VS

On today’s episode of VS, Brittany and Ajanae interview Rachel Eliza Griffiths; join them as they discuss forthcoming projects, their evolving concepts of home and privacy, approaching photography as a poet, writing for the ones that come after us, and the importance of curiosity. A Deep Dive into John Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme’ by His Biographer, Lewis Porter (Pt. 1) | WBGO JazzToni Morrison’s Recipe for Love, Life, and the Perfect Boiled EggFour Decades of the Abstract Impressionist Joan Mitchell | Expert Voices | Sotheby’sJames Baldwin at 100Write a manifesto of commitments for the politics of loving and protecting yourself. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today’s episode of VS, Brittany and Ajanae have the opportunity to talk with Cornelius Eady and Major Jackson live in Chicago! Join in as they discuss the capacity to feel, the legacy of themselves and others, the importance of community, the way that boundaries and ethics shift after writing for a long time, and what things still scare them about the page. Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! Cornelius Eady A Manner of AttachmentNicanor Parra | Nicanor Parra's 107th BirthdayFrank O'Hara reading and discussing his workMajor Jackson What Work IsWhat does it mean to be human? | Sonia Sanchez | TEDxPhiladelphiaDerek Walcott discusses his painting and poetryNo poems today. Create a map of the versions of yourselves that have existed during your tenure as a writer. How do their fears differ? Their joys? What excites or surprises them? What craft choices they lean toward? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today’s episode of VS, Brittany and Ajanae interviewed Jada Renée Allen. Listen in as they discuss their rabbit holes of research, “Drill” the manuscript and the music, the relationship between Black women and water, and the influences on our poetics. Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! Playwright Alexus Rhone on Taking God's Call and Taking Your MedsDear Poet 2024: Patricia Smith Reads “When the Burning Begins”Rita Dove for Fulbright World Poetry Day 2021Write an ode in gratitude for an artist or character who shifted the way you see yourself. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today Brittany and Ajanae have the pleasure of talking with Saúl Hernández. Listen in as they discuss writing about tense familial relationships with tenderness, the act of being made invisible, grief as transformation, childhood as a lens, and how to identify a monster (spoiler alert: it could be anyone!). Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado | Official Trailer | NetflixThe Intricate Storytelling of Ethel Cain’s “Preacher’s Daughter” – The Junction JournalToni Morrison | National Endowment for the ArtsWrite a poem that functions as a dream.

Today Brittany and Ajanae have the pleasure of talking with Saúl Hernández. Listen in as they discuss writing about tense familial relationships with tenderness, the act of being made invisible, grief as transformation, childhood as a lens, and how to identify a monster (spoiler alert: it could be anyone!). Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado | Official Trailer | NetflixThe Intricate Storytelling of Ethel Cain’s “Preacher’s Daughter” – The Junction JournalToni Morrison | National Endowment for the ArtsWrite a poem that functions as a dream.

On today’s episode of VS, Ajanae and Brittany interview Barbara Fant. Join them as they discuss the relationship between family and authenticity, the importance of intergenerational connections among poets, writing as a tool for wellness, and joy as a part of chaos. Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! Sunni Patterson - Letter from the PorchMahalia Jackson: Gospel Takes Flight | National Museum of African American History and CultureWhat Happened To '90s Hip Hop Group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony?Consider the last moment of chaos you found yourself in. Write an ode to a person or object that brought you joy in that moment. Consider the chaos to be the negative space around the joy, giving it shape.

On today’s episode of VS, Ajanae and Brittany interview W.J. Lofton. Join them as they discuss how they handle failure within their process, grief as a form of generosity, queer intimacy, spiritual expansion, and the process of unlearning harmful beliefs. Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! 5 things I wish I'd known before I started writing {with Danez Smith}Rice’s Kiese Laymon awarded ‘genius grant’ MacArthur FellowshipFrom 2004: Toni Morrison on a writer's lifeImani Perry: Letter from Home — THE BITTER SOUTHERNERConsidering the relationship between the elegy and ode, write a poem that explores what grief has gifted you.

On today’s episode of VS, Ajanae and Brittany interview Hanif Abdurraqib. Listen in as they discuss burned cd’s, the cost of being a collector, living archives, new projects, and obsession as an origin story. Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! June Jordan at the NYS Writers Institute in 2000GREAT BLACK BOOKS! Presents THE WOMEN OF BREWSTER PLACE by Gloria Naylor“You Are Who I Love” Reading by Aracelis GirmayConsider a piece of ephemera or archival material in your family. Write a poem using the object and the year of its making as the title. Consider what the object represents now.

On today’s episode of VS, Ajanae and Brittany interview m. mick powell about their forthcoming collection, Dead Girl Cameo (Penguin Random House). Join them as they discuss celebrity culture and conspiracy theories, obsession with the 90’s and 2000’s, Black queer feminist thought, and gathering artifacts across time periods. Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! Saidiya Hartman, Literary Scholar and Cultural Historian | 2019 MacArthur FellowNtozake Shange preserves Black history and culture through literature (1989 interview)The Watermelon Woman at 25: the Black lesbian classic that wears its brilliance lightly | BFIAndrea Y. AdomakoWrite an ode to a cultural icon or piece of memorabilia from your childhood. Make the title a line from a song that was important to you during this era.

On today’s episode of VS, Brittany and Ajanae have the opportunity to talk with Tiana Clark. Listen in as they discuss navigating burnout and perfectionism, advocacy within the medical system, neurodivergence, and permission as a part of the creative process. Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! What it Look Like | The Poetry FoundationSharon Olds talks about her workAWKWARD Black Girl | “The Stop Sign” [S. 1, Ep. 1]

On today’s episode, Brittany and Ajanae talk with Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon—phenomenal writers and co-hosts of the podcast, Reckon True Stories. During this conversation, they discuss the impact of great editors, the overlap between poetry and prose, rejection in the writers room, and the beauty of friendship. On Resilience, Tender Rituals, and Responsible Love: Talking with Kiese Laymon - The RumpusThe Literary Genius of Kendrick Lamar10 Quotes NeNe Leakes Gave To Pop Culture That Prove She's A Cultural IconTami Roman's Funniest Moments | Basketball Wives LegendsLocal Dispatch: My grandmother's life lesson on the dignity of work | Pittsburgh Post-GazetteAward Winning Author Kiese Laymon Discusses Heavy: An American Memoir and moreWrite a prose poem and borrow your favorite craft element from another genre to focus on.

Today’s episode was recorded live at the Sims Library in Los Angeles, California during this year's AWP conference. Join Brittany and Ajanae as they sit down with E. Hughes and Luther Hughes (no relation) to discuss the role that intimacy plays in their writing, memory being true for the moment, the role of grief in the writing process, and moments of messiness in their collections. Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am - Exclusive Clip - Farah Griffin On SulaThe Typology of Taint, in Thrall to a Word: A Conversation with Natasha Trethewey | World Literature TodayFrantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks | What Language Reveals | Philosophy Core ConceptsIntimacy, Afloat in Space: A Conversation with Carl Phillips - The Adroit JournalMeat to Reckon With: A Conversation with CM Burroughssza - ctrl (full album)An Interview and Poems from Taylor JohnsonWrite an ode to your grief.

Show DescriptionOn today’s episode, Brittany and Ajanaé have the honor of interviewing Nicole Sealey! Join them as they discuss friendship rituals, surviving writers conferences, learning from mentors, navigating old obsessions in new work, and love, love, and more love. Until Next Time: Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! The First Person Who Will Live to Be One Hundred and Fifty Years Old Has Already Been Born by Nicole Sealey Celebrating Yusef Komunyakaa with Major Jackson, Jennifer Jean, John Murillo & Nicole SealeyIn the Poetry Library With John MurilloWrite a list of ways that you promise to care for your reader.

On today’s episode of VS, Ajanae and Brittany are joined by poet Omotara James. Join them as they discuss the failure of poetry as savior, whistleblowers, art as a meet-cute, resisting shielding the speaker, and building trust with the reader. Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! Sharon Olds talks about her work‘There is power in the word no’: Michaela Coel’s journey from Chewing Gum to I May Destroy You | CBC ComedyLucille Clifton talks of her books of poems, including “Good Times”

On today’s episode of VS, Ajanae and Brittany are joined by poet Omotara James. Join them as they discuss the failure of poetry as savior, whistleblowers, art as a meet-cute, resisting shielding the speaker, and building trust with the reader. Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! Sharon Olds talks about her work‘There is power in the word no’: Michaela Coel’s journey from Chewing Gum to I May Destroy You | CBC ComedyLucille Clifton talks of her books of poems, including “Good Times”

On today’s episode of VS, Ajanae and Brittany were joined by poet Omatara James. Join them as they discuss the failure of poetry as a savior, whistleblowers, art as a meet cute, resisting shielding the speaker, and building trust with the reader. Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! Sharon Olds talks about her work'There is power in the word no': Michaela Coel’s journey from Chewing Gum to I May Destroy You | CBC ComedyLucille Clifton talks of her books of poems, including “Good Times”

On today’s episode, Ajanaé and Brittany talk to Vanessa Angélica Villarreal! Listen in as they discuss mushrooms, quantum entanglements, borders, the ethics of daughters-memory, and the role of Fantasy and The Future in the Western literary canon. Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! Pedro Páramo | Official Trailer | NetflixExploration Log 7: Interview with Jordan S. Carroll, author of Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right (2024)South of Midnight - Accolades TrailerWrite a poem for your favorite television or book character.

On today’s episode, Ajanaé and Brittany talk to Vanessa Angélica Villarreal! Listen in as they discuss mushrooms, quantum entanglements, borders, the ethics of daughters-memory, and the role of Fantasy and The Future in the Western literary canon. Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! Pedro Páramo | Official Trailer | NetflixExploration Log 7: Interview with Jordan S. Carroll, author of Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right (2024)South of Midnight - Accolades TrailerWrite a poem for your favorite television or book character.

On today’s episode, Brittany and Ajanae chat with Amanda Johnston; join them as they discuss choosing joy, intentional literary citizenship, the history of Torch Literary Arts, recurring selves in the work, and existing in the here and now. Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! i am accused of tending to the past by Lucille CliftonARTIST FEATURE: KRISTA FRANKLIN - EP2Interview with Wura-Natasha Ogunji | "Alpha Crucis – Contemporary African Art"The Business of Being Beyoncé Knowles-Carter | GQIn the spirit of Amanda’s Praisesong project, choose a member of your community and write a praisesong or ode to them.

Welcome to Season 9! On today’s episode of VS, Brittany and Ajanae chat with Chet’la Sebree about love, the origin of words and theory, chronic illness, vulnerability, and using language to explore our curiosities. Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! Natasha Trethewey’s Poems Take Wing on Intimate Details - The New York TimesFIELD STUDY: CHET'LA SEBREE IN CONVERSATION WITH SHARA MCCALLUM#5WomenArtists Spotlight: Alison Saar - English with Audio DescriptionResearch the etymology of a word and write a poem tracing its origin and evolution.