Quintessential Poetry: A Global Poetry & Spoken Word Poetry Podcast

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"Once again, Ahmad Alkhatat uses his excellent writing talents to create sorrowful but beautiful images, this time as he visits the place of his birth, Baghdad, Iraq. The book begins with poems that describe his feelings about the visit and what he sees. “The Cost of Cigarettes,” “In A Random Street in Baghdad,” “Wounds From Iraq,” “At the Airport” and “Baghdad Taxi.” all denote images of the flavor and culture of Baghdad itself. Ahmad also shows his heart and sympathy for what is happening or has happened within Iraq and Syria with such poems as “Flooding in Aleppo,” “The Crying Girl on the Border” and “My Colorful Sorrows In Iraq.” We expect poets to show emotion within their work, but not all do it with such heartbreaking ‘hit on the mark.’ Mr. Alkhatat always has a wish for peace that can be seen in the form of a prayer in his books. This book contains at least two prayers for peace and comfort for Iraq and neighboring countries, “Send My Salutations” and “Will the Gate of Mesopotamia open for us?” (Will someone wake us up and give the key so that our dreams can come true.) “If Santa Clause Was In…” is stunning and worthy of much thought. (If Santa Clause was in Syria, he would never forgive himself, Knowing that all the children waiting in tombs in the dying gardens.) The book ends with “My Childhood” as he reminds those of us in safer places that there is horror and loss going on in other places in the world. While I enjoyed the entire book and gave each poem several reads, there are two that I could return to read every single day for the foreseeable future. The first is the beautifully penned, “The Beautiful Dream of Baghdad.” The other worthy of many reads is “Grief and Palm Trees in Iraq.” -Linda Imbler-

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Unstoppable by Design is a play that explores the life of Matt Rifenburg who at times has been homeless, friendless, hungry, married to someone addicted to drugs,  a clueless father trying to raise his son, and a man losing his job and being diagnosed with a brain tumor in the same week.  Refusing to give up, he applies for a job at Cornell University. Will his determination to overcome be enough to convince the interviewers he is worthy of a design position in the particle physics lab despite dropping out of school at 15 and never returning or will this be the end of his journey?

Biographical sketches of the artists involved in the production of Unstoppable by Design

https://1drv.ms/w/s!At_9Hw2EcAFFgjN2I1mp2JuS8lcE

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bes is the nom de guerre of a poetperformer, transdisciplinary researcher, conscientious creator and advocate for civil and human rights. Currently Washington, D.C.based, bes began collaborating with Art Is Dead (A.I.D.), an Istanbul-rooted “art and non-art formation” while living in Turkey in her early-mid twenties. Her poetry attempts to scrape the borderlands of memoir, activism, and antropoesía (Resato 2013), verse with an ethnographic sensibility. Arab American poetry and the Beat movement are important strands of influence in her thematic and stylistic tendencies. Involvements in choral and vocal performance, theatre and competitive creative writing and public speaking from an early age inform her poetic praxis today. Recently, bes has shared her work at open mics hosted by Muslim Writers Collective- D.C. (May 2019),  D.C. Guerilla Poets Insurgency (February, March, April, May, June) and Istanbul Spoken Word (October, November 2018) and supplied extended vocal improv in a free jazz/noise quartet at A.I.D. Ankara #3 in October 2018. She is a member of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA-NA) and RAWI, the Radius of Arab American Writers. 

You can follow bes' work on Facebook, Instagram and Vimeo. 

 

 

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Corey Veraceouz Houser is a 36 years old actor, author, father, poet, singer, songwriter, pianist, and a producer from Santee, SC and resides in Atlanta, GA. The word "Veraceouz" means representing or speaking the truth. Ever since 13 years old Veraceouz has been expressing his feelings through his art. Veraceouz's art comes from deep within his soul. It's deeper than the art, it's about helping one another, helping our people to reach their full potential, building a relationship with God, and making a difference in the world.

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The Episode is Prerecorded

Yvonne Brewer is originally from County Offaly, Ireland and lives in Cork, Ireland. She has had poetry published since 2014 with Women's Spiritual Poetry, including in their fourth anthology “Goddess: When She Rules: Expressions of Contemporary Women” (Dec 2017) Motherhood has taken her down a very creative path and her writing is greatly influenced by her children, her dreams, nature and fairies.

In 2013 Yvonne self published an e-book called “Breathe and Bloom.Soul Mother Meditations”, 10 pregnancy meditations that she was inspired to write during her second pregnancy.

She also has had poetry published with the Blue Nib and her poetry has been read on several audio poetry radio shows of American poet Tamara Miles “Where the Light Most Falls” broadcast by SpiritPlantsRadio.com

Prior to Motherhood , Yvonne studied in University College Cork graduating in 1994 with a Degree in Social Science and in 1996 with a Masters in Social Science (Youth and Community Work) Her career path includes working in jobs such as a Lecturer in Adult Education, supporting communities as a community development worker and after school services for children. Her most fulfilling career to date has been as a full time Mother to her two sons.

Her first poetry book released in October 2018 is available to buy in paperback or e-book on Amazon. “Twigs” by Yvonne Brewer is a collection of poems based on the simple but extraordinary mindful moments of everyday life combining motherhood with nature and reflecting spiritual themes that take the reader on a journey to the soul.

Yvonne is currently working on her second poetry collection “The Story Stones and Wishing Bones” which is a reflection of the sorrow and losses of Ireland’s past.

All Music by Longzijun

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Gregory Luce is the author of the chapbooks Signs of Small Grace (Pudding House Publications) and Drinking Weather (Finishing Line Press), the collection Memory and Desire (Sweatshoppe Publications), and the chapbook Tile, (Finishing Line). His poems have appeared in numerous print and online journals, including Kansas Quarterly, Cimarron Review, Innisfree Poetry Review, Northern Virginia Review, Foundling Review, MiPOesias, Little Patuxent Review, Words Dance, Rising Tide Review, Wordgathering, Faircloth Review, Broadkill Review, Bourgeon, Deaf Poets Society, Maryland Poetry Review, Mile Nine, and in the anthologies Living in Storms (Eastern Washington University Press), Bigger Than They Appear (Accents Publishing), and Unrequited: An Anthology of Love Poems about Inanimate Objects. In 2014, he was awarded the Larry Neal Award for adult poetry by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. He is retired from the National Geographic Society, volunteers as a writing tutor/mentor for 826DC, and lives in Arlington, VA.

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I grew up partly in central California—where I still have family --and partly in Pittsburgh—where I had my first fantastic poetry teacher. I’ve lived in the Washington, DC area, my chosen home, for most of my life. Studying poetry at George Mason University, where I got my MFA around 1990, was a joyful experience of immersion in writing. In 1992, my first book of poetry Only The Raw Hands Are Heaven won the Washington Writers Publishing House competition, bringing me into another writing community. My other books are In Yolo County and She Was a Cathedral, a collection of poems about remarkable women (Finishing Line Press). My poetry, fiction, book reviews, articles, and interviews have been published in Virginia Quarterly Review, Poet Lore, Colorado Review, Potomac Review, Grist, Sojourners, and many other magazines, and anthologies, and I’m a former poetry editor of Phoebe magazine. I now work as an editor with Educational Leadership magazine.

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Dominique Jones is renaissance artist from Rochester, MN who avidly performs in theatre, poetry, dance, and music. He has been writing poetry for about ten years and in that time has won two local poetry slams and was published in an anthology in 2009. He also has had the opportunity to share his poems of growth, resilience, and perspective with audiences of both youth and adults alike. First broadcast on 6/11/2018.

 

The primary mission of Quintessential Listening: Poetry is to provide a live format for poets to showcase their work. Whether traditional poetry or spoken word, the show offers an online vehicle for artists to engage in critical dialogue and discussion about poetry. T

 

 

Music by Kevin MacLeod, Lino Rise, Longzihun and Jessica Yip

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Brianna strongly believes that the most effective leadership is through service, getting to know people on a profound level and recognizing humanity in everyone. Poetry for Brianna is a tool to hold a mirror to society, and to herself, to show not what is right or wrong, but what is - and let the people determine what they feel are injustices. Poetry is also a medicine for whenever her soul hurts and needs to heal, or whenever she wishes to heal others. Currently, she works at IH as a creative data analyst, primarily working in Python to automate the data infrastructure. She volunteers as a Python Lead for Women Who Code DC to empower women in the tech industry, and as a Tech Instructor for Black Girls Code to inspire youth of color to be curious and excited about more inclusive technology. She also teaches modern dance at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop to encourage youth to strengthen their creative movement and expression, and she does open mics to listen to the community, and to keep herself centered and sane.

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John Patrick Robbins is the editor of The Rye Whiskey Review, Under The Bleachers and Drinkers Only. He is also the author of three books. Smoking At The Gas Pumps and Once Upon A Nervous Breakdown from Soma Publishing. Sex Drugs & Poetry from Whiskey City Press.

His publications include:

Ariel Chart, Mojave River Review, San Pedro River Review, Red Fez, Piker Press, Punk Noir Magazine, Angry Old Man Magazine, Horror Sleaze Trash, The Dope Fiend Daily, Outlaw Poetry Network, Five Two Poetry, Blue Pepper, Blognostics, Romingos Porch.

He is also a co-host of Guest Haus with Mark Antony Rossi. On the Strength To Be Human Podcast.

His work is always unfiltered.