Arts Calling Podcast

Literature Performing Arts Visual Arts English

Arts Calling brings you down to earth conversations with artists in the written, visual, and performing arts about craft, community, and a life well-lived.

Arts Calling highlights hard-working, independent creatives across disciplines and cultural backgrounds. A celebration of the arts as the gateway to empathy, healthy lives, and strong communities. Writer and multimedia creative Jaime Alejandro catches up with friends and artists in various artistic disciplines to hear their origin story, how to overcome real-world hardships, and why it is essential to remain true to an artistic calling. Stop by artscalling.com for the latest episodes!

Website

06 October 2022

Ep. 66 Ken Poyner | Small presses, life beyond writing, and carving your own path

Hi there,

Today it's a pleasure to be arts calling Ken Poyner!

About our guest:
Ken's four collections of brief fictions and four collections of speculative poetry can be found at most online booksellers. He spent 33 years in information system management, is married to a world record holding female power lifter, and has a family of several cats and betta fish. Individual works have appeared in "Café Irreal", "Analog", "Danse Macabre", "The Cincinnati Review", and several hundred other places.

For more information, please visit: www.kpoyner.com and www.barkingmoosepress.com

Thanks for taking the time, Ken! All the best!

Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. If you like the show: please consider reviewing the podcast and sharing it with those who love the arts, or are starting their creative journey! Your support truly makes a difference, so check out the new website artscalling.com for the latest episodes!

Go make a dent: much love,

29 September 2022

Ep. 65 Dr. Rachael Hanel | History, writing nonfiction, and Camilla's story

Hi there,

Today I am ecstatic to be arts calling Dr. Rachael Hanel!

About our guest:
Rachael Hanel is associate professor of creative nonfiction and journalism at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Her book We’ll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down: Memoir of a Gravedigger’s Daughter, also from the University of Minnesota Press, was a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award. Her essays have been published in print and online in the anthology Love and Profanity: A Collection of True, Tortured, Wild, Hilarious, Concise, and Intense Tales of Teenage Life; Slag Glass City; Midwestern Gothic; WLA: War, Literature, and the Arts; The Bellingham Review; and New Delta Review.

Not the Camilla We Knew: One Woman’s Path from Small-town America to the Symbionese Liberation Army
https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/not-the-camilla-we-knew

We’ll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down: Memoir of a Gravedigger’s Daughter
https://www.powells.com/book/well-be-the-last-ones-to-let-you-down-memoir-of-a-gravediggers-daughter-9780816683468

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rachael18
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachael_hanel/

Thanks for this lovely conversation Rachael! Such a pleasure!

Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. If you like the show: consider reviewing the podcast and sharing it with those who love the arts, your support truly makes a difference! Check out the new website artscalling.com for the latest episodes!

Go make a dent: much love,

22 September 2022

Ep. 64 Shahab Zargari | Indie filmmaking, music, and the business of creativity

Hi there,

Thursdays are for arts calling! And today I am psyched to be arts calling Shahab Zargari!

About our guest:
Shahab Zargari is an award-winning filmmaker, music lover, author and entrepreneur. He graduated in 2000 from the University of California at Irvine with a bachelor of arts degree in Sociology with a minor in Education.

After years of creating original YouTube and Vimeo content, Shahab jumped into serious filmmaking with his year-long science fiction film project, THE CRYSTAL CRYPT (2013), starring husband and wife acting team Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt. He proceeded to work on honing his craft through short films, music videos, and commissioned work. After the success of his film, MY NAME IS ART (2018), in the film festival circuit and inclusion in Amazon Prime’s first film festival he began work on what would be his most recent film. This film, entitled OH, THE GUILT (2021) (a nod to a Nirvana song of the same name), is now making its way through the film festival circuit.

Currently he creates all of the video output for the UNLV Performing Arts Center, UNLV School of Music, UNLV School of Architecture, UNLV Departments of Film, Dance, Theatre, Art, on top of any freelance directing or editing gig he can get his hands on.

You can view all of his creative output on his Vimeo and Youtube accounts.

Here's a link to the Shoah Survivors Project mentioned in the episode:
https://sites.google.com/view/shoah-survivors-project-unlv/

Thanks for taking the time to join me on the podcast, Shahab!

Go make a dent: much love,

15 September 2022

Ep. 63 Raegen Pietrucha | Head of a Gorgon, marketing, and a reunion episode!

TW: This episode is a discussion about a work that addresses sexual violence.

Hi friends,

Today I'm so excited to be arts calling Raegen Pietrucha, welcome back!

About our guest:
Raegen Pietrucha is a professional and creative writer, editor, consultant, and educator with two degrees in English and more than 20 years of combined experience. Her chapbook, An Animal I Can’t Name, won the 2015 Two of Cups Press competition; her debut poetry collection, Head of a Gorgon, is now available via Vegetarian Alcoholic Press; and she has a memoir in progress. She received her MFA from Bowling Green State University, where she was an assistant editor for Mid-American Review. Her creative work has been published in Cimarron Review, Puerto del Sol, and other journals.

About Head of a Gorgon:
Head of a Gorgon is a narrative in poems that reimagines the myth of Medusa, transporting this ancient tale of sexual violence into contemporary times and examining it through a survivor-centric, feminist lens. Via persona poems that enable readers to hear this story primarily and directly from a protagonist often sidelined or silenced in other tellings, this devastating collection brings the visceral physical and psychological experiences and effects of sexual trauma out of the shadows and into the spotlight, revealing a path along which survivors might reimagine themselves within the societal structures that work against them.

Head of a Gorgon now available here: http://vegetarianalcoholicpress.com/titles/raegen-pietrucha-head-of-a-gorgon

Raegen's website: https://raegenmp.wordpress.com.

@freeradicalrp on Twitter

@raegenmp on Instagram

Thanks so much for your time, Raegen! Great to talk to you again!

Go make a dent: much love,

01 September 2022

Ep. 62 Samantha Terrell | Cosmic tragicomedy, social justice poetry, and the trinitas form

Hi friends!

Today, I am so excited to be arts calling Samantha Terrell!

About our guest:
Samantha Terrell is an internationally published American poet and author whose work has received five-star reviews. In 2021, she received First Honorable Mention in the "Anita McAndrews Poets for Human Rights Awards" organized by Poets Without Borders. Her most recent book, Things Worth Repeating?, features an invented form - the poetic trinitas. Terrell and her family reside in upstate New York.

Poetry Sale on Samantha's website until 9/4!!! http://www.samanthaterrell.com/books.html

Cosmic Tragicomedy is now available for (eBook) pre-order, to be released alongside its paperback on Friday, Sept. 16th!

Simplicity, and Other Things We Overcomplicate, now available!
https://books2read.com/SimplicityAndOtherThingsWeOvercomplicate

Vision, and Other Things We Hide From, now available from Potter's Grove Press!
https://pottersgrovepress.com/product/vision-and-other-things-we-hide-from

Keeping Afloat, now available from JC Studio Press!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Keeping-Afloat-Samantha-Terrell/dp/1739908880

Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro at cruzfolio.com. If you like the show: consider reviewing the podcast and sharing it with those who love the arts, your support truly makes a difference! Check out cruzfolio.com for more podcasts about the arts and original content!

Make art. Much love,

18 August 2022

Ep. 61 Rodd Whelpley | Learning, efficiency, and poems of the backyard

Hi there,

Today I am so excited to be arts calling Rodd Whelpley!

About our Guest:
Rodd Whelpley seeks poetry in the everyday world. He manages an electric efficiency program for 32 cities across Illinois and lives near Springfield with his wife, son, and the memories of good Golden Retrievers he has known.

His poems have appeared in Tinderbox Poetry Journal, 2River View, Star 82 Review, Right Hand Pointing, Shot Glass Journal, Spillway, The Naugatuck River Review, Eunoia Review, Antiphon, The Chagrin River Review and other journals.

The Last Bridge is Home, now available for sale!
https://kelsaybooks.com/products/the-last-bridge-is-home

Check out Rodd's collection Whoever Said Love, now available from ELJ Editions!
https://elj-editions.com/whoever-said-love/

Thanks for coming on the show, Rodd!!

Re: the latest attack on abortion rights, please consider visiting https://www.podvoices.help for resources during this difficult time.

Make art. Much love,

13 August 2022

Ep. 60 Madeleine Corley | Poetry, songwriting, and constructing constructively

Hi there,

Thanks for stopping by, today I am ecstatic to be arts calling Madeleine Corley!

About our guest:

Madeleine Corley has multiple interests with her main affinity simply being words. From elaborate acrostics to black-out found poems, she adores fitting concepts into tight spaces to create a puzzle.

Madeleine received her Bachelors Degree in Public Health from The Ohio State University in 2017, where she additionally acquired a minor in Leadership Studies. Her years at university brought about a love for travel through studying abroad, for literacy through a Penpal program she expanded, and for events and programming through her involvement in BuckeyeThon fundraising and morale.

After university, she spent time in Dublin, Ireland, where she expanded her poetry and literary experience through performance and small event planning. She was a regular at the New Romantics Poetry night and an organizer for a local Meetup group where she focused on prompt writing and facilitating relationships between writers.

She began her tenure as the Poetry Editor for Barren Magazine in December 2018 and has been in the role since.

Sign up for The Newsledder! A newsletter about writing, memes, and much more, by Madeleine, Lannie Stabile, Todd Dillard, and Jared Beloff!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Madelinksi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wrotemadeleine

Thanks so much for this amazing conversation, Maddie!

Re: the latest attack on abortion rights, please consider visiting https://www.podvoices.help for resources during this difficult time.

Make art. Much love,

04 August 2022

Ep. 59 Dr. Sarah Etlinger | Mentorship, composition, and becoming a poet

Hi there,

Welcome to the show! Today I am arts calling Dr. Sarah Etlinger!

Sarah A. Etlinger holds a BA in English from Skidmore College, an MA in English from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition (English) from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Scholarly interests include new media studies, first-year composition, feminist literature, the Beatles, and popular culture. Currently, she is Associate professor of Composition and Literature at Rock Valley College where she teaches courses in composition, film, and literature.

A Pushcart and Best of the Net nominee, she is the author of two books: Never One for Promises (Kelsay Books, 2018) and Little Human Things (Clare Songbirds, 2020). Other poems can be found in a variety of literary magazines, including The Amethyst Review, Neologism Poetry Journal, Mookychick, _ _The Penwood Review, The Magnolia Review, Brine (where she was September 2018’s featured Poet of the Month) and many others.

Interests include cooking, baking, traveling, spending time with her family, and music.

Her latest poetry collection, Little Human Things is now available!

'Never One for Promises,' a poetry collection, now available!

Dr. Sarah on Twitter: https://twitter.com/drsaephd

Thanks for this wonderful conversation, Dr. Sarah!

Re: the latest attack on abortion rights, please consider visiting https://www.podvoices.help for resources during this difficult time.

Make art. Much love,

28 July 2022

Ep. 58 Allison Adair | Gettysburg relics, poems of womanhood, and how nature reclaims us

Hi there,

What a great episode we have for you: Today I am arts calling Allison Adair!

About our Guest:
Allison Adair’s first collection, The Clearing, was selected by Henri Cole as winner of Milkweed’s Max Ritvo Poetry Prize. Her poems appear in American Poetry Review, Arts & Letters, Best American Poetry, Kenyon Review Online, and ZYZZYVA; and her work has been honored with the Pushcart Prize, the Florida Review Editors’ Award, the Orlando Prize, a Massachusetts Cultural Council grant, and first place in the Fineline Competition from Mid-American Review. Originally from central Pennsylvania, Allison teaches at Boston College and Grub Street.

Allison on Twitter: https://twitter.com/fascicles

Order The Clearing on Bookshop.

Order The Clearing on Amazon.

Stop by Allison's website for recent publications! https://www.allisonadair.com/publications

Thanks for coming on the show, Allison!!

*Note: Some edits have been made to the episode due to connection issues.

Re: the latest attack on abortion rights, please consider visiting https://www.podvoices.help for resources during this difficult time.

Make art. Much love,

This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

21 July 2022

Ep. 57 Estela González | Mazatlán, between cultures, and the Arribada novel

Hi there,

Today I am overjoyed to be arts calling Estela González!

About our guest:
Estela González holds an MFA in creative writing and a PhD in Latin American literature. As a binational and bilingual writer, she tells stories in English and Spanish about race, class, gender, and environmental justice. Growing up in Mexico, Estela regularly visited her family in Mazatlán, where decades-long intensive development has led to the demise of beaches and sea turtle colonies. Her research and support of fishermen protecting sea turtles in the Sea of Cortés deepen her reflections on environmental justice, race relations, and sexuality. Her work is featured in the Barcelona Review, the Cobalt Review, Connotation Press, Cronopio, Flash Frontier, Flyway Magazine, Kudzu House, Label Me Latina, La Colmena, Luvina, the Fem, and the Revista Mexicana de Literatura Contemporánea, as well as in outstanding collections such as Best of Solstice Literary Magazine, Feminine Rising (Cynren Press, 2019), and Under the Volcano. Arribada was a 2019 finalist for Feminist Press's Louise Meriwether Award.

Arribada, now on sale here: https://bookshop.org/a/84546/9781947976313

Estela on Twitter: https://twitter.com/5estelagonzalez

Thank you so much for this inspiring conversation, Estela!

Re: the latest attack on abortion rights, please consider visiting https://www.podvoices.help for resources during this difficult time.

Make art. Much love,