SoundPages
SoundPages is produced by Jack Straw Cultural Center as part of the Jack Straw Writers Program. This podcast features interviews and live readings from artists in the Jack Straw Writers Program. Each year a series of twelve episodes is produced featuring the current Jack Straw Writers and curator.-
Entropy - Danielle Hayden
Danielle Hayden’s project for the 2022 Jack Straw Writers Program is an essay collection titled Entropy that delves into both the different identities that she holds and the identities that are trying to find her. In her conversation with curator Michael Schmeltzer, they talk about the challenges of witnessing oneself, the beautiful and ugly truths in her writing, and the dark night of the soul that instilled a sense of urgency in her. ”I’m talking about some things that are taboo . . . but there are other people who feel like I feel. And so I want to kind of say, ‘Hey, you’re not the only one.’”
Music by Ran Park, produced through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.
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Every Poem Is Its Own Kind of Music - Jory Mickelson
2022 Jack Straw Writer Jory Mickelson’s ekphrastic poetry project deals with queerness, art history, and the imaginative connections between things. In his conversation with curator Michael Schmeltzer, they discuss Jory’s process for researching art pieces, a photograph of genderplay from 1891, and the challenges that come with writing ekphrastic work. “I want to think about, how can I present different little songs for each piece.”
Music by Ran Park, produced through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.
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Everybody Is Redeemable - Katharine Strange
Katharine Strange’s project for the 2022 Jack Straw Writers Program is a snarky memoir that explores the PTSD that came with her decision to get married and move to the UK when she was 22. In her conversation with curator Michael Schmeltzer, they delve into Katherine’s comedic style of writing, the ways she stays motivated, and the theme of empathy that comes through in her writing. “In my writing I like to make fun a lot, but I try to always leave room to see the humanity, even in people who are kind of more antagonistic.”
Music by Ran Park, produced through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.
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Writing Towards a Better World - Ally Ang
Ally Ang’s project for the 2022 Jack Straw Writers Program is a full-length poetry collection they call an offering to their ghosts and ancestors. In their conversation with curator Michael Schmeltzer, they talk about the importance of documenting for future generations, processing feelings of loneliness and anger, and the discipline of hope. “Even when I am writing from a really dark and seemingly hopeless place, I do try to tap into that joy, that levity, that hope, and that kind of helps me feel like I am building something.”
Music by Ran Park, produced through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.
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No Way Home - Michael Overa
Michael Overa‘s project for the 2021 Jack Straw Writers Program is a novel he calls an elegy for his youth, about the origins and career of a punk band in Seattle. His conversation with curator E.J. Koh touches on Michael’s favorite ‘90s punk bands, authenticity in art, and his own Seattle youth. “It’s not necessarily a time that at my age I want to go back and live, but it’s fun to think about.”
Music by Andrew Weathers, produced in part through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.
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Transplants - Daniel Tam-Claiborne
Daniel Tam-Claiborne’s project for the 2021 Jack Straw Writers Program is a novel about a Chinese woman and a Chinese-American woman navigating the experience of being transplants in different ways. In his conversation with curator E.J. Koh, they discuss Daniel’s connection to these characters, the relationship between China and America, and how it effects individuals in both places. “That’s something I’m really hoping to address and think about when we think about fiction. . . . is to make the case that there are lived experiences that are worth thinking about in ways that are more sympathetic and more tolerant and with greater understanding.”
Music by Andrew Weathers, produced in part through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.
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Memory - Grace Jahng Lee
Grace Jahng Lee’s project for the 2021 Jack Straw Writers Program is a novel about a Korean-American family, incorporating themes of memory and intergenerational trauma. In her conversation with curator E.J. Koh, they discuss the enduring impacts of the Korean War, and the challenges of preserving stories from the past. “Sometimes you have to forget to survive, right? . . . And through my writing, I guess I’m always pushing against that, but yet also trying to respect the fact that a lot of what I’m writing is a source of trauma, not only for me but for many people who were involved in those stories.”
Music by Andrew Weathers, produced in part through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.
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America, America - Tochukwu Okafor
Tochukwu Okafor’s project for the 2021 Jack Straw Writers Program is a story about a young gay man coming of age in Nigeria. In his conversation with curator E.J. Koh, they discuss what it’s like to be gay in Nigeria and bond over their shared experiences with both Catholicism and the engineering world. “I don’t know if I should get offended when people ask me ‘so what’s it gonna be,’ am I going to give up my engineering career for my writing career . . . and I’m always asking them why can’t it be both?”
Music by Andrew Weathers, produced in part through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.
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Fathering - Greg November
Greg November’s project for the 2021 Jack Straw Writers Program is a collection of short stories that explore fatherhood and masculinity. In his conversation with curator E.J. Koh, they discuss the conflicts and challenges of being a caregiver and a role model. “At times I feel like I’ve got to . . . be a leader . . . to model ways of carrying through, and being determined . . . But then also being soothers, being comforters, I mean – the kid’s only six years old and he hurt his knee.”
Music by Andrew Weathers, produced in part through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.
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What's Left Behind - José Luis Montero
José Luis Montero’s project for the 2021 Jack Straw Writers Program is a series of short essays about his journey to the United States from Mexico. In his conversation with curator E.J. Koh, they discuss dispelling the myths of Mexican migration, how storytelling has always been integral to his life, and what it means to leave home. “The kind of story I want to talk about is not necessarily . . . all the forms that I have to fill to get my green card for my citizenship, but rather, what drove me to come here? And what I had to leave behind. And kind of like ask myself, in a very rhetorical way, is it worth it?”
Music by Andrew Weathers, produced in part through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.