Episode Seventeen

This month, I had the pleasure of meeting Venus Selenite in person while she started her first leg of her #RehabYearTour. Venus is a Bettering American Poetry 2016 nominee, a 2017 Pink Door Fellow, and one of the most notable trans women of color interdisciplinary artists in the United States. She is the author of two books: trigger and the fire been here. She lives in Washington, D.C. and the internet.

• Venus's website
• Venus's Patreon
• trigger
• The Fire Been Here

Artists, writers, and literature mentioned in this episode:

• James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
• Nameless Woman anthology
• Goddess X
• KOKUMỌ
• J Mase III
• Jamie Berrout
• Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi 
  • Her new book: For Black Trans Girls Who Gotta Cuss a Motherfucker Out When Snatching an Edge Ain't Enough
• Jayy Dodd 
  • Their new book Mannish Tongues
  • Also, shameless plug for my interview with them back on Episode 10
• What you can do to support trans artists of color (thread)

The Sound of Waves Breaking is by Chris Lynn, a recording of voices in Washington, D.C. near the Jefferson Memorial.

The editor is Mitchel Davidovitz, and the show is produced by me. 

Episode Nine!

I am so honored to get to speak with Vita E. Cleveland about her recent chapbook Dedications. The conversation, of course, wanders elsewhere: toward her percussion expertise, musings on art's intersection with activism, slut shaming in activist circles, and more.

Poets Mentioned in this episode:

• Vita E's tumblr
• Vita E's youtube
• Vita's new ebook, Dedications
• Saul Williams
• J Mase III
• Regie Cabico
• Kavindu Ade
• awQward Talent Agency
• TaneshaNicole Tyler's performance at TED Talk
• Timothy DuWhite
• CeCe McDonald giving a talk at the Humanist Hall
• Dane Figueroa Edidi
• Ashleigh Shackelford
• Capturing Fire 2016
• Kay Barrett
• Kit Yan
• Venus Selenite
• Linette Reeman
• Nik Moreno

This episode was edited by Mitchel Davidovitz, whose experimental audio work "Window of Normalization" you can check out at his bandcamp. 

"The Sound of Waves Breaking" was Vita E's drum solo "Clave." You can listen to the entirety of "Clave" at her SoundCloud page. 

Transcripts forthcoming, I promise!