The Beat

Todd Davis is the author of seven books of poetry. His most recent collections are Coffin Honey and Native Species. His book Ditch Memory: New and Selected Poems is forthcoming from Michigan State University Press in August of 2024. He has won the Midwest Book Award, the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Bronze and Silver Awards, the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize, the Chautauqua Editors Prize, and the Bloomsburg University Book Prize. His poems appear in such journals and magazines as Alaska Quarterly Review, American Poetry Review, Gettysburg Review, Iowa Review, Missouri Review, North American Review, Orion, Southern Humanities Review, and Western Humanities Review. He is an emeritus fellow of the Black Earth Institute and teaches environmental studies at Pennsylvania State University’s Altoona College. Links: Read "For a Stray Dog near the Paper Mill in Tyrone, Pennsylvania" in 32 Poems Read "Burn Barrel" at Broadsided Ditch Memory: New and Selected Poems, forthcoming in August 2024 "A Nature Poet Grapples with Life at the Edge of the Climate Crisis," an interview in Allegheny Front Todd Davis' website Bio and Poems at the Poetry Foundation Two poems in North American Review Three poems at Terrain.org "Salvelinus fontinalis," a video poem Podcast archive for Notes from the Allegheny Front

Iliana Rocha earned her PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from Western Michigan University. She is the 2019 winner of the Berkshire Prize for her book The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez (Tupelo Press). Her first book, Karankawa, won the 2014 AWP Donald Hall Prize for Poetry. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Best New Poets anthology, Poetry, Poem-a-Day, The Nation, Virginia Quarterly Review, Latin American Literature Today, and many others. She has won fellowships from CantoMundo and MacDowell. She serves as Poetry Co-Editor for Waxwing Literary Journal, and she is an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee. Delmira Agustini is considered one of the most important South American poets of the 20th century. She was born to upper-middle-class parents in Montevideo, Uruguay in October of 1886. She began writing poetry at the age of 10, and her first major work, El Libro Blanco, was published in 1907, when she was just 20 years old. She went on to publish several other books that were well-received by writers and critics. Links: Read "Still Life," "Houston," and "Landscape with Graceland Crumbling in My Hands" Read "Explosión" in Spanish and English Iliana Rocha Iliana Rocha's website Bio and poems at the Poetry Foundation's website "The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez" in New York Times Magazine "Mexican American Sonnet" at Poets.org "Three Poems" in Latin American Literature Today “like the building that reflects his death in every window: A Conversation with Iliana Rocha about The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez” — curated by Tiffany Troy in Tupelo Quarterly Delmira Agustini Bio and "The Vampire" at Poets.org Six Poems by Delmira Agustini (translated by Valerie Martinez) at Drunken Boat

Harold Whit Williams is a poet and longtime guitarist for the indie rock band Cotton Mather. He's the recipient of the 2020 FutureCycle Poetry Book Prize, the 2014 Mississippi Review Poetry Prize, the Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize, as well as multiple Pushcart nominations. Williams is currently cataloging the KUT Radio Collection for the University of Texas Libraries, all the while writing, recording, and performing his solo music under the moniker Daily Worker. Links: Read “Early Recordings: Volume 1;” “Caught by the Indian Summer Train;” and “Participation Trophy” Harold Whit William's website Daily Worker at Radio Gurl Records "Holding out for Nothing" music video by Daily Worker "Premonitions at a Funeral" and "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" at JuxtaProse Four poems at The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature "Blues Dreams," winner of The Mississippi Review Poetry Prize Follow Harold Whit Williams on Facebook

Denton Loving is the author of Crimes Against Birds (Main Street Rag) and Tamp (Mercer University Press). He is also the editor of Seeking Its Own Level: an anthology of writings about water (MotesBooks). He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Writing and Literature from Bennington College. His work has appeared in Iron Horse Literary Review, The Kenyon Review, Tupelo Quarterly, Harvard Divinity Bulletin, The Threepenny Review, and Ecotone. He is a co-founder and editor at EastOver Press and its literary journal Cutleaf. D.H. Lawrence was born in 1885 in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire in England, and he died in 1930 at Vence in the south of France. Though Lawrence is best known for his novels—he’s the author of Lady Chatterley’s Lover and nearly a dozen others—he also published short stories, plays, essays, criticism, and more than a dozen collections of poetry. Links: Read "Copperhead," "Foundation," and "Hurtling" Read "Humming-Bird" Denton Loving Denton Loving's website "Five Poems by Denton Loving" at Salvation South "Three Poems by Denton Loving" at Harvard Divinity Bulletin "Under the Chestnut Tree" at Ecotone Video: WANA (Writers Association of Northern Appalachia) Live! Reading Series featuring Denton Loving Review of Tamp at Southern Review of Books D.H. Lawrence Bio, Poems, and Prose at The Poetry Foundation Bio and Poems at Poetry.org Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Rate & review on Podchaser

Hank Lazer has published thirty-four books of poetry; his latest books are P I E C E S, When the Time Comes, and field recordings of mind in morning. In 2014, he retired from the University of Alabama after 37 years as a professor and an administrator. He continues to teach innovative seminars on Zen Buddhism and Radical Approaches to the Arts for the University of Alabama's Blount Scholars Program. In 2015, Lazer won The Harper Lee Award, Alabama’s highest literary award for lifetime achievement. Read "Duncan Farm November Meditation" and section 8 from The New Spirit Hank Lazer's website Recordings at PennSound Interview on Bookmark with Don Noble Eleven poems at Plume Five poems at Interim "'Furnishings in the House of the Voice': An Interview with Hank Lazer by Lisa Russ Spaar" Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Rate & review on Podchaser

Jenny Sadre-Orafai is a poet and essayist and the author of Dear Outsiders and three other poetry collections. Her poetry has appeared in Puerto del Sol, Cream City Review, Ninth Letter, and The Cortland Review. Her prose has appeared in The Rumpus, Fourteen Hills, and The Los Angeles Review. She co-founded and co-edits Josephine Quarterly and teaches creative writing at Kennesaw State University. Links: Read "Occupation Interview," "Tragedy Lesson," and "Souvenirs for Locals" Jenny Sadre-Orafai's website Three Poems at $ "I Become More Animal When I'm Grieving: A Conversation with Jenny Sadre-Orafi" at The Rumpus Video: "Hard Hat Reading: Jenny Sadre-Orafai" at Poets House Video: "Jenny Sadre-Orafai reads at the SAFTA Reading Series" "In Their Own Words: Jenny Sadre-Orafai on 'Queen of Cups'" at Poetry Society of America Josephine Quarterly Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Rate & review on Podchaser

Anna Laure Reeve was born and raised in Knoxville, and she earned a Master of Arts in Literature & Poetry Writing from the University of Tennessee. Her poems have appeared in Terrain.org, Jet Fuel Review, Another Chicago Magazine, and many others. She recently won Beloit Poetry Journal’s Adrienne Rich Award, and she was a finalist for the Heartwood Poetry Prize and the Ron Rash Award in Poetry. Her book Reaching the Shore of the Sea of Fertility was recently published by Belle Point Press. She is an assistant editor of Juke Joint, a literary magazine based in Jackson, Mississippi. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, most likely in April of 1564. When he was 18, he married Anne Hathaway with whom he had three children. Shakespeare made his living as an actor and playwright, and his works include 38 plays in addition to 154 sonnets and various other types of poetry. Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616. Links: Read an early version of "Tennessee Red Cobb" at Appalachia Bare Read "Méniére's Disease" at The Racket Read "Look at Everything" and "Children of Asylum Seekers" at The Racket Read "That time of year thou mayst in me behold (Sonnet 73)" at Poets.org Read "When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes (Sonnet 29)" at Poets.org Anna Laura Reeve Anna Laura Reeve's website "Poets in Conversation: Anna Laura Reeve" at Beloit Poetry Journal Two Poems from Reaching the Shore of the Sea of Fertility by Anna Laura Reeve at ACM "Motherhood Unshorn: A Review of Reaching the Shore of the Sea of Fertility" at Literary Mama William Shakespeare Bio and poems at Poets.org "Shakespeare's Life" at Folger Shakespeare Library's site The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Rate & review on Podchaser

Pauletta Hansel is the author of nine collections of poetry, including her latest book Heartbreak Tree. Her work has been featured in Oxford American, Rattle, American Life in Poetry, and Poetry Daily, among others. Hansel was Cincinnati’s first Poet Laureate, and she was the 2022 Writer-in-Residence for The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Edna St. Vincent Millay was born in Rockland, Maine in 1892. Along with her many books of poetry, Millay published plays, a libretto called The King’s Henchman, and she wrote short stories for popular fiction magazines under the pseudonym Nancy Boyd. She was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. Links: Read "I Take My Mother with Me Everywhere" and "After" Read "Postcard from Age 60" at Braided Way Read "Recuerdo" at The Poetry Foundation Pauletta Hansel Pauletta Hansel's website "The Road" at Poetry Daily "The City" at Appalachian Review "May 1, 2020" in The Oxford American "Palindrome" at Still: The Journal Video: "Meet our 2022 Writer-In-Residence" Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library Edna St. Vincent Millay Bio and poems at The Poetry Foundation Bio and poems at Poets.org The Millay Society's Audio Archives Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Rate & review on Podchaser

Gary Metras is a retired high school English teacher and college writing instructor. His poems have appeared in America, The Common, Poetry, and many others. Metras has published eight books, including his latest called Vanishing Points. His book Marble Dust is forthcoming from Cervena Barva Press. Metras was the founder, editor, and letterpress printer of Adastra Press, a venture that for forty years specialized in limited editions of poetry chapbooks. In 2018, Metras was appointed the inaugural Poet Laureate of Easthampton, Massachusetts. Simon Perchik's poems have appeared in The Nation, Poetry, The New Yorker, and many others. He was born in 1923 in Paterson, New Jersey. During World War II, he joined the Army Air Corps, flew 35 missions overseas, and reached the rank of first lieutenant. Thanks to the GI Bill, Perchik attended New York University where he earned a bachelor’s degree and a law degree. He practiced law for 25 years before becoming an assistant DA for Suffolk County and its first environmental prosecutor. He was a prolific writer, and he published more than thirty books of poetry. A November 2000 issue of Library Journal called Simon Perchik “the most widely published unknown poet in America.” Perchik died on June 14, 2022, in New York City. Links: Read "The Engagement" and "Lint" at The Poetry Foundation Read "Another Winter" Read "3" and "482" Gary Metras "April 6, 2022" at One Art "Two Poems by Gary Metras" at Flyfishing and Tying Journal "Art Maker: Gary Metras, Poet" at Daily Hampshire Gazette "In Studio: Gary Metras" by Easthampton Media (via YouTube) Simon Perchik "Simon Perchik, Poet" in The Easthampton Star "Five Poems" at the Poetry Foundation Poems at Poetry Northwest Poems at Plume "Two Untitled Poems" at The Inflectionist Review Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Rate & review on Podchaser

Sara Moore Wagner is the winner of the 2021 Cider Press Review Editors Prize for her book Swan Wife and the 2020 Driftwood Press Manuscript Prize for Hillbilly Madonna. She has published two chapbooks, Tumbling After (Red Bird Chapbooks) and Hooked Through (Five Oaks Press). She won the 2022 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, a 2019 Sustainable Arts Foundation award, and she was a 2021 National Poetry Series Finalist. Her work has appeared in Sixth Finch, Beloit Poetry Journal, Waxwing, The Cincinnati Review, Nimrod, Rhino, and others. Wagner's book Lady Wingshot, based on the life of Annie Oakley, won the Blue Lynx Prize and is forthcoming in 2024. H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) was born in 1886 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and she grew up in Upper Darby near Philadelphia. She attended Bryn Mawr and the University of Pennsylvania. H.D. published numerous books, including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, essays, and translations. The publication of her collected and selected poetry helped to establish her as a major poet of the 20th century. H.D.’s work is revered by countless writers and critics, and she’s often thought of as a poet's poet and one of the key figures of the Imagist movement. She died in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1961. Links: Read "Purity Test" Read "Captivity Narrative" Read "Legend Says" Read "Leda" Sara Moore Wagner Sara Moore Wagner's website "Anti-Pastoral" at Sixth Finch "Passing It On" at Waxwing "Girl as a Deer Shedding the Velvet" at The Inflectionist Review "Embracing the Half-Wild Creature: A Conversation with Sara Moore Wagner" at The Rumpus "Sara Moore Wagner on 'Getting My Body Back'" at Poetry Society of America H.D. Bio and poems at The Poetry Foundation Bio and poems at Poets.org "H.D.: American Poet" in Britannica "Radical Freedom: Poets on the Life and Work of H.D." Live from the IceHouse Tonight (YouTube) Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org.

Derek N. Otsuji is the author of the book The Kitchen of Small Hours, which won the Crab Orchard Review Poetry Series Open Competition. He was also awarded the 2019 Tennessee Williams Scholarship from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. His poems have appeared in The Southern Poetry Review, The Beloit Poetry Journal, The Threepenny Review, The Bennington Review, Harpur Palate, Missouri Review Online, and many others. He is an associate professor of English at Honolulu Community College. George Herbert was born in 1593 in Montgomery Castle, Wales. He attended Westminster School and then Trinity College, Cambridge. He was ordained as a priest and became the rector at Bemerton. He died in 1633 of consumption at the age of forty. Links: Read "Among the More Innocent Touristic Amusements of the Old Waikiki" Read "Two Boys One Fish Two Eyes" in Rhino Read "Virtue" by George Herbert" at The Poetry Foundation Derek N. Otsuji Derek N. Otsuji's website "How She Loves Music" in Pleiades. Two Poems at Terrain.org Video: "Interview with Derek Otsuji, Author of The Kitchen of Small Hours" "Theatre of Shadows" at The Poetry Foundation George Herbert Bio and poems at the The Poetry Foundation Bio and poems at Poets.org "George Herbert: British Poet" in Britannica Video: George Herbert - a Welsh-born poet, orator, and priest Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Rate & review on Podchaser

Recorded live, April 10, 2023. In celebration of National Poetry Month, Maurice Manning joined us for Lawson McGhee Library's monthly book discussion group, All Over the Page. Hear Manning read his poems and talk about his book Bucolics. Manning also discusses more recent work including his new podcast, The Grinnin' Possum. Maurice Manning has published seven books of poetry. His first book, Lawrence Booth’s Book of Visions, won the Yale Younger Poets Award, and his fourth, The Common Man, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He teaches Transylvania University. Links: The Grinnin' Possum Podcast: Poetry Music History with Maurice Manning Eight Bucolics in VQR Bucolics XXII, XXXV, and LVIII at Art and Theology Bio and poems at the Poetry Foundation Article in Garden & Gun Interview at Plume Manning reading at the Sewanee Writer's Conference (Video) Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Rate & review on Podchaser

In this episode, Lyn Hejinian reads four untitled poems from The Book of A Thousand Eyes. Lyn Hejinian is a poet, translator, editor, and scholar whose literary career has been long associated with Language writing. Hejinian is the author of over twenty-five volumes of poetry and critical prose, the most recent of which are Tribunal (Omnidawn Books, 2019), Positions of the Sun (Belladonna, 2019), and a revised edition of Oxota: A Short Russian Novel (Wesleyan University Press, 2019.) Fall Creek, her latest long poem, is forthcoming from Litmus Press. A book of critical essays titled Allegorical Moments: Call to the Everyday will come out in Fall 2023 (Wesleyan University Press), and The Proposition, a critical edition of Hejinian’s uncollected early work, is forthcoming from the University of Edinburgh Press (spring 2024). She is the editor of Tuumba Press, the co-director (with Travis Ortiz) of Atelos, a literary project commissioning and publishing cross-genre work by poets, and co-editor (with Jane Gregory and Claire Marie Stancek) of Nion Editions, a chapbook press. She lives in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Doug Hall) Links: Read four poems from The Book of a Thousand Eyes Brief Interview and more at Omnidawn Press Bio and poems at Poets.org Bio and poems at the Poetry Foundation Readings, Talks, Q&As, and Lectures at PennSound Hejinian's books reviewed by Publishers Weekly Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Rate & review on Podchaser

Jim Minick is the author of two books of poetry, Her Secret Song and Burning Heaven. In addition, he’s published: Finding a Clear Path, a collection of essays; The Blueberry Years: A Memoir of Farm and Family, which won the Southern Independent Booksellers Association’s award for nonfiction; and Fire Is Your Water, a novel that won the Appalachian Book of the Year Award. Minick’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Poets & Writers, Tampa Review, Shenandoah, Orion, Oxford American, and The Sun. His latest nonfiction book, Without Warning: The Tornado of Udall, Kansas, is forthcoming next month, and his latest poetry manuscript, The Intimacy of Spoons, is forthcoming in 2024. He serves as Coeditor of Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel. Robert Frost was born 1874 in San Francisco. Though Frost attended Dartmouth College and Harvard University, he never earned a formal degree. As a young writer, Frost didn’t have much luck publishing in American literary magazines. He spent much of his twenties and thirties farming and teaching. His first book wasn’t published until he was nearly 40 years old—and after he'd sold his New Hampshire farm and moved to England where publishers were more receptive to his work. Frost soon moved back to the U.S. where he lived in Massachusetts and Vermont, and he went on to win four Pulitzer Prizes and the Congressional Medal of Honor. He died in Boston in 1963. Links: Read "The Oven-Bird" Read "Diminished" at Still: The Journal Read "The Collar” and "Still Dark" Jim Minick Jim Minick’s website "Why Birds" at Salvation South "Whale Light" at The Ekphrastic Review "Good Dirt" and "Stress Test" at Cutleaf Without Warning: The Tornado of Udall, Kansas at Bison Books Robert Frost Bio and poems at Poets.org Bio and Poems at The Poetry Foundation's website Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Rate & review on Podchaser

Monica Mody was born in Ranchi, India. She holds a PhD in East-West Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of three poetry chapbooks, including Ordinary Annals, and two full-length books, Kala Pani, a cross-genre work, and Bright Parallel, which is forthcoming from Copper Coin. Her writing has won awards including the Sparks Prize Fellowship, the Zora Neale Hurston Award, and a Toto Award for Creative Writing. Her work has been published in Poetry International, Indian Quarterly, Almost Island, Dusie, The Fabulist, and anthologies including Future Library: Contemporary Indian Writing and The Penguin Book of Indian Poets. Poet and dramatist Michael Madhusudan Dutt was born in Bengal, India. He studied several languages and was well-versed in English and European literature. In 1861, Dutt published the epic poem Meghnadbadh Kabya, which is, perhaps, his most famous work. Between 1858 and 1874, Dutt penned at least nine plays, including three translations. He is known for his experimentation with verse forms, introducing blank verse in Bengali literature and the sonnet in Bengali—through a reconstruction of both Petrarchan and Shakespearean forms. Links: Read "Glass House--Anthropocene" and "That I exist only as a speck on your bloodshot eyes but I am willing to sweat" Read "Sonnets" by Michael Madhusudan Dutt Monica Mody's website "What Was Alive" at Yes Poetry Interview with Mody at Poetry Mini Interviews Mody reads from Ordinary Annals at Periodicities' Virtual Reading Series (Video) "Homing Instinct" at The Other Side of Hope Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Rate & review on Podchaser

Erin Elizabeth Smith is the Executive Director for Sundress Publications and the Sundress Academy for the Arts. Her third full-length poetry collection, Down, was released in 2020 by Stephen F. Austin State University Press. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Guernica, Ecotone, Mid-American, Tupelo Quarterly, Crab Orchard Review, and Willow Springs, among others. She earned her PhD in Creative Writing from the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi and is now a Distinguished Lecturer in the English Department at the University of Tennessee. She is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Links: Read "Alice Gives Advice to Dorothy" Read "February in Knoxville" and other poems by Smith at Menacing Hedge Erin Elizabeth Smith's page at Sundress Publications Two poems by Erin Elizabeth Smith at The Los Angeles Review Three poems by Erin Elizabeth Smith at The Superstition Review "Plating the Poem, Reclaiming the Story: A Conversation with Erin Elizabeth Smith" Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Rate & review on Podchaser

Bernard Clay was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and he spent most of his childhood and high school years there. He holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Kentucky, and he is a member of the Affrilachian Poets collective. His work has been published in Appalachian Heritage, The Limestone Review, Blackbone: 25 Years of the Affrilachian Poets, and various other journals and anthologies. His book English Lit was published by Old Cove/Swallow Press in 2021. He lives on a farm in eastern Kentucky with his wife Lauren Kallmeyer, an herbalist who serves as the director of Kentucky Heartwood's Forest Council. Joseph Seamon Cotter Sr. was born on February 2, 1861, in Bardstown, Kentucky, and he died in Lousiville, Kentucky in 1949. When he was just eight years old, he had to leave school to help support his family. At the age of 22, Cotter returned to his formal education and eventually served for more than fifty years as a teacher and administrator in several Louisville schools. In 1891, he married Maria F. Cox; they had three children, including his eldest son, Joseph Seamon Cotter Jr., who was also a talented poet and playwright. According to Oxford Reference, Joseph Cotter Sr. provided an important “voice during one of the most difficult eras of African American history, and he was a man who backed his words with action in building the African American community.” Links: Read "Mr. Nap's Fight" and "Appalachian Smitten" Read "Dr. Booker T. Washington to the National Negro Business League" Bernard Clay Bernard Clay's website English Lit reviewed in Southern Review of Books Bernard Clay reading at the historic Western Library of the Louisville Free Public Library Joseph Seamon Cotter Sr. Bio and poems at Poets.org Bio and Bibliography at the Carnegie Center--Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Rate & review on Podchaser

Just in time for Halloween! GennaRose Nethercott reads two spooky entries from the imagined bestiary 50 Beasts to Break Your Heart. GennaRose Nethercott is a writer and folklorist. Her work has appeared in The American Scholar, Bomb Magazine, Pank, The Literary Review, and others. Her first book, The Lumberjack’s Dove, was selected by Louise Glück as a winner of the National Poetry Series, and her debut novel—the modern fairytale Thistlefoot—was published last month. She tours nationally and internationally performing strange tales (sometimes with puppets in tow) and composing poems-to-order on an antique typewriter with her team The Traveling Poetry Emporium. Links: Read "Yune" and "Yslani," along with other entries from 50 Beasts to Break Your Heart, at Bomb GennaRose Nethercott's website GennaRose Nethercott on All Things Considered "Three Poems" at Pank Thistlefoot reviewed in Kirkus Reviews The Lumberjack’s Dove reviewed in Berkely Fiction Review Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Rate & review on Podchaser

Juan R. Palomo is the author of Al Norte (Alabrava Press 2021). Born in Grafton, North Dakota to migrant-worker parents, Palomo grew up in South Texas and several midwestern states. He received a bachelor’s degree in art education from Texas State University and a master’s in journalism and public affairs from American University. He was a reporter, columnist, and editorial writer for The Houston Post; he covered religion for the Austin American-Statesman; and he wrote a column for USA TODAY. His poems have appeared in The Acentos Review, The Sonora Review, The Account, and others. Links: Read "The Day They Do Not Show Up" and "Life & Death in Marathon, Texas" juanzqui: Views and Ramblings by Juan Ramon Palomo “Al Norte by Juan R. Palomo is an Homage to a Family Drifting in Colors” by Anthony Isaac Bradley in Infarrealista Review “Speed Queen, North Dakota 1983” and “Noise” at Acentos Review “A Shy One” and “His Future” at The Account Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Rate & review on Podchaser

Andrea Carter Brown was born in Paterson, New Jersey. Her poems have appeared in The Gettysburg Review, Ploughshares, Birmingham Poetry Review, The Mississippi Review, and many others. She is the author of September 12, which recently won the 2022 IPPY Silver Medal in Poetry from the Independent Publishers Group. Her other titles include the The Disheveled Bed, Domestic Karma, and Brook & Rainbow. Her poems have won the Five Points James Dickey Prize, the River Styx International Poetry Prize, and the PSA Gustav Davidson Memorial Prize. She was a founding editor of the poetry journal Barrow Street, and, since 2017, she has been Series Editor of The Word Works Washington Prize. John Keats, one of the greatest of the Romantic Poets, was born October 31, 1795 in London. He published just three volumes before his death from tuberculosis at the age of 25. Some of his poems are among the most anthologized in the 20th Century, including “To Autumn,” “Ode to a Nightingale,” and “Ode on a Grecian Urn.” Links: Read “After the Disaster: Fragments,” “Ars Poetica,” “To the Dust,” and other poems at andrea carterbrown.com Read "When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be" by John Keats Andrea Carter Brown “An Interview with Andrea Carter Brown" September 12 book launch Brown’s poem "The Rock in the Glen” featured in an episode of Poems on Air “Poet Mary Mackey Interviews Poet Andrea Carter Brown” John Keats Bio and poems at Poets.org Bio and articles on John Keats at the British Library “The Cockney Romantics: John Keats and His Friends,” a lecture by Johnathan Bate Mentioned in this episode: KnoxCountyLibrary.org Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Rate & review on Podchaser