Michael French, Scott Ebersold, Cami Rothmuller, and Iris Jamahl-Dunkle

On the 2/14/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Michael French returns to the show with Scott Ebersold to discuss The Laramie Project, which is the current riveting contemporary drama organized by the Department of Theater and Dance. Ebersold describes his casting process, and how he utilizes both acting and directing techniques to explore the depths of the characters. Michael French  shares information about upcoming music and exhibit events which can be found using this link: arts.ucdavis.edu/theatre-and-dance. 

Cami Rothmuller introduces her upcoming larger works: a manuscript about a woman going crazy in the desert titled Crucible of the Sun, and her chapbook. She then reads a poem about a drive with her fiancé, followed by another poem titled, “Great White.” Rothmuller reflects on the networking aspect of the writing world, which she recently experienced at the Kansas City meeting of AWP. Iris Jamahl-Dunkle pinpoints her goal of talking back to history through her writing, specifically the erasure of Dust Bowl literature. She then reads a poem about the romantic relationship between Harry Houdini and Charmian London. Jamahl-Dunkle expresses her deep connection to Charmian London and the similarities in their lives, despite having lived a century apart.

Michael G. French is an arts and theatre events marketing specialist for the UC Davis College of Letters and Science. He promotes performances and events for the departments of Art and Art History, Cinema and Digital Media, Design, Music, and Theatre and Dance. 

Scott Ebersold is a theatre director and recent Artistic Associate of Off-Broadway's Classic Stage Company.  He enjoys directing classics, contemporary works, musicals, devised pieces and world premieres with a broad palette of theatrical styles from intimate multidisciplinary video performances to large-scale commercial productions. Scott recently directed the Off-Broadway Premiere of Max Vernon’s new Musical The View UpStairs that was nominated for 2 Lortel Awards, 3 Drama Desk Awards, an Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Musical and for which Audelco/The Viv nominated him for a Best Director.

Cami Rothmuller is an undergraduate at UC Davis, pursuing a degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing, and a favorite contributor to Poetry Night. She recently received the Pamela Maus Award for Poetry and the Lois Ann Lattin Rosenberg English Department Essay Prize. Her newest manuscript is titled A Crucible of Sunlight.

Iris Jamahl Dunkle is an award-winning poet and biographer whose work challenges the American West’s male-oriented recorded history by researching the lives of women. Her fourth collection of poems, West : Fire : Archive, was published by The Center for Literary Publishing in 2021. Dunkle wrote the first full-length biography on Charmian London, Jack London’s wife, Charmian Kittredge London: Trailblazer, Author, Adventurer published by the University of Oklahoma Press in 2020 (now available in audiobook). Her next biography, Riding Like the Wind: The Life of Sanora Babb, is forthcoming from University of California Press in Fall 2024. Dunkle teaches at Napa Valley College, UC Davis, and Dominican University, and is the Poetry and Translation Director of the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference. 

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