SoundPages Podcast

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...

Mary Pan’s project for the 2024 Jack Straw Writers Program is a collection of lyric essays focusing on themes of mental health, caregiving, identity, and the idea of retrospective diagnosis.  In her conversation with curator Nisi Shawl, they discuss the challenges of navigating the healthcare system, the stories she encounters during her medical practice as […] The post The Metagnosis Vignet...

E.J. Batiste’s project for the 2024 Jack Straw Writers Program is a collection of poems two years in the making, covering a range of topics including her experience as a person of color in the rural south, femininity, prayer, and history. In her conversation with curator Nisi Shawl, they explore her recent name change and […] The post I Shall – E.J. Batiste appeared first on Jack Straw...

McKenna Princing’s project for the 2024 Jack Straw Writers Program is a collection of fairy tale retellings set in the Pacific Northwest that focuses on social justice issues. In her conversation with curator Nisi Shawl, she delves into the stories she wrote as a kid, the process of writing characters with underrepresented identities, and why […] The post The Boy and the Pennies – McKe...

Allison Masangkay’s project for the 2024 Jack Straw Writers Program is a zine that will be a culmination of past work exploring manananggal (a female presenting winged mythical creature in Filipino folklore) based on her experiences of disability, gender, colonization, imperialism, and more. In her conversation with curator Nisi Shawl, Allison delves into why she […] The post They Say Art Is...

Elyse Hauser’s project for the 2024 Jack Straw Writers Program is a series of essays covering her work researching the deep sea in Bergen, Norway in late 2023. In her conversation with curator Nisi Shawl, she discusses how the research she did as a journalist has the potential for creative writing works, how deep sea […] The post Searching for a More Real Sea – Elyse Hauser appeared fi...

Josh Griffin’s project for the 2024 Jack Straw Writers Program is a book of poems dedicated to the life and legacy of his mother, Carolyn Jane Griffin, who passed away in 2018. In his conversation with curator Nisi Shawl, he talks about how his mother encouraged him to pursue his art, choosing to write about […] The post A Healing Journey – Josh Griffin appeared first on Jack Straw Cul...

Kaitlyn Teer’s project for the 2023 Jack Straw Writers Program is a non-fiction book about the love, fears, and contradictions of mothering in a climate crisis and how mothering can be a force for social change. In her conversation with curator Priscilla Long, she talks about how her conversations with her daughter have shaped her […] The post Hope in a Time of Disaster – Kaitlyn Teer...