Join us again this week as Jaime Harker interviews two poets and creative writing professors, Beth Ann Fennelly, former Mississippi Poet Laureate and Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow, and Kate Leland, associate editor of Sibling Rivalry Press, about the process of creating The Glitterary Festival.

For full details, visit: http://www.sarahisomcenter.org/swerve-south/2022/4/5/season-5-episode-5-glitterary-festival-a-queer-literary-festival-2

Tune in as Jaime interviews Dr. Julie Enszer, Instructional Assistant Professor of Gender Studies for the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies, about feminist and lesbian print culture! Enszer, who also serves as editor of the iconic (and longest surviving!) multicultural lesbian literary and art journal, Sinister Wisdom, shares an overview of the history and revolutionary importance of the lesbian and feminist print movement. She delves into how it functioned as a way for women to not only create and disseminate empowering information and shape the cultural production of how women and lesbians were perceived in the 60s and 70s, but also served as an opportunity to earn a living at a time when jobs were limited for women. In keeping with this year's theme of feminist and queer world-making, Enszer explores how women were able to build their own world through their creation of magazines, books, broadsides, and whatever else they wanted to publish that otherwise would have been overlooked by mainstream publishers and how critical it was for these women to be able to "make things and sell things and become economically autonomous."

Listen also as Jaime and Enszer dish on their favorite lesbian literary gossip, something they consider an all-important pedogogical tool. Additionally, Enszer shares about her latest works in progress, a book about the Lamed Vavniks, who are known as the 36 Righteous Ones whose existence, according to Jewish tradition, determines whether the world as we know it will continue to exist or not and a book of Tahines poems, little yiddish prayers women share in women-only spaces in the Jewish world.

Listen this week as Jaime interviews Dr. Ethel Scurlock, Interim Dean of the Sally Barksdale Honors College, Senior Fellow of the Luckyday Residential College, Associate Professor of English and African-American Studies, and Chair of African-American Studies, all at the University of Mississippi, in addition to being the associate pastor of two churches, at Alvis Grove Baptist Church in Oakland and First United Baptist in Batesville.

Scurlock shares how her experiences with college mentors were so profound that their encouragement changed the trajectory of her career when she decided to switch from being a Public Relations major to English because she enjoyed analyzing Chaucer's works and her Chaucer professor told her that "nobody enjoys Chaucer unless they're an English major."

She and Jaime share the lasting impact it had on them to have professors encourage them to apply to graduate school. They both remind professors to reach out to students and let them know you see potential in them because you never know how it could change someone's life.

Tune in to hear more about how African-American literature, like James Baldwin's play, The Amen Corner, inspired Scurlock to help build a more inclusive world both at the University and in the broader community, with one example of her feminist world-building includes her preaching at not one, but two, black Baptist churches in the South.

Welcome to another exciting season of Swerve South! In this episode, Dr. Jaime Harker, Isom Center Director, and Dr. Theresa Starkey, Isom Center Associate Director, discuss the joys and pitfalls of nonprofit organizations in preparation for Dr. Starkey’s upcoming course, “Exploring the Feminist Nonprofit,” which will be piloted this fall in partnership with the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. They each share their experiences with various non-profits they worked for prior to their careers in academia and how those experiences have contributed to their success in developing programming for the Isom Center. They also reflect on how their collaborations with local nonprofits have helped them achieve a level of community building that otherwise would not have been possible. Listen as they also examine how those experiences with partnerships with other organizations allowed them to meet their goals for feminist and queer world-making for the University of Mississippi and the greater Oxford community.

On this week’s episode, Jaime speaks with Isom fellow, Tyler Gillespie, an Instructor of Writing and Rhetoric for the FASTrack program, and co-director of the UM Pride Network, about his experiences working as a professional writer, teaching writing, and navigating the classroom as an out queer person.

This week, Jaime and Theresa are joined by the first woman director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, Dr. Katie McKee, along with Afton Thomas, Associate Director of Programs for the Center, to discuss how the CSSC’s mission contributes to feminist and queer world-making. They examine ideas such as: is The South a cultural construct like gender, is it influenced/changed by culture, and does it change over time?

This special Halloween episode of Swerve South features associate director Theresa Starkey and fellow Gender Studies professors, Drs. Elizabeth Venell and Leslie Delassus, as they discuss David Cronenberg’s 1979 film, The Brood.

Welcome to a new season of Swerve South! In this episode, Jaime and Theresa discuss the Isom Center theme for the 2021-2022 year, Feminist and Queer World-Making.

In this week’s edition of Swerve South, Jaime is joined by special guests Hilary Coulson and La Shonda Mims to discuss the complicated women featured in season 4 of The Crown. We talk about how the latest season grapples with the complexities of gender presentation and thorny female relationships. This conversation unpacks the divisive legacy of Margaret Thatcher, the brilliance of Gillian Anderson’s performance (and hair), the spell of Princess Diana, and how the show falls short of capturing her remarkable charisma. The episode also fleshes out the season’s political backdrop, from the effects of Thatcherism on the working class to the anti-apartheid movement of the 1980s. Our host and guests share their own adolescent impressions of the royal family and contemplate why royal drama continues to keep us so enthralled.

In this edition of Swerve South, Jaime and Theresa discuss the campy delight of Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, Will Ferrell’s spoof/celebration of the international song competition Eurovision. Our hosts share some of their favorite moments from the film: cameos from former Eurovision winners like Conchita Wurst, outrageous costumes and performances, and the surprisingly moving ending. The episode explores Eurovision’s odd combination of artificial, schlocky camp and absolute sincerity and contemplates why the international pop culture phenomenon has yet to land with American audiences. Whether you’re a longtime fan of Eurovision or a newcomer, this episode is a great introduction to both the movie and the contest’s over-the-top charms.