Jess Whetsel is a poet, writer, editor, and public speaker based in Toledo, Ohio on Erie, Kickapoo, Seneca, and Odawa land. Her poetry has appeared in many literary journals, including Tulip Tree Review, Discretionary Love, and Sage Cigarettes. Her first collection of poetry, A SOFTER KIND OF AUDACITY, debuts on December 1, 2023. You can learn more about Whetsel and her work on her website, www.jesswhetsel.com, or by following her Instagram, @jesswhetselwrites.

A Softer Kind of Audacity
BOOK RELEASE:  Friday Dec. 1 

www.jesswhetsel.com

https://substack.com/@jesswhetsel

IG @jesswhetselwrites

BOOK DESCRIPTION 

A Softer Kind of Audacity is an unflinching self-examination. Author Jess Whetsel’s poetry debut is “a book is for the little girl with wild curls and a poem in her heart; the teenager who scribbled lyrics in her notebook like her life depended on it; the twenty-something who swallowed her voice and didn’t think she’d ever write again; and the woman who finally came home to her poetry, her voice, herself.” Exploring themes of queerness, mental health, and generational trauma, Whetsel opens the door wide and invites everyone in.

From identity falling in ineffable teenage love to mid-life polyamory, Whetsel does not turn away from the truth.

Kate Mapother  is the author of two poetry collections, Tell Me You Hear the Riot and carved. She has been published in the lit mag kerning / a space for words, and the book Signs & Symbols of Our Ancestors. She lives in Tucson, in a little adobe at the bottom of a canyon with her dog Riggins.

Books

C A R V E D 

Tell Me You Hear the Riot 

IG/Threads: https://www.instagram.com/brightenuff/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KateMapother 

SubStack: https://katemapother.substack.com

Episode Mentions: Tricia Hersey The Nap Ministry and Rest is Resistance. 

In 1988, an explosion killed six Kansas City firefighters. Closure Is Not Justice is a public art project drawing attention to the 1988 explosion, and the public campaign that generated false testimony among residents in the Marlborough neighborhood, turning neighbor against neighbor, all for the sake of closure.

Closure Is Not Justice Exhibition Opening - Friday, September 1
 Vulpes Bastille gallery in the Crossroads, KC.

Andrew Johnson is an author, essayist, and artist living in Kansas City, Missouri. His work has appeared in The Sun, Image, Commonweal, Crazyhorse, and elsewhere, and he is the author of two books: The Thread and On Earth As It Is. He is the recipient of a Charlotte Street Foundation residency, a Rocket Grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation, an ArtsKC Inspiration grant, a Vermont Studio Center residency, and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship.

Closure Is Not Justice https://www.closureisnotjustice.com/

Andrew’s Substack https://thethread.substack.com/p/closure-is-not-justice?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Andrew’s website https://www.andrewmichaeljohnson.com/

FB: andrewjohnsonkc / IG: andrew.johnson.kc


Seasoned and fresh-faced artists (of every genre) discuss how to make creativity work within the complexities and challenges of adult life. Confessing Animals podcast co-hosts Jen Harris + Vanessa Aricco, both working writers, unveil the secrets and struggles of creative living in a rapid fire capitalist society. One guest at a time, Jen + Vanessa ask, How Does Your Life Translate to Art?

Intro and music by Ashley Raines https://www.ashleyrainesmusic.com/