Mississippi Arts Hour

Poetry is alive and thriving in the Magnolia State! On the Mississippi Poetry Podcast you’ll hear poets sharing their work, telling their stories, and offering tips to help listeners flex their poetic muscles. In this episode, poet Melissa Ginsburg joins host and Mississippi Poet Laureate Catherine Pierce to talk about paper dolls, poetry as a lens, and the magic of focusing on process instead of product. A resource for teachers and community leaders can be found here: https://arts.ms.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Podcast-Supplement_Ginsburg-2.pdf

Maria Zeringue talks with artists Robin Whitfield and Shirley Hamilton. Robin is the founder of the non-profit, Friends of Chakchiuma Swamp, which was developed to manage and interpret the Lee Tartt Nature Preserve in Grenada, MS. Shirley is an art teacher, based in Winona, who also serves on the board of Friends of the Chkchiuma Swamp. In this episode, Robin and Shirley discuss their “Enchanted Forest” event at the Lee Tartt Nature Preserve. This community event invites people to engage with nature through a creative and playful lens. They also talk about their own work as artists, which celebrates the connections between nature, art, and community. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

Lauren Rhoades talks with Max Hipp, a teacher, writer, and musician from Oxford, Mississippi. Hipp's debut collection of short stories, titled WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU OPENS YOUR HEART, was published this year. The characters in this collection howl with loneliness. They've reached the ends of their coping mechanisms and bank accounts and are making terrible life choices and trying to recover in the wake of them. As a reader, it’s impossible to look away. Listen as they discuss the book and Max Hipp’s creative process as both a writer and musician in Oxford. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

Larry Morrisey talks with Memphis-based writer and filmmaker Willy Bearden about his new memoir, “Mississippi Hippie.” The book tells of his tumultuous childhood in Rolling Fork into his early years in Memphis as a twenty-something. Bearden mixes humorous stories of Delta characters with more somber looks at friends and family he has lost over the years. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

Kristen Brandt talks to Kyle Hilton, a Jackson-based illustrator. Kyle is also the author of Art History Paper Dolls and Literary Paper Dolls. His work appears in publications like the New York Times, Variety, and The Wall Street Journal. They discuss Kyle’s path to becoming an illustrator and his process of creating unique representations of contemporary media. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

Larry Morrisey travels to Pontotoc to visit with bluesman Terry “Harmonica” Bean. Bean’s latest record, “Drop Dead on Your Front Door,” has just been released by the Music Maker Foundation in North Carolina. Terry talks about his family roots in the blues, getting started playing in the Delta and his regular work in Europe. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

Lauren Rhoades talks with children's book author Allen R. Wells and New York Times-bestselling children's book illustrator Shamar Knight-Justice. Their beautiful new picture book, Danté Plays His Blues, was published earlier this year. Danté Plays His Blues is a tender and heartwarming children's book about a boy affected by housing insecurity who learns the power of expressing his feelings through music. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

Kristen Brandt talks to Dr. Annette Trefzer of the University of Mississippi. Annette, a professor and writer based in Oxford, has edited a new book titled 'Faulkner, Welty, Wright: A Mississippi Confluence.' This collection of comparative scholarship examines connections among these three most influential and acclaimed of Mississippi's writers. Some of her past work has included Exposing Mississippi, a critical examination of Welty's photographs, and Faulkner and the Native South. We will discuss Annette's path to compiling this collection and her thoughts on the connections between these literary giants when you tune into this segment of the Mississippi Arts Hour. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.