SoundPages Podcast

Diane Nguyen’s project for the 2026 Jack Straw Writers Program is a series of vignettes that focuses on the challenges of motherhood as a queer millennial, the everyday life of queerness, and reproductive health. In her conversation with curator Claudia Castro Luna, they talk about what it’s like to grow up as a Vietnamese-Laotian in […] The post Viewing Windows – Diane Nguyen appeared...

Kevin Dean’s project for the 2026 Jack Straw Writers Program is a debut collection of poems that, in his own words, “explores the link between the personal and the political, as well as how places shape our identities and memories.” In his conversation with curator Claudia Castro Luna, they talk about his transition from writing […] The post The Space Where You Can Be the Most Vulnerable &#8...

Alejandro Pérez-Cortés’s project for the 2026 Jack Straw Writers Program is a collection of poems that play with absurdity and irony, and critique world history. In his conversation with curator Claudia Castro Luna, they talk about how he chooses the titles for his poems, why he leans into humor in his writing, and why he […] The post Another Iberian Poet in New York? No! – Alejandro P...

Elissa Favero’s project for the 2026 Jack Straw Writers Program is a collection of ekphrastic essays that explore the lives of women and visual art. In her conversation with curator Claudia Castro Luna, they talk about why she chooses not to introduce the artwork she’s writing about at the onset of her essays,  if the […] The post The Queen Is Dead – Elissa Favero appeared first on Jac...

Maiah A Merino’s project for the 2026 Jack Straw Writers Program is a collection of poems that, in her own words “explores systemic contracts and agreements we have with those in our families as well as other societal systems.” In her conversation with curator Claudia Castro Luna, they talk about how her work as a […] The post Red Painted Woman – Maiah A Merino appeared first on Jack S...

Rasheena Fountain’s project for the 2026 Jack Straw Writers Program is a series of poems that represent her relationship with her place, history, and her relearning of those relationships. In her conversation with curator Claudia Castro Luna, they speak on what the environment means to Rasheena, on the idea of why there has to be […] The post Memory Riffing – Rasheena Fountain appeared...

Ruth Marie Tomlinson‘s project for the 2026 Jack Straw Writers Program is a long-form non-fiction manuscript that delves into the river routes from Seattle, WA to Two Dot, Montana, and imagines what it would be like to swim those paths. In her conversation with curator Claudia Castro Luna, they talk about her inspiration for the […] The post If I Could, I Would Swim the Columbia &#8211...

Gabriella Garcia‘s project for the 2026 Jack Straw Writers Program is a series of poems, each overlaid on maps of rivers and mountains where the poems take place. In her conversation with curator Claudia Castro Luna, they talk about the story of her  opera A Spring Like This, her interest in writing from non-human perspectives, […] The post Topographies – Gabriella Garcia appeare...

Jason Prokowiew’s project for the 2025 Jack Straw Writers Program is a braided memoir about his Russian father’s adoption by the Nazis who murdered his family at the start of World War II, and the trauma he carried into parenthood. In his conversation with curator Kathleen Alcalá, they talk through the reason his father had […] The post War Boys – Jason Prokowiew appeared first on Jack...

Makayla Danielle Gay’s project for the 2025 Jack Straw Writers Program is a series of poetry collages that combine poetry with archival film from her family. In her conversation with curator Kathleen Alcalá, they discuss the process of going through archival material, why she says art-making is an act of community, and the challenge of […] The post I Go Back to Both Sides of the Dream &#8211...

Mia Tong’s project for the 2025 Jack Straw Writers Program is a mythology-inspired Young Adult adventure duology. The story revolves around a young adult named Vana, her caretaker who contracts an illness, and Vana’s journey to find a cure in a vast country she knows little about. In her conversation with curator Kathleen Alcalá, they […] The post The Parasol Maker – Mia Tong appeared...

Mateo Bracken’s project for the 2025 Jack Straw Writers Program is a manuscript of Auburn, Washington’s settler colonial history in verse. In his conversation with curator Kathleen Alcalá, they discuss where he turned for information on the history of Auburn, the multiple meanings of the name “Slaughter,” and why he’s called to write about Auburn’s […] The post A Town Called Slaughter &#8211...

Connor Watkins-Xu’s project for the 2025 Jack Straw Writers Program is a book of poems covering themes of trauma, depression, and struggling with faith, which he hopes will “carry emotions and revelation.” In his conversation with curator Kathleen Alcalá, they discuss his journey from Alabama to Washington State, some of the poets who’ve influenced him, […] The post Reruns – Connor Wat...

Hillary Behrman’s project for the 2025 Jack Straw Writers Program is a novel called All Over the Place and a collection of short stories called Lake Effect that explore human care and intimacy in a world that breeds doubt and isolation. In her conversation with curator Kathleen Alcalá, they discuss some of the themes of […] The post All Over the Map – Hillary Behrman appeared first on...

Nhatt Nichols’s project for the 2025 Jack Straw Writers Program is a non-fiction graphic novel about the history of the Białowieża Forest, a World Heritage Area that sits between Poland and Belarus, and how the forest and humanity influence each other. In her conversation with curator Kathleen Alcalá, they explore how she first became interested […] The post The Forest Bison – Nhatt Ni...

Sigrun Susan Lane’s project for the 2025 Jack Straw Writers Program is a collection of poems about her immigrant family and their origins in Iceland. In her conversation with curator Kathleen Alcalá, they discuss Icelandic folklore such as the little people, the influence of Icelandic poet Jakobína Johnson on her life, and the importance of […] The post When Mother Took Her Hair Down –...

Jenny Harrington Lill’s project for the 2025 Jack Straw Writers Program is a memoir about her late son, Ewan, who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2018.  In her conversation with curator Kathleen Alcalá, they discuss Jenny’s writing style, her scientific background as a cell biologist, and her essay titled […] The post How to Write a Eulogy for a 10-Ye...

Asha Dore’s  project for the 2025 Jack Straw Writers Program is an autoethnography titled Gravity that focuses on weird crime in Florida, class, and neurodivergence.  In her conversation with curator Kathleen Alcalá, they discuss why her father became involved with a Colombian cartel, what her hometown of Pensacola, Florida is like, and why poetics is […] The post Gravity – Asha Dore a...

Bill Hollands’s  project for the 2025 Jack Straw Writers Program is a collection of poems that incorporate pop culture elements from his childhood. In his conversation with curator Kathleen Alcalá, they talk about the ’70s television shows that Bill watched as a kid, gay representation in popular culture, and how the book The Art of […] The post Distance – Bill Hollands appeared...

Gabriel Moseley’s project for the 2024 Jack Straw Writers Program is a speculative fiction novel set at a fundamentalist Christian camp in the Olympic Peninsula, where the revelation of a child’s healing abilities leads to devastating consequences. In his conversation with curator Nisi Shawl, they explore how the genre of science fiction allows him to […] The post The Godspore King – G...

Stacy Nathaniel Jackson’s project for the 2024 Jack Straw Writers Program is a novel that he describes as “Epic, leaning speculative fiction, with a horror lens.” The Dim centers on a headhunter who has a genetic mutation that causes his sense of physical pain to be dimmed and how that lack of pain affects him. […] The post The Dim – Stacy Nathaniel Jackson appeared first on Jack Straw...

Catherine Denardo’s project for the 2024 Jack Straw Writers Program is a piece of nonfiction narrative writing that celebrates the sounds of the Southern Residents, a community of endangered killer whales located in coastal waters of British Columbia and Washington State. In her conversation with curator Nisi Shawl, they delve into the importance of scientific […] The post A Killer Whale Cal...

Jarrett Ziemer’s project for the 2024 Jack Straw Writers Program is a multimedia project, a collection of poems paired with short films where he uses personification and the conflation of identities to tell introspective stories. In his conversation with curator Nisi Shawl, they delve into how he first became aware of his use of personification […] The post Remora – Jarrett Ziemer appe...

Amontaine Aurore’s project for the 2024 Jack Straw Writers Program is an autobiographical coming of age novel set between 1963 and 1974, when her family moved to and lived in an all-white neighborhood in Seattle. The novel focuses on her search for a Black identity during a time of cultural, political, and social upheaval and […] The post The Memoirs of Ruby Lovestone – Amontaine Auror...

Becca Rose Hall’s project for the 2024 Jack Straw Writers Program is a family epic novel set in the Pacific Northwest, homing in on the town of Home, Washington, an anarchist colony founded in 1896 on the Kitsap Peninsula. The novel switches between a homesteader living  in Home and her great granddaughter, who in the […] The post Summer Thinking – Becca Rose Hall appeared first on Jac...