VS

Y’all are some good-ass writers! When we put out the call for poems in response to our prompts, we didn’t know we were going to get such a wonderful collection of pieces from you beautiful listeners. We couldn’t include them all in Episode 6, so we put together a special listener-only episode full of your work. Enjoy what your podpeople have created! Listener poems in this episode: “Untitled poem for the apocalypse” by Angelina Mazza “What we need right now” by Anneka Hooft “Independence Song” by Belinda Munyeza “Hell’s Kitchen” by Bobby Larson “Taxidermied Peacock” by Bri Marino “Dispensed With” by Ciel “A Reminder From This World” by Haru Matsuura “Untitled” by Irene Vazquez “The Gathering” by Isobel Rutherford “A poem by a half-finished painting in my living room” by Jake Pruitt “Girl in Isolation” by Jireh Deng “How many different shades of blue” by Latifa Akay “The Coffee Table Speaks During Quarantine” by Mehrnoosh Torbatnejad “april, 2020” by Mina Yu “My imagination decides the size of my fear” by Nicole Arocho Hernandez “The Analog Who Broke the Camel’s Lap-top” by Carlos Pittella “Voicemail No. 47” by Quentin Felton “The Stovetop Misses Talking Shit” by Raji Ganesan “Invisible Speaker - Garden Mouse” by Oluwaseun Olayiwola “In the World Right Now” by Tiffany Wong-Jones “Instructions for a Contemporary Pastoral” by torrin a. greathouse NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

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!