Always a Stranger: The Poetry of Refugees and Others on the Margins

Cecilia_LlompartOn May 22nd, 2014 Cecilia Llompart discussed her new book The Wingless and explored what it meant to be an artist, specifically that it may require feeling you’re on the “outside” at one point or other in your life. The discussion went into whether differing languages have different beauties, and what it’s like to live as an artist and to attempt to make a living as an artist.

Cecilia Llompart was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Florida. Her first collection, The Wingless, was published by Carnegie Mellon University Press in the spring of 2014. She is the recipient of two awards from the Academy of American Poets, and her poems have appeared inTriQuarterly, The Caribbean Writer, poets.org, and other journals. Most recently, she served as guest editor for Matter: A Journal of Political Poetry and Commentary, and she will be teaching high school students while serving as chair of creative writing for BLUR: The Blue Ridge Summer Institute for Young Artists in June 2014.

 

WriterHouse: From the Page to the Stage with James Magruder

James Magruder reading from his novel, Let Me See It, at WriterHouse
James Magruder reading from his novel, Let Me See It, at WriterHouse

On June 26, 2014, James Magruder, who started his first short story in 2001 after sixteen years in show business as a dramaturg, translator, and musical book writer, discusses of his new story collection, Let Me See It, and how his career in professional theatre has both warped and enhanced his writing. Thanks to our moderator, Gare Gailbraith


WriterHouse: Finding the True Story Behind the Myth: Dean King on the Hatfields and the McCoys

On February 6, 2014, Dean King, author of The Feud, talked with Henry Wiencek (author of Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves) about the interaction of myth and history and how to write about events and people that are already larger than life. Members of both the Hatfield and McCoy families were in the audience.

Big Blue Door: Ray Nedzel on “Unnecessary Suffering”

Tonight, the Big Blue Door Jam will hold its first ever Big Blue Door Slam, at which previous winners of the storytelling event will try to win the annual prize. The story you about to hear was told by Ray Nedzel. The theme was Unnecessary Suffering. Be warned that this podcast contains mature themes.

Big Blue Door: Miller Murray Susen

 

This Thursday, the Big Blue Door Jam will hold its first ever Big Blue Door Slam, at which previous winners of the storytelling event will try to win the annual prize. Here, one of the participants, Miller Murray Susen, shares a story inspired by the theme of families. This story was performed in December of 2012.