24.1K
Downloads
286
Episodes
The Chills at Will Podcast is a celebration of the visceral beauty of literature. This beauty will be examined through close reads of phrases and lines and passages from fiction and nonfiction that thrills the reader, so much so that he wants to read again and again to replicate that thrill. Each episode will focus on a different theme, such as "The Power of Flashback," "Understatement," "Cats in the Cradle," and "Chills at Will: Origin Story."
Episodes
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
Show Notes and Links to Karla Brundage’s Work
On Episode 27, Pete is honored to speak with Karla Brundage, who he has been lucky enough to meet through Nervous Ghost Press and the virtual open mics that have coincided with the release of Writing for Life, an anthology in which Karla is featured. Karla Brundage is a Bay Area based poet, activist, and educator with a passion for social justice. Born in Berkeley, California, Karla spent most of her childhood in Hawaii where she developed a deep love of nature. She is the founder of West Oakland to West Africa Poetry Exchange (WO2WA), which has facilitated cross-cultural exchange between Oakland and West African poets. Karla is a board member of the Before Columbus Foundation, which provides recognition and a wider audience for the wealth of cultural and ethnic diversity that constitutes American writing. Her editorial experience includes a pan-Africanist WO2WA poetry collection, Our Spirits Carry Our Voices, published by Pacific Raven Press in 2020; Oakland Out Loud (2007); and Words Upon the Waters (2006) both by Jukebox Press. Her poetry book, Swallowing Watermelons, was published by Ishmael Reed Publishing Company in 2006. Her poetry, short stories and essays have been widely anthologized and can be found in Hip Mama, Literary Kitchen, Lotus Press, Bamboo Ridge Press, Vibe and Konch Literary Magazine. She holds an MA in Education from San Francisco State University and an MFA from Mills College.
About her collection of poetry, Swallowing Watermelons, Ariel Gore, Editor Hip Mama Magazine, wrote, “Karla Brundage's poetic voice is just what the world needs now. She writes truths too often silenced—truths familiar and truths unheard. Lucky you if you are holding this volume. Open it and read on! It may be just what you need now.”
West Oakland to West Africa: Connecting the African diaspora with creative writing
Karla Reads Five Poems at October 2nd, 2020 Event: “Voices of California” Through Tia Chucha’s Bookstore and Centro Cultural
Swallowing Watermelons, Karla’s book of poetry-buy it here!
Authors/Books Mentioned and Allusions Referenced During the Episode:
Kwame Ture/Stokely Carmichael-at around 3:30
The Anderson Valley Advertiser, a place where Karla's father often published-at around 5:45
Sammy Younge Jr., first cousin of Karla’s mother, and a tragic victim of Jim Crow racism-at around 9:14
Sammy Younge was first murder victim from SNCC-at around 9:30
Book about Sammy Younge, Jr., written by James Forman-at around 12:00
The Black Panthers and their Ten Point Program-at around 15:00
Danzy Senna, a writer who has inspired Karla-at around 16:00
Toni, Morrison, particularly her The Bluest Eye, as an inspiration for Karla: a writer who gave her “chills at will”-at around 18:50
Christopher Okigbo, a source of learning for Karla, particularly with his exploration of what it means to write in a colonial language-at around 20:30
Lawrence Mamiya, formative teacher in Karla’s life-at around 20:30
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, a book that has “changed [Karla’s] life”-at around 21:10
Ishmael Reed, “family friend and mentor” and publisher of Karla’s Swallowing Watermelons-discussed at about 22:00
Karla’s rec for an Ishmael Reed piece to read: Japanese by Spring-at about 23:00
Chinua Achebe and his contribution to the dialogue around writing in English about Africa-at around 23:45
Half of a Yellow Sun by Adichie -at around 25:30
Maya Angelou and her influence on Karla-at around 27:15
2019 Citizenship Order-Ghana orders citizenship to all Black Americans-at about 39:20
The Cool Origin Story and Incredible Growth of Nervous Ghost Press-at around 43:00
Shouts out to progressive and activist poetry greats, Kim Shuck and Tongo Eisen-Martin-at about 50:55
Karla reads “Underneath”-at about 58:00
Karla reads “Why do Black people Protest”-at about 1:03:10
“I am a man” allusion explained-at about 1:04:50
Karla explains the Buffalo Soldiers connection to her family-at about 1:05:15
Comments (0)
To leave or reply to comments, please download free Podbean or
No Comments
To leave or reply to comments,
please download free Podbean App.