The Beat

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Jesse Graves joined us at Lawson McGhee Library for a reading of his work. Jesse Graves is the author of five poetry collections, including Tennessee Landscape with Blighted Pine, Basin Ghosts, Specter Mountain, Merciful Days, the forthcoming A Little Light in the Grave, and a book of prose, Said-Songs: Essays on Poetry and Place. His work received the James Still Award for Writing about the Appalachian South from the Fellowship of Southern Writers and the Philip H. Freund Prize for Creative Writing from Cornell University, as well as two Weatherford Awards in Poetry from Berea College and the Appalachian Studies Association. Graves has served as co-editor for several collections of poetry and scholarship, including four volumes of The Southern Poetry Anthology and The Complete Poetry of James Agee. He teaches at East Tennessee State University, where he is Poet-in-Residence and Professor of English.Links:Jesse Grave's website"Jesse Graves and the Cosmic Appalachian Boogie," in Salvation SouthSix Poems by Jesse Graves in Porchlight: A Journal of Southern Literature"Two Stones" in New Verse Review"Above Johnson City" in As the Crow FliesThree poems in Cutleaf

Cassandra de Alba has published several chapbooks including habitats by Horse Less Press in 2016, Ugly/Sad by Glass Poetry Press in 2020, and Cryptids, which was co-authored with Aly Pierce and published by Ginger Bug Press in 2020.  Her work has appeared in The Shallow Ends, Big Lucks, Wax Nine, The Baffler, Verse Daily, and others. Amy Lowell was born in 1874 in Brookline, Massachusetts. She was educated in private schools in Boston and at her home. Lowell’s first significant poetry publication came in 1910 when her poem “Fixed Idea” was published in the Atlantic Monthly. Two years later, her book A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass was published by Houghton Mifflin. She went on to write several other books of poetry, and she was a key figure in the Imagist movement led by Ezra Pound. She wrote a major biography of the poet John Keats, which was published in 1925, the same year in which she died. Lowell’s book What’s O’Clock won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1926.  Links:Cassandra de AlbaCassandra de Alba's websiteThree poems in Dear Poetry Journal"Self-Portrait with Rabbit Ears and Seventeen" at Verse Daily"Miniatures" in Ghost City"End Times Fatigue" at SweetAmy LowellBio and poems at Poetry FoundationBio and poems at Poetry.org

Jos Charles is author of the poetry collections a Year & other poems (Milkweed Editions, 2022), feeld, a Pulitzer-finalist and winner of the 2017 National Poetry Series selected by Fady Joudah (Milkweed Editions, 2018), and Safe Space (Ahsahta Press, 2016). She teaches as a part of Randolph College's low-residency MFA program and resides in Long Beach, CA.Links:Jos Charles' websiteBio and Poems at Poets.orga Year & other poems and feeld at Milkweed EditionsTwo poems at The Adroit JournalFive poems at Frontier Poetry

Anna Laura Reeve is the author of Reaching the Shore of the Sea of Fertility (Belle Point Press, 2023). Winner of the Adrienne Rich Award for Poetry, her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Beloit Poetry Journal, Salamander, Terrain.org, and others. She lives and gardens near the Tennessee Overhill region, traditional land of the Eastern Cherokee.Links:Anna Laura Reeve's websiteReaching the Shore of the Sea of Fertility at Belle Point Press"Sara Moore Wagner on Reaching the Shore of the Sea of Fertility," a book review at Still"Look at Everything" and "Children of Asylum Seekers" at The Racket"Playing the Washboard" and "Sprouting Wand" at Canary"Desire" in Josephine Quarterly

Poet, playwright, and essayist Linda Parsons is the poetry editor for Madville Publishing and the copy editor for Chapter 16, the literary website of Humanities Tennessee. Her work has appeared in The Georgia Review, Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, Southern Poetry Review, Terrain, The Chattahoochee Review, Baltimore Review, Shenandoah, and others. Her sixth collection, Valediction, contains poems and prose. Five of her plays have been produced by Flying Anvil Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee. Links:Bio and poems at the Poetry Foundation"Poet Linda Parsons Launches Her Latest Work, 'Valediction'" in Inside of Knoxville"Valediction: Poems and Prose" in Southern Literary Review"Travels with My Father" in Still: The JournalTwo poems at Terrain.org"Therapy Dog" at Verse DailyTwo poems at Vox PopuliMentioned 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

Iliana Rocha earned her PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from Western Michigan University. She is the 2019 winner of the Berkshire Prize for her book The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez (Tupelo Press). Her first book, Karankawa, won the 2014 AWP Donald Hall Prize for Poetry. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Best New Poets anthology, Poetry, Poem-a-Day, The Nation, Virginia Quarterly Review, Latin American Literature Today, and many others. She has won fellowships from CantoMundo and MacDowell. She serves as Poetry Co-Editor for Waxwing Literary Journal, and she is an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee.Delmira Agustini is considered one of the most important South American poets of the 20th century. She was born to upper-middle-class parents in Montevideo, Uruguay in October of 1886. She began writing poetry at the age of 10, and her first major work, El Libro Blanco, was published in 1907, when she was just 20 years old. She went on to publish several other books that were well-received by writers and critics. Links:Read "Still Life," "Houston," and "Landscape with Graceland Crumbling in My Hands"Read "Explosión" in Spanish and EnglishIliana RochaIliana Rocha's websiteBio and poems at the Poetry Foundation's website"The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez" in New York Times Magazine"Mexican American Sonnet" at Poets.org"Three Poems" in Latin American Literature Today“like the building that reflects his death in every window: A Conversation with Iliana Rocha about The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez” — curated by Tiffany Troy in Tupelo QuarterlyDelmira AgustiniBio and "The Vampire" at Poets.orgSix Poems by Delmira Agustini (translated by Valerie Martinez) at Drunken Boat

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

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