Into the Looking Glass: Exploring the Magic Behind Speculative Poetry

Greetings LookingGlass Travellers,

Sorry about the delay. I am still getting used to a more limited spoon supply, so getting this episode ready to go took me longer than I expected.

For this month's episode, I had a chat with Wendy Van Camp, novelist, poet, SFPA con coordinator, and community builder.

For full episode notes, and the prompt of the month, visit https://lookingglasspoets.wordpress.com/2022/02/08/wendy-van-camp/

Until next time,

Later, lookingglass travellers!

Theme music: Wonderland by Alexander Nakarada (serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License

Greetings and welcome to 2022!

This month, I don't have a full episode for you. I've spent all of December recovering from a car accident, which prevented me from scheduling an interview. However, I thought it might be nice to celebrate the end of 2021 with a reading of a public domain poem.

So for this little bonus episode, I hope you enjoy Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market as much as I did. A text version to read along is available at the Poetry Foundation: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44996/goblin-market.

While I may be a few days late again, I do hope to be back to being functional enough to have another interview recorded and ready for February.

Later, Looking Glass Travellers!

Hello Looking Glass Travellers, and welcome to December.

For this month's episode, I got to chat with LindaAnn LoSchiavo, a fellow member of the SFPA and a poet, author, playwright, and ghost whisperer who has been writing poetry since early childhood.

Links mentioned:

For full episode notes, and the prompt of the month, visit https://lookingglasspoets.wordpress.com/2021/12/01/lindaann/

Until next time,

Later, lookingglass travellers!

Theme music: Wonderland by Alexander Nakarada (serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License

Hello Looking Glass Travellers, and welcome to the month of November.

For this month's episode, I got to chat with Brandon O'Brien, performance poet, game designer, former poetry editor of Fiyah Magazine, and author of Can You Sign My Tentacle, a poetry collection that combines the horrors of Lovecraftian myth with hip-hop to explore monsters both fictional and real, in the form of racism, sexism, and violence.

Links mentioned:

For full episode notes, and the prompt of the month, visit https://lookingglasspoets.wordpress.com/2021/11/01/brandon/

Until next time,

Later, lookingglass travellers!

Theme music: Wonderland by Alexander Nakarada (serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License

Hello Looking Glass Travellers, and welcome to the month of October.

For this month's episode, I got to chat with David Kopaska Merkel, a fellow member of the SFPA and editor of Dreams and nightmares magazine.

Links mentioned:

For full episode notes, and the prompt of the month, visit https://lookingglasspoets.wordpress.com/2021/10/01/david-km/

Until next time,

Later, lookingglass travellers!

Theme music: Wonderland by Alexander Nakarada (serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License

Hello Looking Glass Travellers, and welcome to the month of September.

For this month's episode, I got to chat with the lovely May Chong, a fellow Dream Foundry member, and a poet and writer whose work is not consumed but breathed in.

Links mentioned:

For full episode notes, including links to more pieces by May, and the prompt of the month, visit https://lookingglasspoets.wordpress.com/2021/09/01/may/.

Until next time,

Later, lookingglass travellers!

Theme music: Wonderland by Alexander Nakarada (serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License

For the second launch day episode, I got to chat with talented poet and my friend, Koji A. Dae. Among the topics we discussed were her collection Scars That Never Bled, fuzzy navels, and Hemingway.

Links mentioned:

For full episode notes, including links to pieces by Koji, and the prompt of the month, visit https://lookingglasspoets.wordpress.com/2021/08/01/koji/.

Until next time,

Later, lookingglass travellers!

Theme music: Wonderland by Alexander Nakarada (serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License

In this episode, I got to chat with the lovely Cislyn Smith, writer, poet, and community builder. Of course, community is not the only thing we talked about. Sappho, bubble tea, and hats were among the topics that came up.

Links mentioned:

For full episode notes, including links to pieces by Cislyn, and the prompt of the month, visit https://lookingglasspoets.wordpress.com/2021/08/01/cislyn-smith/.

Until next time,

Later, lookingglass travellers!

Theme music: Wonderland by Alexander Nakarada (serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License

In the third mini episode, we have a bit of a closer look at exactly what speculative poetry entails. The definition, while clear-cut and simple, will still leave you unable to anticipate the vast range the genre can encompass, in terms of style, theme, and form. After this, it's only two more weeks until the frabjous launch day, August 1st, when I'll be releasing not one, but two full episodes.

As before, a full transcript of this episode can be found on the website, at https://lookingglasspoets.wordpress.com/2021/07/18/but-what-exactly-is-speculative-poetry/.

If that sounds like something you think you'll enjoy, hit that subscribe button, and/or come and hang out on the Looking Glass Discord server, by clicking on the link below.

https://discord.gg/kV84ApPjBm 

Until next time,

Later, lookingglass travellers!

Theme music: Wonderland by Alexander Nakarada (serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License

Welcome, speculative poets and poetry lovers, to this still kind of brand new project. The plan to provide an opportunity for speculative poets to step into the spotlight, and allow all of us to learn from each other, is still go for launch. I repeat, we are go for launch.

As we collectively count down to the official launch day, on August 1st, I have a second mini episode, in which I talk a bit more about all the things that amaze me so much about Carroll's poem, Jabberwocky, and how that led me to the title of this podcast. After today, we have one more mini episode, and then on the frabjous day of August 1st, I bring you not one but two full episodes, featuring interviews with speculative poets Cislyn Smith and Koji A. Dae. In the meantime, I will be sharing some of their work on Twitter, so you can get a bit of a taste of their poems. Kind of like the fancy appetisers at a restaurant you eat too many of and then you're full by the time the starters are served. Ahem.

If any of this sounds like something you'd enjoy, hit that subscribe button so you don't miss any future episodes, follow me on Twitter (@specpoetrypod), and/or join the conversation on the Looking Glass Discord server at https://discord.gg/HMmvk8xsAY.

While I won't always be able to provide full transcripts for the complete episodes, I'm making a slight exception for the mini episodes leading up to the official launch of the podcast. The full transcript for this episode can be found at https://lookingglasspoets.wordpress.com/2021/07/04/so-about-jabberwocky/

Sources:

Theme music: Wonderland by Alexander Nakarada (serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License