Speaker 1 00:00:59 Greetings and thank you for joining Disability and Progress, where we bring you insights into ideas about, and discussions on disability topics. My name is Sam, I'm the host of this show. Thanks so much for tuning in. If you'd like it, p be a part of our listener club. You can email me at Disability and
[email protected] and look forward to hearing your name on the air. That's Disability and progress, sam jasmine.com. Charlene Doll is my research woman. Hello, Charlene. Good afternoon everyone. The sun is out and it is getting good for Minnesota <laugh>. We're starting to unbury ourselves this week. We have an awesome set here. This week we'll be, um, discussing Metro States University's hosting of an afternoon of poetry and conversation. Um, April apparently is national dis uh, poetry month. So joining us, we have Associate Professor of Fine Arts, Suzanne Nielsen, and Publisher Bello Miguel Cipriani. Hello everybody. Thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate that. Um, I wanted to finish off by saying we will be talking about, um, professor Nielsen's book, her new poetry book Face Up A Collection of Outlaw Poems. So this will be interesting to talk about this. Suzanne, uh, can you start out for me by telling us a little bit of, uh, history about you and your path to writing?
Speaker 2 00:02:30 Sure. Um, it would take a long time cuz I'm old.
Speaker 1 00:02:36 You can condense it.
Speaker 2 00:02:38 <laugh>. When I, when I graduated from Metro State with an undergraduate degree, I was one of the first people to graduate with a writing degree. They didn't have a creative writing degree at the time. And, and, um, and then I went on to grad school and did that and came into teaching. Not, I, I I, I didn't expect to be a writing teacher. I expected to always write Mm. Which is something I've always done and, and I I landed it by happenstance and, and I love it.
Speaker 1 00:03:24 Excellent. Thank you. Um, Bella, I'm, it's your turn now, <laugh>. Um, talk about you weren't always a publisher, will you? Um, you have an interesting path as well.
Speaker 3 00:03:36 Yeah. You know, I've kind of, um, dabbled into different forms of writing. You know, I was a, a journalist for a, a while and I was on, I worked on radio and then, uh, started teaching and, um, got this opportunity to start this, um, publishing house through a grant. And, you know, one thing led to another and, you know, a couple years later we're, you know, we're, we're, we're a micro press, uh, based outta Minneapolis that has a, publishes the work of Writers with Disabilities. And, you know, this is our, our third book and we're releasing two more, uh, later this year. And so, yeah, I'm, you know, similar to Suzanne where, you know, my, my my goal was just to write and it just opened up with these other opportunities.
Speaker 1 00:04:17 And didn't you do stuff in Silicone Valley or something, or were you a tech person before?
Speaker 3 00:04:24 I, I was, and they, you know, that's, you know, um, I'm on millennial, so I have like 10 jobs, <laugh> <laugh>. But, um, I, you know, I worked in high tech for a while and I do have my, um, I have a digital accessibility firm mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and we do, you know, accessibility audits and we do a lot of training. And so that's, you know, about half my time. And then the other, the rest is spent, um, with the press.
Speaker 1 00:04:47 Excellent. So I'll touch on it again at the end, but I'd like to briefly, um, announce the poetry event that's coming up this Tuesday, I believe, right?
Speaker 2 00:05:00 Yes.
Speaker 1 00:05:01 Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Speaker 2 00:05:09 Ella, do you wanna go or?
Speaker 3 00:05:11 Sure. So, um, we, uh, OLA Books partnered up with Metro State mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, to celebrate, uh, national Poetry Month, which is April mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And we're doing, uh, an event next Tuesday, April 11th in Avi School Auditorium in St. Paul, but people can also stream live, so you could still check it out. Excellent. And you'll be able to get the information, if you go to metro state.edu, look at our events page, and then it's, um, face up, um, uh, an evening of poetry and then people could get the zoom link there.
Speaker 1 00:05:44 Does it, is it, does it cost?
Speaker 3 00:05:47 It's everything's free and we're, you know, offering ASL interpretation and captioning. And we have, Metro State has a very robust accessibility program, so we're, we're, we're counting on their support.
Speaker 1 00:05:59 Excellent. All right. Well, good luck with that. I, how long will it last?
Speaker 3 00:06:06 We have it scheduled, um, from four 30 to six 30, but we, there's intermissions, we're starting with, um, couple readings from different poets from mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, local poets who are kind of speaking to the theme of facing up to something. Right. And we're gonna have a discussion panel, um, and we're gonna be giving away some prizes as well from all the books. And so we are hoping that, you know, people could just stop in for, you know, as long or as, as long or as little as they can.
Speaker 1 00:06:33 Excellent. Uh, Suzanne, I, I wanted to talk that it's an interesting title called Face Up, which could mean a number of things. Talk a little bit about that meaning of that title to you.
Speaker 2 00:06:50 I think the, the meaning of the title to me is, um, it, it's kind of my mantra for, for poetry. It's my poetry are snippets of life. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, they're usually about things related to facing up to something.
Speaker 1 00:07:13 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, yes. A little bit dark
Speaker 2 00:07:17 <laugh>. Yeah, yeah. With, with some humor mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, interspersed. But yeah.
Speaker 1 00:07:25 Yes. I found it very interesting. And I, I like to say when people, people have told me I'm a cynic, I said, no, I'm a realist <laugh>. Um, and I think that's <laugh>, you know, it, it, it, it does, it puts a lot of things in perspective. I feel like there's a lot of conversational pieces there that talk about some pretty heavy things, um, right. And I think it, it's just kind of puts 'em out there on the table. Bella, I wanted
Speaker 2 00:07:54 Go ahead. Oh, go ahead.
Speaker 1 00:07:56 Oh, no, go ahead.
Speaker 2 00:07:57 Well, I was gonna say, yeah, it, and it puts them out on the table, but they don't, they, I mean, they're
Speaker 1 00:08:05 Quick. Yes, that's right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:08:08 Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:08:08 Little snippets, quick things. And, um, I think, do you, is there a reason why they're shorter as opposed to kind of linking them out? Did you feel like it kind of gives people a little perspective to like, step back and think about what, what did she just say? <laugh>?
Speaker 2 00:08:29 I, that's a very good question. I think I, I am a minimalist mm-hmm. <affirmative> when it comes to writing, and I really sort of gravitate toward things that can be told in 500 words or less. And with poetry mm-hmm. <affirmative> for me, the, um, the less the better because it makes me be brave.
Speaker 1 00:08:54 Yes. You kind of have to say things, you know, quickly and, and to the point so people get what you're doing. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:09:02 Exactly.
Speaker 1 00:09:05 Bella, I'm, I'm curious to your adjustment cuz you have a visual impairment, um, your adjustment to, and you haven't always been blind, so your adjustment to, to editing and publishing as somebody that has a vision, um, visual impairment is, can you talk a little bit about the adjustment? Was there a lot or not too bad?
Speaker 3 00:09:32 You know, I think that, you know, for when I was in grad school getting my master's in creative writing mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, there was, you know, opportunities to do internships and a lot of presses would come by and, you know, uh, interview our grad students for internships. And at that time I remember thinking, I don't think I could do that because, you know, designing book covers and, and book layout and those things are so visual, I didn't think I could do that. And then when I said that, you know, um, the people around me kind of just confirmed that. Yeah, I think you're right, Bella. And it wasn't until I got into, you know, doing the accessibility work that I figured out how to use, you know, some tools to the point where that I actually, I designed the book cover for, for, uh, face Up.
Speaker 1 00:10:18 Right. And I was wondering, you know, you, you had vision before, so don't, don't you feel like maybe that has helped, you know, as opposed to somebody who never had vision? Like you kind of have a leg up? Oh,
Speaker 3 00:10:31 Absolutely. I mean, I, you know, I worked in Silicon Valley and I did a lot of design work. I mean, I was working with Adobe and, you know, um, um, some of the other design tools like, uh, freehand and, and Page Mill, like, you know, back in the nineties. And so I, I definitely had a good sense of design. Um, I just, I think for me as a, as a blind person, I had that misconception that I couldn't, you know, lead sighted people in the visual project. But that, you know, as it proved with our Ola Books website and our book covers, I'm, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm able to direct and, and deliver a product. So it's something that I, I wanna really, you know, talk about with other people is, you know, there might be some way different way of getting people to help you create something. It doesn't mean that you're a less part of it. You're still a contributor in some way.
Speaker 1 00:11:21 Right. Uh, Suzanne, you have many poems in this book titled Face Up. Do you have a favorite and why if you do?
Speaker 2 00:11:33 I, I, I, I guess I have a favorite of the day. Maybe <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:11:38 Well, what's today's favorite <laugh>?
Speaker 2 00:11:42 Um, you know, I, I, I looked through here and I, and I think today's favorite goes with Moonglow.
Speaker 1 00:11:51 Ah, do you wanna talk a little bit about that one?
Speaker 2 00:11:55 Um, how about if I just read it? Okay,
Speaker 1 00:11:58 There
Speaker 2 00:11:59 You go. Would that be
Speaker 1 00:12:00 Okay? That'd be great.
Speaker 2 00:12:03 Moonglow, she said she wanted to return to that special place she visited so long ago where the giraffe spoke French and the dolphin sang bitter blues to a keyboard playing in the background. And where she remembered once on a still night, the phosphorescence danced in response to her lead. But how to get back, where is there follow the stars falling across the moon.
Speaker 1 00:12:37 So tell me a little bit about that piece.
Speaker 2 00:12:42 I think, um, all my pieces stem from, from, uh, uh, an image that stays with me, uh, a saying, a moment in time that stays with me. And I think, um, this was just, this was in response to returning from a trip to the ocean. Ah, mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 1 00:13:16 Yes. Those can be very thought provoking.
Speaker 2 00:13:19 Yes. Yes.
Speaker 1 00:13:22 How long did it take you to put together this book?
Speaker 2 00:13:30 Oh, boy, Bella. How long did it take? It? Um, bell and I worked very closely on this collection, and when we first started it, we, we had intended it to lean sort of somewhere else, and it leaned into this, and there were many, many new snippets that came to me during the process of writing this. And I tried to think of themes or an overall theme mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but I really got a lot of help from Bella. I really, you know, like Bella would say to me something like, um, what do you think, what do you think about a baby's fist for the cover? And what, what do you think about like, some, some images of it, like pow bam bang, like in cartoon where you have that, that shattered image mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, with, with that word. And or he'd say something to me like, what's the weather like in Minnesota
Speaker 1 00:14:54 <laugh>? Yeah. But you, you might wanna ask, I
Speaker 2 00:14:58 Mean, he, he would get me, he would get me started Uhhuh, I guess is what I'm saying. You know, it's the, the little engine that could,
Speaker 1 00:15:07 Well,
Speaker 3 00:15:08 May I jump right in here for a second?
Speaker 1 00:15:09 Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3 00:15:10 Um, you know, something, as somebody who was, you know, I had a literary agent and I was submitting in for, you know, my books to different projects, you know, as a person with a disability, I often had a hard time meeting my deadlines, you know mm-hmm. <affirmative> because of, you know, accessibility issues, equipment not working sometimes because as a, as a blind person, it just takes me longer to, to do certain things. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and I had a really hard time meeting publishing deadlines, and I had a couple publishers drop me because I was not meeting deadlines. And so when I, with all the books, I really wanna not be, have deadlines be anything that causes stress. And so, you know, which, um, it's very individual. So with Suzanne, you know, we kind of talked a lot and just let the process kind of unfold on its own.
Speaker 3 00:15:58 So I would say, you know, once her manuscript was selected as the winner of the, the, uh, all the books poetry prize. But once we, it came in and we started doing the developmental editing, I would say it was between six to nine months of just taking her time with hps and really reflecting, you know, not feeling rushed or Yes. Or having those deadlines of having to launch and, you know, sell, sell, sell. Right, right. You know, our approach was just really to allow, you know, the, the, the writer, the artist, Suzanne in this case, to really take her time and, and, um, and put something out there that she's comfortable with.
Speaker 1 00:16:35 Bella, if it's okay, I'd like to talk a little bit about Ola books, because you're kind of young in your, your youth as far as with this book publishing company. Is that not correct?
Speaker 3 00:16:47 That's, that's true. We're, we're just, um, we are actually turning, uh, five, um,
Speaker 1 00:16:53 Oh, congratulations. This month, April.
Speaker 3 00:16:55 And so within the publishing world, uh, we we're babies <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:16:59 Yes, that's right.
Speaker 3 00:17:01 But, um, I'm really excited, you know, we're, I'm really hoping to, you know, um, make writing for writers with disability more accessible. So in additional, in addition to publishing books, we're gonna be launching writing courses. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, in the near future, people could take, you know, some writing courses live or asynchronous at their own pace, and we're really hoping to then introduce some coaching sessions. I really wanna make the publishing world more accessible. And so that's where we're kind of gearing. So we're, we're excited about our, our growth.
Speaker 1 00:17:33 And will your writing courses be like for the average person, or will you be aiming them towards the person who aims to write? Like, I, I guess I asked that wrong. I mean, everyone, you know, a lot of people wanna dabble in writing, or are you looking for more professionals,
Speaker 3 00:17:51 You know, so we're gonna have, uh, it's gonna be set to specific themes and, um, specific types of genre writing mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And so, for instance, we're gonna have like a, a, a course just on, uh, what's called writing essays, where two themes break together to make one essay, or we're gonna have one on narrative poetry, or one just on science fiction, one just on young adult. So they're gonna be hyper, hyper-focused on a theme, more genre. And I'm hoping that, you know, that gives people the, the ability to come in and, you know, get what they need and, you know, move around as a, according to what their needs are.
Speaker 1 00:18:29 I'm really happy to see that you're publishing books for people with disabilities. Is this, I feel like I've seen more publishing come up like this. Is it, you think that all of a sudden now it's just people are getting the w wind under the wings and thinking, I can do this and I can find somebody who will actually publish my work? Or are you still feeling like you're one of the few publishers out there?
Speaker 3 00:18:53 Well, I'm definitely, you know, not the only one. There's other presses, you know, um, throughout the, throughout the country that, throughout the, the US that I'm, you know, I, I work with and collaborate with. Um, you know, I'm all about community of practice. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I feel that people are, are, um, writers with disability. Maybe it's because of social media or the web, how things are growing and, and connecting us that they're, they're more adventure, you know, we're willing to put ourselves out there and reach out and do research. And I think it's just really technology that's helped us really be able to, you know, uh, reach for, for our writing goals.
Speaker 1 00:19:31 Um, Suzanne, what was your hardest poem to kind of write and put together in this book?
Speaker 2 00:19:42 Um, I think Face Up.
Speaker 1 00:19:45 Ah,
Speaker 2 00:19:47 Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 00:19:48 <affirmative>. And can I, is this face up? Is it about you?
Speaker 2 00:19:53 It is, yes. Wow.
Speaker 1 00:19:58 I'm presuming that you are the third daughter.
Speaker 2 00:20:02 Yes.
Speaker 1 00:20:03 Would you be willing to read it?
Speaker 2 00:20:06 Sure. Faa I see on Facebook that my birth mother has died. I look at her photo, the size of a postage stamp, and there in the background are several of her adult children. Nothing alphabetically, chronological in names. More of a focus on birth order. I slip back 40 years, and there I am in the middle of a snowstorm. My wiper blades have no protection, metal on glass, fighting metal on ice. I need to get to where I'm going. So I drive peering through little 2020 slits in the window shield, determined to find her, them, the family that was left behind. Their neighbors insist I ran away. Others were told I was institutionalized. Still others were suspicious, but kept to themselves. I was three at the time. My God, 60 years ago, there stands a woman on the corner of cedar and seventh smoking. Nothing covering her head, her hands, chapped.
Speaker 2 00:21:27 I see. She speaks in a low brow, asks me if I, am she the girl that got away before I answer. She pulls out of her pocket and overworked billfold opening it, and headshots of strangers litter the pavement. Some curious enough to land face first. These are my children. She says, I think we are playing gin rummy, trying to match faces in pairs. Some are duplicates. She says she bends over stands wide and gathers her collection Rambling. Rampantly, Kathy, Anita, Phyllis, Evelyn, Lawrence, and Amy. Those are your sisters and brother. That's your family. Now we have to find Michael, you look good. Are your mom and dad Good to you? I stopped her at that point. I saw where this was going five years from now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now, 40 years from now, far away removed. I see on Facebook that my birth mother has died. I look at her photo, the size of a postage stamp. And there in the background are several of her adult children. Nothing alphabetically, chronological in names. More of a focus on birth order or not. Skipping the oldest, skipping the third child, yet keeping duplicates like wild cards, keeping things orderly, keeping the curious at bay.
Speaker 1 00:23:13 Thank you. Thank you. That's so sad. <laugh>. Um, that must have been a very difficult one to write.
Speaker 2 00:23:23 That one took me a while, Sam. Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:23:27 I believe it. Um, presumably the oldest was your brother
Speaker 2 00:23:33 Yes. Who
Speaker 1 00:23:34 Had maybe a disability as well.
Speaker 2 00:23:37 Yes.
Speaker 1 00:23:38 Ah, okay. I see where this is going. <laugh>, just like you did. Wow. That's pretty strong. Um, that is pretty strong. I'm, I'm, I'm kind of, I mean, I got the feeling when I read it and it was, it really spoke to me of, I feel having known many people with disabilities as I was growing up, that this is not unusual.
Speaker 2 00:24:05 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 1 00:24:07 Yes. And yet the ones who have their families intact, who have disabilities are often fairly lucky, but there are so many who don't. Um, yes. So thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 2 00:24:19 Thank you.
Speaker 1 00:24:22 I want to, um, talk to, uh, Bella about, I know you designed the cover of the book. You had that idea and helped design it. Um, how, how hard was that? There were fonts I think that you had to introduce yourself to, right?
Speaker 3 00:24:50 Yes. So, you know, my, um, you know, my, my visual memory is, you know, um, a little outdated. You know, my memory is maybe as far as my design experience goes back to like the late nineties, early two thousands mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And so when I started to attempt to design, um, the book of for, uh, Jesus's book, I, um, was looking at the different font styles. And there was these, some, these fonts that I had in my memory that, cuz I know what they look like and people, I remember the designer saying, that doesn't exist anymore. And I was thinking like, oh, crap, <laugh>, you know, and there's all these new font with very camping names. And I just like, just really relied on people describing them. And, um, you know, having the accessibility background, looking at something that, you know, was, you know, be accessible to a, a white, you know, group of people. And yeah, no, it was definitely a lot of, um, rediscovering some elements of design for sure.
Speaker 1 00:25:51 Was it difficult to wrap your head around? Or did you kind of get the idea? Because, I mean, how did you wrap your head around what they actually looked like?
Speaker 3 00:26:01 You know, so I met with, I had a couple different people, so it was almost like design by committee. I had people, different people describe things to me. Um, which, you know, someone who's, who's blind, I, I tend to do that. I ask the same question to three people. And based on their feedback, I like, you know, do an analysis. Okay. If two people said this is, this is probably what it really is, <laugh> Yes.
Speaker 1 00:26:21 Yeah. I think we've all been there, done that <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:26:23 Yeah, exactly. Right. Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 00:26:26 And so there was definitely a lot of that designed by committee, but I feel that, you know, I, I allowed myself, you know, not to limit myself. Mm-hmm. I mean mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I, I think in the past, anytime something design related, I would just completely outsource it and just say, I trust you. You could see, you know, let's just call it a day. I think that this is probably the first time where I want, I was involved in every single step and, you know, I just feel very lucky that through this process I started, you know, you know, doing things. I started painting again and I started, ah, reaching back into that part that had been dormant for, you know, for decades, for over a decade. And I think that, you know, this is, you know, a very, uh, therapeutic, uh, process for me.
Speaker 1 00:27:15 Help get your confidence back in this realm. Absolutely. Suzanne, I understand that Face Up is the winner of the 2021 Ola Books Poetry Prize. So congratulations there. Um, thank you. How did you feel when you got that?
Speaker 2 00:27:37 Well, I, I, you know, I, I felt, I felt great. <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:27:49 This certainly isn't your first book that you've written. Right? You have other, this
Speaker 2 00:27:55 Is, this is not my first book. No. I, um, I was shocked that I won the prize because, um, it was some tough competition, I'm sure. And I felt very, um, very honored. This was a joint effort. I got a lot of help from Bell.
Speaker 1 00:28:21 I really feel like that this particular book Face Up has such a breadth of, I mean, the, the different topics in there. There's a lot, um mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And I think that keeps the person really interested. It's not just one topic, there's it, it goes everywhere. So I feel like that's kind of a, uh, all encompassing, like, if you wanna find something deep, you can find it. If you wanna find something kind of light, you can find it. If you wanna find serious, there's a lot of that. Maybe some humor too. Um, yeah. As a teacher, do you feel like writing has changed in the last, let's say 40 years? And how do you think it's changed? Because it, it feels like it's different to me now.
Speaker 2 00:29:13 I think it's different in, in certain, certain ways that are real obvious, such as the internet. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, and, and things like that. I think it's different. Um, I, I guess there's a lot more sci-fi than I, than, or, um,
Speaker 1 00:29:36 Well, that's true. <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:29:38 You know, I, I, I, yeah. I think maybe things have changed in the last 40 years, maybe a little bit. I am, I'm not sure that, um, the soul of, of a writing student has changed that much. Hmm.
Speaker 1 00:29:58 I was just thinking too, like the language part even, you know, there's different words than we ever used to use some Sure. Of the slang and things like that. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, it must be interesting as a teacher to kind of keep up with that <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:30:13 Yeah. It, it, you know, I think when, when students work with, with, I work with a great colleague mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and when students work with the two of us, which is who they most work mostly with, um, it, you know, it's, they're focused, they're really focused. And, um, and that, that makes the teaching, I think, all that much more fulfilling
Speaker 1 00:30:55 Bell. Um, where did the title Oli books come from?
Speaker 3 00:31:02 Oli is my name in reverse.
Speaker 1 00:31:04 Oh, geez. Oh, wow. <laugh>. Sorry, <laugh>. There's a dumb moment there. <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:31:09 No. And
Speaker 1 00:31:10 Oh, funny. I didn't even think of that.
Speaker 3 00:31:13 That's great. And so, um, you know, I, um, I put my company together very quickly. Like I said, I had a grant and there is a project in Looming, and, and I, you know, didn't, you know, wanted something interesting and unique.
Speaker 1 00:31:29 Oh, that certainly is. It
Speaker 3 00:31:31 Was kinda, so I was inspired by, you know, Oprah. I totally copied, you know, Harpo Productions, <laugh>. Ah, but, you know, um, that was the, the inspiration there. But yeah, no, it's, it's my name and, you know, um, it's worked out cuz that's kind of been my brand, you know, that's the name of my other company is, you know, Ola Media. And then we're gonna be launching Ola Academy pretty soon. And so just kind of, you know, I just ran with it and it's working.
Speaker 1 00:31:55 So how many people are you getting that submit their stuff to you? Like, are you getting a ton or
Speaker 3 00:32:02 We're getting quite a bit for Suzanne's book. She was chosen from a pool of 409 submissions.
Speaker 1 00:32:09 Cool. Um,
Speaker 3 00:32:11 Um,
Speaker 1 00:32:13 So how much, I mean, obviously, are you, I mean, are there a lot of people submitting their writing to you?
Speaker 3 00:32:23 There? There are. You know, and that's one of the reasons why I wanna, you know, start finding different ways of publishing people. That's not really a book. Like I'm really hoping, um, you know, through the sale of our courses that we could afford to pay people to publish them on our blogs. I'm really big on paying people, especially, you know, uh, people who are artists, <laugh>. And so that's kind of the goal for, for, for me, you know, when we're launching these courses is another way to get revenue is just to pay, to bring, to pay it forward. And that, that's my goal for these courses, is to be able to pay the writers to publish them on our blog and, and find different ways to get their work visible, to get them, you know, an audience and more visibility.
Speaker 1 00:33:06 And, um, Suzanne, what can we look forward to? Uh, do you have any more, is anything sitting thinking that you're gonna come out with next?
Speaker 2 00:33:17 Well, this, this semester I've been on sabbatical. Ah, and on January 1st I started writing 70 poems for 70 days. Oh, <laugh>. And I did it with, there, there were quite a few students that took on the challenge with me. And that was really, that was encouraging I think, for all of us. And my goal with that was, um, was equal healthcare for, for men and women. Mm. And so my focus was on equality, um, bullies. Mm, yes. Abortion. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, different things. So what I, uh, you know, I started off really with a strong leaning toward focusing on abortion because many decades ago I was an abortion counselor at Meadowbrook. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I, I had this experience and I was really quite appalled when the Supreme Court played, played a game on us <laugh>. And, um, so yeah, I was very motivated to focus on abortion. About 40 days into it, I couldn't do it anymore. It was just too intense. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So I, I started to lean toward, um, another version, um, but a little bit more focused on bullying in general.
Speaker 1 00:35:10 Okay.
Speaker 2 00:35:11 And so that's what I've been working on, is a collection of poems, um, about bullies
Speaker 1 00:35:20 And are this, and
Speaker 2 00:35:22 How it's really not all that bullish to be a bully
Speaker 1 00:35:26 <laugh>. And, and would this be like online bullying? Everyday Bullying. Bullying and the, um, you know, this
Speaker 2 00:35:34 Yeah. It's again, Sam, uh, you know, sort of a collection of snippets.
Speaker 1 00:35:39 Ah, okay.
Speaker 2 00:35:40 You know, things that I've seen, heard, um, felt, um, tried to get rid of
Speaker 1 00:35:50 <laugh>. Right.
Speaker 2 00:35:51 You know, those situations that all of a sudden you go bully. Ugh. I remember.
Speaker 1 00:35:58 Right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:35:59 Or I remember watching, or I remember hearing, you know, um, so it ju it's, it's kind of, sort of steered more into about bully hood and how icky it is. Mm. Isn't that a great word? Icky. Yes.
Speaker 1 00:36:22 <laugh>. It's, it is a pretty good word.
Speaker 5 00:36:27 That sounds very interesting. It's really bullying is, uh, it's gotten out the epidemic
Speaker 2 00:36:34 And Yes, yes. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 00:36:38 Well, yes. And it's in, and even in the whole political arena, so it's, ugh, it's just sad that there's just no one that's seems to be clean of it. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:36:52 Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:36:53 We are speaking with Be Cipriani who's a publicist publisher. Not sure how you want me to say that, but, and also we are also speaking with, um, professor Suzanne, who is a writer and many different things apparently. And so we're talking about her book called A Face Up, A Book of Poetry, um, outlaw, outlaw Poetry. How do you say that? Um, tell me where you got that latter part of the whole outlaw poetry stuff.
Speaker 2 00:37:35 Um, I think it came, Sam from sort of a collection of places, one that I can grab hold of off the top of my head is, is being told that you're from the wrong side of the track, <laugh>. And, um, and the other thing is, I think facing up, it, it's, you have to be a little bit of an outlaw to, to follow that theme.
Speaker 1 00:38:13 Yes. I'm sure there's lots of, um, pressure to like fall in line.
Speaker 2 00:38:19 Yes, absolutely. And everybody knows I do that so Well,
Speaker 1 00:38:27 <laugh>, if you, what, what would you like the average person who picks up this book to take from it?
Speaker 2 00:38:37 What I would like the average person to take from the book is that poetry, poetry is a story. A a poem is a story. And, um, I think, I think it's important for people to understand that everyday language can be used in poetry. Sometimes people think that there's magical words to use in poetry, that things have to rhyme or that
Speaker 1 00:39:15 That's true. There's lots of different kinds of poetry.
Speaker 2 00:39:18 Yes, yes. Or, you know, it has to y you know, be, uh, a certain format. And I respect all of that. But that's not the poetry I write. The poetry I write again, is something that I see very vividly inside my head, and then I'm able to put it on words when I'm ready.
Speaker 1 00:39:52 So I would like you to, if you would give us that information again on how people can attend the event that's coming up this Tuesday.
Speaker 3 00:40:08 I'll jump right in. Okay. So next Tuesday, starting at 4:30 PM uh, at Metro State, at the, um, main auditorium in St. Paul, it's on Maria Street. Um, people can, um, join us in hearing a bunch of local poets read from their work about their experiences with Facing Up. And then we'll have a panel and we'll give prizes. And Suzanne would, you know, uh, sign your copy of her book and there'll be book sales as well. But people may also join us virtually. It'll be streamed live and it'll be fully accessible and people could get that link by going to metro state.edu. Look at our events page and then you'll see the, um, the posting for the Face Up event. And you could grab the Zoom link there.
Speaker 1 00:40:51 That's great. So they can truly come in from all over the place.
Speaker 2 00:40:59 Exactly.
Speaker 1 00:41:01 Suzanne, how can people besides attending the event get your book?
Speaker 2 00:41:07 They can get
[email protected]. They can also get it on Amazon,
Speaker 1 00:41:16 Just so people know. Ola, o l e b books.
Speaker 2 00:41:22 Thank you. Yes, yes. That's
Speaker 1 00:41:23 Okay. That's why I'm here, <laugh>. Well, I really appreciate you guys coming on, and I wish you the best of luck with that book. Do you wanna read another poem before you go? I'll let you
Speaker 2 00:41:39 Choose. I'm gonna read Shattered.
Speaker 1 00:41:42 Ah, I think I mentioned that one to you. Yes, go for it.
Speaker 2 00:41:46 Okay. Shattered. She walks with an accent favoring her right side, but not enough to grieve equilibrium, not enough to complain at work where she lines the books with clues to the culprit on Wednesday, the color escapes her face. As the books on 17 A are boxed and burned, it doesn't prevent her from color coding future clues. Once the code is broken, she will need a new gate, another lift, so to speak, before moving down to the river and abruptly skipping stones. Water ought never be interpreted as glass.
Speaker 1 00:42:34 Thank you. Anything you'd like to say about that?
Speaker 2 00:42:41 I, I, again, I'm, I'm very drawn to water mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and, um, and I'm also very drawn to nature and I believe I drafted that one at the Arboretum.
Speaker 1 00:42:57 Ah.
Speaker 2 00:42:59 But, um, yeah, I, uh, I guess I don't really wanna say a lot about
Speaker 1 00:43:06 It. Okay.
Speaker 2 00:43:08 <laugh>. Yeah. Bella. Not because I don't like you Sam <laugh>. It's
Speaker 1 00:43:12 Just, I never thought anything as such. <laugh>, um, Bella, is there anything more you'd like to leave us with? I, I wish you good luck in this publishing stuff, and it sounds like maybe you'll be designing more book covers.
Speaker 3 00:43:26 Yes, definitely. We have a, a newsletter, it's called, uh, the DLI Newsletter, and if people go to ola books.com/newsletter, they could sign up for it. And that's really the best way to keep in touch with our con We have writing contests, we'll have, um, our classes coming up and all the events that we do, and we, you know, um, if they wanna stay in touch and see what, what's coming up, uh, the newsletter will be the, the the way to go.
Speaker 1 00:43:53 And Bella, are you still here or are you, have you moved somewhere else?
Speaker 3 00:43:58 Oh, no, I'm still in, in Minneapolis, so I'm, I'm here and, um, I'll be at Metro State next Tuesday. People wanna come and say hello. Excellent. I have a new guy, dog, so people will get to meet the new guy, dog. Aw,
Speaker 1 00:44:12 Aw. Well, I really appreciate you guys coming on and, um, good luck with the event at Metro State next Tuesday. And, uh, take care and if there's anything else you wanna leave us with,
Speaker 2 00:44:27 Thank you very much for having us on, Sam.
Speaker 1 00:44:30 You're so welcome.
Speaker 3 00:44:31 Thank you, Sam. I'm, you know, I'm, I'm a listener, so I'm a little, I'm gushing
Speaker 1 00:44:36 Olympic. Oh, thank,
Speaker 3 00:44:36 Happy to be good with you. But I'm a listener and congratulations. I, I I love
Speaker 1 00:44:41 Your work. Thank you. I appreciate that. I hope that you'll be coming on again with your next, uh, a author next writer.
Speaker 3 00:44:51 You bet. On it. <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:44:52 All right. Excellent. Thank you. Good night you guys.
Speaker 3 00:44:54 Good night. Good night. Thank
Speaker 1 00:44:55 You. Well, Charlene, thank you for coming on tonight with me. And, um, it's, it's fun. It's fun. I like being in the studio. I'm, it was a long time when we were all in C O V I <laugh>
Speaker 5 00:45:09 Time. Yeah, yeah. It, it, it's still getting, it's almost like learning how to walk again. So <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:45:17 So we always appreciate you listeners and, um, if I hadn't said it, I wanna say it again, thank you for, we had a pledge drive not too long ago. Thank you for all that pledge to the station at K F E I is, that's how we bring you our show and it gets podcasted. Thank you Aaron, by the way. Um, but this is how we come in and do it. So we thank you for the pledge and you can pledge anytime actually, but, um, especially during pledge time. Thank you. Uh, this is kfi I, 90.3 fm, Minneapolis and kfi i.org g. My name is Sam and if you wanna be on our show or have a suggestion for this show, you may email me at disability and progress sam jasmine.com. And then I'll probably hand you to Charlene who will harass you for all your information and to come on the show. Um, or I'll put you in our listener cup. So either way, and you'll get great emails each week on like the one I didn't send out this week, <laugh>, but I have it in my outbox, so I'll send it in after that. So you'll see who was on tonight. But, um, yeah,
Speaker 5 00:46:30 And you can catch it on the, on the podcast. That's true. Or on,
Speaker 1 00:46:34 Or the archive
Speaker 5 00:46:35 Or the archives for two weeks.
Speaker 1 00:46:36 Yeah. Well this archive will, this show will be archived for two weeks and then of course Trustee Aaron will be podcasting it, so it'll be there forever. Um, okay. So thank you and thanks for listening.
Speaker 1 00:46:54 This has been Disability in Progress. The views expressed on this show are not necessarily those of K F P I or it's broader directors. My name is Sam, I'm then the host of this show and the producer, Charlene Doll is my research woman, Erin is my podcaster. This week we were discussing the Metro States University's hosting of an afternoon of poetry and conversation. April is National Poetry Month, and joining us was Associate Professor of Fine Arts, Suzanne Nielsen and Publisher Belo Miguel Cipriani. We were talking about her new book Poems. Oh, sorry. Her new book, face Up A Collection of Outlaw Poems. This is Sam and I'm Hovi. You're having a great night. Thanks for listening. Goodnight.
