heart as warm as a Georgia summer and a keen sense of Southern charm, she infuses her designs with a touch of hospitality. From sweet tea sippin' to front porch rockin', Misty's tees capture the essence of Southern living, making her business a true reflection of mama's love and grace. www.wildhoneytees.com Anders Carlson-Wee is the author of Disease of Kings (W.W. Norton, 2023), The Low Passions (W.W. Norton, 2019), a New York Public Library Book Group Selection, and Dynamite (Bull City Press, 2015), winner of the Frost Place Chapbook Prize. He is represented by Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents and lives in Los Angeles. Special Thanks Goes to: Wild Honey Tees: www.wildhoneytees.com Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks' , The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through his website: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com/p/the-working-writer
October 2023 Dante's Old South Lizzie Thomas "Thomas is a storyteller. Her interpretations cut to the heart of the lyric." Marilyn Lester, NYC Jazz Record "She brings an interpretive depth to everything." Nic Jones, Jazz Journal UK Lizzie Thomas is an inventive jazz vocalist known for her sultry vocal stylings and deep interpretations of the lyric. Thomas' latest release, Duo Encounters on Dot Time Records cements her stature as one of New York's top jazz singers. Alongside the “who's who” of Jazz, Lizzie has had the privilege of collaborating with Ron Carter, Russell Malone, John Di Martino, Wayne Escoffery, Helio Alves, Noriko Ueda, Guilherme Monteiro among others. Lizzie has graced the stages of prestigious venues worldwide. Notables include Birdland Jazz Club NYC, Sunset/Sunside Paris, Toulouse Lautrec London, and Blues Alley DC. Ms. Thomas captivates with her attractive musical personality and stunning vocal facility whether scatting at fast tempos or caressing a tender ballad. Ms. Thomas continues to tour internationally with a live concert recording in Augsburg, Germany, March 2024 with Dot Time Records. “Her pitch and sense of time are flawless.” Scott Yanow LA JAZZSCENE www.Lizziethejazzsinger.com Lizzie"s EPK https://www.lizziethejazzsinger.com/epk 29K fans on IG @lizziethejazzsinger YouTube @lizziethejazzsinger 8K fans on FB @Lizziethejazzsinger www.Lizziethejazzsinger.com Ana María Caballero's work explores how biology delimits societal and cultural rites, ripping the veil off romanticized motherhood and questioning notions that package sacrifice as a virtue. She's the recipient of the Beverly International Prize, Colombia's José Manuel Arango National Poetry Prize, the Steel Toe Books Poetry Prize, and a Sevens Foundation Grant. Her Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net-nominated work has been widely published and exhibited internationally, recently at bitforms, Gazelli Art House, UNIT, and L'Avant Galerie Vossen. She became the first artist to sell a poem at live auction in Spain, and her digital poems have been released by Diario ABC, TimePieces and Playboy. Recognized as a Web3 poetry pioneer, her work has been covered by major media outlets, and she regularly speaks at leading global events. The author of five books, with a sixth forthcoming in 2024, she's also the co-founder of digital poetry gallery theVERSEverse. anamariacaballero.com IG: @anamariacaballero Twitter: @CaballeroAnaMa Caridad Moro-Gronlier is the author of Tortillera (TRP 2021), winner of The TRP Southern Poetry Breakthrough Series and the chapbook Visionware (FLP 2009). She is a Contributing Editor for Grabbed: Poets and Writers Respond to Sexual Assault (Beacon Press, 2020) and Associate Editor for SWWIM Every Day an online daily poetry journal. Book Link: https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781680033427/tortillera/ Website: www.caridadmoro.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caridad.moro.gronlier/ Instagram: @caridadmoro Songs: “If I Had Wings” by The Boxmasters. On Spotify. “Lush Life” by Lizzie Thomas. On Spotify. “Come As You Are” (cover) by Christa Wells. On Spotify. Instrumental by: Justin Johnson: www.justinjohnsonlive.com On Spotify. Special Thanks Goes to: Wild Honey Tees: www.wildhoneytees.com Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com UCLA Extension Writing Program: https://www.uclaextension.edu/ The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through his website: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com/p/the-working-writer
September 2023 Dante's Oliver de la Paz is the Poet Laureate of Worcester, MA for 2023-2025. He is the author and editor of seven books: Names Above Houses, Furious Lullaby, Requiem for the Orchard, Post Subject: A Fable, and The Boy in the Labyrinth, a finalist for the Massachusetts Book Award in Poetry. His newest work, The Diaspora Sonnets, is published by Liveright Press (2023) and is longlisted for the National Book Award. With Stacey Lynn Brown he co-edited A Face to Meet the Faces: An Anthology of Contemporary Persona Poetry. Oliver serves as the co-chair of the Kundiman advisory board. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Poetry, American Poetry Review, and elsewhere. He has received grants from the NEA, NYFA, the Artist's Trust, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship, and has been awarded multiple Pushcart Prizes. He teaches at the College of the Holy Cross and in the Low-Residency MFA Program at PLU. Website: https://www.oliverdelapaz.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oliver.delapaz1 Instagram: odelapaz Twitter (X): @Oliver_delaPaz Threads; @odelapaz Blue Sky: @oliverdelapaz.bsky.social TikTok: odeladog27 Lynne Kemen lives in Upstate New York. Her chapbook, More Than a Handful, was published in 2020. She is published in Silver Birch Press, The Ravens Perch, Poetica Review, Stone Canoe, Spillwords, Topical Poetry, Fresh Words, The Ekphrastic Review, Lothlorien Poetry, and Blue Mountain Review. Lynne is the Interim President of Bright Hill Press. She is an Editor for the Blue Mountain Review and a lifetime member of The Southern Collective Experience. She has a new book, Shoes for Lucy, that will be published in early 2023 by SCE. website: https://lynnekemen.com/ Facebook: Lynne Kemen Twitter (X): @psychadv Instagram: lynnekemen Luke Johnson is the author of Quiver (Texas Review Press), a finalist for The Jake Adam York Prize, The Levis Award, The Vassar Miller Prize and the Brittingham. His second book A Slow Indwelling, a call and response with the poet Megan Merchant, is forthcoming from Harbor Editions Fall 2024. You can find more of his work at Kenyon Review, Prairie Schooner, Narrative Magazine, Poetry Northwest and elsewhere. Connect on Twitter at @Lukesrant or through email: writerswharfmb@gmail.com. Website: lukethepoet.com Songs Provided by: Christa Wells www.patreon.com/christawells https://open.spotify.com/artist/3gCNiuPNPiAA5UQSgb8Uby?si=2PSZA0SJQrmnwme_fP6kbw Instrument by: Justin Johnson www.justinjohnsonlive.com https://open.spotify.com/artist/151RUyDTIDJM8gXwGJbv7z?si=Ti4xx1_kTIGTJgEa182Rew Special Thanks Goes to: Wild Honey Tees: www.wildhoneytees.com Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com UCLA Extension Writing Program: The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org Mr. Classic's Haberdashery: theemanor.org Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through his website: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: brookssessions.teachable.com
August 2023 Dante's Old South Jeffrey Dale Lofton hails from Warm Springs, Georgia, best known as the home of Roosevelt's Little White House but calls the nation's capital home now. He is a senior advisor at the Library of Congress, surrounded by books and people who love books—in short, paradise. Red Clay Suzie is his first novel, a fictionalized memoir written through his personal lens growing up a queer, physically-misshapen outsider in a conservative family and community in the Deep South. It has won the Seven Hills Literary Prize for Fiction and was recently longlisted for The Center for Fiction 2023 First Novel Prize. www.jeffreydlofton.com Moni Basu is the director of the MFA in Narrative Nonfiction and the Charlayne Hunter-Gault Distinguished Writer in Residence at the University of Georgia. She is an award-winning veteran journalist who worked at CNN, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and various other news outlets. Born in Kolkata, India, Basu grew up straddling two cultures. As such, her work has explored race and identity as well as immigration. She has reported exhaustively from South Asia and the Middle East. Her 2012 e-book, Chaplain Turner's War grew from a series of stories on an Army chaplain in Iraq. A platoon sergeant named her “Evil Reporter Chick,” which became the name of her blog, and she was featured once as a war reporter in a Marvel comics series. https://online.uga.edu/degrees-certificates/low-residency-mfa-narrative-nonfiction https://grady.uga.edu/academics/low-residency-master-fine-arts-narrative-media-writing/ After a colorful life spanning four continents and 16 cities, she earned her keep as cook, chambermaid, waitress, fisherwoman, missionary, speaker/teacher, and academic editor and tutor, Marilyn Kriete now lives in British Columbia, Canada Her first memoir, Paradise Road, relates the runaway/hippie/bicycling odyssey that led to the next chapters of her unconventional life. The Box Must be Empty is her second memoir. You can follow her writing journey at www.MarilynKriete.com. Special Thanks Goes to: Wild Honey Tees: www.wildhoneytees.com The Crown: thecrownbrasstown.com Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org Mr. Classic's Haberdashery: theemanor.org Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
Luke Johnson is the author of Quiver (Fall 2023) with Texas Review Press & A Slow Indwelling (Harbor Editions 2024), a collaborative work with the poet Megan Merchant. Quiver was a finalist for the Levis Prize with Four Way Press, The Vassar Miller Award, the Jake Adam York with Milkweed and the Brittingham & Pollock through University of Wisconsin. His poems can be found in Kenyon Review, Prairie Schooner, Narrative, Florida Review, Poetry Northwest & elsewhere. You can buy my book on Amazon: https://shorturl.at/ekNS6 And through the press: https://shorturl.at/uA089 Connect on Twitter at @Lukesrant or Facebook Website: www.lukethepoet.com __________________ N.A. Windsor is the Program Manager of the UCLA Extension Writers' Program and the Co-Regional Advisor of the Los Angeles Region of SCBWI (Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators). In both posts, she organizes and produces writing events and conferences. In 2010 she founded the Children's Book Writers of Los Angeles (CBW-LA.org). Through her work with CBW-LA Publications, N.A. has co-created, co-produced, and co-written Story Sprouts and Story Sprouts: Voice. You can learn more about her at: https://www.nawindsor.com/ _____________________ Annette Sisson lives in Nashville, TN, where she is a professor at Belmont University. Her poems have appeared in Valparaiso Poetry Review, Birmingham Poetry Review, Glassworks, Rust and Moth, Blue Mountain Review, Citron Review, Lascaux Review, Cider Press Review, and others. Her book of poetry, Small Fish in High Branches, was published by Glass Lyre in 2022: https://glass-lyrepress.myshopify.com/collections/full-length-collections-1/products/small-fish-in-high-branches. Her poetry chapbook, A Casting Off, was published by Finishing Line in 2019: https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/a-casting-off-by-annette-sisson/. She was a Mark Strand Scholar for the 2021 Sewanee Writers' Conference and 2020 BOAAT Fellow. She won The Porch Writers' Collective's 2019 poetry prize. ___________________ Brooke McKinney is a poet and writer from South Georgia. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from Valdosta State University and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. Brooke's work was a finalist in the Key West Emerging Writer's Contest and the World's Best Short-Short Story. Her memoir in progress, Creatures Like Us, has received scholarships to the Sewanee Writers' Conference, Looking Glass Rock Writers' Conference, and Writers in Paradise. She is also the recipient of two Academy of American Poets Awards. _____________________ Music by: David Shaw: https://www.davidshaw.com/ Jacob Bryant: https://www.jacobbryantmusic.com/ Alicia Blue: https://aliciablue.com Special Thanks Goes to: Wild Honey Tees www.wildhoneytees.com The Crown www.thecrownbrasstown.com Mercer University Press www.mupress.org Mr. Classic's Haberdashery www.theemanor.org Woodbridge Inn www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com The Red Phone Booth www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
June 2023 Dante's Old South Felix Charin was born in Neustrelitz as the son of a German mother and a Russian father. As a child and teenager, he performed at the Landestheater Neustrelitz and in a theater group in Bützow. During his school years, he lived temporarily in Russia and the United States. In 2012, he completed his degree at the HFF (University of Television and Film) in Munich. His diploma film at the HFF Munich was "Leben Lassen" which he produced in collaboration with Arte and BR, wrote the screenplay for, and directed. The 29-minute short film tells the story of a Russian caregiver who takes care of an 89-year-old dementia patient with a Nazi past. Charin won the Kodak Eastman Award at the Hofer Filmtage for "Leben Lassen"and was nominated for the German Short Film Award and the First Steps Awards. The film, like his debut film"Therapie" (2016), received the "Highly Valuable" rating from the German Film and Media Evaluation (FBW). https://www.youtube.com/@grim.hustle https://grimhustle.com/ Jennie Miller Helderman is an Alabama writer transplanted to Atlanta in her gray-haired years. She's taught school in rural Alabama. rafted through the Grand Canyon, and worked at Pompeii. She's won awards for nonfiction and a Pushcart Prize nomination for fiction. Her next book will tell funny true stories for people who have had enough breaking news. https://www.jenniehelderman.com/ Music by: David Shaw https://open.spotify.com/artist/6CzswKAZkHvgH3qu6wqkHe?si=KrRTramfSueoUmw hkhUBuQ Michael Amidei: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3jOCTMzeaimQqPabIhQXeF?si=K7sahMRaTAuCNA8y DcKavw Special Thanks Goes to: The Crown: https://thecrownbrasstown.com/ Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Liberty Trust Hotel: https: www.libertytrusthotel.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
Eric Akoto, FRSA, is a British-Ghanaian-American entrepreneur and the founder of Litro Media Inc, publishing platforms such as Litro Magazine and Crayon Magazine to spotlight emerging and established global talents. Akoto is also the founder of Gemini Productions, a production company committed to bringing inspiring narratives to life. Akoto's initiatives reflect his commitment to international literature, arts, and digital innovation. Raised with roots in Britain, Ghana, and the U.S., Akoto's work disrupts traditional publishing gatekeeping, championing diversity, inclusivity, and creative empowerment. www.litromagazine.com/usa/ www.litromagazine.com/masterclasses/ Annie McDonnell's thoughtful book reviews won a regular spot with Elle Magazine in 2006. She soon launched her blog The Write Review. After she was declared permanently disabled in 2014, she devoted herself full-time to the literary community and became known as one of its best book reviewers. Annie has written articles and endorsements for authors, conducted author interviews; and consulted with authors on promotions and events. She continues to do so as her health allows. In addition, she administers the Write Review and World of the Write Review on Facebook. What makes her debut memoir Annie's Song: Dandelions, Dreams and Dogs even more remarkable is that much of it was written since Annie was told in January 2020 that she must go into hospice and was given last rites. An advocate for literacy, animal rescue, and those with disabilities, Annie is donating the proceeds from her cross-genre memoir--which hit top spots on Amazon's Hot New Releases charts in Biographies/Memoirs of People with Disabilities, Poetry/Grief, Death and Bereavement, and Books by Irish Authors, among others --to nonprofits that serve those causes. https://linktr.ee/TheWriteReview Tommy Howell provided all the music you heard this evening. Follow for more bluesy soul here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1zfnn7xGx4coWQDZZb4N14?si=_EiGvem2RXmmIXM RqtrGPw www.youtube.com/channel/UCKroW6TAuWEXKMyUkRZa6sA https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001367/ Special Thanks Goes to: Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Liberty Trust Hotel: https: www.libertytrusthotel.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
Edgar Kunz is the author of the poetry collections Fixer (Ecco/HarperCollins, 2023) and Tap Out (Ecco/HarperCollins, 2019), a New York Times New & Noteworthy pick. He has been a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, a MacDowell Fellow, a Teaching Fellow at Vanderbilt University, and a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. New poems appear in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, POETRY, American Poetry Review, and Oxford American. He lives in Baltimore and teaches at Goucher College. www.edgarkunz.com Gregory Ariail grew up in Buford, Georgia. In 2019, I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail. I've earned degrees from Oxford University and the University of Michigan and recently completed my MFA at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. You might love cats as much as me, but you don't love them more. https://www.gregoryariail.com All Music Provided by Alicia Blue: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4suxU7SfC7vp6wMComAlQG?si=HC1MmtMjRdmTSyRuJXNmog Special Thanks goes to: Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Liberty Trust Hotel: www.libertytrusthotel.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
March 2023 Dante's Old South Alicia Blue It's difficult to pin down exact musical influences on Alicia Blue's Inner Child Work—and that's exactly how the California singer-songwriter likes it. Although her folk roots are never far from the surface, the album encompasses dreamy indie-rock ("Dog Days in L.A."), delicate pop meditations ("Saline Waters"), '90s alternative rock ("Dirty Hippie"), and even Tori Amos-esque introspection ("Fine"). Growing up in Los Angeles, Blue admired authors like Jack Kerouac and Joan Didion, as well as songwriter/poets like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Leonard Cohen. Inspired by music mentors such as the late Malcolm Clark Hayes, Jr., who had recorded for Liberty Records and toured with Little Richard in his youth, Blue found her identity as an insightful, poetic lyricist who isn't afraid to get deeply personal. Her songs grapple with long-overdue emotional reckonings, facing mortality and taking control of the turmoil in your life. Inner Child Work is an album that finds Blue examining who she was—and setting her sights on where she wants to be. "This album and my existence as an artist come from a need to connect and develop relationships—yet simultaneously I've always felt like this lone candle in a dark room," she says. "My artistry and the album have this wildness to them. But I can also feel this softening happening. Inner Child Work is caught right at the point of in-between, which I would call healing." Instagram.com/aliciabluemusic Twitter.com/aliciabluemusic Tiktok: @aliciabluemusic Facebook.com/aliciabluemusic Surrender Hill As the songwriters behind Surrender Hill, Robin and Afton Salmon play more than 200 shows annually, sharpening their blend of soul, country, and rock & roll one gig at a time. They aren't just an Americana duo; they are full-time world travelers, too, funneling their experiences into the story-driven songs and autobiographical anthems that fill albums like A Whole Lot of Freedom and their latest, Just Another Honky Tonk in a Quiet Western Town. Many of Surrender Hill's songs respond to the modern moment — songs about division, struggle, survival, and redemption, anchored by melodic hooks and diverse arrangements. Some songs nod to the band's longtime appreciation for mellow, melancholic Americana music. Others skew closer to honky-tonk and western swing, influenced by larger-than-life Texans like Bob Wills and Willie Nelson. facebook.com/surrenderhill instagram.com/surrenderhillmusic youtube.com/surrenderhillmusic linktr.ee/surrenderhill Michael Amidei is a musician, author, and podcaster based out of Denver, Colorado. He is the leader of the world-famous Flying W Wranglers, an author of books such as "The Fall", "The Adventure Chooses You", and "The Path" and is the host of "The Michael Amidei Show" and co-host of "This Business Of Music & Poetry". Instagram: www.Instagram.com/MichaelAmidei Facebook: www.Facebook.com/MichaelAmidei www.MichaelAmidei.com www.FlyingW.com Special Thanks Goes to: Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Liberty Trust Hotel: https: www.libertytrusthotel.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
Kendel Hippolyte was born in Castries, St. Lucia, in 1952. In the 1970s he studied and lived in Jamaica, receiving a BA from the University of the West Indies in 1976. Hippolyte is the author of several books of poetry, including Fault Lines (Peepal Tree Press, 2012), Night Vision (Triquarterly Books/Northwestern University Press, 2005), and Birthright (Peepal Tree Press, 1997). Of his work, Kwame Dawes writes, “One gets the sense of a writer working in a laboratory patiently, waiting for the right image to come, and then placing it there only when it comes.” Hippolyte, who is also a playwright and a director, is known for writing in Standard English, the varieties of Caribbean English, and in Kewyol, his national language. He is the editor of Confluence: Nine St. Lucian Poets (The Source, 1988) and the author of several plays, including The Drum-Maker in 1976 and Triptych in 2000. With his wife, the poet Jane King, he founded the Lighthouse Theatre Company in St. Lucia in 1984. In 2000, Hippolyte received the St. Lucia Medal of Merit for his service in the arts. He is also the recipient of the Bridget Jones Travel Award and Minvielle; Chastanet Fine Arts Awards in both literature and directing, among other honors and awards. Hippolyte taught theater arts and literature at Sir Arthur Lewis Community College from 1992 to 2007. He lives in St. Lucia. www.poets.org/poet/kendel-hippolyte Wang Ping (she/her/hers) is a poet, writer, photographer, installation artist, founder and director of Kinship of Rivers project (www.kinshipofrivers.org). Her multi-media exhibitions include “Kinship of Rivers: We Are Water,” “Behind the Gate: After the Flood of the Three Gorges,” and hundreds of other installation exhibitions at schools, colleges, galleries, museums, lock and dams, confluences around the world, including the interactive installations at the Everest (Tibet and Nepal sides) and Kilimanjaro. She authored 15 award-winning books of poetry, prose, and translations, including the Minnesota Book Award, Eugene Kagen and Asian American Studies awards.She's Professor Emerita of English at Macalester College. She is the recipient of NEA, Bush Artist Fellowship for poetry, McKnight Fellowship and Lannan Foundation Residency, Vermont Studio Art and many others. She received Distinct Immigrant Award in 2014, the Venezuela International Poet of Honor in 2015, and Minnesota Poet Laureate 2021-2023, appointed by the International Beat Poetry Foundation. www.wangping.com www.behindthegateexhibit.wangping.com www.kinshipofrivers.org Music by: Neal Francis: www.nealfrancis.com Warfield: open.spotify.com/artist/7FsYhkJR8zX4NeEqifNqDA?si=rnTxk0QCTzCSBO9BB8j5Eg Special Thanks Goes to: Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Liberty Trust Hotel: https: www.libertytrusthotel.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
Kendel Hippolyte was born in Castries, St. Lucia, in 1952. In the 1970s he studied and lived in Jamaica, receiving a BA from the University of the West Indies in 1976. Hippolyte is the author of several books of poetry, including Fault Lines (Peepal Tree Press, 2012), Night Vision (Triquarterly Books/Northwestern University Press, 2005), and Birthright (Peepal Tree Press, 1997). Of his work, Kwame Dawes writes, “One gets the sense of a writer working in a laboratory patiently, waiting for the right image to come, and then placing it there only when it comes.” Hippolyte, who is also a playwright and a director, is known for writing in Standard English, the varieties of Caribbean English, and in Kewyol, his national language. He is the editor of Confluence: Nine St. Lucian Poets (The Source, 1988) and the author of several plays, including The Drum-Maker in 1976 and Triptych in 2000. With his wife, the poet Jane King, he founded the Lighthouse Theatre Company in St. Lucia in 1984. In 2000, Hippolyte received the St. Lucia Medal of Merit for his service in the arts. He is also the recipient of the Bridget Jones Travel Award and Minvielle; Chastanet Fine Arts Awards in both literature and directing, among other honors and awards. Hippolyte taught theater arts and literature at Sir Arthur Lewis Community College from 1992 to 2007. He lives in St. Lucia. www.poets.org/poet/kendel-hippolyte Dinty W. Moore is author of the memoirs Between Panic & Desire and To Hell With It, and the writing guides Crafting the Personal Essay and The Mindful Writer, among other books. He has been published in Harpers, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, Creative Nonfiction, The Southern Review, Kenyon Review, The Georgia Review, and Utne Reader, among numerous other venues. Dinty lives just on the edge of Philadelphia. He is deathly afraid of polar bears. www.dintywmoore.com David Armand was born and raised in Louisiana. He has worked as a drywall hanger,a draftsman, and as a press operator in a flag printing factory. From 2017-2019, he served as Writer-in-Residence at Southeastern Louisiana University, where he is currently assistant professor of creative writing. In 2010, he won the George Garrett Fiction Prize for his first novel, The Pugilist's Wife, which was published by Texas Review Press. He has since published three more novels, three collections of poetry, and a memoir. His latest book, Mirrors, is forthcoming from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press. www.davidarmandauthor.com Music by: Jump Little Children: www.jumplittlechildren.com Lettuce: https: www.lettucefunk.com Special Thanks Goes to: Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Liberty Trust Hotel: https: www.libertytrusthotel.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
December 2022's Dante's Old South Jay Clifford, frontman of Jump Little Children: Jump, Little Children is an American indie rock band that was formed in 1991 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Known for its unique sound, energetic live performances, and willingness to interact with fans, the band has a devoted following and is a fixture in the Charleston, South Carolina music scene. Follow them here: https://www.jumplittlechildren.com/ The Writer's Hotel: Shanna McNair Founder of The Writer's Hotel writers conferences and The New Guard literary review. She writes prose, poetry and scripts and is an award-winning journalist. Read her latest short story on KGB Bar Lit with an intro by Rick Moody. More at www.writershotel.com! Scott Wolven is the author of the short story collection, Controlled Burn, and his work appears in Best American Noir of the Century, The Best American Mystery Stories series, Playboy Magazine and more. He was a Staff Writer for Season Two of "Hightown" for the STARZ TV network and Jerry Bruckheimer TV. He is a Consulting Director for The Writer's Hotel and Consulting Editor for The New Guard lit review. More at www.writershotel.com! Music is Provided by: Jump Little Children Opening Tune: Justin Johnson – follow him here: https://www.justinjohnsonlive.com/ “It' Christmas (And I Don't Feel a Thing)” – Michael Amidei Special Thanks Goes to: Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org Meadowbrook Inn: www.meadowbrook-inn.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
November 2022's Dante's Old South: Robert Pinsky is one of America's foremost poet-critics. He earned his BA from Rutgers University in 1962 and his MA and PhD in philosophy from Stanford University in 1966, where he was a Wallace Stegner Fellow in creative writing. Elected Poet Laureate of the United States in 1997, his tenure was marked by ambitious efforts to prove the power of poetry—not just as an intellectual pursuit in the ivory tower, but as a meaningful and integral part of American life. “I think poetry is a vital part of our intelligence, our ability to learn, our ability to remember, the relationship between our bodies and minds,” he told the Christian Science Monitor. “Poetry's highest purpose is to provide a unique sensation of coordination between the intelligence, emotions and the body. It's one of the most fundamental pleasures a person can experience.” His website is here: https://robertpinskypoet.com Ruth-Ann Thorn As the principal of Solana Beach-based EC Gallery, Ruth-Ann Thorn is that exceptional chameleon: Native American woman, art dealer, curator, Artist agent, and documentary filmmaker and celebrity host. With over 30 years of experience in the Fine Art world, Thorn is world-renowned for discovering artists and quite successfully bringing them to market prominence. Throughout her career, Thorn discovered many notable artists, among them Michael Flohr, Henry Asencio, Chuck Joseph, and Michael Summers. Her efforts have not only earned them all great art-centric recognition; the awareness has resulted in international acclaim for Artist and Gallerist. Check out more about her here: https://artofthecitytv.com/about/ The Main Squeeze created and performed all music on this program. Check out their website here: https://www.mainsqueezemusic.com/ Special Thanks Goes to: Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org Meadowbrook Inn: www.meadowbrook-inn.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through his website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
October 2022's Dante's Old South Dorothy Rompalske is the Director and Chairperson of the Screenwriting MFA program at the David Lynch Graduate School of Cinematic Arts at Maharishi International University. She is the author of both feature film and documentary screenplays, and her magazine articles and profiles have appeared in numerous publications. Originally from New York City, Rompalske graduated from the Journalism School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and went on to earn her MFA in production from the Graduate Film School at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. https://www.miu.edu/mfa-in-screenwriting Afreen Khundmiri graduated from Kennesaw State University with a degree in Finance and worked as an IT auditor for 8 years and is now pursuing to express herself through Art. She specializes in calligraphy, abstract art and Arabesque art. Her unique style of modern and old-world techniques brings about visually stimulating pieces that warm the heart and soul. Through proceeds from sales and generous donations, Afreen runs a not-for-profit charity to assist the less fortunate with medical care. Afreen is active in donating arts to several Non- Profits across the US. Her art was recently celebrated at Atlanta City Hall at the inaugural Religious Pluralism Day on April 4 th. She also takes commissioned orders and works with clients to create visually stimulating masterpieces. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram: Akartist All music in this program is provided by: David Huckfelt is a singer/lyricist/activist and founding frontman of Minneapolis indie-folk cult favorites The Pines. Hailing from small-town Iowa and a former theology student, Huckfelt attended the Iowa Writers Workshop undergrad program before turning his attention to songwriting and performing. In 2012 he met American Indian Movement leader & poet John Trudell on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, and their collaboration resulted in the song "Time Dreams" hailed by Democracy Now! and the last recording Trudell made before passing. Since then, Huckfelt has partnered with an array of Indigenous artists and activists including Winona LaDuke, Keith Secola, Quiltman, Gary Farmer and novelist Louise Erdrich in the fight for social justice and protection for Mother Earth. He is also the artistic director of the "Honor the Earth: Water Is Life'festival in Duluth, MN. LINKS: Website: https://www.davidhuckfelt.com/ Special Thanks Goes to: Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org Meadowbrook Inn: www.meadowbrook-inn.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks, The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
Rising Appalachia is a folk band with southern roots, founded by sisters Leah and Chloe Smith. Rising Appalachia has toured all over the world, from Italy to South America, to San Francisco and Leah and Chloe's hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. These multi-talented sisters write their own songs, play several instruments including guitar, banjo, and fiddle, and have been releasing music since 2005. They currently have 7 albums in their discography, their most recent album called “The Lost Mystique of Being in the Know” was released in 2021. Leah and Chloe are passionate about building bridges between cultures and stories within their music. This Business of Music & Poetry Podcast Rising Appalachia: https://www.risingappalachia.com/ Carmen Acevedo Butcher is the translator of The Cloud of Unknowing, a Georgia Author of the Year Awardee, and Practice of the Presence by Brother Lawrence. Her dynamic work in spirituality and the power of language has garnered interest from various media, including the BBC and NPR's Morning Edition. A Fulbright scholar at University of London and Fulbright Senior Lecturer at Sogang University, Carmen currently teaches in the College Writing Programs at UC Berkeley. You can find her online at www.carmenbutcher.com and https://linktr.ee/carmenacevedobutcher The host, Clifford Brooks, The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
Ellen Bass - A Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Ellen Bass's most recent book is Indigo (Copper Canyon Press, 2020). Among her awards are a Guggenheim Fellowship, NEA Fellowship, four Pushcart Prizes, and The Lambda Literary Award. Bass founded workshops at Salinas Valley State Prison and teaches in at Pacific University's MFA program. A Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Ellen Bass's most recent book is Indigo (Copper Canyon Press, 2020). Among her awards are a Guggenheim Fellowship, NEA Fellowship, four Pushcart Prizes, and The Lambda Literary Award. She coedited the first major anthology of women's poetry, No More Masks! (Doubleday, 1973) and coauthored The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (HarperCollins, 1988). Bass founded workshops at Salinas Valley State Prison and teaches in at Pacific University's MFA program. Follow me online: Ellenbass.com Twitter: @PoetEllenBass Facebook: @PoetEllenBass Instagram: @poetellenbass Marc Jolley (Ph.D., 1993) is the director of Mercer University Press and has been in publishing for more than 30 years. In his time at Mercer University Press, he has published more than 1,100 books. He is also senior lecturer at Mercer University teaching Philosophy and Great Books. He has been married for almost ten years to a woman whom he met on the first day of high school in 1973. He is the father of two adult sons.” www.mupress.org https://liberalarts.mercer.edu/faculty-and-staff/marc-jolley/ Mr. Classic is the CEO and designer of Mr. Classic's Haberdashery at Thee Manor in Atlanta Georgia. A one-stop shop for all things in custom made and classic menswear. From hats all the way down to shoes. His focus, mainly being to help individuals develop their personal style. Through the education of fashion and in custom garment designs, he has become the go-to designer for the elegant and high class. Instagram: therealmrclassic_ Website: https://theemanor.org/mr-classic-haberdashery YouTube: Conversations at Thee Manor https://youtube.com/channel/UC4zt1ky4SleVwvPqgV8XZYw All music features stems from the genius of Rising Appalachia: https://www.risingappalachia.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3I6e2ZqqoxQhXc9z7Tp5ci?si=obSHiukXSo6FaB4tL08VaA The host, Clifford Brooks works The Draw Of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere that books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles Of Eden, is only available through his website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: CliffordBrooks@SouthernCollectiveExperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com.
July 2022 Dante's Old South Christopher Moore is the New York Times best-selling author of 18 novels, including Lamb, A Dirty Job, Noir, and Razzmatazz. You can find his web site at chrismoore.com and follow him on Twitter at @theauthorguy. Lynne Kemen is a citizen of Upstate New York. Her chapbook, More Than a Handful, was published in 2020. She is published in Silver Birch Press, The Ravens Perch, Fresh Words Magazine, Spillwords, Topical Poetry, and Blue Mountain Review. Lynne stands on the Board of Bright Hill Press. She is an Editor for the Blue Mountain Review and a lifetime member of The Southern Collective Experience. Joshua Jennifer Espinoza is a trans woman poet. Her work has been featured in The Nation, Poetry Magazine, the American Poetry Review, Southeast Review, The Rumpus, Poem-a-day at poets.org, and elsewhere. She is the author of I'm Alive / It Hurts / I Love It (Big Lucks 2019) and THERE SHOULD BE FLOWERS (The Accomplices 2016). Her third collection, I Don't Want to Be Understood, is forthcoming from Alice James Books in 2024. She holds an MFA in poetry from UC Riverside, and currently teaches creative writing. Jennifer lives in California with her wife, poet/essayist Eileen Elizabeth, and their dog and cat. Here's the link to my book: https://bookshop.org/books/there-should-be-flowers/9781937865733 Special Thanks Goes to: Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org Meadowbrook Inn: www.meadowbrook-inn.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks, The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
June 2022 Dante's Old South Diane Seuss Winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry Winner of the 2021 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry Winner of the 2022 PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry Collection Winner of the 2021 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry Finalist for the 2022 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award “The sonnet, like poverty, teaches you what you can do / without,” Diane Seuss writes in this brilliant, candid work, her most personal collection to date. These poems tell the story of a life at risk of spilling over the edge of the page, from Seuss's working-class childhood in rural Michigan to the dangerous allures of New York City and back again. With sheer virtuosity, Seuss moves nimbly across thought and time, poetry and punk, AIDS and addiction, Christ and motherhood, showing us what we can do, what we can do without, and what we offer to one another when we have nothing left to spare. Like a series of cels on a filmstrip, frank: sonnets captures the magnitude of a life lived honestly, a restless search for some kind of “beauty or relief.” Seuss is at the height of her powers, devastatingly astute, austere, and—in a word—frank. https://www.graywolfpress.org/books/frank-sonnets Robert Gwaltney A writer of southern fiction, he is a graduate of Florida State University. He resides in Atlanta Georgia where he is an active member of the Atlanta literary community. By day, he serves as Vice President of Easter Seals North Georgia, Inc., Children Services, a non-profit supporting children with disabilities and other special needs. Robert's work has appeared in such publications as The Blue Mountain Review, The Signal Mountain Review, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. The Cicada Tree, a Somerset Finalist, is his debut novel. https://robertlgwaltney.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Cicada-Tree-Robert-Gwaltney/dp/1952439248/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1655941395&sr=1-1 Music: Joe Cocker: With a Little Help from My Friends: https://open.spotify.com/track/7JiHWExnegKTwVO7ssdaLO?si=b76908e0d687470c Pixies: Where is My Mind: https://open.spotify.com/track/0KzAbK6nItSqNh8q70tb0K?si=e5e7752950104c01 Max Richter: November https://open.spotify.com/track/2NGhKPZdZk2pPZinWphTzh?si=94dcdefc91f64e41 Special Thanks Goes to: Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org Meadowbrook Inn: www.meadowbrook-inn.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks, The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
May 2022 Dante's Old South Todd Boss is a poet, lyricist, and inventor, who sold all his possessions in 2018 to become a nomad. His most recent book of poems is Someday the Plan of a Town, published by W. W. Norton & Co. https://www.toddbossoriginals.com/ Someday the Plan of a Town: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B098LT8TVP/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0 Hans Rueffert Chef, author, speaker, advocate and survivor, Hans Rueffert is known by many titles, but his favorite title is perhaps “teacher.” A natural-born communicator, Hans has a rare ability to inspire others to push themselves to be their very best. Diagnosed with Gastric Cancer in 2005 just two weeks after taping the finale of the Next Food Network Star, Hans traded in his “Celebrity Chef” status in exchange for “Cancer Survivor.” Never one to slow down, following his diagnosis and subsequent surgeries Hans has continued to share his talent in the kitchen with thousands. Hans is motivating and engaging; and his endless knowledge and love of food coupled with his personal struggles with post-treatment life are an ongoing source of inspiration and interest. Hans enriches the lives of those he meets and inspires the lives of those he reaches across multimedia channels. Hans recently launched a podcast with fellow Food Network Start alum Steve McDonagh called But I Digest (www.butidigestpodcast.com). Learn more about Hans at www.Hanscooks.com J.D. Isip is a full-time English Professor at Collin College in Plano, Texas. He's published poems, plays, fiction, and scholarly articles all over. His first collection of poems, Pocketing Feathers, was released by Sadie Girl Press (2015), and his newest collection, Number Our Days, will be out Spring 2023 from Moon Tide Press. Every book purchased helps to support his dogs, Ivy and Bucky! Buy his book here: https://www.amazon.com/Pocketing-Feathers-J-D-Isip/dp/0692522530/ref=sr_1_1?crid=23V2KC003ZPCG&keywords=jd+isip&qid=1653826573&s=digital-text&sprefix=jd+isip%2Cdigital-text%2C99&sr=1-1-catcorr Music by: “A Silence Haunts Me” a collaborative effort of much success with spoken word by Todd Boss: https://open.spotify.com/track/24a3LDUSaNNGR8G67COhpD?si=0c4fc4d77bd64c9c “Mercury in Retrograde” Sturgill Simpson: https://open.spotify.com/track/6PT1dLDHk9BaVwFG74pomG?si=ec82fb977ca24083 “People Get Old” Lori McKenna: https://open.spotify.com/track/2Tm7nXWJouomHeRN9bT6IK?si=1af9561a83d84db0 Special Thanks Goes to: Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org Meadowbrook Inn: www.meadowbrook-inn.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks, The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
April 2022's Dante's Old South In this episode we interview the winners of the Southern Collective Experience's Asian American chapbook contest: 1st Place: Monica Kim is a queer writer and organizer. Born in South Korea, she now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She won the inaugural Jane Kenyon Chapbook Prize Award for her series of multiverse poems and her writing has been published in A Velvet Giant, Pollux Journal, The Account, and others. You can find her on Twitter at @kimmonjoo. 2nd Place: Kailee Pedersen is the author of essays, poetry, and speculative fiction. She graduated from Columbia University in 2017 with a B.A. in Classics, specializing in Ancient Greek and was adopted from Nanning in 1996. Her poetry has appeared in Arcturus, Muse/A Journal, Sonora Review, and is forthcoming in They Rise Like A Wave: An Anthology of Asian American Women Poets. She is a two-time Pushcart nominee and the recipient of a 2015 Individual Artist Fellowship in Nonfiction from the Nebraska Arts Council, among other awards. https://www.kaileepedersen.com/ 3rd Place Betsy Aoki is a poet and video game producer whose debut poetry collection, Breakpoint was a National Poetry Series finalist and winner of the Patricia Bibby First Book Award. Music: “Heat Waves” Glass Animals “Where is My Mind” The Pixies “The Force” Lettuce Special Thanks Goes to: Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org Meadowbrook Inn: www.meadowbrook-inn.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks, The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
Louis Bayard: In the words of the New York Times, Louis Bayard “reinvigorates historical fiction,” rendering the past “as if he'd witnessed it firsthand.” His acclaimed novels include The Pale Blue Eye, soon to be a Netflix motion picture starring Christian Bale, the national bestseller Courting Mr. Lincoln, Roosevelt's Beast, The School of Night, The Black Tower, and Mr. Timothy, as well as the highly praised young-adult novel, Lucky Strikes. A New York Times Notable author, he has been nominated for both the Edgar and Dagger awards, and his story, “Banana Triangle Six,” was chosen for The Best American Mystery Stories. His reviews and articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and Salon. An instructor at George Washington University, he is the chair of the PEN/Faulkner Awards and was the author of the popular Downton Abbey recaps for the New York Times. Ryan Stasik, November 13th, 1976, came into this world bleeding black & gold. His Pittsburgh roots run deep despite moving to Kalamazoo, Michigan at the tender age 12 as Appetite for Destruction hit the shelves. Ryan began playing piano at 5, learned guitar shortly thereafter, and after meeting Bayliss offered to switch to bass since the band had no one holding down the bottom end. Even from the beginning, he was a team player. Against all odds, this plan worked out. Equal parts trained pianist and self-taught rocker, Ryan Stasik the bassist is a confluence of musical forces. As a student at the University of Notre Dame, he co-founded Umphrey's McGee, known as much for their irreverent stage presence as their complex musicality. Ryan is truly a musician knowing no boundaries. As the toe-tapping backbeat of Umphrey's legendary live shows, Stasik pulls inspiration from anybody and anything that get hips ‘a swaying. Though devoted to studying the likes of Dan Kurtz, Nick Blasky, and Mike Bendy, Ryan leaves plenty of room for Hall & Oates, Iron Maiden, and Sade. In the end, if it takes to a Budweiser and a good laugh, it's welcome in the web of rhythm Ryan calls his repertoire. Music: “Gimme Some Lovin'” The Spencer Davis Group “My Morning Song” The Black Crowes “Small Strides” Umphrey's McGee Special Thanks Goes to: Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org Meadowbrook Inn: www.meadowbrook-inn.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks, The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
Ashley M. Jones is Poet Laureate of the state of Alabama (2022-2026). She holds an MFA in Poetry from Florida International University, and she is the author of Magic City Gospel (Hub City Press 2017), dark / / thing (Pleiades Press 2019), and REPARATIONS NOW! (Hub City Press 2021). Her poetry has earned several awards, including the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers Award, the Silver Medal in the Independent Publishers Book Awards, the Lena-Miles Wever Todd Prize for Poetry, a Literature Fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the Lucille Clifton Poetry Prize, and the Lucille Clifton Legacy Award. She was a finalist for the Ruth Lily Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship in 2020, and her collection, REPARATIONS NOW! was on the longlist for the 2022 PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry. Her poems and essays appear in or are forthcoming at CNN, POETRY, The Oxford American, Origins Journal, The Quarry by Split This Rock, Obsidian, and many others. She teaches Creative Writing at the Alabama School of Fine Arts and in the Low Residency MFA at Converse University. Jones co-directs PEN Birmingham, and she is the founding director of the Magic City Poetry Festival. She recently served as a guest editor for Poetry Magazine. Scott Evan Davis is a multi-award winning composer/lyricist and social media personality. Scott has performed concerts and song cycles of his music throughout the USA as well as internationally. His two albums, Next and Cautiously Optimistic are available worldwide and feature a host of Broadway talent. Currently Scott is developing his first full -length musical called INDIGO, with Sing Out Louise Productions. The show is about a non- verbal girl with autism who teaches everyone around her how to truly communicate. Scott's awards include the 2017 MAC award for Best Song, the 2012 Broadway World award for Best Original Song for “If We Say Goodbye,” and the 2016 ASCAP GORNEY award for his song “If the World Only Knew” for its social message. His newest single “Falling Everyday” is available on all streaming platforms. More at www.scottevandavis.com Ashley Griggs is a screenwriter who hails from Herndon, VA. She earned her BA in Film Studies and French at the College of William & Mary, and later received her MFA in Dramatic Writing from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University where she was awarded a Future Screenwriters Fellowship. In addition to screenwriting, Ashley has done work for the Cannes Film Festival and Austin Film Festival, written for the narrative podcast The Host, directed plays in NYC and LA, and mentors teens with nonprofit WriteGirl LA. Ashley currently works with the Writers' Program and Entertainment Studies division at UCLA Extension and lives in Los Angeles. Music: “You Don't Always Get What You Want” Rolling Stones “Falling Everyday” Lyrics by Scott Evan Davis and performed by Joey Auch Special Thanks Goes to: Woodbridge Inn: www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org Meadowbrook Inn: www.meadowbrook-inn.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks, The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to him at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: www.brooks-sessions.teachable.com
January 2022 Dante's Old South Skye Jackson was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She has served as a poetry editor for Bayou Magazine, French Quarter Journal & Tilted House. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Electric Literature, Green Mountains Review, RATTLE and elsewhere. Her debut chapbook, A Faster Grave, won the 2019 Antenna Prize. She was a finalist for the 2020 RATTLE Poetry Prize. In 2021, she won the AWP Intro Journals Award and was twice nominated for Best New Poets. In 2021, she was twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Poets & Writers has recognized her as a New Orleans “Poet to Watch.” www.skyejackson.com, IG: @skyeinthecity Twitter: @skyeinthecity, and Facebook: Skye Jackson. Inam is an Atlanta, GA based, world-renowned landscape artist known for his heavy textured oil on canvas paintings. Art Business News rates him among the top 30 artists in the country. He has an impressive list of collectors and patrons. His work can be seen at www.inamgallery.com. Nick Lamb Director of Business Development & Operations for all Red Phone Booth locations. https://redphonebooth.com/ Music: “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” Pink Floyd: https://open.spotify.com/track/6pnwfWyaWjQiHCKTiZLItr?si=IqiYAghiTVWb1FrsNzRWMw “Easy” (with Willie Nelson) Lionel Ritchie: https://open.spotify.com/track/6mw3dGENJYBDUZeHIcvLyR?si=WVBEfWCLSN-AUKAuoUgsQA “Sunday Morning” The Main Squeeze: https://open.spotify.com/track/5N7s7nhywtONPI5FJhabAP?si=cH2H6l8XQImc5f_sLVtDuA Special Thanks Goes to: Woodbridge Inn: https://www.woodbridgeinnjasper.com/ Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org Meadowbrook Inn: www.meadowbrook-inn.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Office Evolution of Roswell, Georgia - www.officeevolution.com/locations/roswell My books, The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. My chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please reach out to me at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectiveexperience.com
December 2021's Dante's Old South Alina Stefanescu Alina Stefanescu was born in Romania and lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her partner and several intense mammals. Recent books include a creative nonfiction chapbook, Ribald (Bull City Press Inch Series, Nov. 2020) and Dor, which won the Wandering Aengus Press Prize (September 2021). Her debut fiction collection, Every Mask I Tried On, won the Brighthorse Books Prize (April 2018). Alina's poems, essays, and fiction can be found in Prairie Schooner, North American Review, World Literature Today, Pleiades, Poetry, BOMB, Crab Creek Review, and others. She serves as poetry editor for several journals, reviewer and critic for others, and Co-Director of PEN America's Birmingham Chapter. She is currently working on a novel-like creature. More online at www.alinastefanescuwriter.com. To find out more about her online classes: https://adirondackcenterforwriting.org/what-we-do/events-programs/classes/ And here's more about the book, DOR, including link to how to order a signed copy https://www.alinastefanescuwriter.com/dor Here's a song I've been listening to lately. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPcdQDKNrKE Stephen de Haan Stephen de Haan is a force of nature in the business world. Currently, he is the founder and CEO of the Red Phone Booth. He is nationally recognized as a leader in cooperative innovation and his speakeasy establishments garner deep respect and high praise. The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Music: "Solo" by Mobley https://open.spotify.com/track/5VuVEdKd8i2fKxdicLjOZn?si=15156920c8a24021 "Hotel Rosario" by Angel Snow https://open.spotify.com/track/5v6jRAvJYC49oRsVcSqIcd?si=26b49b2564824c7e "Is It Me" by St. Paul and the Broken Bones https://open.spotify.com/track/26icLILupXJtsQq5EtZdwn?si=6ccfaa478f5f4fb7 "Chaconne" from Bach if there's any time left over. https://open.spotify.com/track/5tcGPsLNiaaDXCoSn764m9?si=84d49cc85b7c4401 Special Thanks Goes to: Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org Meadowbrook Inn: www.meadowbrook-inn.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Office Evolution of Roswell, Georgia - www.officeevolution.com/locations/roswell My books, The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. My chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please visit: www.cliffbrooks.com
November 2021's Dante's Old South: In this episode, we hear from experts speaking across the earth of art. Please tune in to a great show with the music of Otis Redding and John Coltrane. Our guests include: Charles Jensen (he/him) is the author of the poetry collection Nanopedia and six chapbooks of poems. His third collection, Instructions Between Takeoff and Landing, will be published by the University of Akron Press in 2022. The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs designated him a Cultural Trailblazer, and he is the recipient of the Zócalo Poetry Prize, Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Prize, Frank O'Hara Chapbook Award, and an Artist's Project Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts. His poetry has appeared in American Poetry Review, Crab Orchard Review, The Journal, New England Review, and Prairie Schooner, and essays have appeared in 45th Parallel, American Literary Review, and The Florida Review. He hosts The Write Process, a podcast in which one writer tells the story of crafting one work from concept to completion, and with Jovonnie Anaya co-hosts "You Wanna Be on Top?" an episode-by-episode retrospective of America's Next Top Model. He lives in Los Angeles and directs the Writers' Program at UCLA Extension. https://www.charles-jensen.com https://writers.uclaextension.edu Marsha Archer, who was born and raised in London, England, graduated cum laude from Florida A&M University and began her career as a public relations intern with a small, nonprofit agency in Selma, AL. Today, she is the founder and president of M-Squared Public Relations, a boutique public relations firm with offices in Atlanta and Charlotte. The firm specializes in food and beverage, hotels, hospitality, tourism and retail PR, marketing and social media. The firm, founded in 2008, boasts a client roster that includes brands ranging from Wolfgang Puck to Kimpton Hotels and Tom Ford to Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. https://www.msquaredpr.com/staff/marsha-middleton/ Michael Flohr is a professional fine artist, who resides in San Diego, California. He specializes in contemporary impressionistic oil paintings of street scenes, bar scenes and moments shared among friends. He is motivated by color and the commonality of the human condition. His works depict ordinary moments in extraordinary ways. He holds a BFA degree and is Winner of the Herman Lambert scholarship award bestowed by the New York Society of Illustrators. He has a large following of devoted and treasured collectors. His newest works can be found on Instagram @michaelflohr or @michaelflohr_artistofficial . Please show support for some of our favorite people: Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org Linden Row Inn: www.lindenrowinn.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Office Evolution of Roswell, Georgia - www.officeevolution.com/locations/roswell My books, The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. My chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please visit: www.cliffbrooks.com
Jasper Fforde: Jasper began his career in the film industry, and for nineteen years held a variety of posts on such movies as Goldeneye, The Mask of Zorro and Entrapment. Secretly harbouring a desire to tell his own stories rather than help other people tell their's, Jasper started writing in 1988, and spent eleven years secretly writing novel after novel as he strove to find a style of his own that was a no-mans-land somewhere between the warring factions of Literary and Absurd. After receiving 76 rejection letters from publishers, Jasper's first novel The Eyre Affair was taken on by Hodder & Stoughton and published in July 2001. Set in 1985 in a world that is similar to our own, but with a few crucial - and bizarre - differences (Wales is a socialist republic, the Crimean War is still ongoing, and the most popular pets are home-cloned dodos), The Eyre Affair introduces literary detective named 'Thursday Next'. Thursday's job includes spotting forgeries of Shakespeare's lost plays, mending holes in narrative plot lines, and rescuing characters who have been kidnapped from literary masterpieces. Luckily for Jasper, the novel garnered dozens of effusive reviews, and received high praise from the press, from booksellers and readers throughout the UK. In the US The Eyre Affair was also an instant hit, entering the New York Times Bestseller List in its first week of publication. Since then, Jasper has added another six to the Thursday Next series and has also begun a second series that he calls 'Nursery Crime', featuring Jack Spratt of The Nursery Crime Division. In the first book, 'The Big Over Easy', Humpty Dumpty is the victim in a whodunnit, and in the second, 'The Fourth Bear', the Three Bear's connection to Goldilocks disappearance can finally be revealed. In January 2010 Fforde published 'Shades of Grey', in which a fragmented society struggle to survive in a colour-obsessed post-apocalyptic landscape. His latest series is for Young Adults and include 'The Last Dragonslayer' (2010), 'Song of the Quarkbeast' (2011) and 'The Eye of Zoltar' (2013). All the books centre around Jennifer Strange, who manages a company of magicians named 'Kazam', and her attempts to keep the noble arts from the clutches of big business and property tycoons. Jasper's 14th Book, 'Early Riser' is a thriller set in a world in which humans have always hibernated, and his next novel, 'The Constant Rabbit' about anthropomorphised rabbits becoming the underclass in a post-Brexit Britain, will be published in the UK in 2020. Fforde failed his Welsh Nationality Test by erroneously identifying Gavin Henson as a TV chef but continues to live and work in his adopted nation despite this setback. He has a Welsh wife, two Welsh daughters and a Welsh dog, who is mad (but not because he's Welsh). Please show support for some of our favorite people: Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts: www.mostlymutts.org Linden Row Inn: www.lindenrowinn.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Office Evolution of Roswell, Georgia - www.officeevolution.com/locations/roswell My books, The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics and Athena Departs are available everywhere books are sold. My chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through my website. To find them all, please visit: www.cliffbrooks.com
Catherine Mayer is a bestselling author, journalist, and activist. She is the co-founder and President of the Women's Equality Party. Her books include Amortality: The Pleasures and Perils of Living Agelessly; Charles: The Heart of a King, and Attack of the Fifty Foot Women: How Gender Equality Can Save the World! Her recent memoir, Good Grief: Embracing Life at a Time of Death, contains letters written by her mother after both women were widowed at the start of the pandemic. Catherine has worked at The Economist, held deputy editorships at Business Traveler and International Management magazines and spent 11 years as a foreign correspondent for the German news weekly, FOCUS. In 2004, she joined TIME as a senior editor, later became London Bureau Chief, TIME Europe Editor and, finally, Editor at Large. She was the founding executive director of the think tank Datum Future and also consults on the opportunities and challenges of data technology. She is on the advisory board of Noon, the new media platform for women in midlife and beyond. Catherine was commissioned by the Globe Theatre to write and perform an original piece for its 2020 Voices in the Dark series, Notes to the Forgotten She-Wolves. She performed Hello Boys with Grayson Perry at the Bridge Theatre in 2018. Her one-woman show Catherine Mayer: FFS toured the UK and Ireland in 2019. She was the lead candidate for the Women's Equality Party in London in the 2019 European elections. She served as the elected President of the Foreign Press Association in London from 2003- 2005. She is on the founding committee of WOW—the Women of the World festival. She was a judge for the 2018 Women's Prize for Fiction. The winner of the FPA Story of the Year in 2010 and shortlisted for the Orwell Prize the following year, she has also been named in Total Politics' Top Political Journalists, WIE Women in Excellence 2013, Progress 1000 Evening Standard Equality Champion 2016, Oxford University Suffrage Champion 2018, Gender Equality Top 100: Most Influential People in Global Policy 2018 and, with Sandi Toksvig, NatWest Spirit of Everywoman Award 2018. After the February 2020 death of her husband, the musician Andy Gill, she took on his unfinished projects, releasing two EPs by his band Gang of Four, and acting as executive producer for a tribute album, The Problem of Leisure: A celebration of Andy Gill and Gang of Four featuring globally famous musicians. K. Iver is a nonbinary poet from Mississippi. They have a Ph.D. in Poetry at Florida State University. Their work has appeared or is forthcoming in Boston Review, BOAAT, Gulf Coast, TriQuarterly, Puerto del Sol, Salt Hill, and elsewhere. They are the 2021-2022 Ronald Wallace Poetry Fellow for the University of Wisconsin Creative Writing Institute. Music: “Dance with Me” Nile Rodgers “The Dying Rays” Gang of Four “Chaconne” Johann Sebastian Bach Supported by: Autism Speaks - www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts - https://mostlymutts.org/ Red Phone Booth – www.redphonebooth.com Linden Row Inn- www.lindenrowinn.com Office Evolution of Roswell, Georgia - www.officeevolution.com/locations/roswell To purchase books written by the show's host, Clifford Brooks, please visit www.cliffbrooks.com for more details. His major collections of poetry are available anywhere books are sold. You can contact him directly at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectieexperience.com
August 2021 Dante's Old South Chen Chen: Chen Chen is the author of the forthcoming poetry collection, Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency (BOA Editions, 2022) and the forthcoming book of essays, In Cahoots with the Rabbit God (Noemi Press, 2023). His debut book of poems, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities (BOA Editions, 2017), was longlisted for the National Book Award and won the Thom Gunn Award, among other honors. He teaches at Brandeis University. Vince Zangaro: (https://dementiaspotlightfoundation.org/) Zangaro's Alzheimer's journey began over a decade ago at the age of 29 after his father's Alzheimer's diagnosis. At 68 years old, the elder Zangaro's health rapidly declined, leaving him unable to care for himself – and that's where his son, Vincent stepped up. Driven by the challenges he faced navigating the ups and downs of his father's disorder and health, a fire was lit in Zangaro to offer help to those living and affected by Alzheimer's and dementia-related illness. Combining his expertise within the music industry, a decade-long career as a regional staffing director at mega-brand Hot Topic and years of Alzheimer's caregiving experience for his father, Zangaro flexed his creativity, leadership, love, and passion for music by founding the Alzheimer's Music Fest in 2013, with the goal to raise awareness and funds to help families care for loved ones. Zangaro supports DSF by overseeing outreach initiatives and actions, serving as the Director of Development and Special Events. As a full-time advocate for Alzheimer's and dementia families, Zangaro plans events and secures much-needed grants and sponsorships. He also oversees the Atlanta and Tampa Alzheimer's Music Fests. The Alzheimer's Music Fest has since become an annual rock ‘n' roll event, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars and helping hundreds of families care for loved ones. In 2020, Zangaro expanded the Alzheimer's Music Fest with a Live Nation Tabernacle partnership and by leveraging relationships with many well-known performers who have also been impacted by dementia-related issues. Zangaro currently resides in Canton, Georgia with his wife Amy and can be found playing an occasional nightly gig, writing songs about his experiences, walking his dog Jupiter or in his home kitchen playing gin rummy, a favorite pastime. Note: Due to Covid the Alzheimer's Music Festival is postponed until early 2022. Music: Donnie: “Beautiful Me” Arrested Development: “People Everyday” Johann Sebastian Bach: “Chaconne” Special Thanks: Autism Speaks - www.autismspeaks.org Mostly Mutts - https://mostlymutts.org/ Red Phone Booth – www.redphonebooth.com Linden Row Inn- www.lindenrowinn.com Office Evolution of Roswell, Georgia - www.officeevolution.com/locations/roswell To purchase books written by the show's host, Clifford Brooks, please visit www.cliffbrooks.com for more details. His major collections of poetry are available anywhere books are sold. You can contact him directly at: cliffordbrooks@southerncollectieexperience.com
July 2021 Dante's Old South David Shaw: Acclaimed singer, songwriter, musician, and producer David Shaw's first-ever solo album (Yokoko Records/C3 Records) finds The Revivalists frontman following the direction of his own internal compass, riling up his raw rock ‘n' roll impulses as he opens up like never before as a lyricist, poet, and storyteller. The journey of David's solo artistry began as he placed a renewed focus on self-care and personal growth, noticing something within himself that, as he says, he “needed to water.” Natalia Anciso: (Weslaco, TX, 1985). Chicana-Tejana visual artist, educator, and Rio Grande Valley native. Anciso earned her BA in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin, her MFA from the California College of the Arts, and her MA in Education from the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Education. Anciso has exhibited her work throughout the United States and internationally, including the San Jose Museum of Art, the Oakland Museum of California, and the National Museum of Mexican Art. Her work focuses primarily on Identity, as well as human rights, race, class and education. Arts integration and social justice are paramount to her work as an urban educator. Her contributions as an artist have been acknowledged by The Huffington Post, Latina Magazine, Elle Magazine, and TVyNovelas, as well as by former United States Secretary of Education, John King, Jr. She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Robert Gwaltney: A graduate of Florida State University, Robert Gwaltney resides in Atlanta Georgia. By day, he serves as Vice President of Easter Seals North Georgia, Inc., a non-profit organization strengthening children and their families at the most critical times in their development. Through his non-profit work, he is a champion for early childhood literacy. In all the hours between, he writes and works as Fiction Editor for The Blue Mountain Review. His work has appeared in the The Signal Mountain Review, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, and The Blue Mountain Review. His debut novel, The Cicada Tree, will be released January 21, 2022 and has been selected by the International Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book Club as its selection for February 2022. Music: “Disrepair” David Shaw “On the Run” Turkuaz "Esala Rien" Rey Sapienz Special Thanks: Autism Speaks - www.autismspeaks.org Red Phone Booth – www.redphonebooth.com Linden Row Inn- www.lindenrowinn.com Office Evolution of Roswell, Georgia - www.officeevolution.com/locations/roswell To purchase books written by the show's host, please visit www.cliffbrooks.com for more details. His major collections of poetry are available anywhere books are sold.
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