The Artist's Statement

Episode 9 of The Artist's Statement features Marytza K. Rubio, author of Maria, Maria, and Other Stories (Liveright/W. W. Norton, 2022). Rubio discusses the inspiration and evolution of her debut collection, and how she shared her vision with her agent and editor. We chat about the occult, the significance and power behind the name "Maria," and the details behind the mystic setting of her centerpiece novella. In the interview, we also talk about the considerations behind Rubio's multilingual writing, her role as the founder of the Makara Center for the Arts, and the impact of her changing life experiences on the revision process.

Rubio reads an excerpt from Maria, Maria.

Host: Davin Malasarn

The Artist's Statement is brought to you by The Granum Foundation.

What happens during the translation process of a literary work from Japanese to English? In Episode 8 of The Artist's Statement, we speak with Michael Emmerich, author of more than a dozen literary works in translation, including those by authors such as Nobel Laureate Yasunari Kawabata, Banana Yoshimoto, Genichiro Takahashi, and Hiromi Kawakami.

Emmerich discusses the role of Japanese literature in American culture, his translation process, and some considerations for authors who will have their work translated. He also details specific examples from Takahashi's novel, Sayonara, Gangsters, and Kawakami's novel, Manazuru.

The author of The Tale of Genji: Translation, Canonization, and World Literature, Emmerich shares his views of the impact of the classic Genji monogatari on the world, and the role of translation and replacement in the work's popularity.

Host: Davin Malasarn

The Artist's Statement is brought to you by The Granum Foundation.

In Episode 7 of The Artist's Statement, we're joined by Donika Kelly, poet and author of The Renunciations (2021) and Bestiary (2016), both published by Graywolf Press.

Kelly discusses the The Renunciations and the journey of self-exploration and therapy that led to its creation. She talks about the importance of having and nurturing a speaker and a safe space from which to create, along with the value of being protective of information, both for the writer and the reader. The conversation delves into the distinction between reality and artifice in artmaking, and how one can cultivate silence to help the creative process.    

Kelly reads her poems "Sanctuary," "The Oracle Remembers the Future Cannot Be Avoided," and "The moon rose over the bay. I had a lot of feelings."

Host: Davin Malasarn.

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In this bonus episode of The Artist’s Statement, we speak to Jenny Boully about the ancient art of Sak Yant and the role of the Thai language and Buddhism in her writing life.

Boully reads her essay “On the Eve of My Eternal Marking,” which first appeared in The Paris Review on July 10, 2019.

Host: Davin Malasarn

The Artist's Statement is brought to you by The Granum Foundation. Learn more at granumfoundation.org.

Jenny Boully, 2020 Guggenheim Fellow and author of Betwixt and Between: Essays on the Writing Life, The Book of Beginnings and Endings, The Body, not merely because of the unknown that was stalking toward them, and other works joins us from Bennington, Vermont, for Episode 6 of The Artist's Statement Podcast.

Host: Davin Malasarn.

Visit us at granumfoundation.org.

The Artist's Statement Episode 5 features legendary poet Nikki Giovanni. She discusses the importance of spirituals as inspiration for her work and how artist's from poets to novelists to dancers inhabit truth. Giovanni recounts her early days as an activist and writer along her path to success, including her time at Fisk University. The conversation touches on space travel, her experiences as an interviewer with the television series "Soul!", the Black Lives Matter movement, children's literature, and the importance of water. Giovanni reads poems "Baby West," "Atrocities, and "Make Me Rain."

Hosted by Davin Malasarn.

The Artist's Statement is brought to you by The Granum Foundation. Visit us for more information and to learn about The Granum Foundation Fellowship Prize.

Craig Cotter, the author of four collections of poetry, including After Lunch with Frank O’Hara, joins us from Pasadena, CA for Episode 4 of The Artist's Statement. He talks about his early writing career as a student at Michigan State University and the poetry editor of Red Cedar Review. He discusses his poems “The Drayton Plains Nature Center” and “For Alex,” which include a major recurring character in his work. He also reads “You Ever,” “People,” “Alex and Me at the Beach as Teenagers,” and “Ayaz Marhoni & Mahmoud Asgiri.” Other topics explored in this episode include the mistreatment and execution of gays in the 1970s versus now, the importance of humor in art, and the reliability of memory.

Hosted by Davin Malasarn. Music by Michael Markowski and Irma Seleman. Artwork by Ayumi Takahashi.

The Artist's Statement is brought to you by the Granum Foundation. Visit us for more information.

In this episode of The Artist's Statement, we feature short fiction writer Kuzhali Manickavel, whose work has been described as surreal, sci-fi, absurdist, and weird. Manickavel, who calls in from Bangalore, India, discusses how she characterizes her own work and how international perspectives can lead to alternative definitions. We examine her stories, "The Decline and Fall of Western Dance in a South Indian Women's College" from her collection Things We Found During the Autopsy, "Item Girls," and her chapbook The Lucy Temerlin Institute for Broken Shapeshifters Guide to Starving Boys: Their Salient Features, How to Find Them, How to Care for Them after They Die, and Four Considerations. Manickavel also explores how her experiences as an outsider inspire her work, and the influence of English writing in India.

Hosted by Davin Malasarn.

The Artist's Statement is brought to you by The Granum Foundation. Visit us at granumfoundation.org to learn more.

Kathy Fish reads her flash fiction story, "Tenderoni." 

(Contains explicit language.)