Prose & Cons

Patty and Cheryl, authors and organizers of the RVA Lit Crawl, joined the full Prose & Cons crew in the WRIR studio to chat about books, poetry, and life!

Patty Smith is a full-time Literature and Writing teacher at the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School in Petersburg and the author of The Year of Needy Girls, her debut novel set in Smith’s native Massachusetts. Many settings and themes from the book stem from Patty’s own life, such as the struggle of a working-class woman teaching at an elite school, the fear of being an openly gay teacher in a tight-knit community, and the tragedy of a local ten-year-old boy’s murder. The stage of this grisly tale is set with a immersive and ominous prologue describing the events leading up to this boy’s untimely death, and the story delivers a powerful and thoughtful examination of false accusations in a small town.

Author of twelve books, professor at the University of Richmond, dancer, spiritual healer, and cutting-edge researcher, Cheryl Pallant is truly a woman of many talents. During our conversation, we focused on her two most recent books: in Ginseng Tango, Cheryl tells the intimate true story of her year in Daegu, South Korea; Her Body Listening is Pallant’s newest collection of poetry, described by the author as “a poetic reflection of [her] final year in training as a Healing Touch practitioner”. Cheryl is also the author of Contact Improvisation: An Introduction to a Vitalizing Dance Form, drawing upon her decades of experience in freeform dance, and the upcoming Writing and the Body in Motion: Awakening Voice through Somatic Practice, based on her innovative and immensely popular and Writing from the Body workshops.

This is a killer episode, with anecdotes and nuggets of wisdom galord. Give it a listen!

Patty (left) and Cheryl (right) after their joint reading at Chop Suey Books on January 23, 2018.

Prose & Cons is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://proseandconsdotorg.wordpress.com/

Michael Donovan, author of Hook Haiku, joined Dom and I in the WRIR studio as the guest for this week’s episode. Last year, Donovan was featured in a Style Weekly article, focusing on the origin and evolution of Hood Haiku (read it here).

During the first segment of our show, Michael chose to read a poem titled Earthseed, by Octavia Butler. The poem comes from Butler’s novel Parable of the Sower and, in the book, describes the core tenet of the fictional religion of Earthseed, that “God is change”. It is also a prime example of late-20th-century Afrofuturism and a powerful think-piece, which will cause you to reexamine your belief (or unbelief) in God.

We started our second segment with selections from the “Knowledge” chapter of Hook Haiku. Dom and I each read a haiku and Michael read two, with plenty of context and conversation in-between.

“Mikemetic” Donovan is not only a poet and musician, he is also a WRIR veteran and a great dude. We had a great time chatting with him, and we hope you’ll enjoy this special episode.

Hood Haiku, Vol. 1: Sidewalk Science is published through Fist City Press and is available now. You can purchase it here.

Prose & Cons is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://proseandconsdotorg.wordpress.com/

Michael Donovan, author of Hook Haiku, joined Dom and I in the WRIR studio as the guest for this week’s episode. Last year, Donovan was featured in a Style Weekly article, focusing on the origin and evolution of Hood Haiku (read it here).

During the first segment of our show, Michael chose to read a poem titled Earthseed, by Octavia Butler. The poem comes from Butler’s novel Parable of the Sower and, in the book, describes the core tenet of the fictional religion of Earthseed, that “God is change”. It is also a prime example of late-20th-century Afrofuturism and a powerful think-piece, which will cause you to reexamine your belief (or unbelief) in God.

We started our second segment with selections from the “Knowledge” chapter of Hook Haiku. Dom and I each read a haiku and Michael read two, with plenty of context and conversation in-between.

“Mikemetic” Donovan is not only a poet and musician, he is also a WRIR veteran and a great dude. We had a great time chatting with him, and we hope you’ll enjoy this special episode.

Hood Haiku, Vol. 1: Sidewalk Science is published through Fist City Press and is available now. You can purchase it here.

Prose & Cons is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://proseandconsdotorg.wordpress.com/