Today Brittany and Ajanae have the pleasure of talking with Saúl Hernández. Listen in as they discuss writing about tense familial relationships with tenderness, the act of being made invisible, grief as transformation, childhood as a lens, and how to identify a monster (spoiler alert: it could be anyone!). 

• Walter Mercado - Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado | Official Trailer | Netflix
• Ethel Cain -  The Intricate Storytelling of Ethel Cain’s “Preacher’s Daughter” – The Junction Journal 
• Toni Morrison - Toni Morrison | National Endowment for the Arts 

Write a poem that functions as a dream.

Today Brittany and Ajanae have the pleasure of talking with Saúl Hernández. Listen in as they discuss writing about tense familial relationships with tenderness, the act of being made invisible, grief as transformation, childhood as a lens, and how to identify a monster (spoiler alert: it could be anyone!). 

• Walter Mercado - Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado | Official Trailer | Netflix
• Ethel Cain -  The Intricate Storytelling of Ethel Cain’s “Preacher’s Daughter” – The Junction Journal 
• Toni Morrison - Toni Morrison | National Endowment for the Arts 

Write a poem that functions as a dream.

On today’s episode of VS, Ajanae and Brittany interview Barbara Fant. Join them as they discuss the relationship between family and authenticity, the importance of intergenerational connections among poets, writing as a tool for wellness, and joy as a part of chaos. 

Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Sunni Patterson - Sunni Patterson - Letter from the Porch
• Mahalia Jackson - Mahalia Jackson: Gospel Takes Flight | National Museum of African American History and Culture 
• Bone Thugs-n-Harmony - What Happened To '90s Hip Hop Group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony?

Consider the last moment of chaos you found yourself in. Write an ode to a person or object that brought you joy in that moment. Consider the chaos to be the negative space around the joy, giving it shape.

On today’s episode of VS, Ajanae and Brittany interview W.J. Lofton. Join them as they discuss how they handle failure within their process, grief as a form of generosity, queer intimacy, spiritual expansion, and the process of unlearning harmful beliefs.

Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Danez Smith- 5 things I wish I'd known before I started writing {with Danez Smith}
• Kiese Laymon- Rice’s Kiese Laymon awarded ‘genius grant’ MacArthur Fellowship
• Toni Morrison- From 2004: Toni Morrison on a writer's life
• Imani Perry- Imani Perry: Letter from Home — THE BITTER SOUTHERNER

Considering the relationship between the elegy and ode, write a poem that explores what grief has gifted you. 

On today’s episode of VS, Ajanae and Brittany interview Hanif Abdurraqib. Listen in as they discuss burned cd’s, the cost of being a collector, living archives, new projects, and obsession as an origin story. 

Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• June Jordan - June Jordan at the NYS Writers Institute in 2000
• Gloria Naylor - GREAT BLACK BOOKS! Presents THE WOMEN OF BREWSTER PLACE by Gloria Naylor
• Aracelis Girmay - “You Are Who I Love” Reading by Aracelis Girmay

Consider a piece of ephemera or archival material in your family. Write a poem using the object and the year of its making as the title. Consider what the object represents now. 

On today’s episode of VS, Ajanae and Brittany interview m. mick powell about their forthcoming collection, Dead Girl Cameo (Penguin Random House). Join them as they discuss celebrity culture and conspiracy theories, obsession with the 90’s and 2000’s, Black queer feminist thought, and gathering artifacts across time periods. 

Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Saidiya Hartman - Saidiya Hartman, Literary Scholar and Cultural Historian | 2019 MacArthur Fellow
• Ntozake Shange - Ntozake Shange preserves Black history and culture through literature (1989 interview)
• Cheryl Dunye - The Watermelon Woman at 25: the Black lesbian classic that wears its brilliance lightly | BFI
• Dr. Andrea Y. Adomako - Andrea Y. Adomako

Write an ode to a cultural icon or piece of memorabilia from your childhood. Make the title a line from a song that was important to you during this era.

On today’s episode of VS, Brittany and Ajanae have the opportunity to talk with Tiana Clark. Listen in as they discuss navigating burnout and perfectionism, advocacy within the medical system, neurodivergence, and permission as a part of the creative process. 

Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Terrance Hayes- What it Look Like | The Poetry Foundation
• Sharon Olds- Sharon Olds talks about her work
• Issa Rae- AWKWARD Black Girl | “The Stop Sign” [S. 1, Ep. 1]

Write an ekphrastic poem for a music video that you love. 

On today’s episode, Brittany and Ajanae talk with Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon—phenomenal writers and co-hosts of the podcast, Reckon True Stories. During this conversation, they discuss the impact of great editors, the overlap between poetry and prose, rejection in the writers room, and the beauty of friendship. 

• Catherine Coleman (Kiese’s Grandmother) - On Resilience, Tender Rituals, and Responsible Love: Talking with Kiese Laymon - The Rumpus
• Kendrick Lamar - The Literary Genius of Kendrick Lamar
• Nene leakes - 10 Quotes NeNe Leakes Gave To Pop Culture That Prove She's A Cultural Icon
• Tami Roman - Tami Roman's Funniest Moments | Basketball Wives Legends
• Deesha’s Grandmother - Local Dispatch: My grandmother's life lesson on the dignity of work | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• Kiese Laymon - Award Winning Author Kiese Laymon Discusses Heavy: An American Memoir and more

Write a prose poem and borrow your favorite craft element from another genre to focus on.

Today’s episode was recorded live at the Sims Library in Los Angeles, California during this year's AWP conference. Join Brittany and Ajanae as they sit down with E. Hughes and Luther Hughes (no relation) to discuss the role that intimacy plays in their writing, memory being true for the moment, the role of grief in the writing process, and moments of messiness in their collections. 

Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Toni Morrison: Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am - Exclusive Clip - Farah Griffin On Sula
• Natasha Trethewey- The Typology of Taint, in Thrall to a Word: A Conversation with Natasha Trethewey | World Literature Today
• Frantz Fanon: Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks | What Language Reveals | Philosophy Core Concepts
• Luther:
• Carl Phillips: Intimacy, Afloat in Space: A Conversation with Carl Phillips - The Adroit Journal
• CM Burroughs: Meat to Reckon With: A Conversation with CM Burroughs
• Sza- Ctrl: sza - ctrl (full album)
• Taylor Johnson: An Interview and Poems from Taylor Johnson

Write an ode to your grief. 

On today’s episode, Brittany and Ajanaé have the honor of interviewing Nicole Sealey! Join them as they discuss friendship rituals, surviving writers conferences, learning from mentors, navigating old obsessions in new work, and love, love, and more love. 

Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!

• Nicole Sealey’s Parents- The First Person Who Will Live to Be One Hundred and Fifty Years Old Has Already Been Born by Nicole Sealey 
• Collective teachers- Celebrating Yusef Komunyakaa with Major Jackson, Jennifer Jean, John Murillo & Nicole Sealey
• John Murillo- In the Poetry Library With John Murillo

Write a list of ways that you promise to care for your reader.