October 15, 2024 • 17 mins
Breaking free from genre constraints can expand your creative possibilities. In this episode, we explore how writers working in multiple forms can transition between genres successfully, inspired by Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter. With mini case studies and practical insights, we offer valuable lessons for poets, novelists, and non-fiction writers looking to embrace new creative paths.
Visit thepoetrylab.com to find the Show Notes for this episode. The Poetry Lab Podcast is produced by Lori Walker and Danielle Mitchell. Hosted by Danielle Mitchell, Lori Walker, and bridgette bianca.
Theme song: "Simply Upbeat" by Christian Telford, Kenneth Edward Belcher, and Saki Furuya.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
(00:00):
Oh, the power of an opening line.
The breakthrough hit from Beyonce's
genre-crossing album, Cowboy Carter, opens
with a powerful metaphor, right?
This ain't Texas.
What she's saying is,
this isn't what you know me for,
but I'm here to do it anyway.
She emphasizes how she's transcending what
people expect of her, especially in a genre
(00:23):
like country music, where she has
historically faced barriers.
Beyonce's bold proclamation could be seen
as a rejection of the rules and norms
imposed on her by the industry,
suggesting that while she may draw from
certain influences,
she is creating something entirely new and
unique.
And yeah, beyoncé has the power of her
(00:44):
previous accomplishments to fuel her
ability to say,
Watch me.
But she's not the only one capable of this
kind of change up.
It might even be worth asking ourselves,
What is genre, anyway?
Welcome to the Poetry Lab Podcast.
(01:10):
The Poetry Lab started 11 years ago to help
dedicated, self-taught, and formally
trained writers find a place in their
community to write,
read,
learn,
and collaborate.
We help writers tap into their craft with
radical self-compassion,
unlike anything you've ever seen in a
creative writing classroom before.
(01:32):
If you're a creative person trying to
establish a writing practice in the real world,
this podcast is designed to help you carve
out the time,
the courage,
and the inspiration to keep writing your
new shit.
Are you ready, poet?
Let's get into it.
(01:57):
Cowboy Carter was born out of Beyonce's
experiences of being excluded from country
music spaces,
despite her immense talent.
She explained that she didn't feel welcome
in the genre,
which pushed her to study the history of
black cowboys in America
and delve deeper into genre blending.
In her words.
(02:18):
The criticism I faced when I first entered
this genre forced me to propel past the
limitations that were put on me.
Despite Cowboy Carter's success,
the album was snubbed at the 2024 Country
Music Awards,
only highlighting how systemic barriers
often have nothing to do with talent, but
rather with
(02:38):
who controls certain spaces.
The experience mirrors what many writers
face when transitioning between genres.
The idea of genre itself can feel like a trap.
beyoncé notes,
I believe genres are traps that box us in
and separate us.
Well, there you have it.
The origin of the word genre comes from the Latin
(03:00):
genus,
meaning a class or a kind,
emphasizing categorization.
The publishing industry prefers
categorization for several practical
reasons,
but let's take a moment and break them down.
Genres help publishers and booksellers know
how to market a book to specific audiences.
(03:21):
Readers often seek out particular types of
books, whether it's romance, mystery,
poetry, or science fiction.
Genre labels help target those readers and
increase the likelihood
of,
you guessed it, sales.
Once again, the capitalist hellscape rears
its ugly head.
Genres also increase our discoverability as
(03:43):
readers.
When you walk into a bookstore, don't you
head to the certain genre section that
you're most excited to wander around in?
I always seek out the poetry section in a
bookstore.
Categorization simplifies our browsing
experience.
Genre also helps libraries organize their
(04:04):
collections.
The Dewey Decimal System and Library of
Congress Classification System categorize
books by subject and genre.
making it easier for patrons to locate
materials and for librarians to organize them.
But here's the thing.
We are writers.
(04:24):
The separations of writers and poets is a
silly one even.
I call myself a poet, yeah, but most of my
friends are poets, and I go to poetry
readings.
It's a huge part of the culture of my life,
but I identify as a writer,
and when people ask me what my job is, I
tell them I'm a writer.
which is always fun because they look at me
(04:44):
like I'm crazy or assume I'm unemployed.
Sometimes people even think
I'm saying a rider, like I ride horses or
something,
because I don't really pronounce the T very well.
I'm a writer,
I say.
So why might we, as writers and artists,
want to defy the constant act of
(05:05):
categorization?
Without categorization, we might have more
creative freedom.
That way, we don't have to worry if our
work fits neatly into one box.
Blurring the lines between genres allows
for more experimentation and innovation.
And by defying categorization,
we can explore multiple themes and
(05:27):
structures and styles without being
constrained to certain expectations.
Maybe it makes our voices more authentic.
Many artists, myself included,
find that our work spans multiple
influences and defies traditional
conventions,
Sticking to one genre feels inauthentic,
even restrictive,
especially when an artist's vision requires
(05:48):
blending elements of multiple genres.
Some of my favorite books do this.
Jenny Bully is one of the authors I think
of when I think about defying genre
categorization.
Anne Carson is another.
Evan Jordan.
I was just reading his book this morning,
one of my all-time favorite poets.
And it's not just a modern invention
either.
(06:09):
William Carlos Williams wrote Patterson,
And of course, there's The Wasteland.
A lot of the most famous works that you can
think of off the top of your head
probably defied their genres or mixed
genres for the time.
They pushed against the boundaries of the
status quo, and they got remembered.
Many marginalized writers,
(06:30):
writers of color, queer writers, and
immigrant writers find that their
experiences don't fit neatly into the
established literary categories.
So defying genre can be a way to explore
their complex identities, their
intersectionality, and buck traditional
notions of what certain genres should look like.
beyoncé teaches us two things here.
(06:52):
One,
anything is possible, and as artists, we
can often see that.
But two,
the trap of genre getting boxed in and
limited,
that usually comes from an outside source
telling us,
we don't belong here.
So here's the challenge, my friends.
Can we follow in the footsteps of the
(07:15):
writers we're going to discuss here today?
Can we break free of genre's limitations?
Can we say to ourselves,
this ain't Texas, and we're refusing to be
trapped by what everyone expects of us?
Let's seek out some writers so that we
don't feel alone on the ledge before we
tightrope over to another genre.
Sidebar.
(07:35):
Did you know that a tightrope walker is
called a phenambulist?
I love that word.
Here are six writers who have successfully
crossed genres,
each carving out their own path in the
literary world.
Let's start with Amber Tamblyn.
Many people know her for her acting career,
particularly her roles in Joan of Arcadia
(07:56):
and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
But Amber's literary career is pretty
impressive.
She made her first foyer into writing with
her poetry collections.
Free Stallion came out in 2005,
and Dark Sparkler came out in 2015.
It was a collection about the deaths of
famous actresses, and it mixed memoir and verse.
(08:18):
More recently, Amber has ventured into
nonfiction writing.
She wrote a book called Era of Ignition:
Coming of Age in the Time of Rage and
Revolution, published in 2019.
The book examines feminism, social justice
and personal growth.
Tamlett's career is a testament to how an
artist can evolve,
refusing to be confined by a single
(08:38):
identity or genre.
What makes her journey? so inspiring is how
she continues to expand her voice.
I think part of what makes Amber Tamblyn's
journey so inspiring is that she continues
to expand her voice.
She continues to evolve and put herself out
there in ways that are authentic,
but always a little bit different,
(09:00):
ever-changing.
This might be because both of her parents
are artists,
Her mom is a singer and her father is Russ
Tamblyn.
He played Riff in the original movie of
West Side Story.
Kind of amazing, right?
But let's talk about somebody who didn't
have the benefit of having parents who were
already artists, Ocean Vuong.
(09:21):
Here is a writer who has made an indelible
mark on both poetry and now
fiction.
Born in Vietnam and raised in Hartford,
Connecticut, Ocean Vuong gained early
recognition with his poetry collection
Night Sky with Exit Wounds that came out in 2016
and the collection was highly revered.
It won the TS Eliot Prize.
(09:42):
It delves into themes of war, identity, and
personal trauma.
His leap into fiction came with his debut
novel, On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous,
which came out in 2019.
That's only three years after his first
poetry book.
The novel is a letter from a son to his
mother, blending fiction and autobiography
in a genre bending way.
that challenges the structures of
(10:03):
traditional narrative.
He brings in his poetic sensibilities to
his prose,
making lyrical and poignant fiction.
His ability to cross genres shows how we
can harness the strengths of poetry,
things like economy of language and vivid
imagery,
to craft prose that is deeply emotional and
resonant.
(10:24):
And I think it's interesting to stop here
and just consider for ourselves, what are
you writing?
I've always written in all the genres.
I'm fascinated by memoiristic nonfiction,
and I like humor writing too, so
funny memoirs are a thing I'm really
interested in.
I've been working on a set of romance
(10:46):
novels for almost 15 years now because I
love that genre as well.
Will I ever publish or do anything with
those manuscripts? I don't know.
But I love to write.
It's how I process my own emotions.
It's how I think and feel through the world.
And if you're listening to the Poetry Lab
(11:06):
podcast, you probably feel the same way.
I'm super curious about what other genres
you write in,
and what's your favorite?
How do you feel when you navigate those
different genres?
Have you ever done anything to combine
them, a block of prose followed by a poem?
One of my favorite forms is called the
haibun.
(11:26):
It's a prose poem followed by a haiku.
Mixing genres is inherent in what we do as
writers.
Again, these lines bleed into each other,
and the differences in those
categorizations,
that's not really for us.
It's for the rest of the world to make
sense of us.
Let's keep going.
Kaveh Akbar, another poet whose work is
(11:48):
rooted in personal experience,
and much of which centers around identity,
addiction, and spirituality.
His first collection was called Calling a
Wolf, a Wolf in 2017.
It was lauded for its honesty and its
beauty in tackling the subject of recovery.
Born in Iran and raised in the United
States,
there are also a lot of themes of
(12:09):
displacement running throughout his work.
Recently, he made his fiction writing debut
with his novel, Martyr.
It was published just this year in 2024.
Akbar tells a story of Cyrus Shams, a newly
sober son of Iranian immigrants navigating
grief, addiction, and identity.
The novel showcases Akbar's lyrical prose
(12:30):
and his deep exploration of human
struggles, bringing the same intensity from
his poetry into his fiction.
I think his ability to cross genres
illustrates how poets can expand their voice
and style to new forms while still
maintaining that emotional depth.
Here's someone whose work really excites me.
(12:51):
Honoree Jeffers.
She's a poet who made an enormous splash in
the literary world with her debut novel,
The Love Songs of Webb Dubois. It
was published in 2021.
Before that, though,
she was a well-established poet, having
published five collections of poetry.
Maybe you've heard of The Age of Phyllis.
It was published in 2020.
(13:12):
It was long-listed for the National Book Award,
And it's a pretty thick book of poetry that
details the historical life
of Phyllis Wheatley.
So we know this is a poet who is not afraid
of a historical theme or docu poetry.
So in her novel, The Love Songs of Webb
Dubois,
centuries are spanned, weaving together
(13:33):
personal and historical narratives.
It's an epic exploration of Black identity,
history, and Black resilience.
What makes Honoree Jeffers' transition so
remarkable is that her poetic voice
continues to inform her fiction.
Her prose is lush and layered, carefully
crafted.
She shows us how storytelling skills honed
(13:54):
in poetry can serve a writer when they
shift into novel writing.
All right, so we've talked about poets
who've made a foray into fiction writing,
but there's other genres out there, right?
Let's look at Mahogany L. Brown.
She's an example of a writer who refuses to
be limited.
Known primarily as a poet,
(14:14):
Mahogany L.
Brown is also a novelist, a playwright, and
she's even made a foyer into the world of
comics.
The themes in Mahogany L.
Brown's work are of social justice.
She writes poems that speak to the black
experience in America.
Her work is raw, emotional, and challenging
to readers who want to confront
uncomfortable truths.
(14:35):
Mo Brown's catalog includes a baby book
called Woke Baby and two YA
novels as well.
She is the living embodiment of Black girl magic.
Finally, here's a cool cross-genre blend
from one of my all-time favorite writers,
Amy Nezhukumatathil,
a poet known for her vibrant celebration of
the natural world.
(14:57):
I've been reading Amy's work since At the
Drive-In Volcano, which is her second book,
then I went back and read her first book,
Miracle Fruit,
And since then,
Lucky Fish and Oceanic have come out.
I'm naming all these off the top of my head
because this is really one of my favorite
writers.
Her writing is full of lush imagery, and
(15:17):
the speaker's identity and voice comes
through so crystal clear in her poems.
In 2020, Nezhukumatathil expanded her
literary repertoire to
World of Wonders, in praise of fireflies,
whale sharks, and other astonishments.
It's a collection of personal essays that
moves her into the genre of nonfiction.
(15:39):
What's fascinating about World of Wonders
is how her voice in nonfiction is lyrical
and meditative,
unapologetically so.
Her work blurs the lines between poetry and essay,
and it's a great example to end on because
it reminds us that rigid genre boundaries
don't serve any of us.
There should always be spaces where we can
(16:00):
experiment and play.
As we finish up here today, I really want
you to think about this.
Crossing genres doesn't dilute our voices,
it amplifies it,
just like beyoncé did with Cowboy Carter.
These artists blaze their own trails,
reminding us that creativity thrives when
we step outside the boxes we've been placed in.
(16:23):
So what's your genre, poet?
And how much does its categorization really
matter to you?
If you haven't picked up any of the books
I've talked about, the poetry or the prose,
I hope you do.
I'll link to everything that I mentioned on
the show notes page for this episode,
episode 38 of the Poetry Lab podcast.
So please be sure to like and subscribe
(16:44):
wherever you're listening now.
I'm Danielle and you can reach out to me on
Instagram @imaginarydani
or come visit me right here at the Poetry Lab
by becoming a VIP member.
We'd love to see you in our monthly
Braintrust classes or in one of our
four-week offerings.
I'd even love to have you over at the
Feedback Circle
because I'll be damned if I can't slow
dance with you.
(17:06):
Come pour some sugar on me, honey, too,
right?
I'm gonna go listen to that song.
That's all for now.
I hope to see you soon at the Poetry Lab.
(00:00):
Oh, the power of an opening line.
The breakthrough hit from Beyonce's
genre-crossing album, Cowboy Carter, opens
with a powerful metaphor, right?
This ain't Texas.
What she's saying is,
this isn't what you know me for,
but I'm here to do it anyway.
She emphasizes how she's transcending what
people expect of her, especially in a genre
(00:23):
like country music, where she has
historically faced barriers.
Beyonce's bold proclamation could be seen
as a rejection of the rules and norms
imposed on her by the industry,
suggesting that while she may draw from
certain influences,
she is creating something entirely new and
unique.
And yeah, beyoncé has the power of her
(00:44):
previous accomplishments to fuel her
ability to say,
Watch me.
But she's not the only one capable of this
kind of change up.
It might even be worth asking ourselves,
What is genre, anyway?
Welcome to the Poetry Lab Podcast.
(01:10):
The Poetry Lab started 11 years ago to help
dedicated, self-taught, and formally
trained writers find a place in their
community to write,
read,
learn,
and collaborate.
We help writers tap into their craft with
radical self-compassion,
unlike anything you've ever seen in a
creative writing classroom before.
(01:32):
If you're a creative person trying to
establish a writing practice in the real world,
this podcast is designed to help you carve
out the time,
the courage,
and the inspiration to keep writing your
new shit.
Are you ready, poet?
Let's get into it.
(01:57):
Cowboy Carter was born out of Beyonce's
experiences of being excluded from country
music spaces,
despite her immense talent.
She explained that she didn't feel welcome
in the genre,
which pushed her to study the history of
black cowboys in America
and delve deeper into genre blending.
In her words.
(02:18):
The criticism I faced when I first entered
this genre forced me to propel past the
limitations that were put on me.
Despite Cowboy Carter's success,
the album was snubbed at the 2024 Country
Music Awards,
only highlighting how systemic barriers
often have nothing to do with talent, but
rather with
(02:38):
who controls certain spaces.
The experience mirrors what many writers
face when transitioning between genres.
The idea of genre itself can feel like a trap.
beyoncé notes,
I believe genres are traps that box us in
and separate us.
Well, there you have it.
The origin of the word genre comes from the Latin
(03:00):
genus,
meaning a class or a kind,
emphasizing categorization.
The publishing industry prefers
categorization for several practical
reasons,
but let's take a moment and break them down.
Genres help publishers and booksellers know
how to market a book to specific audiences.
(03:21):
Readers often seek out particular types of
books, whether it's romance, mystery,
poetry, or science fiction.
Genre labels help target those readers and
increase the likelihood
of,
you guessed it, sales.
Once again, the capitalist hellscape rears
its ugly head.
Genres also increase our discoverability as
(03:43):
readers.
When you walk into a bookstore, don't you
head to the certain genre section that
you're most excited to wander around in?
I always seek out the poetry section in a
bookstore.
Categorization simplifies our browsing
experience.
Genre also helps libraries organize their
(04:04):
collections.
The Dewey Decimal System and Library of
Congress Classification System categorize
books by subject and genre.
making it easier for patrons to locate
materials and for librarians to organize them.
But here's the thing.
We are writers.
(04:24):
The separations of writers and poets is a
silly one even.
I call myself a poet, yeah, but most of my
friends are poets, and I go to poetry
readings.
It's a huge part of the culture of my life,
but I identify as a writer,
and when people ask me what my job is, I
tell them I'm a writer.
which is always fun because they look at me
(04:44):
like I'm crazy or assume I'm unemployed.
Sometimes people even think
I'm saying a rider, like I ride horses or
something,
because I don't really pronounce the T very well.
I'm a writer,
I say.
So why might we, as writers and artists,
want to defy the constant act of
(05:05):
categorization?
Without categorization, we might have more
creative freedom.
That way, we don't have to worry if our
work fits neatly into one box.
Blurring the lines between genres allows
for more experimentation and innovation.
And by defying categorization,
we can explore multiple themes and
(05:27):
structures and styles without being
constrained to certain expectations.
Maybe it makes our voices more authentic.
Many artists, myself included,
find that our work spans multiple
influences and defies traditional
conventions,
Sticking to one genre feels inauthentic,
even restrictive,
especially when an artist's vision requires
(05:48):
blending elements of multiple genres.
Some of my favorite books do this.
Jenny Bully is one of the authors I think
of when I think about defying genre
categorization.
Anne Carson is another.
Evan Jordan.
I was just reading his book this morning,
one of my all-time favorite poets.
And it's not just a modern invention
either.
(06:09):
William Carlos Williams wrote Patterson,
And of course, there's The Wasteland.
A lot of the most famous works that you can
think of off the top of your head
probably defied their genres or mixed
genres for the time.
They pushed against the boundaries of the
status quo, and they got remembered.
Many marginalized writers,
(06:30):
writers of color, queer writers, and
immigrant writers find that their
experiences don't fit neatly into the
established literary categories.
So defying genre can be a way to explore
their complex identities, their
intersectionality, and buck traditional
notions of what certain genres should look like.
beyoncé teaches us two things here.
(06:52):
One,
anything is possible, and as artists, we
can often see that.
But two,
the trap of genre getting boxed in and
limited,
that usually comes from an outside source
telling us,
we don't belong here.
So here's the challenge, my friends.
Can we follow in the footsteps of the
(07:15):
writers we're going to discuss here today?
Can we break free of genre's limitations?
Can we say to ourselves,
this ain't Texas, and we're refusing to be
trapped by what everyone expects of us?
Let's seek out some writers so that we
don't feel alone on the ledge before we
tightrope over to another genre.
Sidebar.
(07:35):
Did you know that a tightrope walker is
called a phenambulist?
I love that word.
Here are six writers who have successfully
crossed genres,
each carving out their own path in the
literary world.
Let's start with Amber Tamblyn.
Many people know her for her acting career,
particularly her roles in Joan of Arcadia
(07:56):
and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
But Amber's literary career is pretty
impressive.
She made her first foyer into writing with
her poetry collections.
Free Stallion came out in 2005,
and Dark Sparkler came out in 2015.
It was a collection about the deaths of
famous actresses, and it mixed memoir and verse.
(08:18):
More recently, Amber has ventured into
nonfiction writing.
She wrote a book called Era of Ignition:
Coming of Age in the Time of Rage and
Revolution, published in 2019.
The book examines feminism, social justice
and personal growth.
Tamlett's career is a testament to how an
artist can evolve,
refusing to be confined by a single
(08:38):
identity or genre.
What makes her journey? so inspiring is how
she continues to expand her voice.
I think part of what makes Amber Tamblyn's
journey so inspiring is that she continues
to expand her voice.
She continues to evolve and put herself out
there in ways that are authentic,
but always a little bit different,
(09:00):
ever-changing.
This might be because both of her parents
are artists,
Her mom is a singer and her father is Russ
Tamblyn.
He played Riff in the original movie of
West Side Story.
Kind of amazing, right?
But let's talk about somebody who didn't
have the benefit of having parents who were
already artists, Ocean Vuong.
(09:21):
Here is a writer who has made an indelible
mark on both poetry and now
fiction.
Born in Vietnam and raised in Hartford,
Connecticut, Ocean Vuong gained early
recognition with his poetry collection
Night Sky with Exit Wounds that came out in 2016
and the collection was highly revered.
It won the TS Eliot Prize.
(09:42):
It delves into themes of war, identity, and
personal trauma.
His leap into fiction came with his debut
novel, On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous,
which came out in 2019.
That's only three years after his first
poetry book.
The novel is a letter from a son to his
mother, blending fiction and autobiography
in a genre bending way.
that challenges the structures of
(10:03):
traditional narrative.
He brings in his poetic sensibilities to
his prose,
making lyrical and poignant fiction.
His ability to cross genres shows how we
can harness the strengths of poetry,
things like economy of language and vivid
imagery,
to craft prose that is deeply emotional and
resonant.
(10:24):
And I think it's interesting to stop here
and just consider for ourselves, what are
you writing?
I've always written in all the genres.
I'm fascinated by memoiristic nonfiction,
and I like humor writing too, so
funny memoirs are a thing I'm really
interested in.
I've been working on a set of romance
(10:46):
novels for almost 15 years now because I
love that genre as well.
Will I ever publish or do anything with
those manuscripts? I don't know.
But I love to write.
It's how I process my own emotions.
It's how I think and feel through the world.
And if you're listening to the Poetry Lab
(11:06):
podcast, you probably feel the same way.
I'm super curious about what other genres
you write in,
and what's your favorite?
How do you feel when you navigate those
different genres?
Have you ever done anything to combine
them, a block of prose followed by a poem?
One of my favorite forms is called the
haibun.
(11:26):
It's a prose poem followed by a haiku.
Mixing genres is inherent in what we do as
writers.
Again, these lines bleed into each other,
and the differences in those
categorizations,
that's not really for us.
It's for the rest of the world to make
sense of us.
Let's keep going.
Kaveh Akbar, another poet whose work is
(11:48):
rooted in personal experience,
and much of which centers around identity,
addiction, and spirituality.
His first collection was called Calling a
Wolf, a Wolf in 2017.
It was lauded for its honesty and its
beauty in tackling the subject of recovery.
Born in Iran and raised in the United
States,
there are also a lot of themes of
(12:09):
displacement running throughout his work.
Recently, he made his fiction writing debut
with his novel, Martyr.
It was published just this year in 2024.
Akbar tells a story of Cyrus Shams, a newly
sober son of Iranian immigrants navigating
grief, addiction, and identity.
The novel showcases Akbar's lyrical prose
(12:30):
and his deep exploration of human
struggles, bringing the same intensity from
his poetry into his fiction.
I think his ability to cross genres
illustrates how poets can expand their voice
and style to new forms while still
maintaining that emotional depth.
Here's someone whose work really excites me.
(12:51):
Honoree Jeffers.
She's a poet who made an enormous splash in
the literary world with her debut novel,
The Love Songs of Webb Dubois. It
was published in 2021.
Before that, though,
she was a well-established poet, having
published five collections of poetry.
Maybe you've heard of The Age of Phyllis.
It was published in 2020.
(13:12):
It was long-listed for the National Book Award,
And it's a pretty thick book of poetry that
details the historical life
of Phyllis Wheatley.
So we know this is a poet who is not afraid
of a historical theme or docu poetry.
So in her novel, The Love Songs of Webb
Dubois,
centuries are spanned, weaving together
(13:33):
personal and historical narratives.
It's an epic exploration of Black identity,
history, and Black resilience.
What makes Honoree Jeffers' transition so
remarkable is that her poetic voice
continues to inform her fiction.
Her prose is lush and layered, carefully
crafted.
She shows us how storytelling skills honed
(13:54):
in poetry can serve a writer when they
shift into novel writing.
All right, so we've talked about poets
who've made a foray into fiction writing,
but there's other genres out there, right?
Let's look at Mahogany L. Brown.
She's an example of a writer who refuses to
be limited.
Known primarily as a poet,
(14:14):
Mahogany L.
Brown is also a novelist, a playwright, and
she's even made a foyer into the world of
comics.
The themes in Mahogany L.
Brown's work are of social justice.
She writes poems that speak to the black
experience in America.
Her work is raw, emotional, and challenging
to readers who want to confront
uncomfortable truths.
(14:35):
Mo Brown's catalog includes a baby book
called Woke Baby and two YA
novels as well.
She is the living embodiment of Black girl magic.
Finally, here's a cool cross-genre blend
from one of my all-time favorite writers,
Amy Nezhukumatathil,
a poet known for her vibrant celebration of
the natural world.
(14:57):
I've been reading Amy's work since At the
Drive-In Volcano, which is her second book,
then I went back and read her first book,
Miracle Fruit,
And since then,
Lucky Fish and Oceanic have come out.
I'm naming all these off the top of my head
because this is really one of my favorite
writers.
Her writing is full of lush imagery, and
(15:17):
the speaker's identity and voice comes
through so crystal clear in her poems.
In 2020, Nezhukumatathil expanded her
literary repertoire to
World of Wonders, in praise of fireflies,
whale sharks, and other astonishments.
It's a collection of personal essays that
moves her into the genre of nonfiction.
(15:39):
What's fascinating about World of Wonders
is how her voice in nonfiction is lyrical
and meditative,
unapologetically so.
Her work blurs the lines between poetry and essay,
and it's a great example to end on because
it reminds us that rigid genre boundaries
don't serve any of us.
There should always be spaces where we can
(16:00):
experiment and play.
As we finish up here today, I really want
you to think about this.
Crossing genres doesn't dilute our voices,
it amplifies it,
just like beyoncé did with Cowboy Carter.
These artists blaze their own trails,
reminding us that creativity thrives when
we step outside the boxes we've been placed in.
(16:23):
So what's your genre, poet?
And how much does its categorization really
matter to you?
If you haven't picked up any of the books
I've talked about, the poetry or the prose,
I hope you do.
I'll link to everything that I mentioned on
the show notes page for this episode,
episode 38 of the Poetry Lab podcast.
So please be sure to like and subscribe
(16:44):
wherever you're listening now.
I'm Danielle and you can reach out to me on
Instagram @imaginarydani
or come visit me right here at the Poetry Lab
by becoming a VIP member.
We'd love to see you in our monthly
Braintrust classes or in one of our
four-week offerings.
I'd even love to have you over at the
Feedback Circle
because I'll be damned if I can't slow
dance with you.
(17:06):
Come pour some sugar on me, honey, too,
right?
I'm gonna go listen to that song.
That's all for now.
I hope to see you soon at the Poetry Lab.
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