Citizen Lit

In today’s episode, we get a scene report with selected readings from the joint Cherry Tree and Dr. TJ Eckleburg Review release party (recorded live at Busboys & Poets in Washington D.C.). Our show features Nate Brown, Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach, and Rajiv Mohabir.

Daniel M. Shapiro is the author of How the Potato Chip Was Invented (sunnyoutside press, 2013), a collection of celebrity-centered poems. His work has appeared in Word Riot; RHINO; Menacing Hedge; Forklift, Ohio, and elsewhere. His latest collection is called Heavy Metal Fairy Tales published by throwbackbooks. Daniel is a poetry editor of Pittsburgh Poetry Review and interviews poets for his website, Little Myths.

In today’s episode we talk literary citizenship and teaching with Cathy Day, the Assistant Chair of Operations in the Department of English at Ball State University.

The following short fiction piece “Idaho, or the Reverse of Gravity,” appeared in issue 13.2 of Redivider. Author Siân Griffiths lives in Ogden, UT, where she directs the creative writing program at Weber State University. Her work has appeared in the Georgia Review, Fifth Wednesday Journal, Quarterly West, Ninth Letter, and The Rumpus, among other publications. Her debut novel, Borrowed Horses (New Rivers Press), was a semi-finalists for the 2014 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award.

In today’s episode we share excerpts from the panel “Creating Space for Marginalized Voices” presented at the 2017 AWP Conference. The organizers of Canada's inaugural Festival of Literary Diversity in discussion with publishing professionals talk about how to promote and support a diverse lineup of authors, uncovering how targeted initiatives and intentional approaches can effectively address the diversity gaps in the publishing industry.

In today’s microcast, we get a poem by Lauren Samblanet from A Shadow Map: An Anthology by Survivors of Sexual Assault published by Civil Coping Mechanisms. Released last week, A Shadow Map is edited by Joanna C. Valente and features poems and essays “born out of traumatizing and terrible experiences. CCM believes in providing a safe space within the literary community where we can not only talk about painful experiences and issues becomes ever more necessary considering the current political climate.” Contributors include Hillary Leftwich, Maggie Queeney, and Mila Jaroniec.

What began as an offsite event for the 2017 AWP conference in Washington D.C. became a rallying point on Saturday, February 11th for over a thousand writers at Lafayette Park, across from the street from The White House. In today’s show you will hear from poets and writers Kazim Ali, Gabrielle Bellot, Melissa Febos, Carolyn Forché, Sanaz Fotouhi, Ross Gay, Luis J. Rodriguez, and Eric Sasson with minimal edits for time and program continuity. Prior to the Vigil, Citizen Lit sat down with one of the event organizers, Split This Rock executive director Sarah Browning, to talk about importance and impact of such public gatherings. Note: transcriptions for each speaker are available on Split This Rock's blog: http://blogthisrock.blogspot.com/search/label/candlelight%20vigil

After a holiday break, Citizen Lit returns with its first scene report of 2017. Poet Lauren Hilger was featured as a part of the Jubilant Thicket reading series at Head House Books in South Philadelphia. Lauren shares poems from her debut collection Lady Be Good(Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2016).

In today’s episode P.E. Garcia shares an essay from HTMLGiant. An Editorial Assistant for The Rumpus and the Dead Letters Editor for The Offing, PE Garcia’s writing has appeared in Hunger Mountain, Prairie Schooner, and more. His chapbook is available from Awst Press. Born and raised in Arkansas, he now lives in Philadelphia where he's a PhD student at Temple University.

In today's episode we present part two of the two-part panel presentation "Poetry, Publishing, Politics, and the Art of the Book" from this fall's Philalalia Small Press & Art Fair at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. This panel was hosted by Brian Teare and featured editors from Bloof, Belladonna*, Fact-Simile, and Nightboat Books.

In today’s episode we present part one of a two-part panel presentation called "Poetry, Publishing, Politics, and the Art of the Book," from this fall’s Philalalia Small Press & Art Fair at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This panel was hosted by Brian Teare and featured editors from Bloof, Belladonna*, Fact-Simile, and Nightboat Books, discussing matters of aesthetics, politics, and poetics as they inform their practices as publishers and members of the poetry community.

In today's episode, Kali VanBaale joins us to talk about the ten-year journey to releasing her second book, The Good Divide. Then, the editors of Redivider join us to present the winner of their inaugural Blurred Genre contest, "The Town of Milkcarton Kids" by Ali Rachel Pearl.

In today's episode, Maggie Smith shares a reading her poem "Good Bones" (originally published in Waxwing Literary Journal). We also get a preview of next week's episode featuring novelist Kali VanBaale discussing her new novel, The Good Divide.

We kick off season 2 with a discussion about politics and masculinity with Jared Yates Sexton at Voices of the Middle West, followed by a reading of "An American Nightmare."

As we wrap up our first season, and prepare to move our studio to Philadelphia, Citizen Lit is proud to present some of our favorite moments from the podcast year in this extended mix. On today's show, you will hear from writers including: Marlon James, Kathleen Rooney, Charlotte Pence, Adam Prince, as well as music from Beach Slang. Today's episode ends with a previously unreleased recording featuring poet Ross Gay from The Voices of the Middle West '16 opening night reading at Literati Books. Thank you for being a part of the conversation this year, and we'll see you later this summer for Season Two!

Poet Jason Carney returns to Citizen Lit in a special scene report from Mountain View College in Dallas, Texas. Jason's discussion "What America Needs is an Honest Conversation" interweaves his poetry and personal commentary about race, homophobia, and breaking the cycle of hate.

In today's episode, we return to the University of Tennessee Knoxville's Writers in the Library Reading Series featuring writer Cameron Conaway. He is reading from his poetry collection Malaria, named by NPR as one of the top books of 2014.

This week's episode features a scene report from Burnt Tongue reading series in Portland, OR. Tabitha Blankenbiller shares an essay "Blow Thai Bye" originally published in Split Lip Magazine.

Open Book's Lynn Rosen discusses how three decades in the publishing industry lead her to the world of indie bookstores. Also in this episode is a scene report from Voices of the Middle West 2016 featuring writer Fred Arroyo.

In today's microcast, Indian author Karan Bajaj reads an excerpt from his latest novel The Yoga of Max's Discontent, out this week from Riverhead Books. Bajaj is the author of a pair of bestsellers in India: Johnny Gone Down and Keep off the Grass.

In today's episode, we continue our ongoing conversation with literary couples. Adam Prince and Charlotte Pence discuss the impact of working in different genres and how they overlap and influence each other's writing. Today's episode is also brought to you by Hippocampus Magazine's Hippocamp 16, a creative nonfiction conference held in Lancaster, PA. Visit http://hippocamp2016.hippocampusmagazine.com/ for more details.

This week's microcast features a poetry reading from Jasmine An, the author of Naming the No-Named Woman (the 2015 Two Sylvia's Press chapbook winner). Jasmine's reading was recorded at the AWP 2016 Conference in Los Angeles.

Writer Ben Tanzer joins us for part two of a podcast crossover to discuss his late entry into the writing life as well as the role of social media in the literary conversation. Check out Part One of the crossover on Tanzer's This Podcast Will Change Your Life, featuring an interview with Aubrie Cox & Jim Warner. Today's episode is sponsored by Hippocampus Magazine's HippoCamp 2016: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction Writers (Aug. 12-14 in Lancaster, PA). For more details, visit: http://hippocamp2016.hippocampusmagazine.com

In today's microcast, we get a scene report from the SAFTA/Pen to Podium reading series with poet Rebecca Morgan Frank. She is the author of two collections of poems, The Spokes of Venus (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2016), and Little Murders Everywhere (Salmon 2012), shortlisted for the 2013 Kate Tufts Discovery Award.

2015 National Book Award finalist in poetry Ross Gay delivers the keynote address to this year's Voices of The Middle West Conference at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

In today's microcast, we have a second scene report from the University of Tennessee Knoxville's Writers in the Library Reading Series featuring Nashville singer/songwriter and poet Matt Urmy.

We sit down with Harry C. Marks, host of the literary podcast COVERED. Then, we get another installment from the upcoming anthology of Millennial stories, Songs of My Selfie, from Three Rooms Press featuring Ifra Asad.

Today's microcast features bonus material from Amanda Miska. The Split Lip Editor in Chief shares her short story "The Heart Guardian" from Strangelet Journal.

Editor-in-Chief Amanda Miska discusses Split Lip's transition as a press and literary journal over the last twelve months. Also featured in this episode is Constance Renfrow's short story from the upcoming anthology Songs of My Selfie (Three Rooms Press).

Today's microcast comes to us from the 2015 Haiku North America Conference at Union College. Poet Kala Ramesh discusses HaikuWALL India--a collaboration between poets, painters, graffiti artists, and local communities to transform city walls with haiku-driven art.

As part of our continuing series highlighting literary couples, we sit down with Hilary and Mike Gustafson from Literati Books to discuss the role of independent bookstores in the community as well as balancing personal and professional lives. We also present our second installment from the anthology Songs of My Selfie (Three Rooms Press) with a reading from Tyler Barton.

In this microcast, we get a scene report from the University of Tennessee Knoxville's Writers in the Library Reading Series featuring RB Morris, a local poet, songwriter, solo performer and band leader, and sometimes playwright and actor.

Two Dollar Radio co-founder Eric Obenauf talks about indie publishing, film production, and tattoo clubs. Also featured this episode is our first installment highlighting the upcoming anthology Songs of My Selfie (Three Rooms Press)with a reading from Mina E. Holmes.

Today's microcast features bonus material from Sam Slaughter. We also preview next week's full length episode with Two Dollar Radio's Eric Obenauf.

Author Sam Slaughter discusses mixing booze with writing as spirits writer for The Manual. Slaughter also talks about being a reviews editor and balancing the writing life with graduate school. The episode also features a scene report from Literati Books with Ben Tanzer reading from The New York Stories.

Today's microcast features essayist Lindsey Gates-Markel reading at Exile on Main Street (Champaign IL) as a part of the 2015 Pygmalion Festival Lit Crawl.

In today's episode, we look back on 2015 by highlighting some of the year's best scene reports featuring Marcus Wicker, Susan Rukeyser, and Marlon James.

In this microcast Steph Post reads from her debut novel A Tree Born Crooked at Scuppernong Books in Greensboro, North Carolina.

In this episode, we sit down with writers Jill Christman and Mark Neely to discuss sharing the writing life. Later we get a scene report from Knoxville, TN featuring poet Chad Davidson.

This week's microcast features bonus interview material from Kathleen Rooney. We also preview our next full-length episode featuring Mark Neely and Jill Christman.

In this episode we sit down with Rose Metal Press co-founder Kathleen Rooney to discuss hybrid forms in literature. Later, we get a scene report from Women and Children First Bookstore in Chicago, IL celebrating the launch of Rose Metal Press' latest book, Family Resemblance.

In today’s microcast we get a scene report with a reading from poet John McCarthy at Cowboy Monkey in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. We also preview of next week’s full length episode featuring Rose Metal Press co-founder Kathleen Rooney.

In today’s episode, novelist Marlon James talks about life post Man Booker Prize. Later, we get a featured reading from author Beth Gilstrap.

In today's microcast, we get a scene report from Literati Bookstore featuring Man Booker Prize winner Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings. Marlon will also be our guest on next week's full episode.

Featuring Beach Slang frontman James Alex discussing the impact of literature on his creative process. This episode also includes a scene report from the 2015 Pygmalion Festival with a reading from music critic Jessica Hopper.

In today’s microcast we hear from Sundress Academy for the Arts Literary Arts Director Emily Capettini as well a preview of next week’s full length Citizen Lit episode with Beach Slang frontman James Alex.

In today’s episode poet Erin Elizabeth Smith to talk about Sundress Academy for The Arts, Firefly Farms, and building writing communities both locally and online.

This week's microcast features a pair of scene reports from the Mid-South Book Festival in Memphis and The Union Square Slam in New York City with poetry by Yolonda J. Franklin and Jason Carney. We also preview next week's episode with Sundress Academy for the Arts founder Erin Elizabeth Smith.

Novelist Kaylie Jones. Kaylie joins the conversation to discuss her first novel of literary fiction in nearly seven years as well as her publishing imprint, Kaylie Jones Books. Plus we get a scene report from the 2015 Pygmalion Festival featuring a poetry reading by Marcus Wicker.

In today's Microcast, we get a scene report featuring Robert James Russell's Mesilla book launch at Literati Books in Ann Arbor, MI. We also preview next week's full length episode with author Kaylie Jones.

Midwestern Gothic co-founder and author Robert James Russell joins us to talk about his latest novel Mesilla and all things Midwestern. Plus, we have a reading from Susan Rukeyser, author of Not On Fire Only Dying (Twisted Road Publications).