Episode #12: Tony Plocido

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Tony Plocido is the author of three collections of poetry. The first, Sucker Punch Wisdom, was published with two other K.C. poets (Jeremy O’Neal & William Peck). His other books are Aging and Other Side Projects (2016) and Felt This So Many Times (2018). His writing can also be found in 2019 Martin Lake Journal, Startled by Joy (2019), and 2019 Talking Stick by Jackpine Press. March 2019, he became the host/curator of the long running showcases, Poets & Pints and Writers Read.  He also is a board member for Cracked Walnut the local chapter of The League of MN Poets. You can find his work on his personal website, Mental Valley.
Poets & Pints 
Poets & Pints Facebook
Writers Read
Writers Read Facebook
Mental Valley
Mental Valley Facebook
Tony on YouTube:
Argument  
Word Hinged Desire

Events:

Tony will be leading a virtual Poets & Pints via Zoom on April 15th. Check the Facebook page for additional information.

Tony’s Readings:

  • The Loose Loop in My Sweater – 13:04
  • Expense – 28:33
  • Awakened – 43:11

Michael’s Beer Pairings:

  • Samuel Adams Utopias, Boston Beer Company (paired to The Loose Loop in My Sweater) – 9:16
  • Salted Nut Roll Cream Ale, Tin Whiskers Brewing Company (paired to Expense) – 24:13
  • Aspall Dry English Cider, Aspall Cider (paired to Awakened) – 40:41

Interview Highlights:

  • Poetry as reflection on life lived and yet to be lived – 17:15
  • Writing on the fly, borrowing from others, writing from life – 30:22
  • Being a Generation X poet – 32:53
  • Performance poetry – 36:26
  • Self-affirmation – 55:55
  • Becoming active in the poetry scene – 48:38
  • Tony’s performance poetry workshop – 51:18

COMING NEXT MONTH: Judith Granahan

Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

Covid 19 Shelter In Place Edition
Books & Brews via Skype

Episode 11: Timothy Young

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Timothy Young has published four books and three chapbooks of poetry. He has recorded four CDs of poetry with various musicians; produced poetry and cultural videos; organized readings, cultural events, festivals and concerts; and for five years he co-hosted The Northland Literary Review on KFAI radio. His work has been chosen for The Writers Almanac, The Best American Poetry of 1999, college textbooks, many magazines and has been the inspiration for award-winning musical compositions performed in Jazz at Lincoln Center, the University of Texas-Arlington, St. Olaf College and many other venues. He has been a cattle inspector, a police and fire dispatcher in Alaska, a handy-man at an Indigenous People’s clinic in Mexico, an inner-city newspaper editor, an organizer for Robert Bly’s Men’s Conferences, and has taught storytelling, anger management and moral judgment to at-risk youth at the Red Wing Correctional Facility.
Facebook: Timothy Young
Facebook: To the Palace of Kings
You Tube: Timtwoboots

Upcoming Events:

Tim will be performing at the 10th Annual Blues Night as part of his House Concert Series on March 6 & 7. More information can be found on the To the Palace of Kings Facebook page.

Tim’s Readings:

  • Gramps and the Skunk – 10:00
  • 1998 Calendar of Pierre-August Renoir’s Paintings – 26:32
  • Joy Soup – 42:59

Michael’s Beer Pairings: 

  • Heineken, Heineken International (paired to Gramps and the Skunk) – 7:10
  • Biere de Garde, Finnegans (paired to 1998 Calendar…) – 24:00
  • Lonely Blond, Fulton Beer (paired to Joy Soup) – 41:05

Interview Highlights:

  • What is the draw we have to the stories of our ancestors? – 12:14
  • Tim’s start in poetry – 15:29
  • Who is Robert Bly? – 21:00
  • Artists inspiring other artists and other art forms – 29:46
  • About poetry and Andrew Wyeth’s paintings – 31:38
  • Meeting Robert Bly – 35:58
  • Robert Bly’s place in poetry and his influence on Tim – 37:11
  • Having poems read at Jazz at Lincoln Center – 49:50

COMING NEXT MONTH: Poet Tony Plocido

Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

Episode #10: Douglas VanDyke

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Douglas was born Nov 28th, 1971. He got the chance to live in many different places while growing up, courtesy of the assignments the US Army offered his father. Quiet and shy, he dreamed of other worlds and places…and desired to write about them. He got into fantasy role-playing games in his mid-teens. To this day he regularly meets friends in tabletop role-playing games and online adventures. Many of his characters evolved in games, and developed their own personality.
Having to rely on self-publishing for his novels, Douglas was surprised at the amount of good reviews and publicity they received. The Earthrin Stones trilogy sold more copies than expected. The Widow Brigade started its reception earning eleven straight 5-star reviews, including a recent widow who said it helped with her healing process.
Douglas lives with his wife and two sons in Minnesota. He works in health care, serving people’s needs in medical imaging. Most people see him wearing scrubs.
dhealoral.com  
Facebook: @Dhea-Loral
Twitter: @ThaminDheaLoral

Upcoming events:

Douglas will be at Con of the North, Feb 14-16, Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West, 3131 Campus Dr, Plymouth, Mn – A popular gaming convention featuring just about every type of gaming you can imagine.
He will be at Marscon, Feb 28-Mar 2, Hilton Minneapolis/St Paul Airport/Mall of America, 3800 American Blvd E, Bloomington, Mn – A Sci-fi based convention near Mall of America, which also includes some fantasy and steampunk.

Douglas’s Readings:

  • The Widow Brigade – 12:56
  • Sword and Path – 30:16
  • Boxer Earns his Wings – 44:13

Michael’s Beer Pairings:

  • Stjørdal, Hammerheart Brewing (paired to The Widow Brigade) – 9:28
  • Saison Dupont, Brasserie Dupont sprl (paired to Sword and Path) – 27:02
  • Budweiser Copper Lager, ABInBev (paired to Boxer Earns his Wings) – 41:46

Interview Highlights:

  • Expanding the emotional world of dwarves – 19:57
  • Douglas’s background as a writer – 22:34
  • What sparked Dhea Loral and the dwarf widow Duli? – 23:18
  • Male writer creating female characters – 25:54
  • World-building – 39:40
  • The steampunk world of ‘Boxer’ – 50:47
  • How does growing up in the military affect us as writers? – 53:53

COMING NEXT MONTH: Poet Tim Young

Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

Episode #9: Martin Case

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Martin Case, freelance researcher and writer, researches political and economic networks that shaped US relationships with indigenous nations, and drove the expansion of the US across the continent. He was on the design team for Why Treaties Matter, a collaboration of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, the Minnesota Humanities Center, and the Smithsonian Institute. His book — The Relentless Business of Treaties: How Indigenous Land Became US Property – was published in 2018 by the Minnesota Historical Society Press.
Treatysigners.org
Treatiesmatter.org


Marty will be reading at the U of MN on February 20th. Follow the link for information.
He will be at Anoka Ramsey Community College on March 2nd.

We would like to extend special thanks to the Yoerg Brewing Company of St. Paul for hosting us on our first on-site recording. The Yoerg Saloon is located at 378 Maria Ave, St. Paul, Minnesota, 55106

Marty’s Readings:

  • Relationships to Land, Kinship vs. Property, Marshall’s Doctrine of Discovery – 11:30
  • Making the American Myth: Whose story is it? – 31:55
  • From the Gospel of the Child Rabbit – 47:16

Michael’s Beer Pairings:

  • Samuel Smith India Ale, Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery (paired to From the Intro) – 9:55
  • Yoerg’s Bock, Yoerg Brewing Company (paired to On Marshall’s Doctrine of Discovery) – 29:07
  • Alpha State, August Schell Brewing Company (paired to From the Gospel of the Child Rabbit) – 43:47

Interview Highlights:

  • The fascinating history of Yoerg’s Brewery–our host for episode 9 – 4:42
  • How Marty got involved in the Treaty Signers Project – 17:32
  • Treaty signer relationships vs. the American myth – 18:51
  • Treatysigners.org online database – 23:16
  • Marshall’s Doctrine of Discovery – 26:10
  • Implications of viewing land as kin vs. property – 37:28
  • Treaties as international agreements – 41:05
  • On writing your personal ‘gospel’ – 50:35
  • Under a speeding semi! – 52:16

COMING NEXT MONTH: Fantasy fiction writer Douglas van Dyke

Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

Episode #8: Sarah Stonich

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Sarah’s first novel, These Granite Islands was awarded a Loft McKnight Award; a Friends of American Writers Award, and was a Barnes & Noble Great New Writers pick, among other awards. That novel was translated into eleven languages. Her second, The Ice Chorus, was also widely translated. Her memoir Shelter: Off The Grid in the Mostly Magnetic North won a Northeast Minnesota Book Award. Her feminist trilogy Fishing With RayAnne (originally written under the pen name Ava Finch) will be re-issued by The University of MN Press, beginning in 2020. She is currently adapting that series for television, as well as writing original screenplays. Laurentian Divide, the second book in her Northern Trilogy, was the winner of the 2019 Minnesota Book Award and the NEMBA award, as well as being a 2019 National Reading Group Month selection by National Women’s Book Association. In March 2020, WPRI, Wisconsin Public Radio International’s longest running program, Chapter A Day, will feature Laurentian Divide, to be read on air by Jim Flemming. She’s currently researching and is at work on the final volume of the Northern trilogy, Watershed. Sarah has been awarded fellowships at several international residency programs, including the Tyrone Guthrie Center in Ireland; Gibraltor Center, Toronto; Hawthornden, Scotland; Art Omi, New York, and Chicago’s Ragdale Foundation, Sarah lives in Minneapolis on the Mississippi River in a renovated flour mill with her husband, musician Jon Ware.

sarahstonich.com

Sarahstonichbookshelf

Sarah’s Readings:

  • Alpo Ponders Life – 16:30
  • Pete Meets Meg – 29:05
  • Sissy and the Sled Dogs – 44:41

Michael’s Beer Pairings: 

  • Grain Belt Premium, August Schell Brewing Company (paired to Alpo Ponders Life) – 14:50
  • Summit Great Northern Porter – Summit Brewing Company (paired to Pete Meets Meg) – 27:20
  • Tip Up Winter Ale – Beaver Island Brewing (paired to Sissy and the Sled Dogs) – 42:12

Interview Highlights:

  • Overview of the Northern Trilogy – 13:00
  • Why do people read? – 24:20
  • What makes a great book? – 25:20
  • How and when did you get started writing? – 39:51
  • 40 raw acres with a city boy – 54:16

COMING NEXT MONTH: Novelist Lyn Miller Lacoursiere, author of the Lindy Lewis Adventures

Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

Episode #7: Donna Isaac

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Poet Donna Isaac is a teaching artist who organizes community readings in the Twin Cities. Published work includes a poetry book, Footfalls (Pocahontas Press), a paean to American folk music and her formative years in the Appalachians; two chapbooks, Tommy (Red Dragonfly Press); Holy Comforter (Red Bird Chapbooks); and work in journals such as the Saint Paul Almanac, the Penn Review, and AvantAppal(achia).  Persistence of Vision, a chapbook focused on Donna’s love for movies, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press, November 2019.

donnaisaacpoet.com

Events

Poets Dore Kesselbach, Sharon Chmielarz, Donna Isaac, and Ethna McKiernan will read work at Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis, MN, November 5, 2019, 7:00 p.m. All poets have new books for sale.

Clapping Waters’ Reading Series will feature Donna Isaac, Nov. 13, 6:00-6:30 (open mic: until 8:00) at River Falls Public Library (lower level) in River Falls, WI.

Donna Isaac will read at Tillie’s Farmhouse, 232 Cleveland Ave., St. Paul, MN, November 20, 2019, 7:00 p.m. with poet Margaret Hasse. Books for sale. Come early for dinner and music by John Wenstrom and co.

Donna’s Readings

  • Unravelling – 10:12
  • Bloodlines – 27:45
  • For the Love of Dance – 45:20

Michael’s Beers

  • Oberon, Bell’s Brewery (paired to Unravelling) – 7:56
  • Rubaeus, Founders Brewing Co. (paired to Bloodlines) – 24:30
  • Let’s Dance, Urban Growler Brewing Co. (paired to For the Love of Dance) – 42:23

Interview Highlights

  • Childhood then & now – 12:11
  • Tommy Chapbook: Poems for Donna’s Brother – 17:47
  • Donna’s Background – 19:32
  • Donna’s Influences – 22:21
  • Influences of Growing Up in Appalachia – 31.26
  • Imagery of Ireland – 38:16
  • Interest in Family Research – 40:53
  • Writing About Joy and Beauty – 48:30
  • Themes of Donna’s Chapbooks Holy Comforter and Persistence of Vision – 55:09
  • The Value of Poetry – 56:37

NEXT MONTH: Author Sarah Stonich.

Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

Episode #6: Guest Author Anya Johanna DeNiro

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Anya Johanna DeNiro lives in St. Paul. Her fiction has appeared in Catapult, One Story, Minnesota Monthly, and elsewhere. She’s currently at work on a young adult novel entitled My Heart Is an Unslain Dragon. Her novella City of a Thousand Feelings is forthcoming from Aqueduct Press in the winter of 2019.

@adeniro on Twitter
AqueductPress.com

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Upcoming Events:

Laura will be reading at the Startled By JOY 2019 poetry reading and open mic on October 6th, 2019. The event takes place from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at the Troubadour Wine Bar, 2827 Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis.

Michael is teaching a class on barrel-aged beer on November 19th at Zymurgy Brewing on Main Street in Menomonie, Wisconsin

Anya’s Readings:

  • Take Pills and Wait for Hips – 10:40
  • City of a Thousand Feelings – 36:56
  • Faint Voices Increasingly Desperate – 47:14

Michael’s Beer Pairings:

  • J.W. Lee’s Harvest Ale 2002 Vintage, J.W. Lee’s & Company, UK (paired to Take Pills and Wait for Hips) – 15:26
  • Wittekerke, De Brabandere, Belgium (paired to City of a Thousand Feelings) – 34:07
  • Firebrick, August Schell Brewing Company, MN (paired to Faint Voices Increasingly Desperate) – 45:07

Interview Highlights:

  • What is an Interactive Fiction game? – 25:44
  • Imagery, Allegory, Writer’s Intention – 27:51
  • How does the Glass-Bottom Boat Image in Take Pills and Wait for Hips relate to theme of transition as a transgender woman? – 31:09
  • What goes into getting an MFA? – 41:15
  • Writing in second person – 43:11
  • Writing in third person present tense – 51:32
  • Writing transgender protagonists – 54:45

COMING NEXT MONTH: Poet Donna Isaac.

Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

Episode #5: Guest Author Barry MacDonald (Tekkan)

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Tekkan is the Dharma name for Barry MacDonald. He has lived in England, Japan, and Minnesota, all of which have influenced him. The themes of his life revolve around his Buddhist practice and his recovery from addiction. His books, “Everyday Mind,” look for the extraordinary hidden within everyday events. He uses the sonnet form without the rhyme scheme followed by a Japanese tanka.

LINKS

https://www.facebook.com/barry.macdonald.1293

Upcoming Events:

Barry and Laura will be reading at the Startled By JOY 2019 poetry reading and open mic on October 6th, 2019. The event takes place from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at the Troubadour Wine Bar, 2827 Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis.

Barry’s Readings:

  • Reading Circles of Sober Alcoholics – 12:20
  • The Wood Flooring of the Zen Temple – 27:44
  • Like a Basset Hound – 42:39

Michael’s Beer Pairings:

  • All Out Non-alcoholic Extra Dark, Athletic Brewing Company (paired to Reading Circles of Sober Alcoholics) – 9:16
  • Pilsner Urquell, Plzeňský Prazdroj (paired to The Wood Flooring of the Zen Temple) – 25:31
  • Heavenly Body Golden Wheat, Wellbeing Brewing Company (paired to Like a Basset Hound) – 41:30

Interview Highlights:

  • Sonnets and the sonnet form – 13:32
  • Meeting Shakespeare in Amsterdam – 15:40
  • The influence of a well-read father – 16:42
  • Writing routine and meditation – 20:25
  • What brought you to Japan? – 31:18
  • The impact of travel on an artist’s work – 33:49
  • Zen and dharma, Barry’s dharma name – 35:09
  • Does image lead to idea or does an idea seek an image? – 45:11
  • The Everyday Mind series – 47:36

COMING NEXT MONTH: Novelist, short story writer and interactive fiction creator Anya Johanna DeNiro

Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

Episode #4: Guest Author Kathryn Kysar

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Kathryn Kysar is the author of two books of poetry, Dark Lake and Pretend the World, and she edited Riding Shotgun: Women Write About Their Mothers. She has received fellowships from Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts, the Minnesota State Arts Board, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies. Kysar recently served on the board of directors for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs and teaches at Anoka-Ramsey Community College and the Loft Literary Center and lives with her family in St. Paul

LINKS

http://www.kathrynkysar.com/

Tweets by Dark Lake

https://sonoglyphcollective.com/

Upcoming Events:

  • Kathryn is reading at the St. Paul Irish Fair of Minnesota on August 10th. Time: 12:00 pm. Address: Eóin McKiernan Speaker’s Tent, Harriet Island.
  • Kathryn is performing as part of the Minnesota Fringe Festival at 5:30 pm on August 10th at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She will be joined by Marie Cooney and musician Kevin Kern among others.
  • Laura is appearing at the Startled by JOY 2019 poetry reading and open mic on August 11th. The event goes from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm at the Eggroll Queen Café, 1579 Hamline Avenue North, Falcon Heights, Minnesota
  • Laura is appearing at the Startled by JOY 2019 poetry reading and open mic on October 6th. The event goes from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm at the Troubadour Wine Bar, 2827 Hennepin Avenue
  • Minneapolis, Minnesota

Kathryn’s Readings:

  • Escape from Paradise, Iowa – 10:09
  • Things I Learned from my Grandmother – 20:05
  • German – 22:16
  • Returning to Lake Superior – 42:11

Michael’s Beer Pairings

  • Hamm’s, Hamm’s Brewing Company (paired to Escape from Paradise, Iowa) – 8:48
  • Fort Road Helles, August Schell Brewing Company (paired to Things I Learned from my Grandmother and German) – 18:13
  • Ring of Fire, Bad Weather Brewing (paired to Returning to Lake Superior) – 39:00

Interview Highlights:

  • Kathryn’s Background – 13:11
  • Kathryn’s Craft; Finding Inspiration and Writing Process – 14:42
  • Why Poetry? – 16:21
  • Title and Cover of book, Pretend the World – 25:09
  • Organizing a Book of Poetry; Finding the Themes – 30:29
  • Kathryn speaks on her grandmother and the advice of yesterday and today – 33:20
  • Mixing music and poetry – 45:31
  • The future of poetry in the era of self-publishing – 51:02

COMING NEXT MONTH: Tekkan, local poet of the Everyday Mind series

Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.

Episode #3: Guest Author Bob Miller

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Bob Miller has been a professional magician for twenty years, performing on stage and table-side magic. He has also created several of his own tricks which he sells on his website. ​

In addition to magic, Bob works as a programmer. He has created software for magicians to track customers and shows, and software for writers based on K.M. Weiland’s workbook, Outlining Your Novel.​

As if that’s not enough, Bob is now writing a five book thriller series, Chrysalis Chronology. The series is about genetically-altered humans with special powers. The first two books – The Smart Kid and The Time Leaper – are currently available, with others to follow.​

LINKS ​

http://bobmillermagic.com/blog/​

http://bobmillerauthor.com

http://chrysalischronology.com

https://www.facebook.com/BobMillerAuthor/​

Upcoming Events:​

  • Bob performs table side magic and balloon animals every Friday night at EL TORO, 10901 Douglas Drive, Champlin, MN, 6 to 8 pm. ​Free to all customers!​
  • Launch of Startled by JOY 2019, new poetry in classical forms, edited by Laura Vosika.​
  • Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 South Snelling Drive, 2 to 3:30 pm​. Music, free wine and hors d’oeuvres.

​Bob’s Readings: ​

  • The Trap at Lincoln from The Smart Kid, Book One​ – 13:08
  • The Falls from The Time Leaper, Book Two​ – 33:00
  • Date Night from The Proxy Agent, Book Three​- 45:55

Michael’s Beer Pairings: ​

  • Black Ops, Brooklyn Brewery​ (paired to The Trap at Lincoln) – 11:02
  • Sea Quench, Dogfish Head Brewery​ (paired to The Falls) – 30:33
  • Siracusa Nera, Dogfish Head​ Brewery (paired to Date Night) – 43:35

Interview Highlights: ​

  • Bob’s life as a magician​ – 20:25
  • The Pre-Date Calendar trick​ – 22:40
  • The Chrysalis Chronology novel series – 26:38
  • Why does it matter for characters to change throughout a story?​ – 40:33
  • The plots in magic, the plots in writing​ – 52:25

COMING NEXT MONTH: Kathryn Kysar, Twin Cities poet

Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.