Rattlecast #59 features slam legend Taylor Mali. Taylor has appeared in many issues of Rattle and was winner of the 2nd annual Rattle Chapbook Prize.

Taylor Mali is one of the most well-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement and one of the original poets to appear on the HBO series “Def Poetry Jam.” A four-time National Poetry Slam champion, he is the author of four collections of poetry and a chapbook, The Whetting Stone, which won the 2017 Rattle Chapbook Prize. He is the author of the acclaimed nonfiction book, What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World. In April of 2012, Mali donated 12 inches of his hair to the American Cancer Society Mali after convincing 1,000 people to become teachers. He lives in Brooklyn where he curates the Page Meets Stage reading series at the Bowery Poetry Club.

For more information, visit:

https://taylormali.com/

As always, we'll also include live open mic for responses to our weekly prompt. For details on how to participate, either pre-recorded, via Skype, or by phone, go to: https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/

This Week's Prompt:

Write a poem from the point of view of an animal.

Next Week's Prompt (from Taylor Mali's Metaphor Dice):

"Hope is a vacant curse."

The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Periscope, then becomes an audio podcast.