Craft: Exploring Creativity

Most scary Halloween stories work because evil creatures or people threaten the protagonist is threatened by. “Torture the women!” Hitchcock famously said.

But this year’s halloween story considers the question of “Who’s the monster?” something worth considering at any time of year, but especially in the fall.

Cast

Students from Christopher Ray’s Whetstone Academy of Performing Arts (Whetstone High School)

Dominic Holmes – Malik Collins
Diesel Berkowitz – Gage Freshour
Hannah Kemper – Opal Shipley
Almarie Shawcross – Lilian Debelius
Dianne Shawcross – Evelyn Boreman
Police officer – Cruz Reyes

Audio editing by June Crowe from Ryan Van Bibber’s Audio Production class at Fort Hayes

Laura Meckler, national education writer for the Washington Post, is the recipient of the 2024 Ohio Book Award for Book About Ohio or an Ohioan for her book Dream Town: Shaker Heights and the Quest for Racial Equity. Her book examines the history of and ongoing efforts towards racial integration and equity in the Cleveland suburb. A native of Shaker Heights, she examines the city in three sections: the founding of Shaker Heights, the arrival of the first black families, and the current focus on closing the academic achievement gap. This last is the most difficult to understand: Why does the gap persist? What should be done differently? How can the work of so many well-intentioned people not fulfill the promise of racial integration in America?

As I discovered in talking with Meckler, it’s a thorny, difficult issue, one compounded by multiple factors, of which race is just one. Listen in to hear her thoughts on the struggles and where she finds hope in the relentless efforts of Shaker Heights citizens. Then, read the book and learn why it’s an award winner.

You can meet Laura Meckler and the other winners of the 2024 Ohio Book Awards on October 29 at the Ohio Statehouse.

Columbus horror author Rami Ungar developed his passion for horror by reading masters like Anne Rice and Stephen King. He explored the Japanese ghost legend Hanako-san in his short story “Hannah” from his collection Hannah and Other Stories,’ which Craft adapted for radio broadcast on WCBE, 90.5 FM, on October 31 at 7 PM. In this story and others, Ungar explores timely fears like the influence of the internet and the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s also a coordinator for the Horror Writers Association‘s Ohio chapter, who will participate in Scary Saturday on October 26 at the Columbus Metropolitan Library.

Blogger and food writer Sarah Lohman won not one but two 2024Ohio Book Awards: the Ohio Book Award in Nonfiction and the Reader’s Choice Award for her book Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Food. The Ohioana Library will present the Ohio Book Awards at the 83rd Annual Ohio Book Awards Celebration on October 29th, where you can meet the award winners. Lohman also wrote Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine, which argues that eight flavors unify American cooking: black pepper, vanilla, curry powder, chili powder, soy sauce, garlic, msg, and sriracha. I was only able to find six in my kitchen, but maybe you’re a more adventurous cook than I am? Listen in to hear Sarah’s judgement on my taste.

The first song I heard by Dar Williams was a transcendent version of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” that my late wife played for me.

“Listen to this,” she said, “It’s awesome.”

It was.

Spare, moody, reflective: Dar’s version highlights the powerful lyrics of the song.

My recent conversation with Dar showed me that her cover was the tip of the iceberg. Williams sings; writes poems, songs, and books; and gives talks that brings people together.

She’s been releasing music since her first album in 1990 and turned to prose with 2012’s publication of the children’s book Amalee. Among other topics, we discussed her 2017 book What I Found in a Thousand Towns, which explores the concept of ‘positive proximity’ in rebuilding communities. Through examples like Phoenixville’s transformation with Blob Fest, she described how social connections can revitalize towns. Williams also shared insights on songwriting from her latest book How to Write a Song That Matters, which she views as How to Write a Song That Matters To You.

Her songs do. Check her out.

Dar Williams will be in town on November 8 with Six String Concerts

Singer-songwriter Ruth Moody will be in Columbus on September 27 with Six String Concerts. We discussed her new solo album “Wanderer,” her first in a decade, which reflects on motherhood, grief, and love. The album, recorded in Nashville, is deeply personal and resonates with her audience through its emotional vulnerability. She details the challenges of balancing motherhood with her career, including the difficulty of touring with a young child and the need to write in short, focused intervals. Moody also shares her journey of learning various instruments, including piano, guitar, banjo, accordion, and bodhrán, and her experience collaborating with Mark Knopfler.

Poet George Bilgere, aka, Our Man in Berlin, drops by to discuss his latest, Cheap Motels of My Youth, which began at a café in Berlin and won the Rattle Magazine chapbook contest. We talk about his writing process, family, and approach to poetry in the digital age. He reads several of his poems, providing a fascinating glimpse into his creative life, largely brought on by being in Berlin (ok, I may be exaggerating here for reasons that will become clear when you listen to the podcast). For more from him, visit his radio show Wordplay and his recently launched Poetry Town, an online poem-a-day series.