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S1 E3: Jan Beatty Chats with Dion O'Reilly

 

Jan Beatty⁠ and Dion read and discuss two poems that appear in the first issue of En•Trance Journal--"Mission" and "Chalk Outline." The conversation touches on the numinous moments in the poems as well as some practical elements of craft. Jan's rich and adventurous life feeds energy into these poems, bringing the whole range of human emotion and experience.

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⁠Jan Beatty’s⁠⁠ eighth book, ⁠⁠Dragstripping⁠⁠, was published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, September, 2024. Her memoir, American Bastard, won the Red Hen Nonfiction Award. Recent books include The Body Wars and a chapbook, Skydog (Lefty Blondie Press, 2022). Other work includes Jackknife: New and Selected Poems (University of Pittsburgh, 2018 Paterson Prize) named by Sandra Cisneros on LitHub as her favorite book of 2019. Beatty worked as a waitress, abortion counselor, and in maximum security prisons. She is Professor Emerita at Carlow University, where she directed creative writing, the Madwomen in the Attic workshops, and the MFA program. ​​​

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S1 E2: Paul Nelson Interviews Andrew Schelling

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This is a snippet of a longer conversation between ⁠Paul Nelson ⁠and ⁠Andrew Schelling⁠. Andrew reads from his poem, "The Bristlecone"--a poem about a dream in which ⁠Michael McClure ⁠appears.

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Paul Nelson is En•trance Journal's editor at large and contributing editor. 

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S1 E1: Ellen Bass Chats with Dion O'Reilly

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Ellen Bass⁠ and Dion O'Reilly discuss Bass's poem, "⁠You're the Top⁠." We discuss the unique characteristics of the prose poem--how humble and quirky it is.

 

We take a look at the narrator's altered state in the poem, where she is destabilized, terrified, disoriented, and ultimately exhilarated in a moment of cosmic consciousness. It's a heady ride!

 

We also discuss how and why Bass enters a trance state as a way to dramatize her life's experience and create her fabulous poems. She offers a few easy tips for ways to enter a creative trance and also reminds us of the joy of doing so.​​​

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Ellen Bass’s most recent collection, Indigo, was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2020. Her other poetry books include Like a Beggar, The Human Line, and Mules of Love. Her poems appear  frequently in The New Yorker, American Poetry Review, and many other journals. Among her awards are Fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, The NEA, and The California Arts Council, The Lambda Literary Award, and four Pushcart Prizes. She co-edited the first major anthology of women’s poetry, No More Masks!, and her nonfiction books include the groundbreaking The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse and Free Your Mind: The Book for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Youth. A Chancellor Emerita of the Academy of American Poets, Bass founded poetry workshops at Salinas Valley State Prison and the Santa Cruz, California jails, and teaches in the MFA writing program at Pacific University.