Craft: Exploring Creativity

Poet, essayist and Ohio State University faculty member Zoë Brigley grew up in Wales, reading books by and about authors. She felt a particular draw toward the fascinating and controversial life of feminist icon Mary Wollstonecraft. Brigley’s most recently published book is a collection coauthored with Jenny Mitchell and Roy McFarlane called Family Name. In it, Brigley explores the life of this pioneer via found poetry in Wollstonecraft’s writing and Brigley’s own poetry. She delves into Wollstonecraft’s life, relationships, and contributions to women’s rights.

Brigley also shares insights into her role as an editor for Wales’s leading poetry journal, Poetry Wales. We discuss the selection process for published works and the importance of encouraging writers. Our conversation also touches on the art of writing, the intimacy of letters, and the joys of interviewing poets about their creative process.

After listening to this podcast, you can meet Zoë Brigley at the 2024 Ohioana Book Festival. And while you’re there, catch some of the eight authors I’ll be interviewing as well or listen to them live!

Columbus-based wellness author Nita Sweeney was a Faulkner Society Award finalist and an Ohio Arts Council Governor’s Award nominee for her 2019 memoir, Depression Hates a Moving Target. The book was a number one Amazon new release in the mood disorders, bipolar disorder, and running and jogging categories. She has released three other books since then: a 2020 co-authored writing journal called You Should Be Writing: A Journal of Inspiration and Instruction To Keep Your Pen Moving; 2022’s Make Every Move a Meditation: Mindful Movement for Mental Health, Well-Being, and Insight. Her most recent publication is A Daily Dose of Now: 365 Mindful Meditation Practices for Living in the Moment.

Listen in as Nita describes her writing journey, challenges, and successes, and the persistence that helped land her first book deal and then meet her at the 2024 Ohioana Book Festival!

When the Trump campaign hired voting expert Ken Block to investigate voter fraud after the 2020 election, he knew it would be contentious. But Block had studied voting fraud for a decade and he promised a fair and objective review of the votes to determine if there was fraud.

His findings form the basis for his new book: Disproven: My Unbiased Search for Voter Fraud for the Trump Campaign, the Data that Shows Why He Lost, and How We Can Improve Our Elections. He found minimal evidence of deceased voters and duplicate votes, debunked voter fraud claims, and provided suggestions for improving election integrity. Block also reflects on the impact of his findings on Trump supporters and his role within the Republican party.

Singer-Songwriter Leslie Mendelson will be in Columbus on March 15 with Six String Concerts. We spoke recently about her most recent album, In the Meantime, and her forthcoming album After the Party. The latter gave her the opportunity to work with multiple producers, a new way to create an album. The lead song on After the Party, “Other Girls,” examines what it’s like to discuss your emotional responses to other people to your partner, always a sensitive subject. It hit a chord with me, because, like many people, I’ve been in relationships with jealous and not jealous people. Leslie calls “Other Girls” a way to deal with jealousy and empower women. We ended by discussing her amazing opportunity to open for The Who and solo Roger Daltrey.

 Singer songwriter Richard Schindel returns to perform at Six String Concerts on Saturday, February 24th, 2024. We spoke recently about his latest endeavors.

Shindell described his recent past as, “I’ve been living here in Buenos Aires and… I’ve been writing poetry. I recently started a substack project, which comes out once a week, which is very eclectic.” The eclectic nature of his Substack is evident in the breadth of topics and genres Shindell covers, from short essays to photographs to even recipes, such as his mother’s sweet potato pone recipe. As he puts it, it functions to “broaden [his] creative practice and just throw a lot of stuff at the wall.”

Listen in to hear more about what stuff sticks to the wall, what falls off, and why we each have night-driving anxiety. Then, get tickets for his Feb 24 concert.

Drive through rural Ohio, and you’ll see thousands of stands of trees, surrounded by brush and plants. You may wonder, “Could I eat any of those?” At times like this, you really need someone like Mimi Prunella Hernandez, who holds a master of science in herbal medicine and is a registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild. Her recently released book, National Geographic Herbal, 100 Herbs from the World’s Healing Tradition, documents edible and medicinal herbs.

Hernandez says that the book was the result of “a couple of lectures [she] did at a medical school in Portland,” with her storytelling ability being one of the most noteworthy aspects.

We discuss which herbs are best for the garden and which are surprisingly useful, such as the invasive kudzu plant. She describes how to make tea from honeysuckle and how to learn to enjoy even bitter plants like dandelion and burdock roots or artichoke leaves. Hernandez also gives her top herbs to grow in a summer garden, such as basil and oregano, among others.

Listen in to learn more!

New Orleans singer-songwriter, lyrical guitarist, and composer Joy Clark will appear with Six String Concerts in Columbus on Friday, November 10th with guitarist and singer-songwriter Brooks Williams. I spoke with her about how she grew up playing music in church, her latest single “Guest,” and how she plays guitar lyrically.

For the rest of our interview, check out the link below, and then see Joy Clark on November 10.

His website describes Craig Carothers as a renaissance man who is a singer, songwriter, producer, recording engineer, background singer, booking agent, graphic designer, photographer, Tex Mex connoisseur, left wing inactivist, and a collector of exquisitely obsolete gadgets. And during our talk, he added another label: “a novelist of sorts,” since his work is “trying to incorporate other people’s stories and … [create] songs to try to get to a particular kind of a point.”

We also discussed how long it can take to write a song and how Carothers whiles away time during long drives between gigs.

He will appear with Six String Concerts on October 6th.

It’s been a long journey for cartoons and comics, which started in newspapers and broadsheets and on low-grade comics paper (some of which is slowly collapsing in boxes in my house). But comics and cartoons are big business now: witness the MCU and to a lesser and darker extent, the DC Universe.

But no matter what your comics or cartoon interests are, you can find like minded people at this years Cartoon Crossroad Columbus (CxC) from September 27 to October 1.

I spoke with CxC’s co programming chair Ben Towle, who described Columbus as a hub for cartoon and comics interests. From the CxC to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library at Ohio State University to Columbus College of Art and Design’s comics and narrative practice program, Columbus has many ways to learn about, celebrate, and engage with comics.

Guests at CxC this year include Raina Telgemeier, who Ben describes as “if you are a parent and you have kids who are or have been eight to ten years old, I can guarantee you they know who Raina Telgemeier.” Daniel Clowes will also give a talk about his work, which ranges from Ghost World to Art School Confidential to Wilson to this year’s Monica.

So get out of the house before winter arrives and see some creativity in action.