Episode 126: D. A. Powell
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While on a trip to San Francisco, Rachel checks in with her longtime friend, poet D. A. Powell. The two discuss what D. A. is working on and what has changed for him since the two recorded episode 13 of Commonplace back in 2016. This episode contains excerpts from a listening party that Rachel and Doug attended the night before curated by Gabrielle Civil and featuring a recording of poets Judy Grahn and Pat Parker. Doug and Rachel talk about their friendship, optimism and hopelessness, how poetry is a transfer of energy, and prioritizing the writing of individual poems over the making of a book. Doug reminds Rachel to give herself a vacation from words and talks about the pleasures of making art that he gives away.
Books by D. A. Powell:
Useless Landscape, or a Guide for Boys: Poems (Graywolf Press, 2012)
Tea (Wesleyan University Press, 1998)
Also Referenced:
Video (and audio) of the full listening party!*
Audio only of the listening party!*
“We Lived Happily During the War,” by Ilya Kaminsky
Listening Party: Where Would I Be Without You
Audio of the above event (on SoundCloud)
“Where Would I Be Without You” album
What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye
Four Seasons of Love by Donna Summer
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy by Elton John
Bios
D. A. Powell teaches at University of San Francisco. His books include Repast, Chronic and Useless Landscape or a Guide for Boys, all published by Graywolf Press. He is also the author of chapbooks Atlas T and Low Hanging Fruit. He lives in San Francisco.
Judy Grahn is an internationally known poet, author, mythographer, and cultural theorist. Her works include seven books of nonfiction, two book-length poems, five poetry collections, a reader, and a novel. An early gay activist who walked the first picket of the White House for gay rights in 1965, she later founded Gay Women’s Liberation and the Women’s Press Collective. In 1976, she released Where Would I Be Without You? a poetry LP with her friend and fellow poet Pat Parker on Olivia records. Grahn's work tackles LGBT history and mythology, feminist critiques of current crises, what makes us human, dismantling white supremacy, and how to engage with creature-minds and spirit. She holds a Ph.D. in Integral Studies/Women’s Spirituality from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She has also received numerous honors, including an American Book Award, an American Library Award, and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Triangle Publishers established The Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Literature in 1996.
Gabrielle Civil is a black feminist performance artist, poet, and writer, originally from Detroit, MI. She has premiered over fifty performance artworks worldwide including Black Weirdo School (Pop Up Critique) (2023), the déjà vu—live (2022) and Jupiter (2021). Her performance memoirs include Swallow the Fish (2017), Experiments in Joy (2019), (ghost gestures) (2021), and the déjà vu (2022.) Her writing has also appeared in New Daughters of Africa, Bone Bouquet, Poem-a-Day, Tripwire, Kitchen Table Translation, Migrating Pedagogies and Experiments in Joy: a Workbook. A 2023 Performance Fellow at the Franconia Sculpture Park, she earned her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from New York University and teaches at the California Institute of the Arts. The aim of her work is to open up space.
Pat Parker, an African-American lesbian mother from a working-class background, worked with the Black Panther Party in the 1960s and was a member of the Black Women’s Revolutionary Council and the Lesbian Tide Collective in the 1970s. Her five books, which include Child of Myself (1972) and Movement in Black (1978), feature poems that range from oratories to narratives, all with a strong sense of black culture in history. Her signature poem ‘Where Will You Be When They Come?’ warned gay men and lesbians to unite against the “soul savers” and “good citizens” crusading against them. Parker was also an activist for improved women’s health care and, after her sister was murdered by her husband, championed the fight against domestic violence. She once told a friend “I’m waiting for the revolution that will let me take all my parts with me!” Friends and admirers established the WIM Publications Memorial Poetry award in Parker’s name after her death from breast cancer, at the age of 45.
In honor of this episode our charitable partner will donate $250 to the Larkin Street Youth Services, chosen by D .A. Powell.
Previous Commonplace episode 13 with D. A. Powell and Transcript
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*All audio of the Listening Party: Where Would I Be Without You, Pat Parker & Judy Grahn hosted by Gabrielle Civil is used with permission of Small Press Traffic. Many thanks to Small Press Traffic, Syd Staiti, Gabrielle Civil and Judy Grahn.
