Vs

Jonathan Mendoza is a poet, performer, and organizer who’s just getting his feet under him here in Chicago. He previously did his organizing thang in Boston and San Antonio, and now works as a housing rights organizer with Pilsen Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy organization based in the primarily Mexican and Mexican-American neighborhood. He’s also a real smartie and a real cutie.

Kimiko Hahn joins Danez and Franny as they go down some rabbit holes, and maybe even through a few portals. They talk her tenth book, poetic auntie status, Japanese poetry as inspiration, and closure. Follow VS on twitter: http://twitter.com/vsthepodcast!

VS hits the block with Jacob Saenz, whose APR/Honickman Prize-winning collection Throwing the Crown just dropped on Copper Canyon Press. He chats with Franny and Danez about writing back to his childhood street in Cicero, IL, the fantasy series he wrote as a kid, care as craft, and more. Make sure to cop Throwing the Crown from your local bookseller!

H. Melt comes through the VS studio for a wonderful conversation about their work, how they build trans futures through rereading their past, and the paths they’re taking on their way to liberation. Plus, our first Chaco shoe reference. Which is exciting. Also, write us a review to gas up our egos and help VS reach new ears!

Poet and translator Emily Jungmin Yoon comes through the studio for a deep dive into her work translating contemporary and modern Korean poetry, her new collection A Cruelty Special to Our Species, and a beautiful conversation reimagining femininity in poetry. Plus, a truly diasporic This vs. That! Her new book is available September 18th.

VS hosts Danez and Franny chop it up with poet, editor, professor, and bald-headed cutie Nate Marshall. They discuss the terror of a new book, white supremacist Nate Marshall, masculinity and hero narratives, Voldemort vs. the Joker, and much more. Be sure to subscribe to VS, and leave us a wonderful review on iTunes to help the show grow!

Angel Nafis is paying attention. She talks with Danez and Franny about learning to rescale her sight, getting through grad school with some new skills in her pocket, activated charcoal, and her two Franks (Ocean and O’Hara).

Safia Elhillo is a goshdarn timespace-suspending poet. She’s also this week’s guest. Danez, Franny, and Safia talk unraveling shame, opening the door to a queer Muslim literary community, caesuras and contrapunctals, and much much more!

Danez and Franny dive deep with Divedapper creator, poet, professor, and voracious reader Kaveh Akhbar. The squad talks Twitter, trees, memorizing poems while in love, and the Milwaukee Bucks, plus much more.

Britteney Black Rose Kapri joins Danez and Franny for a hoot of a podcast, in which the squad breaks down Hoe Poetics, the joys and challenges of mentorship, and much, much more. Britteney’s upcoming book Black Queer Hoe, featuring a foreword by Danez, is dropping September 4th, and is available for preorder now.

Jamaal May blasts off into hyperspace on this episode of VS. Danez and Franny run with the poet, MC, professor, and thinker as they talk waves, matter, neurology, future, and even a few poems.

VS gets live at AWP, where Danez and Franny hosted a packed show featuring the magnificent Hanif Abdurraqib and Angel Nafis. Hear some poems, some nipple-related discussion, and some rooftop giggles on this episode, recorded in front of a live audience on March 8th, 2018. Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.

We’re back, baby! We kick off season 2 of VS with brilliant poet Tarfia Faizullah for a helluva convo about balancing the beautiful and the grotesque, finding silliness, and much more! Listen and subscribe now for a whole upcoming season of goodness!

Just because the podcast was in between seasons doesn't mean that Franny and Danez stopped being wrecked by the words and ideas around them. Peep some art that's been knocking them out, and subscribe to VS now. Season 2 premiere on the way next Tuesday March 6th Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.

With Season 2 of VS on the way, Danez and Franny think back to some of their top Season 1 moments. Subscribe now, and listen to VS Season 2 when it premieres on March 6th! Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.

Franny and Danez get ready for Season 2 of VS, the podcast where poets confront the ideas that move them! Get familiar, and subscribe so that you get the Season 2 premiere when it drops on March 6th! Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.

VS wraps up its wonderful first season with the gawd Krista Franklin. The squad hops through time, collapses the continuum, shares some laughs, and ends the first season in style. Plus a very special treat at the end of the episode…

VS gets communal with Jacinda Bullie and Darius Parker of Kuumba Lynx, a youth-focused radical arts organization based in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. The squad talks transformative spaces, becoming an institution, writing joyful poetry, and much more. Four voices in effect!

Chicago legend avery r. young comes through the VS studio and takes poetry off the page with Franny and Danez. The discussion bounces from writing in an enclave, to pain and survival, to holding his mule. Plus, a very special performance.

Raych Jackson swings through the VS studio to talk her win at NUPIC (The National Poetry Individual Competition), the brilliant kidlets in the third grade class she teaches, and remixing biblical tales in her first book, which is in the works. Plus, a new segment makes its debut, with a poem from a VS alum!