The feature image is a close-up of Sam Siegel’s Misty Chief–36″ x 36″ oil on canvas from Issue #17 Willawaw Journal
Willawaw Journal, A Business of Ferrets
In our first hour Martha speaks with Rachel Barton, editor of Willawaw Journal, about the new fall issue, now available for the price of your time and attention at Willawawjournal.com. We will also hear contributing poets Cecil Morris, Erica Reid and Connie Soper, and a spoken word recording from Roots Manuva. Tony Robles speaks with children’s author, Lauren Beckwith, about her new book A Business of Ferrets, Collective Nouns of the Animal Kingdom. In our second hour we feature an interview and some poetry from an open mic event Versers of Color in Hendersonville, NC. guest contributor, Nilsa Rivera interviews our own Tony Robles about his new book of poems, Thrift Store Metamorphosis, and some spoken word brought to us by DJ Jeannie Hopper.
Tony Robles had a fun book launch at the Buzz, that brought together some of the authors who we have featured here on this show. We have a guest interviewer, Nilsa Rivera, who you might remember has also been a guest author here on Listen & Be Heard. Today she interviews Tony about his new book Thrift Store Metamorphosis, but Tony gets around you know, and there is a new open mic event, Versers of Color at the Shakedown Lounge in Hendersonville, NC, where we’ll drop in and hear a bit of what that was about.
Rachel Barton – Willawaw Journal
Rachel Barton, poet, writing coach, and editor, has been published in print or online in the Whale Road Review, Oregon English Journal, Main Street Rag, Moon City Review, CIRQUE, and more. She has taught poetry workshops independently and at Linn-Benton Community College, the Northwest Poets Concord, Willamette Writers on the River, and the Oregon Poetry Association Conference. She is founding editor of Willawaw Journal, an online journal for poetry and art, and was a longstanding member of the editorial collective for the woman’s journal, Calyx. She serves as associate editor for Cloudbank Books. Barton’s short stories have been published online and in print (BeZine, Kindred Journal, Blue Cubicle Press, Clackamas Literary Review). Her newest book, This is the Lightness (The Poetry Box) and her chapbooks, Out of the Woods, and Happiness Comes are available on her website: Rachel Barton Writer.com
Lauren Beckwith
Lauren is a self-taught artist and holds a bachelor’s degree in English writing from Wheaton College. A former waitress and freelance artist, she now holds down the home front with a small child in each arm and looks forward to working on her next book. She’s been drawing and writing stories since she was young enough to hold a crayon and pester adults for spelling clarifications. She lives with her family in western North Carolina.
I wish I was going to be in Greenville, SC for Lauren’s reading at Barnes & Noble, this weekend, but I will be attending the Grass Roots Radio Conference in Charleston, West Virginia. Maybe you will attend and get your signed copy, and even want to send me a report about the event. Tony sends me interviews that he records live on his phone. If you are interested in contributing interviews, book reviews or in covering events like readings or slams or concerts, please send a query to editor@listenandbeheard.net. This is community radio. We want to communicate where we are.
Thrift Store Metamorphosis
Tony Robles was born in San Francisco and makes his home in Hendersonville, North Carolina. He was named Carl Sandburg Writer in Residence by the Friends of Carl Sandburg in Flat Rock, North Carolina in 2020. He is the author of the poetry and short story collections, Cool Don’t Live Here No More—A letter to San Francisco and Fingerprints of a Hunger Strike, published by Ithuriel’s Spear.He was short list nominated for Poet Laureate of San Francisco in 2017 and a two-time Push Cart Prize nominee. He received his MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2023.
Spoken Word:
Rachel Barton, Connie Soper, Erica Reid, Cecil Morris, Tony Robles, Crystal Cauley
The Caged Bird/Imitations of Life by The Cinematic Orchestra feat Roots Manuva, from their album To Believe. Based in the UK, they’ve performed at the Royal Albert Hall with a full orchestra pushing the boundaries fusing nu jazz and downtempo music and are signed to Ninja Tune Records.
Work for Peace by Gil Scott Heron. He’s best known for his piece “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised that had major influences on hip hop music. He helped Stevie Wonder’s mission and successful attempt to have the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. declared a federally recognized holiday in the US.
The Awakening by 4Hero featuring Ursula Rucker, from 4Hero’s album Play With The Changes. Philadelphia based poet teams up with the UK’s 4Hero. Rucker is compared to such celebrated writers as Sonia Sanchez and Nikki Giovani. She’s collaborated with Philadelphia’s The Roots and King Britt.
Last week I interviewed Sharon Scott about her timely new book Low Power FM for dummies. It was announced on October 16 that the FCC has pushed back the window to apply for an FCC license from November first to December 6-13. If you were thinking that you would like your nonprofit or your tribal organization to apply for a broadcast license so that you can use it as a resource for your community, you now have more time than we all thought that we had yesterday. So don’t sit on the fence. You can listen to last week’s show to the interview of Sharon Scott in the second hour. Thanks to WXOX for airing the episode of Listen & Be Heard in Louisville, Kentucky!
