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Poet Nina Jane Drystek hosts conversations with two incredible poets, both published by Vancouver's Arsenal Pulp Press. Render is Sachiko Murakami's intimate and unflinching poetic memoir. In it, she travels the non-linear path of addiction to recovery, how it shifts over time, and what happens when it is translated through poetry. Looking beyond the straightforward, happily-ever-after narrative, Murakami wades through the aftermath of her addiction and questions what happens to trauma when it is put down on the page - and all the ways in which it can be rendered. In The Gospel of Breaking, Jillian Christmas extracts from family history, queer lineage, and the political landscape of a racialized life to create a rich, softly defiant collection of poems. Christmas draws a circle around the things she calls "holy": the family line that cannot find its root but survived to fill the skies with radiant flesh; the body, broken and unbroken and broken and new again; the lover lost, the friend lost, and the loss itself; and the hands that hold them all with brilliant, tender care.
Born and raised in Markham, Ontario, Jillian Christmas is a poet, enthusiastic organizer, and activist in the Canadian arts community with a focus on increasing anti-oppression initiatives in spoken word. Her work has been featured in The Huffington Post and many other publications, including collections such as Matrix New Queer Writing (Issue 98), The Post Feminist Post, and the celebrated anthology, The Great Black North. In March, Christmas published a collection of her poetry. The Gospel of Breaking explores love, family, queerness, and identity in poetry that is sometimes narrative, sometimes lyrical, and always compelling. In this episode, we talk about Christmas' poetic approach, her relationship to her mother and grandmother, and how she connects her organizing work with her art. Jillian Christmas is the former Artistic Director of Vancouver's Verses Festival of Words. An educator, organizer, and advocate in the arts community, utilizing an anti-oppressive lens, Jillian has performed and facilitated workshops across North America. She lives in Vancouver. Special Guest: Jillian Christmas.
Summary: "It's going to last forever." This week we invite Leo Damian on the podcast to give us his thoughts about Jennifer Lopez's representation of his profession in the film the Wedding Planner. We also acknowledge that Scrabble is a nice hobby, Steve sucks, and Fran is the only good person in this movie. Show notes: Wish Events (Leo's wedding planning company) We Watched 23 Jennifer Lopez Movies and Ranked Them from Best to Worst (InStyle) Does Matthew McConaughey Know He Was in the Greatest Movie Ever? (The Cut) Recommendations: Andrea W.: The Gospel of Breaking by Jillian Christmas (poetry) Andrea G.: Allison Wonderland Clothing (fashion) Leo: True Blood (HBO) Music credits: "Good Times" by Podington Bear From Free Music Archive CC BY 3.0 Theme song "Pyro Flow" by Kevin Macleod From Incompetch CC BY 3.0 Intro bed:"OLPC" by Marco Raaphorst Courtesy of Free Music Archive CC BY-SA 3.0 NL Pop This! Links: Pop This! on TumblrPop This! on iTunes (please consider reviewing and rating us!) Pop This! on Stitcher (please consider reviewing and rating us!) Pop This! on Google PlayPop This! on TuneIn radioPop This! on TwitterPop This! on Instagram Logo design by Samantha Smith Pop This! is two women talking about pop culture. Lisa Christiansen is a broadcaster, journalist and longtime metal head. Andrea Warner is a music critic, author and former horoscopes columnist. Press play and come hang out with your two new best friends. Pop This! podcast is produced by Andrea Gin and recorded at the Vancouver Public Library's wonderful Inspiration Lab.
The conversation in this episode was recorded on February 23. *This episode features ASMR of us all eating a delicious meal together. Sorry and You’re welcome* The militarization of transit. Black and Indigenous relations and connections. Genetic testing. These are some of the conversations Morgan and !Kona had with Desmond Cole, Simone, and Parker Johnson. Join us in our chat over dinner. Hear Desmond shares parts of his new book “The Skin We’re In”, which was at the time of this recording named the national no. 1 Bestselling non-fiction book. Apologies in advance for the cuts in the audio. We had some recording difficulties, so some parts are cut out.. Stay tuned for the continuation of this conversation on our next episode which comes out April 16. You can find Desmond’s book, “The Skin We’re In” at: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/536075/the-skin-were-in-by-desmond-cole/9780385686341 Music by Jillian Christmas who we’ve chatted with before in episode 2, parts one and two. Be sure to check those out and grab her book, “The Gospel of Breaking” which was recently debuted at no. 6 on the BC Best Sellers list. You can find her book here: https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/T/The-Gospel-of-Breaking Artwork by Ifetayo Alabi Find us on Instagram and Facebook @blackchatvancouver Contribute to keeping transcribing episodes and keeping our bills paid at patreon.com/blackchat Please give us your feedback on how we’re doing, what you love, what we can improve on, etc..
Welcome back to part two of our interview with the lovely Jillian Christmas. In this second half, we cover topics including self-care, the sacredness of locs, and the development and inspiration for Jillian's forthcoming book, The Gospel of Breaking. “Writer. Seeker. Traveling Circus.", Jillian is a queer, Black writer living on the unceded territories Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations, where she served for six years as Artistic Director of Versəs Festival of Words. As an enthusiastic organizer and advocate in the Canadian arts community, her focus has been to increase anti-oppression initiatives in spoken word. She has executed programs in partnership with the Toronto Poetry Project, The Chan Centre, Vancouver Opera, and more. Jillian has performed and facilitated spoken word workshops for youth and adults across the country and beyond. Her forthcoming debut book of poetry will be released in Spring 2020 with Arsenal Pulp Press. Preorder her book here: https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/T/The-Gospel-of-Breaking?fbclid=IwAR3qVUHVjuhDprZcm68OgSAjS7ex1igm89RYVEElGwl-I2dSQeTA3zNdchs For updates and ways to contribute, visit www.patreon.com/blackchat or follow us on Instagram and Facebook @blackchatvancouver Music and Poems by Jillian Christmas Artwork by Ifetayo Zarine Alabi
Join us as we sit with our chosen family and local artist, Jillian Christmas. In part one, we talk about music and muscle memory, the intersections of Blackness and poetry, and her forthcoming book, The Gospel of Breaking. Stay tuned for part two, which drops February 6th. “Writer. Seeker. Traveling Circus.", Jillian is a queer, Black writer living on the unceded territories Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations, where she served for six years as Artistic Director of Versəs Festival of Words. As an enthusiastic organizer and advocate in the Canadian arts community, her focus has been to increase anti-oppression initiatives in spoken word. She has executed programs in partnership with the Toronto Poetry Project, The Chan Centre, Vancouver Opera, and more. Jillian has performed and facilitated spoken word workshops for youth and adults across the country and beyond. Her forthcoming debut book of poetry will be released in Spring 2020 with Arsenal Pulp Press. Preorder her book here: https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/T/The-Gospel-of-Breaking?fbclid=IwAR3qVUHVjuhDprZcm68OgSAjS7ex1igm89RYVEElGwl-I2dSQeTA3zNdchs For updates and ways to contribute, visit www.patreon.com/blackchat or follow us on Instagram and Facebook @blackchatvancouver Music by: Jillian Christmas Artwork by Ifetayo Zarine Alabi
Interviews with Jillian Christmas, Artistic Director of Verses Festival of Words; filmmaker Natalia Andrea of UBC's Persistence of Vision Festival. Reviews of Che Malambo, and shout outs to Pacific Theatre's Love/Sick, Lori Anderson, Expressions Festival, Cherry Blossom Festival, and Vancouver TheatreSports' Murder on the Improv Express. Hosted by Ashley Park, Jake Clark, and Lua Presidio.
Pam picks a bunch of audio tracks to preview some of the artists performing at the 2017 Verses Festival of Words: Sheri-D Wilson, Mighty Mike McGee, Saul Williams, Khari Wendell McClelland, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha.
The always glorious, Jillian Christmas stops by to read some poems and talk about traveling to the Yukon for Black History Month.
We make a big announcement on todays show about the Arts Report and that is: The Arts Report will be taking a summer hiatus! Listen to the podcast for full details. Also, on todays show, we talk about the upcoming Verses Festival of Words and speak to the Artistic Director, Jillian Christmas. Ashley Park talks about the past Persistence of Vision Film Festival. We also talk about two theatrical productions: The Valley and 5@50.
Our last show of 20015 and we had retiring Vancouver Slammaster, Duncan Shields and incoming new Slammistress, Jillian Christmas as our guest to talk about the transition and the new year.
It's always a special occasion when Jillian Christmas is around. Dina and Daniel invite the talented writer, musician and Artistic Director of Verses Festival of Words to talk about writing, but also how miserable fall is, love songs and protest songs, Charmed Can Lit, children's soy lattes, large print erotica on public transit and of course, Shannen Doherty. We also bring back the ever-popular CanLit Feuds and play a new game for this crummy season: Fall or Fall?