Arts Calling

Weekly shoutout: A new essay on HowlRound by theatermaker and friend of the show, Anne Mason! -- Hi there, Today I am delighted to be arts calling author Monica Macansantos! (monicamacansantos.com) About our guest: Monica Macansantos is a Filipino writer from Baguio, and is currently a Marguerite and Lamar Smith Fellow with the Carson McCullers Center in Columbus, Georgia. She is the author of the essay collection, Returning to My Father's Kitchen (Curbstone/Northwestern University Press, 2025), and the story collection, Love and Other Rituals (Grattan Street Press), 2022. She was a 2024-25 Shearing Fellow with the Black Mountain Institute at UNLV, and her work has appeared in Colorado Review, The Hopkins Review, Bennington Review, River Styx, Electric Literature, Literary Hub, and Katherine Mansfield and Children (Edinburgh University Press), among other places. She earned her MFA from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin, and her PhD in Creative Writing from the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. Her work has been recognized as Notable in Best American Essays 2016 and 2021-2023. RETURNING TO MY FATHER'S KITCHEN, now available from Northwestern University Press/Curbstone Books: Purchase from Northwestern University Press: https://nupress.northwestern.edu/9780810148390/returning-to-my-fathers-kitchen/ From Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/returning-to-my-father-s-kitchen-essays-monica-macansantos/ Purchase from Book People in Austin, which sells signed copies of the book! https://bookpeople.com/book/9780810148390 Also from Monica, LOVE & OTHER RITUALS, a collection of stories: https://www.monicamacansantos.com/loveandotherritualsselectedstories.html Thanks for this amazing conversation, Monica! All the best! Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE! Much love, j artscalling.com

Weekly shoutout: Check out my friends at FunUsual Suspects! Hi there, Today I am delighted to be arts calling singer songwriter Josh Jensen! (https://linktr.ee/joshjensenmusic) About our guest: Josh Jensen is a singer songwriter based in Seattle that once graced the Bellingham musio stages with his band Sweet Beets. Josh’s honeyed vocals and fingerstyle guitar accompany a wide range of what he dubs as PNW Americana stylings that make up his music. Josh recently released his album This Is Where We Landed’, which was pressed on PET records through Washingtones. THIS IS WHERE WE LANDED, the new album now available through Washingtones Records! https://washingtonesrecords.myshopify.com/products/josh-jensen-this-is-where-we-landed-180g-lp-pre-sale Listen to Eclectic Mementos EP on Bandcamp! Listen on Spotify | Listen on YouTube Music Instagram: @joshjensenmusic | Follow on Youtube Thanks for this amazing conversation, Josh! All the best! Josh Cover Image by @twicebaked.photo. Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE! Much love, j artscalling.com

Weekly shoutout: Ghostlit, poems by Theodora Ziolkowski, now available! Hi there, Today I am delighted to be arts calling literary agent and author Jessica Berg! (https://www.rosecliffliterary.com) About our guest: Jessica Berg is a literary agent, author, and the founder of Rosecliff Literary, where she champions bold, emotionally resonant fiction with unforgettable characters, strong stakes, and a sense of urgency. She is currently closed to fiction. She is especially drawn to upmarket, historical, and supernatural suspense, with a soft spot for haunting atmosphere, richly layered relationships, and characters who carry deep emotional wounds. Give her a protagonist standing at the edge of reinvention, a world on the brink of change, or a past that refuses to stay buried. She loves stories that explore grief, longing, ambition, and survival and the complicated ways they intersect. If your book feels like it belongs in a candlelit room with a storm raging outside, she wants to see it. She earned her MFA from Spalding University and contributes regularly to Writer’s Digest. Jessica serves on the boards of the Women’s National Book Association and the Historical Novel Society, and teaches nationally on querying, comp titles, and the business of authorship, with a focus on building sustainable, long-term writing careers. Her client list includes Vincent Zandri, Lisa Roe, Arizona Bell, and others Visit jessicaberg.me for more information. Thanks for this amazing conversation, Jessica! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN. Much love, j artscalling.com

Weekly shoutout: Check out Lynchpins, our ongoing David Lynch tribute series! Hi there, we're back! Today I am delighted to be arts calling Camille U. Adams once again! (https://www.camilleuadams.com/) About our guest: CAMILLE U. ADAMS, Ph.D. was born and raised in beautiful Trinidad and Tobago. She is the author of the explosive memoir How To Be Unmothered: a Trinidadian memoir, finalist in the Restless Books Prize in New Immigrant Writing 2023. (https://linktr.ee/Camille_U_Adams) Camille is a memoirist, a poet, and a nature writer. Camille has been awarded Best of The Net—nonfiction 2024. She has received five Pushcart Prize nominations and three Best of the Net nominations for her memoir writing. Camille’s work has also received recognition as a notable essay in Best American Essays 2022. Her writing has been long-listed in the Graywolf Creative nonfiction Prize 2022 and selected as a finalist for The 2021 Orison Anthology Award in Nonfiction. Her other honours include an awarded fellowship as an inaugural Tin House Reading Fellow, an inaugural Granta nature writing workshop fellowship, an inaugural Anaphora Arts Italy Writing Retreat Fellowship, a McKnight Doctoral Fellowship, a Community of Writers Fellowship, A VONA scholarship, and a Roots Wounds Words Fellowship. A Tin House Summer Workshop alum, Camille has served as a juried reader for Tin House for two consecutive years and as a moderator for two author panels. She has also received support from Kenyon Writers Workshop, Grubstreet, and others. In addition, Camille has been an associate CNF editor at Variant Lit and an assistant memoir editor at Split Lip Magazine and at The Account. She has long taught English and creative writing, emphasising the importance of strong craft, beautiful prose, and ugly truths. Having earned her MFA in Poetry from City College CUNY and her Ph.D. in Creative Nonfiction from FSU, Camille currently teaches creative writing and literature in New York City. She is at work on her second memoir. Thanks for this amazing conversation, Camille! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN. Much love, j artscalling.com

Weekly shoutout: Check out Lynchpins at the coalition, our ongoing David Lynch tribute series! -- Hi there, Today I am delighted to be arts calling novelist Nancy Kricorian! (https://nancykricorian.net) About our guest: Nancy Kricorian, who was born and raised in the Armenian community of Watertown, Massachusetts, is the author of four novels about post-genocide Armenian diaspora experience, including Zabelle, which was translated into seven languages, was adapted as a play, and has been continuously in print since 1998. Her new novel, The Burning Heart of the World, about Armenians in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War, will be published in April 2025. Her essays and poems have appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly, Guernica, Parnassus, Minnesota Review, The Mississippi Review, and other journals. She has taught at Barnard, Columbia, Yale, and New York University, as well as with Teachers & Writers Collaborative in the New York City Public Schools, and has been a mentor with We Are Not Numbers since 2015. She has been the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, a Gold Medal from the Writers Union of Armenia, and the Anahid Literary Award, among other honors. She lives in New York. THE BURNING HEART OF THE WORLD, now available from Red Hen Press! Bookshop | Barnes & Noble | Amazon Nancy Kricorian’s The Burning Heart of the World tells the story of a Beirut Armenian family before, during, and after the Lebanese Civil War. Returning to the fabular tone of Zabelle, her popular first novel, Kricorian conjures up the lost worlds and intergenerational traumas that haunt a family in permanent exile. Leavened with humor and imbued with the timelessness of a folktale, The Burning Heart of the World is a sweeping saga that takes readers on an epic journey from the mountains of Cilicia to contemporary New York City. > Like colorful miniatures–from a childhood of elders haunted by the Armenian genocide, to girlhood and adolescence amidst war in Beirut, to marriage and children in New York at the time of 9/11—Nancy Kricorian finds just the right scale to bring her heroine’s passage to vivid, reverberating life. > — Aram Saroyan > An arrestingly beautiful novel of how families draw us together, but also push us apart. Set amidst the backdrop of displacement and war, The Burning Heart of the World illuminates how we carry history deep into even the most forgotten corners of ourselves. Once you start reading about Vera and her family you won’t be able to put this book down. > — Marie Myung-Ok Lee, Author of The Evening Hero Thanks for this amazing conversation, Nancy! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN. Much love, j artscalling.com

Weekly shoutout: coalitionworks issue 10 is now live! -- Hi there, Today I am delighted to be arts calling writer, actor, and producer Sandra Cruze! (sandracruze.com) About our guest: Sandra Cruze was steeled in the uprisings of the 60’s and 70’s, and underground art world of DTLA, where she sang in punk bands, reggae bands and performed in street theater. She believes the "PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD" and picked hers up. Having experienced the transformation of good story telling which has saved her on many occasion, her works traverse the mindfield that is America today. She writes about dangerous women and women in danger. Acting in Films, TV and Stage, Sandra also creates her own content. Her short film, "Physics of Killing", was selected for the Toronto International Women’s Film Festival 2022, and an IMDB writers credit. Her play, "Little Sugar", was a quarter finalist with ScreenCraft in 2022 and 2023. "We're Not Dead Yet", a YouTube web series co-produced by Two Heads are Better Productions, has received multiple awards and selections for both the series and the scripts, winning semifinalist for pilot script. https://www.housetheater.net/ Further accomplishments for film and theater can be found on IMDB and https://linktr.ee/sandracruzeproductions ABBY NORMAL THE MUSICAL FUNDRAISER EVENT AT HYPERION ARTS, LOS ANGELES: CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS APRIL 25 AND 26! Thanks for this amazing conversation, Sandra! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN. Much love, j artscalling.com

Weekly shoutout: Christopher Soriano-Palma (AC23) releases a new poetry collection! -- Hi there, We're back! Today I am delighted to be arts calling musician/producer Mo Milan! (momilan.com) About our guest: Mo Milan is a Las Vegas-based composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, crafting music under two distinct monikers: Cocoa Pastel and Mo Milan. As Cocoa Pastel, she delivers vibrant, synth-driven pop infused with dark wave and electronic influences, centering on resilience, reinvention, and new beginnings. Handling every aspect of production—from songwriting to mixing—she creates dynamic, immersive soundscapes. Under Mo Milan, she explores experimental and introspective realms, blending neo-classical, folktronica, and cinematic elements. A classically trained violinist and skilled multi-instrumentalist, she pairs music with self-directed visuals, amplifying emotional depth. Previously a member of REIGN-A, Atomic Heart Band, Echo Stains, and Angel Groove, Milan is now preparing her debut dual mini-album: two EPs showcasing the energetic pulse of Cocoa Pastel and the cinematic introspection of Mo Milan. Project Premiere March 28th in Las Vegas, NV at SPCKRFT STUDIOS! Instagram: @noitsnotmo LISTEN TO COCOA PASTEL HERE: https://linktr.ee/cocoapastel Thanks for this amazing conversation, Mo! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN.

Weekly shoutout: Read Issue 5 of Engine(Idling Lit! -- Hi there, We're back! Today I am delighted to be arts calling playwright/producer Anna Capunay! (annacapunay.com) About our guest: Anna Capunay is a Queens, NY native. Her plays include: A Cat’s Tale (Roy Arias Stages), and Cowl Girl (The Players Theatre). These works were adapted for the screen -- A Cat’s Tale winning Best Director for Comedy and Best Ensemble Cast for Comedy at the San Francisco’s Best Actors Film Festival. The indie feature debuted at the Chelsea Film Festival in NYC, 2016. Cowl Girl was shot as a TV pilot and was included as Best of the Fest finalist at the Chicago International REEL Shorts Film Festival, 2017. Anna’s directorial debut was for the short film she also wrote, Your Silent Face. The short won multiple awards via the film festival circuit, most notably for Best Screenwriting at the Festival of Cinema NYC and Best LGBTQ Film at the L.A. Punk Film Festival, both in 2023. Anna has received multiple grants over the years supporting her projects. Most recently, she was awarded the NYC Women's Fund for Media, Music and Theatre via the New York Foundation for the Arts. This grant has fully funded this stage production of La Gota Fria: The Cold Sweat. Additionally, Anna was awarded a Queens Arts Funds grant (her third) to help produce her short film, Sombras, later this year. Anna’s upcoming project includes writing her first feature film to be produced with her partner, Bill McDonald, called Contigo. ABOUT THE PLAY: LA GOTA FRÍA: THE COLD SWEAT is a dramedy set in 1990s Queens, NY. When the matriarch of the Gonzalez family falls ill, her loved ones rally around her: a blind but hyperaware grandfather, a frenzied daughter and her doting husband. And the meddlesome family friend with a particular interest for the Gonzalez women, including the cat. LA GOTA FRÍA:THE COLD SWEAT is a new sick family comedy that will have you rethink your choices for cancer treatments. So let's go back in time to Queens, NY in the 1990s when you, your family and your friends were dancing to new and classic Salsa, Merengue and Latin Pop! Website: https://lagotafriaplay.com Now playing at The Players Theatre NYC, March 6-23 2025. Get your tix NOW! https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/277/1740805200000 Thanks for this amazing conversation, Anna! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN.

Weekly shoutout: Read the latest literary releases from Punk Noir Magazine! -- Hi there, We're back! Today I am delighted to be arts calling author Theodora Ziolkowski! (www.theodoraziolkowski.com) ABOUT OUR GUEST: THEODORA ZIOLKOWSKI is the author of the novella, On the Rocks (2018 & 2020, The University Press of SHSU/Texas Review Press) and the short story chapbook, Mother Tongues (2016 & 2018, The Cupboard). On the Rocks, winner of a 2018 Next Generation Indie Book Award, is now available as an audiobook. Ziolkowski's debut collection of poems, Ghostlit (2025), is now available. Ziolkowski’s work has received support from the Vermont Studio Center, the National Alumni Association (University of Alabama), and Inprint (Houston, Texas). Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in The Writer's Chronicle, Short Fiction (England), and Prairie Schooner, among over sixty other literary journals, magazines, anthologies, and exhibits. In the past, Ziolkowski has served as Poetry Editor for Gulf Coast, Fiction Editor for Big Fiction, and Assistant Poetry Editor for Black Warrior Review. She holds an MFA from the University of Alabama, where she was honored as a ‘30 Under 30’ alum, and a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Houston, where she was the recipient of the Inprint Marion Barthelme Prize in Creative Writing. Currently, she teaches creative writing as an assistant professor of English at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. GHOSTLIT: A new poetry collection, is now available! BOOKSHOP.ORG | BARNES & NOBLE | POWELL'S BOOKS | AMAZON ABOUT GHOSTLIT: Intimate, urgent, and relentlessly inventive, the poems in Ghostlit reflect upon mythology and feminist pop culture and contemporary ideology as they may become embedded in the psyches and even the bodies of their inheritors. Through visceral and sometimes gothic-inspired images, mythological allusions, and the assemblage of strands of narrative, the poems in this collection chart the ways in which manipulative emotional strategies on individual and cultural levels inflict lingering harm upon minds and bodies. Throughout, the poems peel back the layers of what it means for an abuse survivor to reclaim a sense of self—long after the damage has been done. “It turns out that the years I believed myself lucky/were partly responsible for my thinking/there was something deeply wrong with me” could be understood as a refrain for the speaker in Ghostlit or as a shorthand for a cautionary tale about how many survivors may be encouraged to deny the reality of abuse. Thanks for this amazing conversation, Theodora! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN.

Weekly shoutout: Subscribe to Flash Perspectives from author Tommy Dean! -- Hi there, We're back! Today I am delighted to be arts calling writer/performer Jen Ponton! (jenponton.com) About our guest: JEN PONTON (writer/performer SUGARCOATED) returns triumphantly to the New York stage with Sugarcoated, her autobiographical solo show, in its New York premiere. Last seen off-Broadway in Halley Feiffer’s How To Make Friends and then Kill Them (Rattlestick, 2013), Jen has spent the past decade building a vibrant career in film and television. Highlights include Dietland, 30 Rock, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Orange is the New Black, Law & Order: SVU, and Blue Bloods, among many others. Jen also starred in Ash Christian’s Love on the Run alongside Frances Fisher, Annaleigh Ashford, and Steve Howey. She has since appeared in Rebecca Miller’s She Came to Me and Todd Solondz’s Wiener-Dog opposite Greta Gerwig and Kieran Culkin. Off-screen, Jen is a passionate creator. Her works include the storytelling podcast All the Fucks with co-host Lillian Bustle_, a nostalgia-packed puppet sitcom, and her TEDx Talk, “Hollywood’s Fatphobia Problem.” Her collaboration with _Sugarcoated director Tessa Slovis began with Tessa’s film Pizza Party, wherein the two found an immediate connection through their commitment to bold activism through storytelling. Explore more about Sugarcoated at jenponton.com. Maiden Mother Crone: an evening of poignant storytelling as two extraordinary solo shows, THE LONGER MY MOTHER IS DEAD THE MORE I LIKE HER by Deborah Unger and SUGARCOATED by Jen Ponton, take center stage at The Pete at The Flea from February 12–23, 2025. ABOUT SUGARCOATED: Jen Ponton takes audiences on a visceral journey through the polished facade women are often forced to wear. With biting humor and profound vulnerability, Sugarcoated strips away societal expectations, revealing raw truths about trauma, survival, and self-empowerment. Best known for her role on AMC's Dietland, Ponton has made waves in TV, film, and theater. Sugarcoated, which premiered at the Denver Fringe Festival, is a testament to her fearless approach to storytelling and her commitment to exploring the untold narratives of women. MAIDEN MOTHER CRONE plays the following schedule through Sunday, February 23: Preview Performances: February 12 & 13 at 7 PM Opening Night: February 14 at 7 PM February 15 (2 PM & 7 PM, with matinee talkback) February 16 (2 PM) February 19–21 (7 PM) February 22 (2 PM & 7 PM, with matinee talkback) February 23 (2 PM) Tickets are $40 and can be purchased at maidenmothercroneshow.com or in person at the theater ½ hours before the performance. Venue: The Pete at The Flea, 20 Thomas Street, New York, NY 10007 Running Time: 2h15 mins (with intermission) Website: maidenmothercroneshow.com Thanks for this amazing conversation, Jen! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN.

Weekly shoutout: New classes and projects from friend of the show, playwright Sarah Congress! -- Hi there, We're back! Today I am delighted to be arts calling author Em J Parsley! (emjparsley.com) About our guest: Em J Parsley (they/he) is a fiction writer, poet, educator, and environmentalist who received their MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso and makes their home in rural Kentucky with their beautiful devil-cat, Griffin. He is a 2024 Artist-In-Residence at Wormfarm Institute and Art Farm, and their work has been published or is upcoming in Silk Road Review, Screen Door Review, ANMLY, Birdcoat Quarterly, The New Flash Fiction Review, and various other places in print and around the internet. Their poetry chapbook, the anonym gospels, won the 2023 Apogee Poetry Award and is available through April Gloaming Publishing. You can follow him on instagram @emjparsley. You, From Below: Now available from Split/Lip Press! https://www.splitlippress.com/you-from-below About You, From Below: When an Appalachian holler town is suddenly swallowed into the earth, its sole survivor embarks on a journey up a nearby mountain to get answers. With a mysterious envelope in their pocket that they know they must deliver, the narrator encounters a faceless beekeeper, an undying woman, and a righteous schoolteacher of a town that was raptured overnight while confronting their own past and the death of both the town and people they left behind. Em J Parsley’s You, From Below burrows into the ecological, economic, and emotional state of Central Appalachia to examine its past, present, and the nature of reciprocity through this speculative, introspective, fable-like exploration of collapse and regeneration. Thanks for this amazing conversation, Em J! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN.

Weekly shoutout: Visit Coalitionist, a new literary project at the coalition! -- Hi there, We're back! Today I am delighted to be arts calling acclaimed poet Kim Dower! kimdowerpoetry.com About our guest: Kim (Freilich) Dower (City Poet Laureate of West Hollywood from October 2016 – October 2018) has published five highly acclaimed collections of poetry all from Red Hen Press. Her most recent book, the bestselling, I WORE THIS DRESS TODAY FOR YOU, MOM, an Eric Hoffer Book Award Finalist, was called a “fantastic collection” by The Washington Post, “impressively insightful, thought-provoking, and truly memorable” by The Midwest Book Review and Shelf-Awareness said, “These gorgeous gems are energized by the sheer power of her wit and irreverent style.” AIR KISSING ON MARS, Kim’s first collection, was described by the Los Angeles Times as, “sensual and evocative . . . seamlessly combining humor and heartache.” SLICE OF MOON was called “unexpected and sublime,” by “O” magazine, LAST TRAIN TO THE MISSING PLANET “poems that speak about the grey space between tragedy and tenderness, memory and loss, fragility and perseverance,” said Richard Blanco, and SUNBATHING ON TYRONE POWER'S GRAVE won the 2020 Independent Publishers Book Award Gold Medal for Poetry. Kim’s work has been featured in numerous literary journals including Plume, Ploughshares, Rattle, The James Dickey Review, and Garrison Keillor’s “The Writer’s Almanac,” and her poems are included in several anthologies, notably, Wide Awake: Poets of Los Angeles and Beyond. She teaches poetry workshops for Antioch University, UCLA Extension Writer’s Program, and the West Hollywood Library. Born and raised on the Upper West Side of New York City, and a graduate of Emerson College in Boston, Kim is also the proud owner of Kim-from-L.A., long-standing literary publicity company that helps authors around the country get the word out about their wonderful books. WHAT SHE WANTS, now available from Red Hen Press. Purchase your copy today! AVAILABLE ON AMAZON! ALSO AVAILABLE AT BARNES & NOBLE! BOOKSELLER PRAISE FOR ‘WHAT SHE WANTS “Psychologically astute and playfully resolute at evoking the irrevocable desire for love, attraction, seduction and yes, companionship, What She Wants belongs on every bookshelf: not just for poetry lovers. But the poetry is there, singing its echoing delight through the lines, like desire itself, and enticing, resolving, and picturing the myriad ways we are compelled by desire and all its fruits.” —John Evans, Co-Owner Diesel, a Bookstore “Desires, both feral and mundane, are slung across these pages in a crescendo of sexual longing and urgent vitality.” —Amanda Youngman, Manager, Barnes & Noble at The Grove “A fantastic book!” —Suzy Takacs, owner of The Book Cellar Bookstore in Chicago, Illinois “From whispered secrets to consuming obsessions, these poems unveil the complexities of love, longing, and the urgency that prods us to pursue the objects of one’s desire.” —Luisa Smith, Buying Director, Book Passage Bookstore “I love this collection!” —Dan Graham, Book Soup Bookstore “Captures the timeless art of storytelling through verse with raw and unfiltered emotions, lyrical language and vivid imagery. With every turn of the page, readers will find themselves drawn deeper into a world where words hold the power to inspire, delight and transform.”—Julie Slavinsky, Director of Events, Warwick’s Thanks for this amazing conversation, Kim! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN.

Weekly shoutout: Check out new indie artists over at Washingtones Records! -- Hi there, Today I am delighted to be arts calling indie folk singer-songwriter Hannah Wyatt! (linktr.ee/hannahwyatt) About our guest: hannah wyatt is an emerging indie folk singer-songwriter. her melancholic sound has blossomed over the years with influence from a score of artists the likes of keaton henson, joe purdy, the civil wars, gregory alan isakov, de-esser, sparklehorse, m. ward, and more. with her roots in upstate new york, hannah began classical violin at eight, and began songwriting around the age of thirteen. she earned her bachelor's degree in music production & recording arts at elon university. her first year at college, hannah was signed as an artist & managed through limelight records. the following year, she redirected her focus as an independent artist & later joined up with NC-based americana/folk band "love & valor" as a violinist, vocalist, graphic designer & recording engineer - touring & performing with the band until 2020. at her core, hannah remains an independent musician, writing, recording & producing all her projects. while her early releases began in 2016 under a former name, she took a step down a new path in 2021 with the release of the album "phantom burn" under the new artist name hannah wyatt, later re-releasing an abridged version of this original album. throughout 2021 in various locations across the country, but mostly central colorado, her ep "iron line" was crafted & later released january of 2022. that following spring, she collaborated remotely with DC-based americana artist eli waltz, the duo released a 5-track EP entitled "waltz & wyatt" & embarked on a west coast tour that summer to promote the release. they have since done a second west coast sprint during the spring of 2024.  her following album, "hummingbird" is a 15-track record. with a more experimental, lo-fi tinge, expanding her sound from the somewhat more commercially friendly tracks of her past. the "underground" ep was released in may 2023 and continues along her more lo-fi bedroom sound. this project flirts with being a miniature concept album, dancing around the ideas of human nature during the state of cold war. hannah spends her free time freelancing string arrangements and various recordings for artists both local and far, and collaborates with bellingham label washingtones records. SUNDAY COWBOY: Click here to pre-order a copy of this limited batch run, to secure your record now! Bandcamp: hannahwyatt.bandcamp.com/music | Check out Hannah's music on YouTube! | Instagram @hannahwyattmusic ABOUT SUNDAY COWBOY: full-length album, "sunday cowboy" will be released digitally december 13, and on PET records on december 21, 2024. these recyclable plastic records are an eco-friendly alternative to traditional PVC vinyl, which leaves a harmful and toxic carbon footprint. her album will be pressed by leading PET companies green vinyl records and good neighbor. Thanks for this amazing conversation, Hannah! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN. Much love, j artscalling.com/links

Weekly shoutout: Be sure to check out books by Vine Leaves Press! -- Hi there, Today I am delighted to be arts calling author, yogi, and writing teacher Jennifer Lang! (israelwriterstudio.com/about) About our guest: Born in the San Francisco Bay Area, Jennifer Lang lives in Tel Aviv, where she runs Israel Writers Studio. Her prize-winning essays appear in Baltimore Review, Under the Sun, Midway Journal, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and served as an Assistant Editor at Brevity. Her first book, Places We Left Behind: a memoir-in-miniature, is followed by Landed: A yogi's memoir in pieces & poses, both with Vine Leaves Press. Places was a Finalist in the Foreword Reviews Book Awards, among others. Both books are available at Vine Leaves Press, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, and other online retailers.  Instagram @jenlangwrites | Facebook: @israelwriterstudio LANDED: A YOGI'S MEMOIR IN PIECES AND POSES, now available from Vine Leaves Press! https://vineleavespress.myshopify.com/products/landed-a-yogi-s-memoir-in-pieces-poses-by-jennifer-lang ABOUT LANDED: In experimental chapterettes, American-born Jennifer traces her nonlinear journey—both on and off the yoga mat—reckoning with her adopted country (Israel), midlife hormones (merciless), cross-cultural marriage (to a Frenchman) and their imminent empty nest (a mixed blessing), eventually realizing the words her yoga teachers had been offering for the past twenty-three years: root down into the ground and stay true to yourself. Finally, she understands that home is about who you are, not where you live. Landed: A yogi’s memoir in pieces & poses spans seven years (and then some), each punctuated with chakra wisdom from nationally-acclaimed Rodney Yee, her first teacher. Thanks for this catching up, Jennifer! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN. Much love, j artscalling.com/links

*Content Warning: Strong language of a sexual nature a few times. Just a heads up. Weekly shoutout: The Originals Bureau Season 3, now available: Outstanding original scripts! -- Hi there, Today I am delighted to be arts calling poet and educator Charles K. Carter! ckcpoetry.com ABOUT OUR GUEST: Charles K. Carter (they/he) is a queer poet and educator from Iowa who currently lives in Oregon. They share their home with their artist husband and their spoiled pets. He enjoys film, yoga, and live music. Melissa Etheridge is their ultimate obsession. Carter has an MFA in writing from Lindenwood University. He is a volunteer video curator for Button Poetry. Their poems have been featured in a variety of literary journals and anthologies. Carter is the author of several chapbooks including Salem Revisited from WordTech Editions. His debut full-length collection, Read My Lips, was released in 2022 by David Robert Books. To coincide with the release of their most recent chapbook, Artificial Sweetness (Finishing Line Press), Carter created the video podcast series #SundaySweetChats, which can be found on YouTube. Kelsay Books released his second full-length, If the World Were a Quilt, in late 2023. Forthcoming books include The God of Loneliness (Rebel Satori Press, 2024) and Follow This Blood to Find a Dead Thing (Fernwood Press, 2025). THE GOD OF LONELINESS, available from Rebel Satori Press! Also available at Bookshop.org! ABOUT: In The God of Loneliness, Charles K. Carter shares their most vulnerable work yet. While using a variety of poetic forms, Carter tackles the tough intersection of isolation, disconnection, and sexuality. “The God of Loneliness is a plaintive exploration of loving and being loved when compassion for oneself isn’t a given. Carter’s poems—particularly the ‘…in Dreamland’ ones—embody an undisguised vulnerability that is deeply sympathetic but not overwrought or maudlin. Their heartstrings are not meant to be tugged per se but are offered to the reader to help us feel what we must. This is a delicate achievement that you know Carter hurt—and perhaps hurt mightily—to pull off, and it makes The God of Loneliness a deftly earnest and an unquestionably worthy read.” —Daniel W.K. Lee, author of Anatomy of Want Thanks for this wonderful conversation, Charles! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN. Much love, j artscalling.com/links

Hi there, Today, I am delighted to share this conversation with the exceptional creative team behind Welcome to the Big Dipper, a new musical! The York Theatre Company Presents WELCOME TO THE BIG DIPPER Music and Lyrics by Jimmy Roberts Book by Catherine Filloux and John Daggett Additional Lyrics by John Daggett Inspired by the Play “All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go” by Catherine Filloux DIRECTED BY DEMONE SERAPHIN -- Welcome to the Big Dipper premieres at The York Theatre Company November 21 to December 29: NOVEMBER TICKETS https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/34375 DECEMBER TICKETS https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/34375/1733029200000 ABOUT THE MUSICAL: What defines home, family, and identity? Joan Wilkes confronts these questions when she must sell The Big Dipper Inn, near Niagara Falls in upstate New York, known for its music and African American heritage. She's all set to sign the contract when a blizzard lands a group of Amish folks and a busload of men in dresses on her doorstep. For three days and nights, they wait out the storm. Cultures clash, romance crackles, and Joan struggles for answers, as a houseful of strangers becomes an unexpected community. https://www.welcometothebigdipper.com/ Thanks for this wonderful conversation! Break a leg! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. Click here for more info: artscalling.com/links HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN. Much love, j

Weekly shoutout: New music at Washingtones Records! -- Hi there, Today I am delighted to be arts calling award-winning writer Georgia Jeffries! georgiajeffries.com ABOUT OUR GUEST: Georgia Jeffries is a writer of Emmy Award winning drama and critically acclaimed noir fiction. Honored with multiple Writers Guild Awards, Golden Globes and the Humanitas Prize, her work in film has been praised by the Los Angeles Times as “standing ovation television.” The Los Angeles Review of Books described her short stories in the national anthologies, Odd Partners and The Last Resort, as “firecracker tales” and “domestic tragedy brilliantly segueing into comic farce.” She has also written biographical profiles for HuffPost and UC Press, including “The Last Gun of Tibercio Vasquez,” which can be viewed on the KCET-TV website, Artbound. Born in the Illinois heartland, she worked as a journalist for American Film before writing and producing ground-breaking female-driven dramas, Cagney & Lacey, China Beach and Sisters. Her screenwriting career has been distinguished by extensive field research, from patrolling the mean streets of Rampart with the LAPD to crashing a Vegas bounty hunters’ convention to reporting from a Walter Reed Army Hospital surgical bay, each investigation the basis for one of her many docudramas and series pilots for CBS, ABC, NBC, HBO and Showtime. A cum laude UCLA graduate, Jeffries is a professor at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts where she created the first undergraduate screenwriting thesis program at an American university. THE YOUNGER GIRL, available from Mission Point Press on October 22nd! ABOUT THE YOUNGER GIRL: Based on a true crime, The Younger Girl, (Mission Point Press, October 22, 2024) a debut novel by trailblazing, award-winning writer Georgia Jeffries, combines fiction and supernatural suspense to unravel a thrilling tale of family betrayal and redemption. On March 2, 1933, Chicago tabloids trumpeted the death of 20-year-old "town belle" Aldine Younger: "HEIRESS SLAIN, MARRIED MAN HELD." The son of the mayor of Pontiac, a rich farming community south of Chicago, was convicted of manslaughter. But the dead girl's baby brother, Owen, grew up in a broken family and suspected his beloved sister’s killing was orchestrated by their wealthy uncle. In 1996 Owen is an old man desperate to make peace with the tragedy of Aldine’s death. His daughter, Joanna, takes her still grieving father back home to claim his share of his sister's lost inheritance. Together, they are caught in a dark labyrinth of family betrayal crossing three generations. Owen is found raving during a violent thunderstorm and now believes his daughter is his sister, Aldine, returning to him. Joanna races against time to save her father and unearths damning secrets that threaten her own life. The guilty will be exposed at the psychic bridge linking past, present and future. But at what cost? And who will survive the revelations? “True-crime stories are difficult, and far more so, when the true crime is in your own family. Georgia Jeffries’s triumphant novel tells the story of her aunt Aldine Younger’s killing in 1933—a violent death that has cast a long and complex shadow over the family, the community, and far beyond. Viewing these events through the lens of fiction, Jeffries deploys clear-eyed research and lucid, evocative prose to craft a novel that will haunt long after the book is closed.” —Howard Rodman, novelist/screenwriter Professor, USC School of Cinematic Arts Vice President, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Thanks for this wonderful conversation, Georgia! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro at the coalition. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN. Much love, j

Weekly shoutout: Greater Ghost, a new poetry collection by Christian J. Collier, now available from Four Way Books (AC22) -- Hi there, Today I am so excited to be arts calling playwright Sarah Congress! (sarahcongress.com) About our Guest: Sarah Congress is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her play "Melting" was just selected to be produced this October at Siena College for their Climate Justice plays series. She co-wrote the screenplay "I Can't Hear You," which won BEST COMEDY in the 2024 Jersey Shore Film Festival and 2nd place in the APin3 Film Challenge in Asbury Park. Her comedy Overdose won 2nd place for Best Short in the 2023 Downtown Urban Arts Festival at Playwrights Horizons. She teaches playwriting and screenwriting and works part-time for the Dean's Office at Columbia University, School of the Arts. Learn more about Sarah here: https://sarahcongress.com/ Check out Sarah's upcoming playwriting classes! -Saturday, September 21st: "Let's Write a Ten-Minute Play" with the wonderful Hudson Valley Writers Center (virtual): https://writerscenter.org/calendar/play/ -Wednesday, September 25th: "Intuitive Writing Workshop" at Freedom Rocks down the J. Shore (in person): https://freedomrocks.as.me/Intuative-Writing -Tuesday Evenings October 8th-22nd: "Humor Writing" with the fabulous Project Write Now (virtual): https://projectwritenow.org/writers-institute/product/humor-writing/ Thanks for this wonderful conversation, Sarah! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro (cruzfolio.com). HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN. Much love, j

Weekly shoutout: Do Not Wish for Any Other Life: A Musical Sequence from the poetry of Richard Jeffrey Newman (AC128) -- Hi there, Today I am so excited to be arts calling singer/songwriter Nathalie Miranda! (https://linktr.ee/nathaliemirandamusic) About our Guest: With an arsenal of genre-bending singles under her belt, London-based powerhouse popstar Nathalie Miranda performs straight from the heart. Blending soul, blues and classic rock into high-energy retro pop, Nathalie rocks out with unbridled passion, showcases a stellar octave range, and leaves it all on the stage. Influenced by artists such as Freddie Mercury, Prince, Madonna, Tina Turner, Christina Aguilera and Whitney Houston, as well as music from her Greek-Cypriot roots, Nathalie’s powerful belts and playful lyrics make her distinctive sound even more electrifying. Nathalie’s star continues to rise in 2024. With her smash hits ‘Catch-22’ and ‘Soul on Fire’ hitting 250,000 Spotify streams each, with more than 200,000 YouTube views combined, her unique artistry and shimmering vocals prove she’s the UK’s answer to the US powerhouse divas. She was featured in Wonderland Magazine, Rolling Stone India, previously performed on BBC’s ‘Later... with Jools Holland’ as a backing vocalist, and has headlined iconic London venues like The Troubadour. Born in London to Greek-Cypriot parents, Nathalie speaks fluent Greek and is fiercely proud of her roots - something she loves to incorporate into her music. Authentically homegrown, with a superstar polish, her dramatic 2022 single ‘Χίλια Σημάδια (1000 Scars)’ follows a classic Greek folk rhythm called Zeibekiko and was produced by Greek smash hit producer Harry K. Beyond her spotlight as a solo pop artist, Nathalie has written lyrics and melodies across dance and house music since 2017. Working with international producers who crave her 90s diva vocals, Nathalie has built her reputation as a multi-hyphenate artist free from creative boundaries. She credits her childhood classical piano studies for laying the foundations for her songwriting career - and a hotel karaoke night for unlocking her vocal abilities while on holiday with her family. Nathalie’s dazzling sound is ever-evolving, full of passion, heart, and Greek-Cypriot spirit. Follow Nathalie Miranda for updates and new music: https://linktr.ee/nathaliemirandamusic Nathalie's latest single, U GOT SOUL, is now available! Listen here: https://ditto.fm/u-got-soul Instagram: @nathaliemirandamusic | Threads: @nathaliemirandamusic | YouTube: @nathaliemirandamusic Thanks for this wonderful conversation, Nathalie! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro (cruzfolio.com). HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN. Much love, j

Weekly shoutout: Check out our friends at My Bad Poetry Podcast! Here's their latest episode. -- Hi there, Today I am so excited to be arts calling author C.J. Spataro! (https://www.cjspataro.com) About our Guest: C.J. Spataro is an award-winning short fiction writer whose work has appeared in many literary magazines and anthologies including Taboos & Transgressions, Iron Horse Literary Review, december, Sequestrum, and Exacting Clam. She directs the MFA in Creative Writing and the MA in Publishing programs at Rosemont College and was a founding partner of Philadelphia Stories. Her debut novel, MORE STRANGE THAN TRUE (Sagging Meniscus Press) was recently named to Reactor’s Can’t Miss Indie Speculative Books for Spring. MORE STRANGE THAN TRUE, a new novel, is now available from Sagging Meniscus Press! https://www.saggingmeniscus.com/catalog/more_strange_than_true/ Instagram: @cjspataro | Twitter: @cjspataro ABOUT MORE STRANGE THAN TRUE: After an epically shitty day, Jewell Jamieson unknowingly eats a magic-spiked meal and happens also to make a certain wish—and that’s why she awakes the next morning to discover her beloved dog Oberon has been transformed into a beautiful naked man in her bed. Conflict ensues when Titania, the impulsive Queen of the Faeries, decides she wants Oberon for herself. Is Oberon simply a man who used to be a dog, or is he somehow something more? When Jewell discovers the answer, she will be faced with a devastating choice. Will she choose to save the man she’s grown to love by giving him up, or will she honor his wishes and watch him die? Thanks for this wonderful conversation, C.J.! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro (cruzfolio.com). HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN. Much love, j