Episode 142 with Sadie Shorr-Parks, Lifelong Poet and Creator, Aesthete, and Educator, as Well as Author of the Wonderful Collection, Honey Month

Episode 142 Notes and Links to Sadie Shorr-Parks’ Work 

 

    On Episode 142 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Sadie Shorr-Parks, and the two discuss, among other topics, her lifelong love of poetry, formational writers and poems, art’s role in her writing life, themes of her poetry revolving around love and loss and so many more themes, and the amazing circumstances that inspired her poetry collection’s title and ethos.

 

    Sadie Shorr-Parks teaches writing at Shepherd University, where she is the Director for the Society for Creative Writing. She is the author of HONEY MONTH (Main Street Rag). Her writing has previously appeared or is forthcoming in Appalachian Heritage, Aquifer: The Florida Review, Blueline, Cimmaron Review, The Hongkong Review, Lines+Stars, Painted Bride Quarterly, Sierra Nevada Review, Southwest Review, Utne Reader, and Witness, among others. Her book reviews can be found in Los Angeles Review of Books and Southern Literary Review.  She edited Becoming International: Musings on Studying Abroad in America (Parlor Press).

Sadie Shorr-Parks' Website

 

Buy Honey Month

 

Read Samples from Honey Month

 

“Making Light of It”-Gabby Bates Interviews Sadie for Southwest Review, Aug 2022

 

At about 2:00, Sadie discusses her loves in teaching, and the two discuss the power of personal narratives

 

At about 4:20, The two begin to explore ideas of perspective in writing

 

At about 4:45, Sadie lists some of the artistic works-visual, literature, etc.-that have thrilled her and inspired her

 

At about 8:00, Pete cites a profound quote from Sadie’s work that dovetails with questions for her about art and muses; Sadie analyzes the exact quote with regard to her mother’s life and her own

 

At about 11:50, Sadie responds to Pete’s questions about works/writers that have given her “chills at will,” including Warsan Shire, “For Women Who are Difficult to Love,” Marianne Boruch, Louise Gluck (“her desert island poem”), and Ada Limón 

 

At about 14:25, the two fanboy/girl as they discuss Andrea Cohen’s legendary, chill-inducing “The Committee Weighs In”

 

At about 15:20, Sadie gives some Ada Limón recs

 

At about 16:10, Pete (again) recommends “The Gospel According to Mark” as a stunner

 

At about 18:00, Pete wonders about “ ‘Eureka’ moments” for Sadie, and she talks about the “dreamy” feeling associated with grad school and creating

 

At about 21:30, Sadie delves into the significance of the title and inspirations for Honey Month

 

At about 23:55, The two discuss the “loving review” done by Gabby Bates for Sadie’s collection

 

At about 24:55, the two use a quote from Bates to discuss 

 

At about 27:20, Pete cites a quote from Honey Month’s Goodreads page and the conversation moves to Pete’s description of the collection as “quiet” and Sadie reacts to this description 

 

At about 30:30, Sadie talks about her love of 16th/century poetry and its characteristics 

 

At about 31:50, The two reflect on the quiet and nature depicted in the collection 

 

At about 35:25, Sadie references a certain poem and ideas of beauty and love being intertwined 

 

At about 37;00, Sadie discusses the recurring theme of love and breaks from lovers, and Pete notes the opposites that stand out that accentuate love and other ideas

 

At about 38:25, Pete points out some clever and interesting verb usages throughout the collection 

 

At about 40:20, Pete cites another set of opposites and Sadie is reminded of writing this work in 2017, as the world was changing so rapidly

 

At about 42:00, Sadie notes how differently her upcoming collection themes are from the first 

 

At about 43:00, Pete shouts out Nightbitch as an incredible work that so aptly describes early parenthood

 

At about 44:50, The two discuss “adding to subtract” and Sadie discusses ideas of body image, double-standards and metaphors that come with “destruction”

 

At about 47:40, the two discuss poems that feature themes of nostalgia and lost love and equilibrium 

 

At about 49:40, Sadie talks about the importance of being “even-keeled”

 

At about 50:50, Pete cites a meaningful line, and Sadie discusses various meanings of “missing” someone

 

At about 52:40, The two discuss poems dealing with love and reconciliation  

 

At about 55:15, The two gives differing takes on a key line about “endings”

 

At about 57:15-57:50, Sadie describes how a poem brought her boyfriend (now husband!) and her together

 

At about 57:55, A key line about daughters and mothers engenders conversation about a key theme of the book and how hard is it to write about beloved people (moms for sure!)

 

At about 1:00:00, The two discuss the format of 

 

At about 1:02:50, Sadie reads “The Slowing”

 

At about 1:03:45, Sadie reads “Magma”

 

At about 1:05:20, The two discuss “comfort books”

 

At about 1:06:40, Sadie shouts out places to buy her book and discusses upcoming 

 

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The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

Please tune in for Episode 143 with Neema Avashia. Neema was born and raised in southern West Virginia to Indian immigrant parents, and she has been a civics and history teacher in the Boston Public Schools since 2003. She is the author of Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place, published in March 2022.

The episode will air on September 27.