Episode 111 with Taylor Byas, Master Tactician of Profound and Affecting Words, PhD Student, Editor at The Rumpus, and Powerful Poet of the Critically- and Reader-Acclaimed Bloodwarm

Episode 111 Notes and Links to Taylor Byas’ Work 

 

     On Episode 111 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Taylor Byas, and the two discuss many topics, such as Taylor’s early reading, both school-selected and then her discovery of titans like Toni Morrison and Patricia Smith, contemporary writers who continue to inspire and thrill her, her relationship with form in her writing, close-up views of some of her affecting work, and how her work interrogates the ways in which Black women walk through the world due to historical and current racist and systematic tropes and practices.

      Taylor Byas is a Black Chicago native currently living in Cincinnati, Ohio where she is a PhD student and Yates scholar at the University of Cincinnati, and an Assistant Features Editor for The Rumpus. She was the 1st place winner of both the Poetry Super Highway and the Frontier Poetry Award for New Poets Contests. Her work appears or is forthcoming in New Ohio Review, Borderlands Texas Poetry Review, Glass, Iron Horse Literary Review, Hobart, Frontier Poetry, SWWIM, TriQuarterly, and others. 

Taylor Byas' Website

 

Jeni de la O with The Poetry Question and her In-depth Study of Taylor’s “I Don’t Care if Mary Jane Gets Saved or Not”

 

Taylor's "My Twitter Feed Becomes Too Much"

 

“Tiger Stripes” Nonfiction from Taylor-Mixed Mag 

 

 “Hypothetically Speaking” Poem from Palette Poetry

At about 2:50, Taylor talks about her creativity and input and mindset during COVID

 

At about 6:10, Pete asks Taylor about her philosophy in writing and revising 

 

At about 8:00, Taylor responds to Pete’s questions about her relationship with language in childhood

 

At about 9:15: “Reading beef!”

 

At about 10:00, Taylor talks about an ekphrastic poetry class in undergrad as a “perfect bridge”

 

At about 11:00, Pete zeroes in on what Taylor was reading as a kid and adolescent; Taylor points to junior year in high school as a reading turning point in discovering Toni Morrison’s work and The Color Purple  

 

At about 13:00, Pete alludes to a joyful photo of literary giants, Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou, dancing

 

At about 13:10, Pete asks Taylor to name her favorite Toni Morrison work

 

At about 13:45-15:35, Taylor discusses Black poets who have thrilled and inspired her-Erica Dawson is referenced as a meaningful writer for Taylor 

 

At about 15:45, Taylor shouts out Patricia Smith and how she and Erica Dawson as formalists were inspiring; Taylor talks about getting to meet a hero in Patricia Smith and correspondence with Patricia

 

At about 17:45, Taylor responds to Pete’s questions about representation, and she explains the “void” she felt in her high school reading

 

At about 20:00, Taylor highlights Alexis Pauline Gumbs and Tiana Clark and Claudia Rankine as contemporary writers who she enjoys and draws inspiration from; Georgia Douglas Johnson is a writer Taylor returns to 

 

At about 21:45, Taylor gives background on how she became sure of her path as a writer 

 

At about 24:20, Pete asks Taylor for her views on form in her work; she cites Michael Frazier’s interesting philosophy on form

 

At about 27:00, Taylor talks about her teaching life and student life and views on form in academia and in writing communities

 

At about 28:35, Taylor talks about how she approaches others’ works as an editor

 

At about 30:40, Taylor talks about “meaning” in her work and its connection to narrative

 

At about 32:40, Taylor responds to Pete’s question about the relationship between poet and speaker

 

At about 34:45, Pete and Taylor discuss her nonfiction piece “Tiger Stripes” and exposure and self-reflection in her projects

 

At about 38:05, the two discuss “Hypothetically Speaking” and Taylor talks about balancing nostalgia and perspective 

 

At about 39:40, Taylor talks about what she learned through watching the ways in which her younger siblings and other children she worked with moved through the world

 

At about 41:40, Jeni de la O’s incredibly in-depth wise reading of Taylor’s poem is discussed

 

At about 41:45, Pete shouts out F. Douglas Brown and his expertise with ekphrastic poetry, and Pete asks Taylor what is so monumental about the genre for her

 

At about 44:10, Taylor describes some new poems she’s working on that question the writings and mindsets of problematic artists 

 

At about 45:15, Taylor responds to Pete’s question about how music acts as a muse

 

At about 46:25, “On Hesitation” is discussed, and Pete highlights some standout lines

 

At about 47:50, Taylor gives background and inspiration for the piece, with regard to pessimism/expectations 

 

At about 50:20, Pete wonders about any feelings of catharsis for Taylor after writing about difficult experiences 

 

At about 52:00, Bloodwarm is discussed, with Taylor providing background and seeds for the chapbook, including the 2016 election’s impact

 

At about 55:15, Taylor talks about ideas of safety

 

At about 57:00, The two discuss “The Black Girl Comes to Dinner”; Taylor gives background on the poem’s genesis and “sundown towns

 

At about 1:01:00, Pete and Taylor marvel at the level of analysis and research in Jeni de la O’s article about Taylor’s “I Don’t Care if Mary Jane Gets Saved or Not”

 

At about 1:03:30, Taylor gives background on the form of pantoum and talks about why she loves the form

 

At about 1:05:30, Pete references repetition as seen in Taylor’s “My Twitter Feed Becomes Too Much”

 

At about 1:06:40, Taylor discusses ideas of “damsel in distress” and who is “saved”

 

At about 1:10:00, Pete cites a survey provided by Jeni de la O and how white participants perceive Black girls, and Taylor discusses these perceptions and how they are “built into systems,” as well as the “double bind” experienced by Black girls

 

At about 1:13:30, Taylor and Pete discuss ideas of “weaponizing tears” and look at the recent example of Kim Potter and Daunte Wright

 

At about 1:15:00, Taylor cites a Tik Tok trend and its connection to white women being tone deaf to issues of racist systems 

 

At about 1:16:00, Pete cites a cool question asked in the interview attached to Jeni de la O’s study of Taylor’s poem 

 

At about 1:18:00, Taylor reads “Hypothetically Speaking”

 

At about 1:22:20, Taylor explains her thoughts on the function of second person and who “you” is in the poem

 

At about 1:23:40, Taylor talks about future projects, including Shutter, coming out soon through Madhouse Press

 

At about 1:26:00, Taylor shares contact information and social media, and shouts out Semicolon Books in Chicago as a good place to buy her book

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      Please tune in for Episode 112 with James Tate Hill, the author of a memoir, Blind Man’s Bluff, released in August 2021 from W. W. Norton. His fiction debut, Academy Gothic, won the Nilsen Literary Prize for a First Novel. His essays were Notable in the 2019 and 2020 editions of Best American Essays. He serves as fiction editor for Monkeybicycle and contributing editor for Literary Hub, where he writes a monthly audiobooks column. The episode will air on March 17.

   This episode is the third of five this week. On Monday, March 21, there will be a drawing for a $100 gift card to bookshop.org. In order to enter the drawing:

1. DM Pete on Twitter by Monday at 8am PST with the five code words that are contained (one per episode) within each day’s podcast. 
2. Retweet any five tweets that have episode links for Episodes 109-113, with Ben Guest, Bryce Hedstrom, Taylor Byas, James Tate Hill, and Nicole Santa Cruz, respectively.