Jesse Lee Kercheval, Indigo Moor, and Kate Farrell

On the 2/8/23 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Poet and editor of the Wisconsin Poetry Series Jesse Lee Kercheval joins the show to discuss grief, love, and family in her new poetry collection I Want to Tell You, talk about her journey as a poetry translator, and share a migratory and moving poem. Next, Sacramento poet laureate emeritus Indigo Moor talks to Dr. Andy about observing the duties of a poet laureate emeritus (there are none), writing about his past, and bearing witness to a changing country. The latter topic is the subject of a poem he then shares with listeners. Finally, storyteller Kate Farrell lets us in on the joys of the Sacramento Writers Conference (at which she will be a co-presenter) and her book Story Power.

Jesse Lee Kercheval is a poet, writer, and translator, specializing in Uruguayan poetry. She is the author of America that island off the coast of France and Dog Angel and the translator of Love Poems by Idea Vilariño and The Invisible Bridge: Selected Poems of Circe Maia. A bilingual Spanish-English edition of her selected poems, La crisis es el cuerpo, translated by Ezequiel Zaidenwerg, was published in Argentina and is forthcoming in Mexico. She is also the author of the Alex Award–winning memoir Space and the short story collection Underground Women.

Kercheval has been a professor of creative writing at the University of Wisconsin in Madison since 1987. Since 2010, Kercheval has regularly spent time in Uruguay learning Rioplatense Spanish. Her new book is titled I Want to Tell You.

Indigo Moor is a multi-genre award-winning writer and teacher. His second book of poetry, Through the Stonecutter’s Window, won the Northwestern University Press’s Cave Canem prize. His first book, Tap-Root, was published as part of Main Street Rag’s Editor’s Select Poetry Series. In 2021, he published Everybody's Jonesin' for Something. His stageplay Live! at the Excelsior was a finalist for the Images Theatre Playwright Award. 

Also trained as an engineer, Moor is a graduate of the Stonecoast MFA Program, where he studied poetry, fiction, and scriptwriting; and a graduate member of the Artist's Residency Institute for Teaching Artists. A musician and photographer, Indigo's collaborations include the Artists Embassy International Dancing Poetry Festival, the Livermore Ekphrastic Project, and the Davis Jazz Arts Festival.

A graduate of the School of Library and Information Studies, UC Berkeley, Kate Farrell has been a language arts classroom teacher (pre-school and grades kindergarten through 12th), author, librarian, university lecturer, and storyteller in Northern California since 1966. She founded the Word Weaving Storytelling Project in collaboration with the California State Department of Education to train educators at all levels, and published numerous educational materials. Her recent book, Story Power: Secrets to Creating, Crafting, and Telling Memorable Stories was a Gold winner in the 2021 Next Generation Indie Book Award.

Robert Thomas and Beverly Burch will read at the Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis on February 16th. Find details at http://www.poetryindavis.com. 

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, subscribe to his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.