Literature for the Halibut

How does the nature of DIY formats like zines and mini-comics liberate artists? Zine and comic artists Julia Vogel and Jack Probst join Nicki to discuss that very question, and the emotional roots of their work.

Michael Castro, Poet Laureate of Saint Louis, and Cheeraz Gormon, St. Louis poet and Halibut's first podcast guest, return to share some more of their work as well as discuss the upcoming Brick City Poetry Festival. How can St. Louis' disparate artists from different generations come together? How can we grow as an artistic community? The Brick City festival is here to help.

Steven Reigns, the first City Poet of West Hollywood, calls in to talk with Ann about how activism and social issues have influenced his work, what's he learned from teaching writing workshops, and his exhibition The Gay Rub. The Gay Rub is a collection of rubbings from several LGBT landmarks from all over the country, including tombstones, plaques, cenotaphs, and monuments.

Ann and Nicky talk with Michael Castro, the poet laureate of St. Louis, about his work, the state of the local poetry scene, and pieces that couldn't be shared on live broadcasts.

Nicky talks with Sarah Barasch-Hagans and Shoshana Williams about the Fargesn Media Project, a recently launched video series focusing on people in Saint Louis telling their stories about their experiences with race relations in Saint Louis.

Nicky presents the second half of work from local poets from her recording earlier this month of several local artists reading poems about the aftermath of Michael Brown's shooting and its effect on the community. 

Nearly one year ago, Michael Brown's death had a seismic impact on the way people in St. Louis think about race relations. Nicky Rainey invited several prominent local poets to KDHX's studios to record pieces that were written in the aftermath of the shooting and the protests that followed. Here she shares eight of those poems that speak to how the average local citizen was affected by the tragedy.

Jonathon Smith and I talk with poet and playwright Claudia Rankine about her powerful book, Citizen: An American Lyric; the collection combines poetry, prose and art in a masterful commentary on racism in America. Citizen has garnered many awards, the most recent, PEN American Center's Open Book Award. Citizen combines poetry, prose and art in a masterful commentary on racism in America. Written before the death of Michael Brown and published in the aftermath, Claudia Rankine's book addresses leaning on words and meanings, the horror of the ordinary, and the realities of what it is to be inside a community where young black men and women could die at any moment. 

--Ann

Nicky talks with poet and KDHX DJ Nathaniel Farrell about his new book “Newcomer”, a longform poem exploring war and the quieter moments experienced by those involved. Nicky and Nathaniel also discuss the prominent role that music plays in his writing, and how he explores the thoughts and psychology of characters with unfamiliar experiences.

This week we bring you the director’s cut of Nicky's on-air interview from last fall with Anne Valente, a fiction writer whose work is heavily influenced by life in Saint Louis, despite living in Cincinatti. On air, we didn’t have time to finish her reading of her short story “Everything That Was Ours” from her collection “By Light We Knew Our Names”, but now we’re able to deliver the full audio of Anne’s reading, and her wrap-up interview with Nicky.