Do

you
get

to
see the

rain
do you

get
to hover a-  read more »

Poet Dorianne Laux wraps it up with host Rustin Larson in a delicious 6 minute conclusion to her interview.

Then after a brief musical interlude, poet Rustin Larson reads his lyrical narrative essay "Elegy" which first appeared in the journal The MacGuffin in 1997. Ah, literary history. Can y'all smell it in the toaster? Whiff the sesame seed, the poppy seed, the garlic and onion bagels of beauty and truth.

HOW BEAUTIFUL

Laurence Olivier & Merle Oberon, Young Will

or Mrs. Smith or the smart blonde who throws,  read more »

KEEPING THE TIGERS BEHIND US by Glenn J. Freeman is the winner of the judge's prize in the Sixth Annual Elixir Press Poetry Awards. Judge Jim McGarrah says in the introduction: "Freeman fuses pop culture with Chinese philosophy, sophisticated poetic technique and a thorough knowledge of craft with street savvy rhythms and idiomatic expression in a masterful way." Glenn Freeman grew up in Maryland and has lived in Vermont, Minnesota, and Florida. His work has appeared in such publications as Poetry, The Cimarron Review, The Lullwater Review, Talking River Review and the anthology Leaves by Night, Flowers by Day.  read more »

From the beginning of the week, temperatures had reached 112 every day. But that was down in the valley, and in the shade. Up here, exposed on the hardpan, he could easily add five more degrees to that figure. In combinations of leisure and speed he worked his way in a more or less straight line toward a steep swell of sandstone that rose up into the sky and blocked from view whatever lay beyond. At its foot, the boulders became smaller and fewer. Further up, they lessened and eventually ended altogether. Elias paused a moment and contemplated whether or not his feet could withstand the ascent without first resting and then climbed down into the shade of three large boulders that had propped themselves together. He gasped and pressed his hands and face against the shaded stone as if trying to absorb and store the meager coolness it had to offer.

--from "Mythic" by Craig Deininger

Joseph Millar is the author of Fortune, from Eastern Washington University Press. His first collection, Overtime (2001), was finalist for the Oregon Book Award. Millar grew up in Pennsylvania, attended Johns Hopkins University and spent 25 years in the San Francisco Bay area, working at a variety of jobs, from telephone repairman to commercial fisherman. His poems have appeared in numerous magazines including TriQuarterly Review, Prairie Schooner, DoubleTake, Ploughshares, New Letters, Manoa, and River Styx.

He has won fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in Poetry, the Moncalvo Center for the Arts, and Oregon Literary Arts. He teaches at Oregon State University, The University of Oregon, and Pacific University’s MFA in Writing Program.  read more »

Sunday at 10:30 am central (and Monday at 1:30 pm central) get ready from some girl fights behind the pancake house!

Poet Dorianne Laux rumbles into the haunted studio (via phone call) and shakes things up with her unstoppable verse.

Dorianne Laux was born in Augusta, Maine, in 1952. She worked as a sanatorium cook, a gas station manager, a maid, and a donut holer before receiving a B.A. in English from Mills College in 1988.

Laux is the author of Facts About the Moon (W. W. Norton 2005), which was the recipient of the Oregon Book Award, chosen by Ai, and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Her other collections include Smoke (BOA Editions, 2000); What We Carry (1994), finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; and Awake (1990), which was nominated for the San Francisco Bay Area Book Critics Award for Poetry.  read more »

Tune in Sundays at 10:30 am central or Mondays at 1:30 pm central.

Tune in Sunday August 17th at 10:30 am central (or the following Monday at 1:30 pm central).

This episode was recorded live at Revelations Bookstore and Cafe in the Heart of the Cultural District of Fairfield, Iowa. Part deux will feature Matt Jaffe, Klezmer violinist, accompanied by Jonathan Worcester on guitar.

Poets: Bill Graeser and Dan Troxell.

Bill Graeser is from Long Island and is the University's Locksmith. Dan is from Des Moines and is the host of "Readings at Zanzibar's" (it's the KGB of the Midwest, sweetheart). Hey, I've read there. This series rocks the beans in the roasting machine.

L'chaim!

Next episode: Sunday, August 3 at 10:30 am CT tune in for a fascinating interview with Jim Autry!

Autry is the retired president of the Meredith Magazine Group, and had a distinguished career as an editor and publisher. Autry has been active in many civic, charitable, and arts organizations, most notably working with disability rights groups for more than 35 years. He served as president, chairman, and chairman emeritus of the Epilepsy Foundation of America. He is a founding member of the board of Peoplefor the American Way. He is also a founder of the Des Moines National Poetry Festival.

Mr. Autry is the author of ten books, and his writings have appeared in several anthologies and magazines. He consults and speaks on leadership in this country and abroad. He was a featured poet in Bill Moyers' 1989 PBS series, The Power of the Word, and Garrison Keillor has featured his work on The Writer's Corner on NPR. He received a BA in Journalism from the University of Mississippi and holds four honorary degrees. In 1997-98, he held an endowed chair in leadership at Iowa State University, and has received the "Lifetime Service to the Public Humanities" award from the Iowa Humanities Board.

He says that his real claim to fame is that he is married to Iowa's former Lieutenant Governor, Sally Pederson.  read more »