Mississippi Arts Hour

Lauren Rhoades talks with author Addie E. Citchens about her widely acclaimed debut novel DOMINION, a searing family drama set in the Mississippi Delta. Citchens is a Clarksdale native who now lives in New Orleans. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and Oxford American's "Best of the South." Citchens writings on blues history have been featured in Mississippi Folklife. On the Arts Hour, Citchens discusses how her Mississippi upbringing shaped her writing, the experience of publishing her first novel, and the writers and artists who have influenced her work. If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

This is the second installment of the Favorite Poem Podcast Series hosted by Mississippi Poet Laureate Ann Fisher-Wirth, featuring C. Liegh McInnis reading and discussing a poem by Margaret Walker.

Larry Morrisey talks with Hattiesburg-based photographer Betty Press. A Nebraska native, Press has lived in Mississippi for over 20 years. She has photographed throughout the state. Over the summer she was a featured artist in the biennial exhibition of Mississippi artists at the Mississippi Museum of Art. If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

The Mississippi Arts Hour goes international for this week's episode. Executive Director David Lewis is talking all about the Venice Architecture Biennale and speaking with Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum. At the American Pavilion of the Venice Biennale, MSU's two design research centers are on display, for the first time in the university's history. David interviews both centers' directors - Leah Kemp with the Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center and David Perkes with the Gulf Coast Community Design Center - about the process of being featuring in the "Olympics of Architecture" and what approach each center took to showcasing the American Front Porch. If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

Kristen Brandt talks to Rae Nell Vaughn of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and Jay Wesley, Director for the Department of Chahta Immi, as well as anthropologist and professor Tom Mould. They have collaborated on two related publications that represent some of the most comprehensive collections of Choctaw histories, stories, and traditions ever compiled into print. They discuss the two publications, Choctaw Tales and Choctaw Traditions. If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

Leslie Barker talks with theatre artists, John and Diana Howell. They are two of the founding members of Fondren Theatre Workshop. Since its inception in 2003, Fondren Theatre Workshop has been committed to being not just a community theater, but a theater community. John and Diana talk about how it all started and some of the most memorable productions throughout the years. To name just a few of those productions – AVENUE Q, THE WINTER’S TALE, ASSASSINS, DINNER WITH FRIENDS, THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, and premiers of many brand-new works. They also fill us in on the upcoming return of the 24-Hour, 10 Minute Play Project. If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

Lauren Rhoades talks with poet Kendall Dunkelberg, whose newly released collection of poetry is titled TREE FALL WITH BIRDSONG. Dunkelberg directs the low-residency MFA in Creative Writing at Mississippi University for Women. He is the editor of Poetry South, and has three previous poetry collections, BARRIER ISLAND SUITE, TIME CAPSULES, and LANDSCAPES AND ARCHITECTURES, and the textbook, A WRITER'S CRAFT: MULTI-GENRE CREATIVE WRITING. On the Arts Hour, Kendall discusses the creation of his latest book, the role of nature in his poetry, his creative process, and more. If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

In this first podcast from the new series The Favorite Poem Project, Mississippi Poet Laureate Ann Fisher-Wirth discusses the American poet Emily Dickinson, reads her poem "A Bird came down the Walk—", and talks about the poem.

Larry Morrisey sits down with musician and Meridian native Patrick Sansone about his radio show “Baroque Down Palace,” which has recently been added to MPB Think Radio’s Saturday night music lineup (6 p.m. on Saturdays). Sansone features a wide range of music from the 1960s and 1970s that incorporates classical or orchestral elements as part of the arrangement. “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles is a well-known example, but Sansone delves deeper, playing music by legends of the era, as well as obscure “crate digger” record finds that he has collected over the years. If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.