After a whirlwind of events, poet Jason B. Crawford sits down with Aaron Tyler Hand for episode 10 of The Personhood Project. They discuss Crawford's debut collection, Year of the Unicorn Kidz, and take a closer look at vulnerability that radiates through the pages of Crawford's book. Crawford shares insight into writing from memory even when those memories don't present the writer on their best moments. True to Crawford's style, though, much of the conversation is on joy, and the act of writing about and talking about joy that is often overlooked. Specifically, Black and Queer joy.

Poet Jayme Ringleb sits down with Aaron Tyler Hand for episode 9 of The Personhood Project. The two talk about Jayme's debut collection of poetry title So Tall It Ends In Heaven and themes seen throughout the book. Specifically, they talk about estrangement and how writing can help someone overcome feelings of estrangement, as well as distances and ways that writing can help close both physical and emotional distances. Jayme also offer tips on becoming comfortable sharing your poetry with a larger public.

You can find our writing prompts and the incarcerated writers' poems HERE!

For episode 8, poet, essayist, and rapper Sean Avery Medlin sits down with our host, Aaron Tyler Hand. They discuss the importance of expressing vulnerability in ones writing and how poetry doesn't have to be a place to only express pain. They also get into a conversation about pop culture and how much of it is just a rehashing of Black culture. This leads into conversations about James Baldwin and the anime Naruto. We even get to hear Sean sing a line or two when they get to the point of readings their poems, so make sure you listen to the end for that treat!

You can find our writing prompts and the incarcerated writers' poems HERE!

In this episode, host Aaron Tyler Hand is joined by poet, musician, and Director of Prison and Justice Writing at PEN America, Caits Meissner. They discuss some of the amazing work that she is doing at PEN America such as editing the book The Sentences That Create Us and hosting writing contests for incarcerated writers. Meissner also goes into the difference in sitting down to wrong lyrics versus sitting down to write a poem. While discussing poetry, they dive into the importance of balance between writing about pain and happiness.

You can find our writing prompts and the incarcerated writers' poems HERE!

In this episode, guest Vincent Cooper welcomes host Aaron Tyler Hand into his home to discuss being inspired by the places they grew up, fostering a dedication to poetry without taking any college classes, finding time to write when you have a life outside of writing, and the ways in which writing can help bring people closer together.

In our first ZOOM interview, host Aaron Tyler Hand is joined by the amazing Melissa Lozada-Oliva for a conversation about writing in different forms, spoken word vs written poetry, the importance of therapy, and the power of going head first into hurt.

In this episode, the wonderful poet and essayist Jane Wong joins host Aaron Tyler Hand in a discussion about honoring family, remembering home, and finding creativity in the day-to-day actions of our lives. This is our first episode to go over an hour, so we help you all enjoy!

In this episode, host, Aaron Tyler Hand is joined by the amazing poet and author of a brand new memoir, Tomás Q. Morín. They discuss the differences in writing poet and nonfiction, with close examination on how each can help a writer find personal growth in their own unique ways. (NOTE: We apologize for any disruptive background noise, we did our best to edit it out). 

In this episode, host, Aaron Tyler Hand sits down for a conversation with poet Roger Jones in his office on the campus of Texas State University. They talk about short poems, long poems, and everything in between, all while reading and discussing poetry written by incarcerated individuals.

You can find our writing prompts and the incarcerated writers' poems HERE!

In this episode, host, Aaron Tyler Hand sits down for a conversation with acclaimed poet Naomi Shihab Nye on her front porch in San Antonio, Texas. They talk about the power of poetry to process the loss of a loved one, as well as read and discuss poetry written by incarcerated folks.

You can find our writing prompts and the incarcerated writers' poems HERE!