
Harold Whit Williams is a poet and longtime guitarist for the indie rock band Cotton Mather. He's the recipient of the 2020 FutureCycle Poetry Book Prize, the 2014 Mississippi Review Poetry Prize, the Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize, as well as multiple Pushcart nominations. Williams is currently cataloging the KUT Radio Collection for the University of Texas Libraries, all the while writing, recording, and performing his solo music under the moniker Daily Worker. Links:Read “Early Recordings: Volume 1;” “Caught by the Indian Summer Train;” and “Participation Trophy”Harold Whit William's websiteDaily Worker at Radio Gurl Records"Holding out for Nothing" music video by Daily Worker"Premonitions at a Funeral" and "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" at JuxtaProseFour poems at The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature"Blues Dreams," winner of The Mississippi Review Poetry PrizeFollow Harold Whit Williams on Facebook
Mar 5, 2024
9 min

Denton Loving is the author of Crimes Against Birds (Main Street Rag) and Tamp (Mercer University Press). He is also the editor of Seeking Its Own Level: an anthology of writings about water (MotesBooks). He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Writing and Literature from Bennington College. His work has appeared in Iron Horse Literary Review, The Kenyon Review, Tupelo Quarterly, Harvard Divinity Bulletin, The Threepenny Review, and Ecotone. He is a co-founder and editor at EastOver Press and its literary journal Cutleaf. D.H. Lawrence was born in 1885 in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire in England, and he died in 1930 at Vence in the south of France. Though Lawrence is best known for his novels—he’s the author of Lady Chatterley’s Lover and nearly a dozen others—he also published short stories, plays, essays, criticism, and more than a dozen collections of poetry. Links:Read "Copperhead," "Foundation," and "Hurtling"Read "Humming-Bird"Denton LovingDenton Loving's website"Five Poems by Denton Loving" at Salvation South"Three Poems by Denton Loving" at Harvard Divinity Bulletin"Under the Chestnut Tree" at EcotoneVideo: WANA (Writers Association of Northern Appalachia) Live! Reading Series featuring Denton LovingReview of Tamp at Southern Review of BooksD.H. LawrenceBio, Poems, and Prose at The Poetry FoundationBio and Poems at Poetry.orgMentioned in this episode:KnoxCountyLibrary.orgThank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org.Rate & review on Podchaser
Dec 21, 2023
6 min

Hank Lazer has published thirty-four books of poetry; his latest books are P I E C E S, When the Time Comes, and field recordings of mind in morning. In 2014, he retired from the University of Alabama after 37 years as a professor and an administrator. He continues to teach innovative seminars on Zen Buddhism and Radical Approaches to the Arts for the University’s Blount Scholars Program. In 2015, Lazer won The Harper Lee Award, Alabama’s highest literary award for lifetime achievement.LinksRead "Duncan Farm November Meditation" and section 8 from The New SpiritHank Lazer's websiteRecordings at PennSound Interview on Bookmark with Don NobleEleven poems at PlumeFive poems at Interim"'Furnishings in the House of the Voice': An Interview with Hank Lazerby Lisa Russ Spaar"Mentioned in this episode:KnoxCountyLibrary.orgThank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org.Rate & review on Podchaser
Nov 29, 2023
8 min

Jenny Sadre-Orafai is a poet and essayist and the author of Dear Outsiders and three other poetry collections. Her poetry has appeared in Puerto del Sol, Cream City Review, Ninth Letter, and The Cortland Review. Her prose has appeared in The Rumpus, Fourteen Hills, and The Los Angeles Review. She co-founded and co-edits Josephine Quarterly and teaches creative writing at Kennesaw State University.Links:Read "Occupation Interview," "Tragedy Lesson," and "Souvenirs for Locals"Jenny Sadre-Orafai's websiteThree Poems at $"I Become More Animal When I'm Grieving: A Conversation with Jenny Sadre-Orafi" at The RumpusVideo: "Hard Hat Reading: Jenny Sadre-Orafai" at Poets HouseVideo: "Jenny Sadre-Orafai reads at the SAFTA Reading Series""In Their Own Words: Jenny Sadre-Orafai on 'Queen of Cups'" at Poetry Society of AmericaJosephine QuarterlyMentioned in this episode:KnoxCountyLibrary.orgThank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org.Rate & review on Podchaser
Oct 30, 2023
5 min

Anna Laure Reeve was born and raised in Knoxville, and she earned a Master of Arts in Literature & Poetry Writing from the University of Tennessee. Her poems have appeared in Terrain.org, Jet Fuel Review, Another Chicago Magazine, and many others. She recently won Beloit Poetry Journal’s Adrienne Rich Award, and she was a finalist for the Heartwood Poetry Prize and the Ron Rash Award in Poetry. Her book Reaching the Shore of the Sea of Fertility was recently published by Belle Point Press. She is an assistant editor of Juke Joint, a literary magazine based in Jackson, Mississippi. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, most likely in April of 1564. When he was 18, he married Anne Hathaway with whom he had three children. Shakespeare made his living as an actor and playwright, and his works include 38 plays in addition to 154 sonnets and various other types of poetry. Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616.Links:Read an early version of "Tennessee Red Cobb" at Appalachia BareRead "Méniére's Disease" at The RacketRead "Look at Everything" and "Children of Asylum Seekers" at The RacketRead "That time of year thou mayst in me behold (Sonnet 73)" at Poets.orgRead "When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes (Sonnet 29)" at Poets.orgAnna Laura ReeveAnna Laura Reeve's website"Poets in Conversation: Anna Laura Reeve" at Beloit Poetry JournalTwo Poems from Reaching the Shore of the Sea of Fertility by Anna Laura Reeve at ACM"Motherhood Unshorn: A Review of Reaching the Shore of the Sea of Fertility" at Literary MamaWilliam ShakespeareBio and poems at Poets.org"Shakespeare's Life" at Folger Shakespeare Library's siteThe Complete Works of William ShakespeareMentioned in this episode:KnoxCountyLibrary.orgThank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org.Rate & review on Podchaser
Sep 28, 2023
10 min

Pauletta Hansel is the author of nine collections of poetry, including her latest book Heartbreak Tree. Her work has been featured in Oxford American, Rattle, American Life in Poetry, and Poetry Daily, among others. Hansel was Cincinnati’s first Poet Laureate, and she was the 2022 Writer-in-Residence for The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Edna St. Vincent Millay was born in Rockland, Maine in 1892. Along with her many books of poetry, Millay published plays, a libretto called The King’s Henchman, and she wrote short stories for popular fiction magazines under the pseudonym Nancy Boyd. She was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in poetry.Links:Read "I Take My Mother with Me Everywhere" and "After"Read "Postcard from Age 60" at Braided WayRead "Recuerdo" at The Poetry FoundationPauletta HanselPauletta Hansel's website"The Road" at Poetry Daily"The City" at Appalachian Review"May 1, 2020" in The Oxford American"Palindrome" at Still: The JournalVideo: "Meet our 2022 Writer-In-Residence" Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public LibraryEdna St. Vincent MillayBio and poems at The Poetry FoundationBio and poems at Poets.orgThe Millay Society's Audio ArchivesMentioned in this episode:KnoxCountyLibrary.orgThank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org.Rate & review on Podchaser
Aug 30, 2023
7 min

Gary Metras is a retired high school English teacher and college writing instructor. His poems have appeared in America, The Common, Poetry, and many others. Metras has published eight books, including his latest called Vanishing Points. His book Marble Dust is forthcoming from Cervena Barva Press. Metras was the founder, editor, and letterpress printer of Adastra Press, a venture that for forty years specialized in limited editions of poetry chapbooks. In 2018, Metras was appointed the inaugural Poet Laureate of Easthampton, Massachusetts. Simon Perchik's poems have appeared in The Nation, Poetry, The New Yorker, and many others. He was born in 1923 in Paterson, New Jersey. During World War II, he joined the Army Air Corps, flew 35 missions overseas, and reached the rank of first lieutenant. Thanks to the GI Bill, Perchik attended New York University where he earned a bachelor’s degree and a law degree. He practiced law for 25 years before becoming an assistant DA for Suffolk County and its first environmental prosecutor. He was a prolific writer, and he published more than thirty books of poetry. A November 2000 issue of Library Journal called Simon Perchik “the most widely published unknown poet in America.” Perchik died on June 14, 2022, in New York City. Links:Read "The Engagement" and "Lint" at The Poetry Foundation Read "Another Winter"Read "3" and "482"Gary Metras"April 6, 2022" at One Art"Two Poems by Gary Metras" at Flyfishing and Tying Journal"Art Maker: Gary Metras, Poet" at Daily Hampshire Gazette"In Studio: Gary Metras" by Easthampton Media (via YouTube)Simon Perchik"Simon Perchik, Poet" in The Easthampton Star"Five Poems" at the Poetry FoundationPoems at Poetry NorthwestPoems at Plume"Two Untitled Poems" at The Inflectionist ReviewMentioned in this episode:KnoxCountyLibrary.orgThank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org.Rate & review on Podchaser
Jul 31, 2023
14 min

Sara Moore Wagner is the winner of the 2021 Cider Press Review Editors Prize for her book Swan Wife and the 2020 Driftwood Press Manuscript Prize for Hillbilly Madonna. She has published two chapbooks, Tumbling After (Red Bird Chapbooks) and Hooked Through (Five Oaks Press). She won the 2022 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, a 2019 Sustainable Arts Foundation award, and she was a 2021 National Poetry Series Finalist. Her work has appeared in Sixth Finch, Beloit Poetry Journal, Waxwing, The Cincinnati Review, Nimrod, Rhino, and others. Wagner's book Lady Wingshot, based on the life of Annie Oakley, won the Blue Lynx Prize and is forthcoming in 2024. H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) was born in 1886 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and she grew up in Upper Darby near Philadelphia. She attended Bryn Mawr and the University of Pennsylvania. H.D. published numerous books, including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, essays, and translations. The publication of her collected and selected poetry helped to establish her as a major poet of the 20th century. H.D.’s work is revered by countless writers and critics, and she’s often thought of as a poet's poet and one of the key figures of the Imagist movement. She died in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1961. Links:Read "Purity Test"Read "Captivity Narrative"Read "Legend Says"Read "Leda"Sara Moore WagnerSara Moore Wagner's website"Anti-Pastoral" at Sixth Finch"Passing It On" at Waxwing"Girl as a Deer Shedding the Velvet" at The Inflectionist Review"Embracing the Half-Wild Creature: A Conversation with Sara Moore Wagner" at The Rumpus "Sara Moore Wagner on 'Getting My Body Back'" at Poetry Society of AmericaH.D. Bio and poems at The Poetry FoundationBio and poems at Poets.org"H.D.: American Poet" in Britannica"Radical Freedom: Poets on the Life and Work of H.D." Live from the IceHouse Tonight (YouTube)Mentioned in this episode:KnoxCountyLibrary.orgThank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org.<a...
Jun 30, 2023
9 min

This is the last in our four-part lunch and learn series “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the AI Galaxy” with apologies to Douglas Adams.Self-driving cars. ChatGPT. Cancer detection. Smart speakers. Robots in manufacturing… and even in our homes. AI is seemingly everywhere these days. So what does the average human need to know about the artificial intelligence that is quickly becoming part of our everyday lives?Knoxville entrepreneur and Lirio Chief Evangelist Patrick Hunt translates complex technical concepts into easily digestible, bite-sized nuggets of helpful information. In this episode recorded on May 25, Patrick examines the possible scenarios of how AI will evolve beyond what we can currently see in front of us, and some of the key questions that future generations will likely have to grapple with.A video recording of this event is available on Internet Archive. We thank Knoxville Community Media for these recordings.Music credit: "Three Stories" by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial LicenseListen to Knox Pods Mentioned in this episode:KnoxCountyLibrary.orgThank you for listening and sharing this podcast. Explore life-changing resources and events, sign up for newsletters, follow us on social media, and more through our website, www.knoxcountylibrary.org.Rate & review on Podchaser
Jun 9, 2023
1 hr 4 min

This is the third in our four-part lunch and learn series “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the AI Galaxy” with apologies to Douglas Adams.Self-driving cars. ChatGPT. Cancer detection. Smart speakers. Robots in manufacturing… and even in our homes. AI is seemingly everywhere these days. So what does the average human need to know about the artificial intelligence that is quickly becoming part of our everyday lives?Knoxville entrepreneur and Lirio Chief Evangelist Patrick Hunt translates complex technical concepts into easily digestible, bite-sized nuggets of helpful information. In this episode recorded on May 18, Patrick examines some of the ethical, legal, regulatory, and other issues that arise in AI applications, including concepts like the black box and explainable AI.A video recording of this event is available on Internet Archive. We thank Knoxville Community Media for these recordings.Music credit: "Three Stories" by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial LicenseListen to Knox Pods
Jun 9, 2023
1 hr 1 min
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