Vs

On this #VSfromHome episode, Danez and Franny dip into a chock-full mailbag full of your wonderful questions! Plus, we hear seven poems that listeners wrote and submitted in response to the prompts that Danez and Franny shared two episodes ago. Want more poems? Then check out the special episode released alongside this one, which features a cornucopia of listener-submitted poems that Franny and Danez selected. Listener poems in this episode: “On the Street Marked ‘Dead End’” by Christopher Crowder “Hold Me by the Stem” by Dante Clark “The Duvet Whispers to the Sex Swing” by Nova Cyprus Black “Things I Didn’t Know I Loved” by Fatima Malik “Untitled” by Simon Crow “What my dresser misses” by Lindsay Stewart NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Tara Betts is on a mission to be herself. The poet, editor, and professor comes through to talk about celebrating your people, her relationship with wearing the mask of respectability, the economic challenges of working as a poet, and much more.  NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Well, turns out the world can turn upside down. In the midst of social isolation and self-isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Franny and Danez tapped in from their homes in Massachusetts and Minneapolis, respectively, to talk about how they’re processing the absurd and unsettling time, what isolation has taught them, and the role of artistry in this crisis. Plus, they each read a new poem, send out a call for mailbag questions, and share some WRITING PROMPTS FOR Y’ALL! PLEASE share your questions for the hosts and the poems that you write to the prompts with us by emailing a voice memo recording of you reading your poem to vsthepodcast@gmail.com, so we can include them in next month’s VS episode! NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Aricka Foreman is going deep. The formerly aspiring marine biologist and current excellent poet talks about her love of the ocean, her new collection Salt Body Shimmer, how she digs into the emotional depths and then pulls herself back out, and much more. NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review

It’s Toaster Time! This week’s guest, Toaster Henderson, is a poet, teaching artist at Young Chicago Authors, and cofounder of Big Kid Slam, an all-ages slam in Chicago that’s subverting the form’s expectations and carving some really great space for poets age 18-21. The squad talks about what makes Big Kid Slam so special, the links between zoos and schools and prisons, bringing his focus to the page, and much more. Plus, we debut a BRAND NEW GAME! Follow Toaster:  https://www.instagram.com/toastersmodernlife/ Check out Big Kid Slam:  http://instagram.com/bigkidslam Poems Read: Transit by Toaster Circus by Toaster NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Season 4, y’all! Danez and Franny kick off the new year with Parneshia Jones. Parneshia is the author of Vessel, and serves as Editorial Director for Trade and Engagement at Northwestern University Press. They talk about the unique potential of art-making in this moment, the space she intentionally carves for Black women in the publishing world, the majesty of the front porch, and much more. Plus, a brand new unpublished poem! Poems read by Parneshia: 2020, The Day After Resurrection Under the Moon NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Season 3 of VS goes out with a bang! Franny and Danez take the stage as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival with the true gawd of this poetry world Patricia Smith. They talk about the most bone-chilling prompt ever, discuss form as a way to invite readers into the room, and finally settle the page vs. stage question once and for all.  VS will return in early 2020! In the meantime, jump into the archives and enjoy three seasons of amazing conversations. NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Beyza Ozer brings love into the room and into their gorgeous poems on this episode, the penultimate episode of Season 3! The squad talks about taking time away from poems until they feel urgent and necessary again, writing love poems, Katya from Drag Race as muse and inspiration, and much more.  NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review! Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.

Franny and Danez dig real damn deep with Xandria Phillips. They discuss their collection Hull, learning how to write and revise with beginners’ eyes, painting and color theory, and much more. This one is a deep dive in the best possible way. NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Live from the Asian American Literature Festival, it’s VS! Danez and Franny talk with Cathy Linh Che, Joseph Legaspi, and Sarah Gambito about the remarkable work they’ve done building and maintaining Kundiman. Plus we hear some beautiful poems by all three guests, and some truly excellent shade is thrown.  NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

If hearing the brilliant Wo Chan talk with Danez and Franny about the mystical ritual of drag isn’t enough for you, maybe the spoiler alert that this episode is the first in VS history to need a crying break for all participants will get you to push that play button. Wo talks about the similarities of drag and poetry, the extreme loneliness of a childhood spent at Table 4a, and much more. Recorded at the Smithsonian Asian American Literature Festival! NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Cathy Park Hong has some thoughts for you, and some thoughts on how best to share them. The poet and essayist talks about her newest essay collection Minor Feelings, waking people up from the American Dream, practicing poetry in the real world, and more. Recorded at the Smithsonian Asian American Poetry Festival in DC–please excuse the “on-location” audio! In this episode, we incorrectly gendered brilliant poet CA Conrad. We apologize for the mistake, and encourage you to check out their work here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/c-a-conrad. NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Recorded at the Asian American Literature Festival in DC, Danez and Franny get a glimpse inside the pages and brain of wonderful poet and human Yanyi. They talk bringing their thoughts to the page, the magic of a prose poem, clarity and directness, and more! NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Listen in on a very special LIVE VS x Poetry Magazine Podcast crossover episode, live from Portland, Oregon! Danez and Franny are joined by Lindsay Garbutt, the cohost of the Poetry Magazine Podcast, and have a blast talking with poets Eloisa Amezcua and Brenda Shaughnessy. Subscribe to the Poetry Magazine podcast today for more poetic flames, glam, and goodness!  NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Ilya Kaminsky can weave beautiful sentences out of thin air, then build a narrative tapestry from them that is unlike any story you’ve ever read. The author of Dancing in Odessa and new book Deaf Republic talks with Danez and Franny about how narrative can help when poetics are limited, poets from around the world we should be reading, writing between countries as a refugee, and more.   NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Diana Khoi Nguyen is tackling silence. The poet and multimedia artist talks with Danez and Franny about writing into the spaces left by her late brother, splicing family videos, teaching MBA students to codeswitch, and interviewing the Vietnamese diaspora across generations. Plus, a very existential This vs. That, and a FANTASTIC pun to end the show. Also–VERY IMPORTANTLY–follow her dog on IG at https://www.instagram.com/waitingforbeckett/. NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Morgan Parker has some through-lines. The poet, editor, and YA novelist has been making and shaping literary work since third grade, when she launched her own publishing house (and hilarity ensued). She talks about follow-through, trying to do everything, being a millenial who isn’t very millenial, escaping to the ‘70s, and much more.  NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

VS wraps up its visit to Oxford, Mississippi with a dynamite live show featuring the wonderful poets Helene Achanzar, Beth Ann Fennelly, and Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Recorded at Off Square Books in Downtown Oxford, the squad shares their poems as well as some selected operatic insights, penis-photo literature, and narwhal factoids! Get into it! NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

Get your hands in the dirt on this wonderful episode with Aimee Nezhukumatathil. The brilliant poet and Ole Miss professor gives a status update on her garden, her son’s sock budget, writing without a veil, and literary friendships. Plus, a tattoo callback to an earlier episode! NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

On our next dispatch from our visit to Oxford, Missisippi, our fearless hosts get into it with poet Julian Randall. Julian talks about wrestling with forgiveness, searching for records of his family in the nearby town of Water Valley, and how a workshop prompt got him to come out to his parents. NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!