Through her series of poems about Little Red Riding Hood, Lana Hechtman Ayers has pushed a storybook character into the throes of real life. Red deals with complex relationships, temptation, and frustration with traditional gender roles. Lana says in her live reading that she was abducted by Red and consumed with writing about her.

Music by the Tom Varner Tentet, produced as part of the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.

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Inspired by the ancients, Kevin Craft weaves classical themes into contemporary poetry. His studies and travels have led him to write with a deep sense of history. As he puts it, every writer has an inheritance, and he sought his in the Mediterranean.

Music by Yerba Buena, produced as part of the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.

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As a poet and a storyteller, Brian McGuigan tells it like it is, and then some. A listener of his work can feel grimy streets underfoot and see cracks in the buildings. His poems are personal and visceral and he has a great appreciation for the way things used to be.

THIS PODCAST CONTAINS ADULT LANGUAGE.

Music by Johanna Kunin, produced as part of the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.

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Judith Skillman grew up amidst a family of scientists and her poems reflect her early exposure to the natural world. She was often awakened at night to see a meteor shower or lunar eclipse. Her writing plays on themes in nature, elucidated by strong, earthy images.

Music by the Bird Tribe Orchestra, produced as part of the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.

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Sharon Cumberland draws from her diverse life experience, including several years in a religious order, for her poems and fiction writing. She came up with the idea to write poems in plainsong, or Gregorian chant. The scope of this form, she says, allows her to write about anything and everything.

Music by Tamara Friedman, produced as part of the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.

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Rebecca Hoogs studies the roots of language and works with words’ meanings in her poetry. The result is dynamic wordplay that reads and sounds like a riddle, but cuts deeper into word evolution.

Music by the Bella Musica Woodwind Trio, produced as part of the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.

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Through his rich experience driving public transit buses in Seattle for more than 20 years, Michael Spence has innumerable stories to recount in his poetry. His unique perspective from the driver’s seat can be humorous, insightful, sorrowful, and revealing about society in general.

Music by Karin Kajita, produced as part of the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.

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Merna Ann Hecht has devoted much of her life to teaching and helping children. When she isn’t teaching, she’s cooking because she finds cooking calms her down. And when she isn’t cooking, she’s fretting about the world. Those are the three things she does and the focus of her writing.

Music by Matt Weiner and Del Rey, produced as part of the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.

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Wendy Call came to writing through her work in political activism. Her experience as a community organizer inspired her to write about why people work for change in their communities. In this podcast, she explores how political writing can be effective and how different countries approach political journalism.

Music by Joel Salsman, produced as part of the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.

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Ghida Sinno has created a series of stories looking at how different people experienced 9-11, or 9-1-1 as she calls it. The stories reflect the perspectives of Arab Americans and others, a half an hour after the attacks, a week after the attacks, a year after the attacks. Sinno uses irony and humor to soften her topic and allow readers to indulge in her writing.

THIS PODCAST CONTAINS ADULT LANGUAGE.

Music by The Owcharuk Sextet, produced as part of the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.

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