Weekly shoutout: Check out Lynchpins at the coalition, our ongoing David Lynch tribute series!

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Hi there,

Today I am delighted to be arts calling novelist Nancy Kricorian! (https://nancykricorian.net)

About our guest:

Nancy Kricorian, who was born and raised in the Armenian community of Watertown, Massachusetts, is the author of four novels about post-genocide Armenian diaspora experience, including Zabelle, which was translated into seven languages, was adapted as a play, and has been continuously in print since 1998. Her new novel, The Burning Heart of the World, about Armenians in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War, will be published in April 2025. Her essays and poems have appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly, Guernica, Parnassus, Minnesota Review, The Mississippi Review, and other journals. She has taught at Barnard, Columbia, Yale, and New York University, as well as with Teachers & Writers Collaborative in the New York City Public Schools, and has been a mentor with We Are Not Numbers since 2015. She has been the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, a Gold Medal from the Writers Union of Armenia, and the Anahid Literary Award, among other honors. She lives in New York.

THE BURNING HEART OF THE WORLD, now available from Red Hen Press!

Bookshop | Barnes & Noble | Amazon

Nancy Kricorian’s The Burning Heart of the World tells the story of a Beirut Armenian family before, during, and after the Lebanese Civil War. Returning to the fabular tone of Zabelle, her popular first novel, Kricorian conjures up the lost worlds and intergenerational traumas that haunt a family in permanent exile. Leavened with humor and imbued with the timelessness of a folktale, The Burning Heart of the World is a sweeping saga that takes readers on an epic journey from the mountains of Cilicia to contemporary New York City. > Like colorful miniatures–from a childhood of elders haunted by the Armenian genocide, to girlhood and adolescence amidst war in Beirut, to marriage and children in New York at the time of 9/11—Nancy Kricorian finds just the right scale to bring her heroine’s passage to vivid, reverberating life. > — Aram Saroyan > An arrestingly beautiful novel of how families draw us together, but also push us apart. Set amidst the backdrop of displacement and war, The Burning Heart of the World illuminates how we carry history deep into even the most forgotten corners of ourselves. Once you start reading about Vera and her family you won’t be able to put this book down. > — Marie Myung-Ok Lee, Author of The Evening Hero Thanks for this amazing conversation, Nancy! All the best!

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Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro.

HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN.

Much love,

j

artscalling.com

Weekly shoutout: coalitionworks issue 10 is now live!

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Hi there,

Today I am delighted to be arts calling writer, actor, and producer Sandra Cruze! (sandracruze.com)

About our guest:

Sandra Cruze was steeled in the uprisings of the 60’s and 70’s, and underground art world of DTLA, where she sang in punk bands, reggae bands and performed in street theater. She believes the "PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD" and picked hers up. Having experienced the transformation of good story telling which has saved her on many occasion, her works traverse the mindfield that is America today. She writes about dangerous women and women in danger.

Acting in Films, TV and Stage, Sandra also creates her own content. Her short film, "Physics of Killing", was selected for the Toronto International Women’s Film Festival 2022, and an IMDB writers credit. Her play, "Little Sugar", was a quarter finalist with ScreenCraft in 2022 and 2023. "We're Not Dead Yet", a YouTube web series co-produced by Two Heads are Better Productions, has received multiple awards and selections for both the series and the scripts, winning semifinalist for pilot script.

https://www.housetheater.net/

Further accomplishments for film and theater can be found on IMDB and https://linktr.ee/sandracruzeproductions

ABBY NORMAL THE MUSICAL FUNDRAISER EVENT AT HYPERION ARTS, LOS ANGELES: CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS APRIL 25 AND 26!

Thanks for this amazing conversation, Sandra! All the best!

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Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro.

HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN.

Much love,

j

artscalling.com

Weekly shoutout: Christopher Soriano-Palma (AC23) releases a new poetry collection!

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Hi there,

We're back! Today I am delighted to be arts calling musician/producer Mo Milan! (momilan.com)

About our guest:

Mo Milan is a Las Vegas-based composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, crafting music under two distinct monikers: Cocoa Pastel and Mo Milan.

As Cocoa Pastel, she delivers vibrant, synth-driven pop infused with dark wave and electronic influences, centering on resilience, reinvention, and new beginnings. Handling every aspect of production—from songwriting to mixing—she creates dynamic, immersive soundscapes.

Under Mo Milan, she explores experimental and introspective realms, blending neo-classical, folktronica, and cinematic elements. A classically trained violinist and skilled multi-instrumentalist, she pairs music with self-directed visuals, amplifying emotional depth.

Previously a member of REIGN-A, Atomic Heart Band, Echo Stains, and Angel Groove, Milan is now preparing her debut dual mini-album: two EPs showcasing the energetic pulse of Cocoa Pastel and the cinematic introspection of Mo Milan.

Project Premiere March 28th in Las Vegas, NV at SPCKRFT STUDIOS!

Instagram: @noitsnotmo

LISTEN TO COCOA PASTEL HERE: https://linktr.ee/cocoapastel

Thanks for this amazing conversation, Mo! All the best!

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Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro.

HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN.

Weekly shoutout: Read Issue 5 of Engine(Idling Lit!

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Hi there,

We're back! Today I am delighted to be arts calling playwright/producer Anna Capunay! (annacapunay.com)

About our guest:

Anna Capunay is a Queens, NY native. Her plays include: A Cat’s Tale (Roy Arias Stages), and Cowl Girl (The Players Theatre). These works were adapted for the screen -- A Cat’s Tale winning Best Director for Comedy and Best Ensemble Cast for Comedy at the San Francisco’s Best Actors Film Festival. The indie feature debuted at the Chelsea Film Festival in NYC, 2016. Cowl Girl was shot as a TV pilot and was included as Best of the Fest finalist at the Chicago International REEL Shorts Film Festival, 2017. Anna’s directorial debut was for the short film she also wrote, Your Silent Face. The short won multiple awards via the film festival circuit, most notably for Best Screenwriting at the Festival of Cinema NYC and Best LGBTQ Film at the L.A. Punk Film Festival, both in 2023. Anna has received multiple grants over the years supporting her projects. Most recently, she was awarded the NYC Women's Fund for Media, Music and Theatre via the New York Foundation for the Arts. This grant has fully funded this stage production of La Gota Fria: The Cold Sweat. Additionally, Anna was awarded a Queens Arts Funds grant (her third) to help produce her short film, Sombras, later this year. Anna’s upcoming project includes writing her first feature film to be produced with her partner, Bill McDonald, called Contigo.

ABOUT THE PLAY: LA GOTA FRÍA: THE COLD SWEAT is a dramedy set in 1990s Queens, NY. When the matriarch of the Gonzalez family falls ill, her loved ones rally around her: a blind but hyperaware grandfather, a frenzied daughter and her doting husband. And the meddlesome family friend with a particular interest for the Gonzalez women, including the cat. LA GOTA FRÍA:THE COLD SWEAT is a new sick family comedy that will have you rethink your choices for cancer treatments. So let's go back in time to Queens, NY in the 1990s when you, your family and your friends were dancing to new and classic Salsa, Merengue and Latin Pop! Website: https://lagotafriaplay.com

Now playing at The Players Theatre NYC, March 6-23 2025. Get your tix NOW! https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/277/1740805200000

Thanks for this amazing conversation, Anna! All the best!

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Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro.

HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN.

Weekly shoutout: Read the latest literary releases from Punk Noir Magazine!

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Hi there,

We're back! Today I am delighted to be arts calling author Theodora Ziolkowski! (www.theodoraziolkowski.com)

ABOUT OUR GUEST: THEODORA ZIOLKOWSKI is the author of the novella, On the Rocks (2018 & 2020, The University Press of SHSU/Texas Review Press) and the short story chapbook, Mother Tongues (2016 & 2018, The Cupboard). On the Rocks, winner of a 2018 Next Generation Indie Book Award, is now available as an audiobook. Ziolkowski's debut collection of poems, Ghostlit (2025), is now available. Ziolkowski’s work has received support from the Vermont Studio Center, the National Alumni Association (University of Alabama), and Inprint (Houston, Texas). Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in The Writer's Chronicle, Short Fiction (England), and Prairie Schooner, among over sixty other literary journals, magazines, anthologies, and exhibits. In the past, Ziolkowski has served as Poetry Editor for Gulf Coast, Fiction Editor for Big Fiction, and Assistant Poetry Editor for Black Warrior Review. She holds an MFA from the University of Alabama, where she was honored as a ‘30 Under 30’ alum, and a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Houston, where she was the recipient of the Inprint Marion Barthelme Prize in Creative Writing. Currently, she teaches creative writing as an assistant professor of English at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

GHOSTLIT: A new poetry collection, is now available!

BOOKSHOP.ORG | BARNES & NOBLE | POWELL'S BOOKS | AMAZON

ABOUT GHOSTLIT: Intimate, urgent, and relentlessly inventive, the poems in Ghostlit reflect upon mythology and feminist pop culture and contemporary ideology as they may become embedded in the psyches and even the bodies of their inheritors. Through visceral and sometimes gothic-inspired images, mythological allusions, and the assemblage of strands of narrative, the poems in this collection chart the ways in which manipulative emotional strategies on individual and cultural levels inflict lingering harm upon minds and bodies. Throughout, the poems peel back the layers of what it means for an abuse survivor to reclaim a sense of self—long after the damage has been done. “It turns out that the years I believed myself lucky/were partly responsible for my thinking/there was something deeply wrong with me” could be understood as a refrain for the speaker in Ghostlit or as a shorthand for a cautionary tale about how many survivors may be encouraged to deny the reality of abuse.

Thanks for this amazing conversation, Theodora! All the best!

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Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro.

HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN.

Weekly shoutout: Subscribe to Flash Perspectives from author Tommy Dean!

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Hi there,

We're back! Today I am delighted to be arts calling writer/performer Jen Ponton! (jenponton.com)

About our guest:

JEN PONTON (writer/performer SUGARCOATED) returns triumphantly to the New York stage with Sugarcoated, her autobiographical solo show, in its New York premiere. Last seen off-Broadway in Halley Feiffer’s How To Make Friends and then Kill Them (Rattlestick, 2013), Jen has spent the past decade building a vibrant career in film and television. Highlights include Dietland, 30 Rock, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Orange is the New Black, Law & Order: SVU, and Blue Bloods, among many others. Jen also starred in Ash Christian’s Love on the Run alongside Frances Fisher, Annaleigh Ashford, and Steve Howey. She has since appeared in Rebecca Miller’s She Came to Me and Todd Solondz’s Wiener-Dog opposite Greta Gerwig and Kieran Culkin.

Off-screen, Jen is a passionate creator. Her works include the storytelling podcast All the Fucks with co-host Lillian Bustle_, a nostalgia-packed puppet sitcom, and her TEDx Talk, “Hollywood’s Fatphobia Problem.” Her collaboration with _Sugarcoated director Tessa Slovis began with Tessa’s film Pizza Party, wherein the two found an immediate connection through their commitment to bold activism through storytelling. Explore more about Sugarcoated at jenponton.com.

Maiden Mother Crone: an evening of poignant storytelling as two extraordinary solo shows, THE LONGER MY MOTHER IS DEAD THE MORE I LIKE HER by Deborah Unger and SUGARCOATED by Jen Ponton, take center stage at The Pete at The Flea from February 12–23, 2025.

ABOUT SUGARCOATED: Jen Ponton takes audiences on a visceral journey through the polished facade women are often forced to wear. With biting humor and profound vulnerability, Sugarcoated strips away societal expectations, revealing raw truths about trauma, survival, and self-empowerment. Best known for her role on AMC's Dietland, Ponton has made waves in TV, film, and theater. Sugarcoated, which premiered at the Denver Fringe Festival, is a testament to her fearless approach to storytelling and her commitment to exploring the untold narratives of women.

MAIDEN MOTHER CRONE plays the following schedule through Sunday, February 23: Preview Performances: February 12 & 13 at 7 PM Opening Night: February 14 at 7 PM February 15 (2 PM & 7 PM, with matinee talkback) February 16 (2 PM) February 19–21 (7 PM) February 22 (2 PM & 7 PM, with matinee talkback) February 23 (2 PM)

Tickets are $40 and can be purchased at maidenmothercroneshow.com or in person at the theater ½ hours before the performance.

Venue: The Pete at The Flea, 20 Thomas Street, New York, NY 10007 Running Time: 2h15 mins (with intermission) Website: maidenmothercroneshow.com

Thanks for this amazing conversation, Jen! All the best!

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Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro.

HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN.

Weekly shoutout: New classes and projects from friend of the show, playwright Sarah Congress!

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Hi there,

We're back! Today I am delighted to be arts calling author Em J Parsley! (emjparsley.com)

About our guest: Em J Parsley (they/he) is a fiction writer, poet, educator, and environmentalist who received their MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso and makes their home in rural Kentucky with their beautiful devil-cat, Griffin. He is a 2024 Artist-In-Residence at Wormfarm Institute and Art Farm, and their work has been published or is upcoming in Silk Road Review, Screen Door Review, ANMLY, Birdcoat Quarterly, The New Flash Fiction Review, and various other places in print and around the internet. Their poetry chapbook, the anonym gospels, won the 2023 Apogee Poetry Award and is available through April Gloaming Publishing. You can follow him on instagram @emjparsley.

You, From Below: Now available from Split/Lip Press! https://www.splitlippress.com/you-from-below

About You, From Below: When an Appalachian holler town is suddenly swallowed into the earth, its sole survivor embarks on a journey up a nearby mountain to get answers. With a mysterious envelope in their pocket that they know they must deliver, the narrator encounters a faceless beekeeper, an undying woman, and a righteous schoolteacher of a town that was raptured overnight while confronting their own past and the death of both the town and people they left behind. Em J Parsley’s You, From Below burrows into the ecological, economic, and emotional state of Central Appalachia to examine its past, present, and the nature of reciprocity through this speculative, introspective, fable-like exploration of collapse and regeneration.

Thanks for this amazing conversation, Em J! All the best!

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Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro.

HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN.

Weekly shoutout: Visit Coalitionist, a new literary project at the coalition!

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Hi there,

We're back! Today I am delighted to be arts calling acclaimed poet Kim Dower! kimdowerpoetry.com

About our guest:

Kim (Freilich) Dower (City Poet Laureate of West Hollywood from October 2016 – October 2018) has published five highly acclaimed collections of poetry all from Red Hen Press.

Her most recent book, the bestselling, I WORE THIS DRESS TODAY FOR YOU, MOM, an Eric Hoffer Book Award Finalist, was called a “fantastic collection” by The Washington Post, “impressively insightful, thought-provoking, and truly memorable” by The Midwest Book Review and Shelf-Awareness said, “These gorgeous gems are energized by the sheer power of her wit and irreverent style.” AIR KISSING ON MARS, Kim’s first collection, was described by the Los Angeles Times as, “sensual and evocative . . . seamlessly combining humor and heartache.” SLICE OF MOON was called “unexpected and sublime,” by “O” magazine, LAST TRAIN TO THE MISSING PLANET “poems that speak about the grey space between tragedy and tenderness, memory and loss, fragility and perseverance,” said Richard Blanco, and SUNBATHING ON TYRONE POWER'S GRAVE won the 2020 Independent Publishers Book Award Gold Medal for Poetry.

Kim’s work has been featured in numerous literary journals including Plume, Ploughshares, Rattle, The James Dickey Review, and Garrison Keillor’s “The Writer’s Almanac,” and her poems are included in several anthologies, notably, Wide Awake: Poets of Los Angeles and Beyond. She teaches poetry workshops for Antioch University, UCLA Extension Writer’s Program, and the West Hollywood Library. Born and raised on the Upper West Side of New York City, and a graduate of Emerson College in Boston, Kim is also the proud owner of Kim-from-L.A., long-standing literary publicity company that helps authors around the country get the word out about their wonderful books.

WHAT SHE WANTS, now available from Red Hen Press. Purchase your copy today!

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON!

ALSO AVAILABLE AT BARNES & NOBLE!

BOOKSELLER PRAISE FOR ‘WHAT SHE WANTS

“Psychologically astute and playfully resolute at evoking the irrevocable desire for love, attraction, seduction and yes, companionship, What She Wants belongs on every bookshelf: not just for poetry lovers. But the poetry is there, singing its echoing delight through the lines, like desire itself, and enticing, resolving, and picturing the myriad ways we are compelled by desire and all its fruits.” —John Evans, Co-Owner Diesel, a Bookstore

“Desires, both feral and mundane, are slung across these pages in a crescendo of sexual longing and urgent vitality.” —Amanda Youngman, Manager, Barnes & Noble at The Grove

“A fantastic book!” —Suzy Takacs, owner of The Book Cellar Bookstore in Chicago, Illinois

“From whispered secrets to consuming obsessions, these poems unveil the complexities of love, longing, and the urgency that prods us to pursue the objects of one’s desire.” —Luisa Smith, Buying Director, Book Passage Bookstore

“I love this collection!” —Dan Graham, Book Soup Bookstore

“Captures the timeless art of storytelling through verse with raw and unfiltered emotions, lyrical language and vivid imagery. With every turn of the page, readers will find themselves drawn deeper into a world where words hold the power to inspire, delight and transform.”—Julie Slavinsky, Director of Events, Warwick’s

Thanks for this amazing conversation, Kim! All the best!

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Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro.

HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN.