Category: Interviews

Poet & Software Developer Olatunde Osinaike, my final Season 4 guest!

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I met poet & software developer Olatunde Osinaike back in 2019 during Open Mouth Literary Center’s Third Annual Poetry Festival, and I’ve long admired his work!

I had so much fun speaking to him ahead of the release of his debut full-length collection, Tender Headed— a beautifully and deliberately crafted collection that I deeply enjoyed reading last month and that I’m already so excited to revisit! Camille Rankine, who selected it as a winner of the 2022 National Poetry Series, called it “a two-step on a tightwire,” and I agree. I’m ecstatic to feature Olatunde as my last guest this year on Tightwires, and I learned so much from our conversation!

Tender Headed comes out next Tuesday, December 5 from Akashic Books!

Preorder it now from any of these retailers: Akashic Books, Bookshop, Books-A-Million, Target, Barnes & Noble, Walmart.

Interested in being a future featured guest? Let me know!
I am now booking for 2024!

Poet & Editor J. Bailey Hutchinson, one of my Season 4 guests!

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I had a great time talking to J. Bailey Hutchinson, the second of my three Season 4 guests, in a special Halloween episode of Tightwires!

Bailey is a fellow Open Mouth Literary Center and Arkansas MFA alum— she was a fourth year when I was a first year— and I’ve long admired her work. Including her 2022 Miller Williams Poetry Prize-Winning debut collection Gut, which we discussed at length during our conversation and for which she is currently touring.

Other topics of discussion: the post-grad school job hunt, navigating truth in writing, our endless admiration for poet & professor Geffrey Davis, how butchery is like poetry, and the best chicken wings in Fayetteville!

Interested in being a future featured guest? Let me know!
I am now booking for 2024!

Indie Bookstore founder & comparative literature graduate Diana Dominguez, one of my Tightwires Season 4 guests!

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Last month, I spoke to the first of my three Season 4 guests! Diana Dominguez, founder of Más Libritos bookstore in Springdale, Arkansas, had so much to say about the day to day life of a bookstore owner– I learned so much!

View our full conversation below, and check out Más Libritos when you get a chance. It’s an intersectional feminist bookstore of new and used books that center Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and it’s the first and only Latina-owned independent bookstore in Arkansas!

Poet & Ph.D. Taylor Byas, my Tightwires Season 3 guest!

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This week on Tightwires, I’m so excited to feature a recent conversation with poet and Ph.D. Taylor Byas, who shared some incredibly valuable words on poetry and process.

I have long been a Taylor Byas fan and so enjoyed reading her debut full-length collection, I DONE CLICKED MY HEELS THREE TIMES, this summer. It’s the sort of book that rewards repeat reading, a poignant journey full of careful considerations that have come to feel like hallmarks of Taylor’s work. (A tiny example: The first line of the first poem is in conversation with the last line of the last poem.) I already can’t wait to revisit!

I DONE CLICKED MY HEELS THREE TIMES will be released on Tuesday, August 22 from Soft Skull Press. You can preorder it now from a preferred retailer on this page: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/731254/i-done-clicked-my-heels-three-times-by-taylor-byas/

And in the meantime, you can view our full conversation below!

Writer & Comedian Mary Ryan Brown, my Tightwires Season 2 guest! 

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This week on Tightwires, I’m sharing a conversation with writer and comedian Mary Ryan Brown, who had so many insightful things to say about comedy, craft, and performance! I learned so much, which comes as no surprise— Mary Ryan and I met in my first poetry workshop at the University of Southern Mississippi and she’s been a dear friend and inspiration since!

View our full conversation below!

Interested in being a future featured guest? Let me know!

Karuna Riazi, our first Tightwires guest!

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When I envisioned Tightwires last summer, I knew— because of my journalism background—I would eventually want to interview other people. Specifically, that I would want to interview other writers.

Interviews build community, and if there’s one thing I learned in my MFA, it’s that building a community is paramount to success in writing. Initial creation might occur in solitude, but nurturing an artistic practice requires throwing the door wide open. I am who I am because of the communities that nurture me.

How fitting, then, that my first Tightwires interview is with author and diversity advocate Karuna Riazi, an absolute powerhouse of a creator who becomes an invaluable part of every community she enters!

I so enjoyed reading A BIT OF EARTH, Karuna’s latest book, last month. This searing reimagining of a beloved classic is sure to be a big hit. I can’t wait for everyone else to read it too!

A BIT OF EARTH will be released next Tuesday, March 14. Preorder it now from at any of these retailers: Bookshop, IndieBound, B&N, Amazon, and don’t forget to submit your preorder receipt through Karuna’s site for preorder goodies and a chance to win a prize pack!

And in the meantime, check out my conversation with Karuna below! I had so much fun.

Interested in being a future featured guest? Let me know!