Podcasts about mfa creative writing

Laird is an alumnx of Naropa's MFA Creative Writing program, former Naropa core faculty and Summer Writing Program faculty for 15 years, author of 9 novels, and current professor of writing at Brown University. In this episode, he takes us on the journey of finding his writing voice, the experiences that allowed him to become a published author and teacher, and what he believes about what it takes to make it as a writer. Special Guest: Laird Hunt.

Laurie Sheck's novel A Monster's Notes, a reimagining of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein,  was long listed for the Dublin Impac International Fiction Prize. Her book of poems, The Willow Grove, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her work has appeared widely in the Paris Review, the New Yorker and elsewhere. She has been a Guggenheim Fellow, a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, and at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. A member of the MFA Creative Writing faculty at the New School, she lives in New York City. This interview focuses on her new book, Cyborg Fever.

This week Tim is joined by Paige Ackerson-Kiely, Director of the MFA in Writing program. They discuss what a Director of MFA Creative Writing does, working at SLC for 10 years, Paige's education, her love of poetry, finishing her forth collection of poetry, and more. Follow Sarah Lawrence College on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Vimeo⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠. And give this podcast a five star rating and review in Apple Podcasts. Thanks for listening!

Ever wondered about the journey of a play from its birth to the stage? Join us as we chat with Stephen Near and Aaron Joel Craig from Same Boat Theatre about their play, Whale Fall. Listen to their insights on the evolution of Whale Fall, from its inception to performances at Hamilton Fringe and then Vancouver Fringe. Discover the story behind their Critics Pick Award and the successful Kickstarter campaign that propelled their show to Vancouver. Get a glimpse into the emotional response Whale Fall elicited from audiences and the team's thoughts on its future. Fasten your seat belts as we journey with Stephen and Aaron to their Vancouver Fringe Festival experience. Hear firsthand about their adventures as a performing duo on a fringe that's not home and how it exposed them to new ideas and performers. Tag along as they explore Vancouver and the thrill they felt in discovering they've nailed the city's details in their play. As we wrap up, prepare for an enlightening discussion on the insights they've gathered from performing their play, the significance of feedback, and how their bond has shaped Whale Fall. Learn how Vancouver has influenced their play and how sound is used as a tool to connect with audiences. Lastly, we reflect on Whale Fall's themes and its transformation into a cautionary tale. This episode offers a captivating journey of creativity, teamwork, and transformation that promises to leave you inspired.Bio, and socials go here Bio Stephen Near is a writer and educator living in Hamilton. He is a graduate of York University (BFA), the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (B. Ed) and the MFA Creative Writing program at the University of Guelph. Stephen is a member of the Playwright's Guild of Canada and an alumnus of both the Sage Hill Writing Experience and the Banff Centre. Last year, he was named the inaugural Writer-In-Residence for the Cotton Factory in Hamilton. His writing has appeared in a variety of online and print publications and his plays have been produced at a variety theatres and festivals, principally by the company that he co-founded, Same Boat Theatre. He is a proud husband, father and unabashed geek who is (still) obsessed with comic books and role-playing games. stephennear.com Twitter: @SNear23 Instagram: @stephenisnear Aaron Joel Craig (he/him) is a director, dramaturge, designer and performer. His passion for developing new work with artists in Hamilton led to the founding of Same Boat Theatre, alongside playwright Stephen Near. His theatre work focuses on questions of identity, power and how to stay hopeful in a difficult world. Some past projects include Test, Your Own Sons and The Conspiracy of Michael, all with Same Boat, and Henry the Fifth and Waiting for Godot for Redeemer University. He recently completed work on a masters degree at Wycliffe College/University of Toronto, exploring the intersections of spirituality and the arts.. You can find more about that work @saltcellararts. He lives in Hamilton's East End with his partner, Cath, their two kids, and his probably-too-big record collection. Instagram: @aaronjoelcraig Tickets to Whale Fall at the Red Sandcastle: https://www.ticketscene.ca/series/1137/ Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Big News: novelist/memoirist/wonderful human Mira Jacob will be stepping into the host chair this spring! This week, she and Jordan sit down for a pass-the-baton chat -- kicking off with a flashback to the very first Thresholds episode (and interview) from February 2020. MENTIONED: Mira's Thresholds interview "What You Might Not Know About 'Getting Roofied'" by Jordan Kisner Mira in conversation with Saeed Jones and Kiese Laymon for Bookable Mira Jacob is a novelist, memoirist, illustrator, and cultural critic. Her graphic memoir Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award, longlisted for the PEN Open Book Award, named a New York Times Notable Book, as well as a best book of the year by Time, Esquire, Publisher's Weekly, and Library Journal. It is currently in development as a television series with Film 44. Her novel The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing was a Barnes & Noble Discover New Writers pick, shortlisted for India's Tata First Literature Award, longlisted for the Brooklyn Literary Eagles Prize and named one of the best books of 2014 by Kirkus Reviews, the Boston Globe, Goodreads, Bustle, and The Millions. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Electric Literature, Tin House, Literary Hub, Guernica, Vogue, and the Telegraph. She is currently the visiting professor at MFA Creative Writing program at The New School, and a founding faculty member of the MFA Program at Randolph College. She is the co-founder of Pete's Reading Series in Brooklyn, where she spent 13 years bringing literary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry to Williamsburg. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, documentary filmmaker Jed Rothstein, and their son. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest on today's show is George Cramer, an enrolled descendant of the Karuk Tribe of California. George began his forty-year investigative career in law enforcement and then moved into private and corporate investigations. He attended the Institute of American Indian Arts, earning his MFA-Creative Writing.As a corporate and private investigator, Mr. Cramer conducted thousands of investigations throughout the Americas and Asia. He kept his investigative skills honed by volunteering as a Missing Persons investigator at a California Police Department.In today's episode we discuss:·      How George got interested in law enforcement.·      What it was like to be a police officer in 1968.·      Training and equipment for a street cop back in the late 1960s.·      Doing undercover drug buys with members of the Hell's Angles Motorcycle Gang.·      Becoming a private investigator. ·      Beginning his writing career and his M.F.A. at age 68.  All of this and more on today's episode of the Cops and Writers podcast.Visit George's website to learn more about him and his books!Check out Field Training (Brew City Blues Book 1)!!Enjoy the Cops and Writer's book series.Please visit the Cops and Writers website.If you have a question for the sarge, hit him up at his email.Join the fun at the Cops and Writers Facebook groupConsider buying me a coffee :-)Do you enjoy gritty, action-packed real-life police dramas to get your fill of blood, heartache, and cop humor? You've come to the right series! If you're a fan of Hill Street Blues, Southland, or Bosch, you're going to love Brew City Blues! Book one of Brew City Blues, Field Training, is now pre-order and will be available for purchase on November 18, 2022 on AmazonSupport the show

-Welcome to another OneMicNite #african_life Series episodes, where we talk with people who empower A continent. OneMicNite continues on it's journey to make global connections through inspirational stories to help guide, answer questions and motivate you in Life and "The business". **Meet Award winning Foreign Press Journalist/Podcaster Nii Akrofi Smart-Abbey ( @NiiSmart ) **Africa Talk Podcast: Extraordinary stories from Africans on the continent and in the diaspora. News and analysis. Hosted by Nii Akrofi Smart-Abbey and Benjamin Tetteh. --IG/Twitter @AfricaTalkPod About the guest: Nii Akrofi Smart-Abbey ----- The podcast is a new venture for Smart-Abbey, it's a return to his African and broadcast journalism roots. In his native Ghana, he had a successful career in radio and TV journalism. He went to Adelphi in 2018 in the MFA Creative Writing. program. During this time, he also worked for the Office of University Communications and Marketing, where he covered events and wrote more. The Africa Talk Podcast has a magazine- show format. It is a mixed bag of news, proverbs and insightful conversations with Africans, both at home and abroad, who are breaking barriers or making giant gains in their fields of endeavor but whose stories often don't make the news. Our aim is to highlight the stories of such people on the show as well as create a platform where both Africans and non-Africans can get to know and understand the continent better. {site} (Aldephi Univ. Magizine) -----—-** Host: Contact/ Follow Marcos on IG/Fb/IMdb/Twitter/TikTok: @MarcosLuis and www.MarcosLuis.com —Show: OneMicNite Podcast with Marcos Luis Contact/Follow: IG/Fb/Twitter/Tumbler/LinkedIn/Youtube/TikTok @OneMicNite www.OneMicnite.com ------** Music on Audio Podcast: "OMN Theme Song 'Halftime' by Daniel Howse youtube @ProfesorSoraMusic ** Listen to Audio Podcast: Available wherever you download , all digital platforms.. ** -- ***OneMicNite and Marcos Luis have been here since 2006 as with a Home and platform for Indie Artists around the world with our #LiveSeries and now Virtual podcasts. In 2022 OneMicNite received a NYC Arts Cultural Grant. --- Show Support Us Now: http://www.Anchor.fm/onemicnite For inquiries or Advertising/Sponsorship: OneMicNite@gmail.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/onemicnite/support

Stephen Near is a writer and educator living in Hamilton. He is a graduate of York University (BFA), the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (B. Ed) and the MFA Creative Writing program at the University of Guelph. Stephen is a member of the Playwright's Guild of Canada and an alumnus of both the Sage Hill Writing Experience and the Banff Centre. Last year, he was named the inaugural Writer-In-Residence for the Cotton Factory in Hamilton. His writing has appeared in a variety of online and print publications and his plays have been produced at a variety theatres and festivals, principally by the company that he co-founded, Same Boat Theatre. He is a proud husband, father and unabashed geek who is (still) obsessed with comic books and role-playing games. stephennear.com Twitter: @SNear23 Instagram: @stephenisnear Support Stageworthy Tip Jar: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

An introverted actors roundtable discussion featuring actor and playwright, Stephen Near; actor & Singer-Songwriter Carolyn Fe; writer, composer & and performer, Kristen Zaza; playwright & performer, Genevieve Adam; writer & actor Michael Ripley, and writer & theatre maker, Jess McAuley. Stephen Near is an actor & writer working in Hamilton. His plays have been performed across Canada at various theatres and festivals including the Ottawa Fringe, the Toronto Fringe, the Hamilton Fringe, New Ideas, and Summerworks. He is a graduate of York University (BFA), the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (B. Ed) and the MFA Creative Writing program at the University of Guelph. He is a member of the Playwright's Guild of Canada, the Theatre Aquarius Creator's Junction and Playwright's Unit and an alumnus of the Sage Hill Writing Experience and the Banff Centre. Stephen is co-founder and playwright-in-residence of Same Boat Theatre in Hamilton. Stephen was named one of the inaugural Writers-in-Residence at Hamilton's Cotton Factory and is a staff writer for the Hamilton arts and culture blog Beyond James.   stephennear.com Twitter: @SNear23 Instagram: @stephenisnear   Carolyn Fe is a late-blooming Filipino-Canadian, tri-lingual Actress (English/French/Tagalog), Singer-Songwriter and former contemporary Dancer-Choreographer. Some Theatre credits include: Calpurnia (Nightwood/Sulong), Hilot Means Healer (Cahoots), Through the Bamboo (Uwi Collective) and Three Women of Swatow (Tarragon). At an age when her peers have long established themselves, Carolyn's continuous pursuit of artistic evolution adds a new instrument to her art as an Emerging Playwright and Writer supported by Montreal's Teesri Duniya Theatre's Fireworks Playwrights' Programme, The Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, and, Toronto's Nightwood Theatre, Factory Theatre's Foundry Programme for Playwrights, Cahoots Theatre. Some TV/streaming credits include Lola (Grandma) in the Nickelodeon children's show “Blue's Clues & You!” and Madame Z in the award winning French webseries “Meilleur Avant” and the upcoming sketch comedy series "Abroad" on Omni Channel in Spring 2022. Carolyn-fe.com Twitter: @TheCarolynFe Instagram: @thecarolynfe Kristen Zaza is a writer, composer, and performer based in Toronto, Canada. She is currently producing the second season of her award-winning audio drama podcast, On a Dark, Cold Night. www.kristenzaza.com Twitter: @kristen_zaza Instagram: @kristen_zaza Genevieve Adam is a graduate of the George Brown Theatre School in Toronto and the East15 Acting School in the UK. Her first play Deceitful Above All Things premiered at SummerWorks in 2015 and won several accolades including Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Production, and Best Emerging Artist. It was remounted at the Factory in association with The Storefront Theatre in February 2017. Subsequent plays include Bedsport (Newmarket National Play Festival), New World (Future Theatre Festival), Anatomy of A Dancer (Next Stage 2019), The Boat Show (Lost Souls' Collective), and If The Shoe Fits, which won second place in the Toronto Fringe 2019 New Play Writing Contest.Her most recent play Dark Heart was named one of the top theatrical productions of 2018 by the Toronto Star. Genevieve is also the poet behind the whimsical #haikusoflockdown series on Twitter. Twitter: @FavourZeeBrave Michael Ripley, 54, was born in Alberta but has spent most of his adult life in Ontario. He currently lives in Whitby with his wife and two sons. When Michael isn't writing, performing or designing he spends inordinate amounts of time typing and immediately deleting long responses (which he never posts) to mean people on social media. He also eats far too many wine gums and watches not nearly enough basketball. www.talentedmr.ca Twitter: @TalentedMr Instagram: @talentedmr Jess McAuley is a Brock University graduate (theatre studies, honours) with a passion for devised theatre, writing, and pushing the bounds of adventure on stage. She is also one of the co-hosts of The Introvert's Guide To… Twitter: @mcauleyjes Instagram: @itsjessmcauley Support Stageworthy Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthypod Tip Jar: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!In today's episode, our hosts talk about the Halloween and Dia de  Muertos celebration! As part of the celebration, join to listen to some of our students  of the MFA Creative Writing program tell urban myths in honor of the spooky celebration !

Note: Apologies for the technical difficulties at the start--our intro song refused to play! Kristie Robin Johnson is an educator, essayist, and poet from Augusta, GA. She is the current Chair of the Department of Humanities at Georgia Military College's Augusta campus where she is an Assistant Professor of English. A graduate of the MFA Creative Writing program at Georgia College and State University, Kristie's writing has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has received other awards and recognition including the 2020 Porter Fleming Prize for Nonfiction and the 2021 Page Prize for Nonfiction. Her work has been published in numerous literary magazines, journals, and anthologies. Her first book, High Cotton, was released in 2020 by Raised Voice Press and has been recognized as the finalist in the memoir category for 2021 Georgia Author of the Year. Kristie has two sons, ages 14 and 21, and she describes writer-motherhood in 3 words as “inspiring, exhausting, LOVE.”Writer Mother Monster is a conversation series devoted to dismantling the myth of having it all and offering writer-moms solidarity, support, and advice as we make space for creative endeavors.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/writermothermonster)

Laura Van Prooyen is author of three collections of poetry: Frances of the Wider Field (Lily Poetry Review Books) Our House Was on Fire (Ashland Poetry Press) nominated by Philip Levine and winner of the McGovern Prize and Inkblot and Altar (Pecan Grove Press). She is also co-author with Gretchen Bernabei of Text Structures from Poetry, a book of writing lessons for educators of grades 4-12 (Corwin Literacy). Van Prooyen is the Managing Editor for The Cortland Review, and she teaches in the low-residency MFA Creative Writing program at Miami University. She lives in San Antonio, TX. www.lauravanprooyen.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/cbaw/support

Kristie Robin Johnson is an educator, essayist, and poet from Augusta, Georgia. She is the current Chair of the Department of Humanities at Georgia Military College's Augusta campus where she is an Assistant Professor of English. A graduate of the MFA Creative Writing program at Georgia College and State University, Kristie's writing has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has received other awards and recognition, including an AWP Intro to Journals award, the 2020 Porter Fleming Prize for Nonfiction, and the 2021 Page Prize for Nonfiction from The Pinch Literary Journal. Her work has been published in numerous literary magazines, journals, and anthologies. Her first book, High Cotton, was released in 2020 by Raised Voice Press.In the episode we talk about: Hip hop as Kristie's first introduction to literatureWriting essays as a function of journaling, being a young mother, and writing letters to her unborn childThe transition from being a poet to being an essayistMaya Angelo, Harlem Renaissance writers, and imagining her first poems as if Tupac or Biggie and Langston Hughes had a babyBilly Collins's theory that every poet has 200 bad poems that they have to get outDetermining whether a piece is an essay or a poemWriting about the same things over and over as a writer of color, in reference to the lynching of Ahmaud Arbery and his murder being particularly difficult because of not being able to gather during COVIDThe impact that reading Black male authors had on her young sonAddressing race with kids and how parents make the choice of when, where, and how to talk about itHow the media has changed the frequency at which we see racial injusticeKristie's strongest writing coming out of examining the intersections of life as a woman, a Black person, a single mom, and a returning college studentThe benefits of publishing with a small pressFind Kristie online at kristierobinjohnson.comKristie's essay collection High Cotton is available on raisedvoicepress.com and everywhere books are soldVisit us online at moretothestorypodcast.com and visit Under the Gum Tree at underthegumtree.com. Follow Under the Gum Tree Twitter and Instagram @undergumtree. Follow me on Twitter @justjanna and @jannamarlies on Instagram. If you're looking for a place to find more support with writing your true personal story, join the More To The Story community!

Governor Ralph Northam recently appointed Luisa A. Igloria as the 20th Poet Laureate of Virginia, with a two year term. Originally from Baguio City in the Philippines, she is the author of 14 books of poetry and 4 chapbooks. Luisa has four daughters and now makes her home in Virginia with most of her family. She is a Professor of Creative Writing and English, and from 2009-2015 was Director of the MFA Creative Writing at Old Dominion University. In the Spring Term 2018, she was the inaugural Glasgow Visiting Writer in Residence at Washington & Lee University. Her work has appeared or been accepted in numerous anthologies and journals, and has won various national and international literary awards which includes the 2019 Crab Orchard Open Competition Award for her Poetry book, Maps for Migrants and Ghosts http://www.siupress.com/books/978-0-8093-3792-7For more information, Go to Luisa's website https://www.luisaigloria.com/Hosted by Jeri Rogers, Artemis EditorCo-Producer - Skip BrownRecorded at Final Track Studio

Today’s show features live readings from the November 2019 Parcels: MFAs in Progress: readings by University of Central Florida’s MFA Creative Writing candidates David K. Gibson, Marelize Roets, Dez Deshaies, and author and UCF assistant professor, Chrissy Kolaya.Parcels: MFAs in Progress is a project featuring readings from MFA Creative Writing candidates and faculty at the University of Central Florida. Join us the first Sunday of each month at 7PM at the Orlando Brewing Company in Orlando, Florida.Rated explicit for language and adult themes.Readers:[01:08] David K. Gibson[15:40] Marelize Roets[27:30] Dez Deshaies[40:25] Chrissy Kolaya

Episode Notes Karen Renner explores the horrors of evil child narratives in her monograph, Evil Children in the Popular Imagination, in a conversation with MFA Creative Writing students Trevor Warren and Courtney Brooks at Northern Arizona UniversitySupport Society for the History of Children and Youth Podcast by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/shcyThis podcast is powered by Pinecast.

As if you needed more incentive to tune in to the weekend BONUS episode: today's flash briefing reading is from poet and tarot reader Jill McKenna. Here, she reads again her heartbreaking chapbook, Poems for Richard Harrow. The reference to Boardwalk Empire is more than intentional :). If you dig the extra-terrestrial sound, listen to our full convo. More on Jill -- Jill McKenna keeps bees, studies astrology, reads tarot, gets lost in natural areas, and writes poems and essays in Portland, Oregon. Her poems have appeared in Vinyl Poetry & Prose, Muse/A Journal, g a z e, thethepoetry, and others. She edited Winged: New Writing on Bees. Jill earned her MFA-Creative Writing at Portland State, and is native to Chicagoland. Jill's Astrology and Tarot work: (jupitermoon.net) // Blog: (https://1481hyperionavenue.com/2018/06/18/9282/) // Links to work online: (https://www.gazejournal.net/journal/jmmckenna) // (http://vinylpoetryandprose.com/2016/02/jill-mckenna-reed/) // (http://www.thethepoetry.com/2014/10/poem-of-the-week-jill-mckenna-reed/) ● The Poetry Vlog is a YouTube Channel and Podcast dedicated to building social justice coalitions through poetry, pop culture, cultural studies, and related arts dialogues. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to join our fast-growing arts & scholarship community (youtube.com/c/thepoetryvlog?sub_confirmation=1). Connect with us on Instagram (instagram.com/thepoetryvlog), Twitter (twitter.com/thepoetryvlog), Facebook (facebook.com/thepoetryvlog), and our website (thepoetryvlog.com). --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

This is a podcast-only BONUS episode with Jill McKenna. Jill is an articulate, haunting, dreamy thinker. Hear her talk about EK Frey's poems, short form, & Richard Harrow from Boardwalk Empire. Best of all: a sneak peak into her latest project. Listen in and listen well. More on Jill -- Jill McKenna keeps bees, studies astrology, reads tarot, gets lost in natural areas, and writes poems and essays in Portland, Oregon. Her poems have appeared in Vinyl Poetry & Prose, Muse/A Journal, g a z e, thethepoetry, and others. She edited Winged: New Writing on Bees. Jill earned her MFA-Creative Writing at Portland State, and is native to Chicagoland. Jill's Astrology and Tarot work: (jupitermoon.net) // Blog: (https://1481hyperionavenue.com/2018/06/18/9282/) // Links to work online: (https://www.gazejournal.net/journal/jmmckenna) // (http://vinylpoetryandprose.com/2016/02/jill-mckenna-reed/) // (http://www.thethepoetry.com/2014/10/poem-of-the-week-jill-mckenna-reed/) ● The Poetry Vlog is a YouTube Channel and Podcast dedicated to building social justice coalitions through poetry, pop culture, cultural studies, and related arts dialogues. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to join our fast-growing arts & scholarship community (youtube.com/c/thepoetryvlog?sub_confirmation=1). Connect with us on Instagram (instagram.com/thepoetryvlog), Twitter (twitter.com/thepoetryvlog), Facebook (facebook.com/thepoetryvlog), and our website (thepoetryvlog.com). --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Today's flash briefing poetry reading is a teaser for the podcast-only special edition with poet and tarot reader Jill McKenna, which will be up this weekend! Here, she reads from her haunting chapbook, Poems for Richard Harrow. The reference to Boardwalk Empire is more than intentional :). More on Jill -- Jill McKenna keeps bees, studies astrology, reads tarot, gets lost in natural areas, and writes poems and essays in Portland, Oregon. Her poems have appeared in Vinyl Poetry & Prose, Muse/A Journal, g a z e, thethepoetry, and others. She edited Winged: New Writing on Bees. Jill earned her MFA-Creative Writing at Portland State, and is native to Chicagoland. Jill's Astrology and Tarot work: (jupitermoon.net) // Blog: (https://1481hyperionavenue.com/2018/06/18/9282/) // Links to work online: (https://www.gazejournal.net/journal/jmmckenna) // (http://vinylpoetryandprose.com/2016/02/jill-mckenna-reed/) // (http://www.thethepoetry.com/2014/10/poem-of-the-week-jill-mckenna-reed/) Flash Briefings are 2 minutes or less "flash" readings for you to jumpstart your weekdays. They are published M - F. Feel free to comment, request, or chat with me via the links below. ● The Poetry Vlog is a YouTube Channel and Podcast dedicated to building social justice coalitions through poetry, pop culture, cultural studies, and related arts dialogues. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to join our fast-growing arts & scholarship community (youtube.com/c/thepoetryvlog?sub_confirmation=1). Connect with us on Instagram (instagram.com/thepoetryvlog), Twitter (twitter.com/thepoetryvlog), Facebook (facebook.com/thepoetryvlog), and our website (thepoetryvlog.com). --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Janae Bakken grew up in Minnesota - where she spent too many frozen winters on the cross-country ski team, and went to college in Chicago - where she rarely saw the sun, so she made her escape to Los Angeles soon after graduation.  She worked on the production staffs of such shows as Mad About You, Caroline in the City, and Malcolm in the Middle before making the jump to writer, where she spent eight years writing on the critically-acclaimed Scrubs, rising from a Staff Writer to Co-Executive Producer.  Janae was twice-nominated for an Emmy Award with the other Scrubs writers.  In addition, she has written & sold television pilots for Warner Brothers, ABC Studios, MRC and ABC Network.  Janae was most recently a Co-Executive Producer on Freeform’s Baby Daddy for four years, and before that a Co-EP on Anger Management and Gary Unmarried.  In 2007, she was selected to participate in the WGA Showrunner Training Program.  In 2011, Janae was a guest professor at her alma mater Northwestern University, teaching Television Writing to the MFA Creative Writing students.  Notes from the show: Grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis St. Paul, MN. She discovered "The Wonder Years," her favorite and my favorite television show. Northwestern University's "Creative Writing for the Media" program - selected 12 people each year, was in the program with me, Breen Frasier ("Criminal Minds") Heavily influenced by the show "Friends." A lot of her friends back home in MN got married in their early 20s. She lived in London, England after college. Hollywood will always be there, but you're better off going without attachments. La-La Land. If you want to be in television, you need to be in Los Angeles. 20 years later, she loves Los Angeles. "Everyone's starting over... you're in it together." It helps there are so many alumni there. Has been in the workforce since the age of 14, but all Los Angeles jobs were "in the industry." First screenplay was a comedy. First TV job was a comedy. Gave a funny speech at high school graduation. First job she had in L.A., she got fired. Agency job is a good foot in the door. On her resume, she mentioned her job as "Gedney the Minnesota Pickle." William Morris called about it. Interview with Pang-Ni Landrum; Mascot life got her the job. Unruly: most people can't do funny. At least 70% who made it in television comedy went the assistant route. During all down time, she wrote scripts. Every night, after work, would stay at desk and work on own scripts. Skills went "through the roof" being in the room with great writers. Had "interview" with UTA, thought she was being interviewed. "The longer I have done this, the more I realize how hard it is to run a show. And it's really easy to see who does it well and who doesn't." "I'm not young enough to know everything." - Oscar Wilde "Baby Daddy" is over, and she can't wait to get back in a writer's room. "The TV Writer's Workbook" - Ellen Sandler "Writing the TV Drama Series 3rd edition: How to Succeed as a Professional Writer in TV" - Pam Douglas Take a UCLA Extension class or Santa Monica Community College class

Kathryn interviews Caron Levis MFA, award-winning author of “Ida, Always”. Gus lives in a big park in the middle of an even bigger city, and he spends his days with Ida. Ida is right there. Always. Then one sad day, Gus learns that Ida is very sick, and she isn't going to get better. The friends help each other face the difficult news with whispers, sniffles, cuddles and even laughs. MSW candidate Levis is an Adjunct Professor in The New School's MFA Creative Writing for Children's program. Kathryn also interviews Guggenheim Fellow Ellen Feldman MA, author of “Terrible Virtue: A Novel”. This author's latest provocative novel shares the story of one of the most fascinating and influential figures of the twentieth century - Margaret Sanger. Feldman tells the story of the mother of birth control, the founder of Planned Parenthood and an American champion of women around the world—as she herself might have told it. Feldman is featured on NPR, Medium and in American Heritage.

Kathryn interviews Caron Levis MFA, award-winning author of “Ida, Always”. Gus lives in a big park in the middle of an even bigger city, and he spends his days with Ida. Ida is right there. Always. Then one sad day, Gus learns that Ida is very sick, and she isn't going to get better. The friends help each other face the difficult news with whispers, sniffles, cuddles and even laughs. MSW candidate Levis is an Adjunct Professor in The New School's MFA Creative Writing for Children's program. Kathryn also interviews Guggenheim Fellow Ellen Feldman MA, author of “Terrible Virtue: A Novel”. This author's latest provocative novel shares the story of one of the most fascinating and influential figures of the twentieth century - Margaret Sanger. Feldman tells the story of the mother of birth control, the founder of Planned Parenthood and an American champion of women around the world—as she herself might have told it. Feldman is featured on NPR, Medium and in American Heritage.

In this BITCHIN' (our guest’s current favorite word) episode of SAY SOMETHING, ANYTHING, poet Garrett Bryant reads some incredible poetry and discusses the benefits of an MFA Creative Writing program. This is a bitchin’ (had to) episode for writers who have or are debating getting their MFA in Creative Writing. From first hand experience, Garrett talks about the payoff coming in the form of excellent one on one guidance, the connections made, and the collaborations that a program can lead to. Garrett Bryant co-founded Poetic Youth, an outreach organization, teaching poetry to underserved youth populations. He is also involved with SDSU’s annual poetry journal, Poetry International as well as the multi-genre publisher, Locked Horn Press. Poetry International: http://poetryinternational.sdsu.edu/ Poetic Youth: http://poeticyouth.org/ Locked Horn Press: http://www.lockedhornpress.org/

Wednesday Reading Series Jena Osman‘s books of poetry include Corporate Relations (Burning Deck Press), Public Figures (Wesleyan University Press), The Network (Fence Books), An Essay in Asterisks (Roof Books) and The Character (Beacon Press). For 12 years she co-edited the magazine Chain with Juliana Spahr, and now they co-edit the ChainLinks book series together. Osman teaches in the MFA Creative Writing program at Temple University in Philadelphia. Maged Zaher is the author of IF REALITY DOESN'T WORK OUT (SplitLevel Texts, 2014); THANK YOU FOR THE WINDOW OFFICE (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2012); THE REVOLUTION HAPPENED AND YOU DIDN'T CALL ME (Tinfish Press, 2012); and PORTRAIT OF THE POET AS AN ENGINEER (Pressed Wafer, 2009). His collaborative work with the Australian poet Pam Brown, FAROUT LIBRARY SOFTWARE, was published by Tinfish Press in 2007. His translations of contemporary Egyptian poetry have appeared in Jacket Magazine, Banipal, and Denver Quarterly. He has performed his work at Subtext, Bumbershoot, the Kootenay School of Writing, Evergreen State College, and The American University in Cairo. Maged is the recipient of the 2013 Stranger's Genius award in literature.