Arts Archive

Tobias Lindholm's recent movie "A War" tells the story of Danish soldiers in Afghanistan, and the personal story of how one Danish family is effected by the choices made in battle. In this interview the director talks about his commitment to realism in film and the serendipitous moments that working with non-actors can create.

A phone interview with MoMA curator Starr Figura about the exhibition Gauguin: Metamorphoses. Hosted by Xueli Wang

The following is a recording of a live reading and interview with Keisha-Gaye Anderson. Keisha will be one of the eatured poets for the Nuyorican Poets Cafe's Bob Marley Tribute on February 6th, the featured poet for the Poets Settlement Reading/Poetry Series on February 9th, and hosting a poetry workshop on April 3 as a part of the 13th Annual Black Writers Conference.

The following is a recording of a live reading and interview with Jacqueline Johnson. Jacqueline is a multi-disciplined artist creating in both writing and fiber arts. "A Woman's Season," is her second collection of poetry and was a finalist for the Main Street Rag Poetry contest.She is also the author of "A Gathering of Mother Tongues" published by White Pine Press and is the winner of the Third Annual White Pine Press Poetry Award. She is a graduate of New York University and the City University of New York.

The following is a recording of a live reading and interview with Ekere Tallie. Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie is the author of Dear Continuum: Letters to a Poet Crafting Liberation (Grand Concourse Press) and Karma’s Footsteps (Flipped Eye Publishing). She is the Poetry Editor of the literary magazine African Voices. Her work focuses on women, race, ancestry, violence and the healing power of art and has been published in North American Review, WSQ: Women’s Studies Quarterly, Black Renaissance Noire, VIDA, Crab Orchard Review, BOMB, Paris/Atlantic, and Listen Up! (One World Ballantine).

The following is a recording of a live reading with Thomas Dooley. Thomas is the author of Trespass, a winner of the National Poetry Series, selected by poet and novelist Charlie Smith. His poetry has been published by The Academy of American Poets, Poetry Daily, The Cortland Review, The Old Stock, Palimpsest: Yale Literary and Arts Magazine, and twice-featured on “PBS NewsHour”.

The following is a recording of live readings by Yesenia Montilla and Christopher Soto, who goes by the name of Loma. Yesenia is a New York City poet with Afro-Caribbean roots. Her poetry has appeared in the Chapbook For the Crowns of Your Head, as well as the literary journals 5AM, Adanna, The Wide Shore and others. She received her MFA from Drew University in Poetry and Poetry in Translation and is a CantoMundo Fellow. Her first collection, The Pink Box is published by Willow Books.

Dame Harriet Walter is regarded as one of the most respected actors of the English stage. From her Tony nominated performance as Elizabeth I in Mary Stuart to her legendary assumptions of Lady Macbeth and Cleopatra, she is particularly known for her work in classical theatre.While the number of classical roles for actresses tends to diminish with age, Walter has now taken on some of Shakespeare's greatest male protagonists through director Phyllida Lloyd's trilogy of female-prison Shakespeare productions.

The following is a recording of live readings from Glenn Michael Gordon. Glenn is the assistant director in the Undergraduate Writing Program at Columbia University and course director of University Writing: Readings in Gender and Sexuality. He was the editor-in-chief of ReadersDigest.com and a senior editor at Self and Child magazines.

The following is an interview by WKCR programmer Alexa Mercado with Bernardo Ruiz, the director and writer of the documentary Kingdom of Shadows. In the film, Ruiz tells the story of Mexico-United States drug war through three unlikely individuals.

The following is an interview by WKCR programmer Alexa Mercado with Mor Loushy, the director and writer of the documentary Censored Voices. The film reveals the original recordings of intimate conversations undertaken with soldiers returning from the "Six Day War" in 1967.

The following is a recording of live readings with Julia Guez. At work on her first full-length collection, The Certain Body, Julia Guez has earned a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia, a Fulbright Fellowship, and the 2013 "Discovery"/ Boston Review poetry prize. Some of her poetry, essays, translations and interviews have recently appeared or will soon be forthcoming in Circumference, POETRY, The Literary Review, Vinyl, Apogee, Phantom Limb, No, Dear and DIAGRAM. She is currently co-translating a collection of poetry by Luis Chaves with the writer, Samantha Zighelboim.

The following is a recording of live readings from David Moscovich and Yuriy Tarnawsky. David Moscovich's collection of one-page fictions, You Are Make Very Important Bathtime, was nominated for a Pushcart and &Now prize and is available from Journal of Experimental Fiction (Geneva, IL). More information about him can be found at http://www.davidmoscovich.com. Yuriy Tarnawsky has authored some three dozen books of poetry, fiction, drama,

David Felix Sutcliffe is the director of (T)ERROR, one of the top prize winners at the Sundance Film Festival. (T)ERROR is the first documentary to document an FBI counterterrorism Sting Operation. It unfolds like a thriller as co-directors Sutcliffe and Lyric Cabral shadow informant Saeed Torres, a 63-year old former Black Panther. Viewers get an inside look at the government’s counterterrorism operations and the murky waters they often tread.

The following is a recording of live readings from Tanwi Nandini Islam. Tanwi is the author of Bright Lines (Penguin 2015). She is the founder of Hi Wildflower Botanica, a small-batch niche perfume, candle and skincare line. Her writing has appeared in Elle.com, Fashionista.com, Open City, Women 2.0, Billboard.com and Gawker. A graduate of Brooklyn College MFA and Vassar College, she lives in Brooklyn, NY. As a disclaimer, the literature in this program does contain some profanity.

In this episode of Arts and Answers, Danielle Fox talks with artist Marylyn Dintenfass, known around the world for her vibrant paintings and installations that explore the shape through which we perceive the world—the circle. A New York native, Marylyn’s work has been included in more than 60 national and international exhibits. Her work can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. From now until October 24th, Marylyn is proud to present Oculus, her latest body of work, housed at Driscoll Babcock Galleries in Chelsea.

Kat Wright and the Indomitable Soul Band visited WKCR for an interview and performance on October 3rd, 2015. The band talked about their influences, their creative process, & how they came together as a group in Burlington, VT.

The following live readings are from Jennifer Sears and Francesca Giacco. Jennifer's fiction publications include Guernica, Ninth Letter, Fence, Fiction International, So to Speak, Barrelhouse, Sequestrum, The Journal of the Center for Mennonite Writing, and Fiction International. She has received awards from the Millay Colony for Arts, the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, the Money for Women Fund, and The National Endowment for the Humanities.

The following live readings are from Kelli Trapnell and Kerry Cullen. Kelli recieved an MFA from Columbia University, and now enjoys writing literary horror. She has worked as a columnist and editor for Untapped Cities, a production editor for Apogee, and currently works for The New Yorker. Kerry also received an MFA at Columbia University, and has work published or forthcoming in One Teen Story, Prairie Schooner, Cicada, Monkeybicycle and elsewear.

The following are live readings by Kaitlyn Greenidge and Naomi Jackson. Kailtyn is a graduate of Hunter College’s MFA Fiction program and her work has appeared in American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, Kweli Journal, The Believer, Guernica and other places. Her debut novel, We Love You, Charlie Freeman will be published by Algonquin Press in 2016. Naomi Studied fiction at Iowa Writers Workshop and traveled to South Africa on a Fulbright scholarship, where she received an M.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Cape Town.

My guests tonight are Alex Cuff and Caitlin Blanchfield. Alex is a poet and public school teacher living in Brooklyn. Her writing can be found online in The Recluse, Apogee Journal, Sink Review, Two Serious Ladies, and Leveler. She’s a graduate of the Milton Avery School of the Arts at Bard College and co-founding editor of No, Dear magazine.

The following is a recording of live readings by Paco Marquez, Eva Saavedra, and Elizabeth Whittlesey. Paco is poetry editor at Washington Square. He’s been featured as Lo-Writer of the Week in Juan Felipe Herrera’s California Poet Laureate website, and he recently completed an MFA in poetry at NYU. His work has appeared in Occupoetry.org, and Apogee, among others.

The following is a recording of live readings by Brandon Caro and John Benditt. Brandon Caro is a veteran from Aphganistan who is pursuing an MFA in Fiction Writing from The New School, with works featured in The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Whitehouse Magazine of Contemporary Art, and elsewhere. He will be reading from his debut novel, Old Silk Road, which will be released October 13th of this year.

This Arts & Answers episode features a conversation between WKCR programmer Alexa Mercado and guess Rafael Gamo and Susana Arellano who discuss their upcoming photography exhibit "Here There, Acá Alla." The exhibit documents th elives of first and second generation Mexican-American immigrant families. The opening reception is at The Bronx Documentary Center on August 29, 2015 from 6-9 PM free of chaarge. The exhibit runs from August 20 - September 13. For more information, visit herethereworkshop.org

The following is a live recording of excerpts from Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" performed by members of The Drilling Company. The company will be performing the play as a part of Bryant Park Shakespeare from September 4th until September 20th with shows on Friday and Saturday at 6:30 pm and shows on Sunday at 2 pm. The shows are free. In these excerpts, you will hear Alessandro Colla as Petruchio, Evangeline Fontaine as Katherina, Jarrod Bates as Tranio, Michael Bernstein as Gremio, and Lukas Raphael as Lucentio. Alessandro is also the director of the play.

The following is a recording of live readings by Marina Blitshteyn and Kara Thordarson, also known as K.T. Billey. Marina holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University, where she also served as a University Writing instructor and consultant. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, Lilith, No, Dear Magazine, Two Serious Ladies, and her latest chapbook is Nothing Personal. Kara holds a MFA in Poetry from Columbia University and is an assistant editor for the literary journal Asymptote.

The following is a recording of live readings by Elizabeth Blickle and Elisa Fernandez-Arias. Elizabeth is currently in the MFA program at Columbia University and will be sharing work from her thesis. Elisa received an MFA from Columbia in 2014, will soon be moving to Rome to teach English Composition at John Cabot University, and will be sharing an excerpt from the novel she is currently working on, The Under. Because of a technological error, the recording of this show was cut slightly short.

The following is an interview with James C. Strouse, the writer and director of the film People Places Things, and the star of the film, Jemaine Clement. The film follows a newly single graphic novel artist who is attempting to balance his twin daughters, students, and his love life. Strouse and Clement talk with WKCR programmer Chaim Lazaros about the character of the film, the artistic procress, the role illustrations play in the movie, and what audiences can learn from the film. People Places Things will be in theaters in New York City beginning Friday, August 14th.

The following interview is with Hubert Sauper, the Academy Award-nominated director of Darwin's Nightmare, discuss his latest documentary, We Come As Friends. In We Come As Friends, Sauper travels around the Sudan in a self-built airplane showing his audience glimpes into the present day colonization taking place. In this interview, Sauper talks with WKCR programmer Danielle Smith about the process of making the film, his artistic take on documentaries, and the troubling situation in Sudan right now.