Words on a Wire

In today’s episode of Words on a Wire you will listen to the conversation between host Tim Z. Hernandez and singer/songwriter Ana Saldaña.

Saldaña is a Los Angeles native. She is a singer/songwriter, producer, sound mixer and activist. Her music is conscience with a social justice advocacy that is relevant today. Saldaña’s sound career spans 15 years and she has traveled all over the world capturing sound for all major networks and streaming platforms!

In today's episode listen to host Daniel Chacon talk to author Ashley E. Lucas.

Lucas is Associate Professor of Theatre & Drama and Director of the Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP) at the University of Michigan. Her research and teaching interests include U.S. Latina/o theatre, prison-related theatre, theatre for social change, and related topics in acting, playwriting, and comparative ethnic studies. Lucas is also the author of an ethnographic play about the families of prisoners entitled Doin’ Time: Through the Visiting Glass, which she has performed as a one-woman show throughout the U.S. and in Ireland and Canada

In today's episode listen to host Tim Z. Hernandez talk to poet Seema Reza. She is the CEO of Community Building Art Works, a unique arts organization that encourages the use of the arts as a tool for narration, self-care, and socialization among a military population struggling with emotional and physical injuries. Reza’s work with veterans is featured in the 2018 HBO documentary We Are Not Done Yet. She was awarded the Col John Gioia Patriot Award by the USO of Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore for her work with service members.

In today's episode, host Daniel Chacon talks with poet and novelist, Virgil Suarez. Suarez is a professor, MFA, at Louisiana State University and specializes in creative writing (fiction and poetry) and Latino/a (especially Cuban-American) literature. Poet, essayist, novelist, and short story writer, Professor Suarez is the author or co-author of over fifteen books of poetry and prose. His work has appeared in The Kenyon Review, The Southern Review, The New England Review, Poetry London, Poetry Wales, Poetry New Zealand, Imago (Australia), The Toronto Review (Canada) among other international publications.

In today's episode listen to the conversation between host Daniel Chacon and poet Francisco Aragon about his most recent work ‘About Rubén.’

Aragon’s poems and translations have appeared in various print and online journals, as well as numerous anthologies. His work as a translator includes four books by Francisco X. Alarcón, as well as work by Spanish poets Federico García Lorca and Gerardo Diego.

In today's episode, host Daniel Chacon talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and former U.S. Poet Laureate, Tracy K Smith. In this interview, Smith talks about her book ‘Wade in the Water,’ her early years discovering the craft of poetry, and her role as a professor at Princeton University with the new generation of writers.

Daniel talks with Dylan Landis, author of the novel "Rainey Royal," a book about a 14-year-old girl (described by Daniel as a "Mean Girl") growing up in Greenwich Village in a very unconventional household. The book follows her along a 10-year span in which she makes & breaks friendships and relationships. Dylan explains how Rainey was a character introduced briefly in an earlier short story, and after a failed attempt at a Typhoid Mary project, Dylan decided to dedicated an entire book to Rainey. http://www.dylanlandis.com/

Today's Poem of the Week is Gwendolyn Brooks' "A Song in the Front Yard," read by local poet Nancy Lechuga.

And today's Poetic License is a reflection on remembrance read by Carolynne Muehsam-Ayoub. The piece is entitled "Garden Tomatoes."

Plus, Daniel shares a few of his NEW favorite words...and we are pretty sure you've NEVER heard these words before!

Daniel talks with poet & critic, Edward Hirsch, about his latest book, A Poet's Glossary, which is not so much a book of definitions as it is an exploration of the history of the terms and how those terms interrelate to each other. Hirsch explains why it took 15 years to compile the information for this book, and why he believes it can still be more expansive (it's already over 700 pages long). We'll learn about the terms "Duende," "Flarf," and "Spam Poetry."

This week's Poem of the Week is read by our guest, Edward Hirsch. He reads "To Poetry."

For this week's Poetic License, Fresno poet Marisol Baca returns to share a couple of poems that reflect upon the world she lived in as a childhood dreamer. We'll hear "Horno" and "The Discovery."

Daniel talks with famed Chicana writer Ana Castillo, whose latest book is "Give it to Me." She talks about the influence Charles Bukowski had on the book's main character, Palma Piedras. Palma is a woman who has contempt for most everything and has built a shell to protect herself from the world. Ana also explains why she likes to share her publishing rejection stories with other writers so they don't get discouraged. http://www.anacastillo.com/

This week's Poem of the Week is "For the Foxes" by Charles Bukowski, read by Daniel Chacon.

And California Chicana poet and activist Nancy Aidé Gonzalez reads "Needlework," a Poetic License inspired by a memoir and spirituality workshop held by Ana Castillo. In this reflection, Nancy revisits her past and her often-painful memories of her father.

Daniel talks with James E. Cherry, an online MFA student in the UTEP Department of Creative Writing. Cherry lives in Tennessee and is working on his MFA online. Cherry's newest poetry collection "Loose Change" is not his first book, having already published fiction and poetry prior to entering the MFA program, but he feels the program has made him a better writer, and many of the poems in "Loose Change" grew out of the MFA workshops.

For this week's Poem of the Week, James E. Cherry reads "Suspect" from his collection "Loose Change."

In this week's Poetic License, fellow UTEP online MFA student Guadalupe Mendez (who lives in San Antonio) reflects on the legacy of books, and why he feels Latino writers and poets need to be heard by wider audiences.