Today's show is all about myth, magic, and middle grade fiction. You'll hear:

1. Poet Analicia Sotelo reads three mythic poems from her collection Virgin (Milkweed Editions, 2018): "Ariadne Discusses Theseus in Relation to the Minotaur," "The Minotaur Invents the Circumstances of His Birth," and "The Minotaur's Letter to Ariadne."

2. Novelist and teaching artist A. Rafael Johnson talks about fantastical elements in his novel The Through, and how he's exploring magic realism with students in his Loft class this fall.

3. Fiction writer Kelly Barnhill talks about approaching fairy tales for children and adults, and the ways that these stories lend themselves to empowerment, subversion, and creativity.

More about our guests:

Analicia Sotelo is the author of Virgin, winner of the Jake Adam York Prize, selected by Ross Gay for Minneapolis' Milkweed Editions 2018. Her poem “I’m Trying to Write a Poem About a Virgin and It’s Awful” was selected for Best New Poets 2015 by Tracy K. Smith. Analicia is the Director of Communications and Development at Writers in the Schools. Find her online here.

A. Rafael Johnson is teaching a class on magical realism at the Loft this fall. He is the author of The Through, which was a finalist for the 2018 Minnesota Book Award in fiction. Learn more about him and his work here.

Kelly Barnhill is the Newberry medal-winning author of Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories, as well as many works for middle-grade readers, including The Girl Who Drank the Moon and The Witch's Boy. Visit her website here.

This episode includes the following music:

"The Crossing, "Leela," "Strange Dog Walk," "Grey Alley," and "Relay 7" by Blue Dot Sessions

"Devil in Details" by David Hilowitz

"Eight Nine (Won't You Be Mine?)" by Ava Luna

The Loft Podcast is produced by Rachel Yang, with support from Chris Jones and Melissa Wray.

The Loft Podcast is back, with a season dedicated to our Fall 2018 theme: Fairy Tales. Our show today:

1. Minnesota slam poet Kyle Tran "Guante" Myhre reads "An Open Letter to Pinocchio from Dracula" from A Love Song, A Death Rattle, A Battle Cry. 

2. Fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes talks with us about the development of folklore and fairy tales, and what gives them such staying power.

3. Teaching artist Marjorie Hakala chats about how she plans to blend fairy tales and creative nonfiction in her Loft class this fall. Learn more about Marjorie's class here. 

4. Fiction writer Sequoia Nagamatsu talks about the fairy tales that influence his work, and reads "The Peach Boy" from his collection Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone.

More about our guests:

Kyle Tran "Guante" Myhre is a poet, MC, and activist based in Minneapolis.  His last project was the book A Love Song, A Death Rattle, A Battle Cry (Button Poetry), and his next project is an album-length collaboration with producer Big Cats called "War Balloons," which will be available September 18. His website is here.

Jack Zipes is a professor emeritus of the University of Minnesota and has published extensively on fairy tales and folklore. With Peter Brosius, he is the co-founder of Neighborhood Bridges, a storytelling program with the Children's Theatre Company. Stay up to date on Jack's publications here.

Marjorie Hakala is teaching this class at the Loft this fall. She has published nonfiction and criticism in The Millions, Rain Taxi, The Review Review, The Font, and Water~Stone Review, and she is also the author of a picture book, Mermaid Dance.

Sequoia Nagamatsu is the author of the story collection Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone (Black Lawrence Press), silver medal winner of the 2016 Foreword Reviews’ Indies Book of the Year Award and an Entropy Magazine Best Book of 2016. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Conjunctions, ZYZZYVA, The Fairy Tale Review, Tin House online, Black Warrior Review, Willow Springs, The Bellevue Literary Review, Lightspeed Magazine, and One World: A Global Anthology of Short Stories, among others. Originally from Hawaii and the San Francisco Bay Area, he was educated at Grinnell College and Southern Illinois University. He co-edits Psychopomp Magazine, an online quarterly dedicated to innovative prose, and teaches at St. Olaf College. He lives in the Twin Cities with his wife, the writer Cole Nagamatsu, and their cat, Kalahira. He is currently working on a second story collection and a novel. Visit his website here.

 This episode includes the following music:

"Climbing the Mountain" | Podington Bear

"Shooting Star" | Dexter Britain

"Sleep" | Daniel Birch

The Loft Podcast is produced by Rachel Yang, with support from Chris Jones and Melissa Wray.

Special thanks to Dale Connelly and KFAI Fresh Air Community Radio for production support and assistance with this episode. You can tune into KFAI at 90.3 FM Minneapolis and 106.7 FM St. Paul, and visit them online at kfai.org.

In this final episode of our first season, Loft Podcast regulars Britt Udesen, Bao Phi, Tanner Curl, and Kathryn Savage talk about what books they're looking forward to reading this summer. Included on the list are Roxanne Gay, Teju Cole, Stephen King, Edwidge Danticat, and so many more to add to your own list. 

We're taking a break for most of the summer, but will be around with a few bonus short episodes here and there. We'll be back in full force in September! Until then, keep reading, keep writing, and exploring the world through words. 

In this episode, Tanner and Kathryn speak with guest author Edward McPherson about his new collection of essays, The History of the Future, from Coffee House Press. The collection is a sprawling vision (or warning) of the future, influenced heavily by place, history, and memory. McPherson talks to our Loft Podcast regulars about bomb shelters, dinosaur bones, the underground railway system in New York City, and so much more. Listen in for a fascinating discussion.

In this episode, author Sarah Manguso joins the regular Loft Podcast contributors for a discussion about her newest book, 300 Arguments (published by Graywolf Press). The book is a series of profound, exploratory tiny essays, or arguments from this award-winning writer. Also discussed: brevity in prose, Hot Tub Time Machine, grief, and so much more. 

In this episode, in honor of National Poetry Month (April), Loft Podcast regulars Britt Udesen, Bao Phi, Kathryn Savage, and Tanner Curl talk about their favorite poems. What is it about poetry that brings us back to a poem time and time again - is it comfort, or a challenge? How do we enter the world of poetry? 

The crew also lists some of their favorite poets, for those of you looking for book recommendations. Long live poetry!

In today's episode, we listen to an event that the Loft hosted with Carolyn Holbrook in March called More than a Single Story: Reclaiming our Food.

Food has always been a tool for organizing, celebrating, and creating community. By those determined to assert and maintain power, it has been a means of gaining control of the people. Human bodies and land—a natural resource like air and water, have been commodified. Food became a privilege instead of a human right.

In this discussion with Pakou Hang, LaDonna Sanders Redmond, Princess Titus, and Diane Wilson you'll hear how colonization and commodification have affected our communities’ relationships with food and how we can reclaim the food that is meaningful to us.

In today's episode, Loft Podcast regulars Britt Udesen and Kathryn Savage discuss poetry recitation and the power of poetry in moments of struggle, all through the lens of Poetry Out Loud. Poetry Out Loud is a program that the Loft hosts that is also funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

You'll hear the top three winners from this year's statewide competition as well. Anna Kochevar of Arcadia Charter School was named the winner of the 2017 Poetry Out Loud competition. The 2017 Runner-Up was Abigail Etterson from Harbor City International School, Duluth, and third place went to Awazi Jaafaru from Twin Cities Academy High School, St. Paul.

In this episode, the Loft Podcast round-table regulars interview author Lesley Arimah about her debut collection of short stories, What it Means When a Man Falls From the Sky. The collection, which will be released in April, is a powerful, unflinching look at grief, patriarchy, and generational trauma told with a keen eye for emotion and magical realism.

Arimah also talks about her experiences in the Loft Mentor Series program, as well as other resources, tips, and book recommendations for fellow writers and readers.

Featuring Loft Podcast regulars Bao Phi, Kathryn Savage, and Britt Udesen.

There are many ways to approach getting a novel published, and the way a career shifts after. In this episode, Loft Podcast regular Bao Phi interviews the fantastic author Kiese Laymon about his experiences in the publishing world. Laymon will be one of the featured speakers at the Loft's Writing the Novel & Crafting a Career Conference on April 29. The regular podcast round-table then further discusses how writers can support each other throughout their careers, publishing gatekeepers, and how the online world is changing the face of publishing.