In 2006 shortly after the release of my book Black Writing from Chicago: In the World, Not of It? WBEZ, Chicago, 91.5 FM—the nation’s largest Public Radio station—called to set up an interview. Steve Edwards did his typically fine intro and out-tro, and special correspondent Vanessa Bush did the rest. Read more about Black Writing from Chicago, and Buy it if you wish. Click Below to hear the full ten + minute interview.
In this interview I explain the book’s subtitle, focus on Leanita McClain as the book’s emotional center, and attempt to distinguish Chicago’s Black writing from other Black writing.
I also get a chance to talk about the incalculable importance of people like Haki Madhubuti, and a chance to read a great poem by Carolyn Rodgers, a poem so full of feeling I just barely make it through.