interviews

Posted on 04.15.20

Interview with Gigi Bella...

interviews | by Karla Cordero

Last fall I was asked to host the San Diego Poetry Slam, featuring Gigi Bella. I remember meeting Gigi for the first time. Her outfit on point, radiating with joy, smiling like we had known each other for years. It was mid-way through the slam, I invited Gigi to the mic and her a...

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Posted on 04.07.20

Keeping Slam Alive During COVID-19...

interviews | by Karla Cordero

Sunday evening, I'm rocking my fuzzy concha slippers, sweats, and a messy bun any bird would be down to nest in. You know, just here, practicing the art of  social distancing with the utmost class during the era of COVID-19. The microwave rings and Top Ramen is set for dinner...

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Posted on 08.07.19

A Conversation with Phil Kaye...

interviews | by Karla Cordero

A Conversation with Phil Kaye by Emily Lu Gao     Originally published in YLWRNGR                                                                                      Link: https://ylwrngr.com/2019/03/15/phil-kaye/        ...

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Posted on 03.11.19

Financially Sustaining Your Craft: An Interview on Self-Publishing with Edy...

interviews | by Karla Cordero

The debate over self-publishing versus working with an established press is always in conversation with various writing communities. At times, the final debate around the topic seems to end with a negative stigma regarding self-publishing as a lack of credibility or validatio...

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Posted on 08.07.15

Interview with Mercedez Holtry...

interviews | by Karla Cordero

Imagine sitting in your Spanish class where the teacher questions your racial identity by the sound of your name. The teacher pronounces each word slowly, you can tell her tongue is uncomfortable by the time she hears the cadence of your last name escape her mouth, and in hesita...

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Posted on 06.20.15

Interview with Saroya Marsh...

interviews | by Karla Cordero

Everybody meet the wonderful Saroya Marsh, a poet who defends and represents the voices of those who've been silenced. Saroya, placing second at the 2015 Women of the World Poetry Slam, is an artist that moves mountains with honest words. We had the honor to ask Saroya a.k.a. ...

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Posted on 04.03.15

Interview with Mahogany L. Browne...

interviews | by Karla Cordero

Mahogany L. Browne is a woman who brings her community beauty, courage, and hard work through her own writing and activism. While establishing the publishing company Penmanship Books, Poetry Program Directing the Nuyorican Poets Café, and having published several of her own boo...

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Posted on 11.25.14

Interview with Carrie Seitzinger...

interviews | by Karla Cordero

Once your eyes dive into a couple of poetry and fiction books by Small Doggies Press, you'll understand how this small press carries a fearless bite behind every published author. Whether you're a new or fanatic reader of the press, you're immediately invited to explore the human...

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Posted on 11.03.14

Interview with Franny Choi...

interviews | by Karla Cordero

Franny Choi is a poet, a performer, a teaching artist, a Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship finalist, and the author of Floating, Brilliant, Gone, published by Write Bloody Publishing (2014). Her accomplishments include being a finalist at several national poetry slams, and her play Ma...

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Posted on 10.13.14

Interview with Executive Director Suzi Q. Smith...

interviews | by Karla Cordero

This past weekend, 72 poets from across the country gathered to compete at the 2014 Individual World Poetry Slam. As poets attended orientation, collected their badges, and followed their schedule to the right venue, we began to marvel at the hard work and dedication organiz...

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Posted on 10.06.14

Interview with Ed Mabrey...

interviews | by Karla Cordero

With just four days away, Phoenix, Arizona will be hosting the 2014 Individual World Poetry Slam and Spit Journal just had to share a few words with the three-time defending champion Ed Mabrey. SPIT JOURNAL: We're all curious, how did you find your way into the realm of perfor...

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Posted on 09.25.14

Interview with Donny Jackson...

interviews | by Mario Dematteo

The first time I met Donny Jackson was at the Definitive Soapbox Anniversary show in Long Beach, California a few years back. Donny sat in the corner of the small coffee shop - a shadow, unassuming, but genuinely attentive to every word spilt on stage. My friend Sherwin nudged m...

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Posted on 09.18.14

Interview with D.C.' Slam Master Sarah Lawson...

interviews | by Karla Cordero

The people of D.C. were hungry for poetry this year, bringing heavy metaphor, dynamic group pieces, and imagery focusing on political, cultural and social issues to the National Poetry Slam in Oakland.  The D.C. Beltway Slam Team devoured the stage, claiming the 2014 champion ti...

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Posted on 07.27.14

Interview with Douglas Kearney...

interviews | by Karla Cordero

At this years Association of Writer’s & Writing Program conference in Seattle, Washington, I witnessed an audience with dropped jaws and speechless reactions at a Douglas Kearney reading. The first poem he read titled “Thank You But Please Don’t Buy My Children Clothes ...

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