Fluenz Mandarin 3: Recent Episodes
Cynthia Rosi
For writers and readers who find solace in books, poetry, and essays, Word Carver explores the craft of writing. Host Cynthia Rosi gives insights into the life and craft of working writers, and reviews new work in books and literary magazines. With additional reporting by Amy Dalrymple. Music is Rise and Shine (2015) by Seastock on Jamendo.com.
In Word Carver 40, Cynthia Rosi and co-host Herbert Ndeki II explore poetry. Ndeki reviews Ahmadou Kourouma's "Allah is not obliged to be fair about all the things he does here on Earth" (warning: strong language -- Kourouma makes liberal use of the n-word in his soldier-boy character) while Rosi reads several original poems.
Herbert Ndeki II, a Cameroon native and American emigre, reads poems from Aimé Césaire's work Cahier D'Un Retour and analyses the translation choices. Aimé Césaire was born in 1913 and pioneered the concept of "blackness." He grew up in the French colony of Martinique and moved to Paris where he encountered the racism of the colonizers. Ndeki is fluent in French and English, and brings to Word Carver listeners his love for African literature.
Herbert Ndeki reviews "How to Cook Your Husband the African Way" by Calixte Beyala, and Cynthia Rosi reads the short story "The Company" which arrived in a dream, and was written over two days.
Herbert Ndeki reviews "How to Cook Your Husband the African Way" by Calixte Beyala. Heather Christle reads at Paging Columbus from her poetic works.
Herbert Ndeki, a native-French speaker from Cameroon, reviews authors from the African canon. Hemu Venkataraman speaks about her work as an artist, author, and architect.
Flash fiction that coils back a spring and then packs a punch -- Sherrie was into flash before it had a name. We dropped into Grammercy Books to pick up a copy and hear Flick read her work, before sitting down to analyze the stories. Follow @wordcarverradio on Twitter.
Master writer Lee Martin takes us behind the scenes in his new short-story volume The Mutual UFO Network, a book that took 16 years to craft. Martin is a Distinguished Professor at Ohio State University, and the author of a Pulitzer Prize Finalist, The Bright Forever.
Self-publishing is easy -- if you've spent 35 years as an engineer in product development like Charles O'Donnell. The discipline and pacing of engineering means that the author of The Girlfriend Experience and Shredded can keep up a production schedule and a writing schedule simultaneously: not an easy feat! Listen with a pencil in hand as O'Donnell describes his workflow, writing and editing processes, and ends with a passage from his book. Follow him on Twitter @kozmickid, on Goodreads, or his blog charlesodonnellauthor.com
In The Husband, Aaron Daniel Behr explores the end of his marriage and debilitating anxiety. Behr reveals the roots of trauma in his life and how that impacted his relationships, but also how he has healed through self-awareness and a strengthening faith. The Husband is out from Columbus Press. To learn more, visit Behr's website.
Ronald Re|Gun -- a re-animated cyborg version of the dead President -- tries to take over the world. Only a tortoise from the Galapagos has the power to stop him. Listen to work from students at Columbus State, as they take you into an altered reality in "Re|Gun Reboot." Artwork by Ryann Chambers.
Dustin Pearson and Hannah Stephenson speak about their poetry collections. Pearson's "Millennial Roost" uses the metaphor of the chicken yard to describe violation. He's a McKnight Doctoral Fellow at Florida State University and has won many awards. Stephenson, who blogs at The Storialist read from her collection "In the Kettle, the Shriek." Beloved in Columbus as a founder of the monthly book reading series, Paging Columbus, she's a prolific poet and editor.
Cold weather means hot chocolate and good books, so snuggle up and listen to the top picks. From Tayari Jone's Oprah Book Club winner to the latest from the author of The Nightingale plus many more, Linda Kass walks you through the best of the February titles in independent bookstores around the country.
Poet Steve Abbott discusses his poetry volume, craft, and the acceptance of melancholy with show host Cynthia Rosi.
Poet Maggie Smith of Good Bones, essayist Hanif Abdurraqib of They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us and novelist Nick White of How to Survive a Summer all appeared on Word Carver -- here are my favorite parts of our conversations. Smith talks about the relationship between her poetry and the lost art of crankies, Abdurraqib takes on discussion of the n-word, and White examines gay conversion therapy camps and the ethos behind them.
Columbus-based poet Alexis-Rueal created The Path Not Chosen event to provide an artistic alternative to stigma and silence. The poems you’ll hear offer candid, evocative, sometimes funny, and -- ultimately hopeful -- depictions of living with a different kind of mental health. Featured on the show are the evening’s host and MC, Vernell Bristow, and (in order of appearance), Zach Hannah, Christina Szuch, Sarah Trattner, Casey Krysztofik, T-Shirt, Gray Clark, and Alexis-Rueal. Be a patron of the arts and support Word Carver at https://www.patreon.com/wordcarver
Columbus native Hanif Abdurraqib talks about the themes running through his latest book, a collection of essays called "They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us." Speaking with Word Carver host Cynthia Rosi, the two compare themes emerging in the essays with Abdurraquib's previous volume of poetry "The Crown Ain't Worth Much." Additional reporting by Amy Dalrymple.
Hanif Abdurraqib reads from his new book of essays They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us at the latest Paging Columbus event. This event was at publisher Two Dollar Radio's new storefront location on Parsons Avenue, and the venue was packed. Abdurraqib was followed by William Evans, also launching a book (of poetry) Still Can't Do My Daughter's Hair, out from Button Poetry press.
The night before Halloween, Word Carver gathered with friends, family, and fans at Kafé Kerouac, one of our beloved local haunts (pun intended) for a night of sharing scary stories, both old and new. Trent McMahon’s story, “The Something Else,” considers elements of hell on earth; while Cynthia Rosi’s non-fiction story, “Smoke in My Hands,” portrays heaven through the eyes of a young girl. The remaining two original contributions, by Matthew Caracciolo and Amy Dalrymple, depict people and places in between those two realms. A recording of Amy’s story, “Lady Grey”, can be downloaded as a standalone Word Carver podcast.
Deeply rooted in place, Sycamore Poems follows two conversations as filigree-fine as cloisonne beads: one with the long-lived sycamores of Ohio, and the other about the loss of love. Kathy Fagan, Director of the Creative Writing MFA at Ohio State University, speaks of place, art, and the construction of her poems with Word Carver host Cynthia Rosi.