s3e5 Making Choices: Art Under Dictatorship, Hybrid Publishing
EIleen Tabios, author of the Balikbayan Artist, Nick Courtright, PUblisher-Atmosphere Press
s3e5
February 27, 2025
Martha talks with Eileen Tabios about The Balikbayan Artist, Venancio Igarta, who her Kapwa novel fictionalizes, artistic choices and Kendrick Lamar’s historic half time appearance at the Super Bowl. Also featured, Nick Courtright, of Atmosphere Press, a literary hybrid publisher with 1300 titles in its catalog.
“ I think that we all feel pushed towards didacticism as daily headlines unfold, which makes this book so compelling, at this moment.“
Martha Cinader for Listen & Be Heard
In the audio garden: we listen to Eileen Tabios read The Rebel’s Son, a poem contained within the novel, The Balikbayan Artist, published by Penguin Random House. Martha talks with Eileen about aestheticism and didacticism and what that has to do with Kendrick Lamar’s historic half time appearance at the Superbowl. They also talk about Artist, Venancio Igarta, a color master and contemporary of Albers, who was first discovered working in the fields in California. The protagonist in the novel is a fictional rendering of Igarta told within a framework of the Kapwa tradition of the Philippines.
In the second half of the hour Martha talks with Nick Courtright, of Atmosphere Press, a literary hybrid publisher with a team of 40, which recently published its 1300th title. They talk about what a hybrid press is, the literary focus of Atmosphere Press, the positive and negative aspects of hybrid and traditional publishing, and the books that won their new annual contest in different categories.
We also hear the voices of John Mims, Chase Fowler and Jhyman Harris on listening and being heard, Meredith Leigh, author of the Ethical Meat Handbook, on community resilience . Next week Tony Robles will welcome Luna Jamero to the audio garden to talk about her late brother Peter Jamero, author of Growing up Brown.
CREDITS– HOSTS: Martha Cinader, Tony Robles. FEATURED SPOKEN WORD: Eileen Tabios, John Mims, Chase Fowler, Jhyman Harris, Martha Cinader, Meredith Leigh. GUESTS: Eileen Tabios, Nick Courtright. PRODUCER: Martha Cinader. EDITING: Martha Cinader, Jay Rodriguez Sierra. MUSIC, MIXING, MASTERING: Jay Rodriguez Sierra. Banned Books Theme – Voice and Words: Yvette Murray.
FEATURED GUESTS
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Eileen R. Tabios
Read more: Eileen R. TabiosEileen R. Tabios has released collections of poetry, fiction, art, essays, and experimental writings from publishers around the world. Recent releases include her second novel The Balikbayan Artist; an autobiography, THE INVENTOR; a poetry collection Because I Love You, I Become War; an art monograph, Drawing the Six Directions; a flash fiction collection (in collaboration…
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Nick Courtright – Publisher
Read more: Nick Courtright – PublisherDr. Nick Courtright is Founder and CEO of Atmosphere Press, a literary hybrid publisher that provides meaningful and rewarding experiences to writers. He is the author of the poetry collections The Forgotten World, Let There Be Light, and Punchline. His latest book, on literary interpretation, is In Perfect Silence at the Stars: Walt Whitman and…
FEATURED BOOKS
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Caroline Willcocks – Of Aragon
Read more: Caroline Willcocks – Of AragonIn this historical novel, Caroline Willcocks skillfully transports us to the bygone era of Henry VIII’s magnificent Queen, Katherine of Argon, told through the eyes of her daughter, who witnesses both the splendor and the deceit that define life within the Queen’s inner circle.
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Eileen R. Tabios – The Balikbayan Artist
Read more: Eileen R. Tabios – The Balikbayan ArtistThe Balikbayan Artist– inspired by and dedicated to Venancio C. Igarta (1912- 2000), the real-life leading artist of the Manong Generation–
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Eileen R. Tabios – The Inventor, A Poet’s Transcolonial Autobiography
Read more: Eileen R. Tabios – The Inventor, A Poet’s Transcolonial AutobiographyEileen R. Tabios says, “Poetry is a decolonized language.” She proves it through her autobiography that begins with her first book that she wrote as a 2-3-year-old toddler and focuses on her poetry inventions: the hay(na)ku, the Murder Death Resurrection Poetry Generator, and the Flooid. This is a unique and thought-provoking autobiography by a poet…
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Helen Montague Foster – Lost Graces
Read more: Helen Montague Foster – Lost GracesThis richly imagined thriller about the psychiatrist Dr. Nancy Thomas was inspired by the real-life Southside Strangler and Beltway Snipers of 1990’s Richmond Virginia.
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In Perfect Silence at the Stars: Walt Whitman and the Meaning of Poems by Nick Courtright
Read more: In Perfect Silence at the Stars: Walt Whitman and the Meaning of Poems by Nick CourtrightAs Whitman averred, “there are millions of suns left”. And in that spirit, Nick Courtright avers, and irrefutably, that the meaning of Whitman’s project leans into futurity, into eternity. With In Perfect Silence at the Stars, the art of close-reading becomes a Vastation, an experience without limits.
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Jimmy Sena – Tesla’s Walk
Read more: Jimmy Sena – Tesla’s WalkAccompany the genius inventor and futurist Nikola Tesla on a poetic journey through one autumn day in 1899 Colorado Springs as he arrives at his Experimental Station on Knob Hill and ends the night in what will become Memorial Park.
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Peter Mahoney – I Was a Hero Once
Read more: Peter Mahoney – I Was a Hero OnceThis autobiography by Peter P. Mahoney details his incredible experiences as an infantry lieutenant deployed to Vietnam who later found himself embroiled in the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) movement and played a pivotal role in establishing the NY Vietnam Veterans memorial.
VIDEOS
SUBMISSIONS
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BANNED BOOKS
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