October 13, 2024 • 38 mins
Check out Amanda's conversation with Marlana-Patrice Pugh Hamer!
Marlana-Patrice Pugh Hamer (She/Her) is an award-winning poet, writer, performer, public speaker, educator, and volunteer/activist. She has a BA in English. Also, an MEd in Curriculum & Instruction.
Her poetry and nonfiction have appeared in various anthologies. Most recently, Dimepiece: Ten Years of CLI Poetry. Her debut poetry collection is Taking Off My Black & White Saddle Shoes: Cleveland Poems. It is a memoir in verse spanning from her birth to the present (World Stage Press, 2024).
Marlana-Patrice is a veteran English and reading teacher who has taught on many levels, including teaching Freshman Composition at Purdue University. Both a lifelong teacher and lifelong learner, she is currently a Teaching Assistant with Community Literature Initiative (CLI).
A native Clevelander, Marlana-Patrice caught the open mic bug before taking an early retirement and relocating to the Phoenix Metro area in Arizona. She performs as "Marlana-Patrice." To date, one of her most memorable poetry performances was at the iconic Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center during a Los Angeles Poet Society 2022 Open Mic.
Marlana's Links: Linktr.ee/marlanapph
Be sure to check out The Poet Speaks Podcast on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/thepoetspeakspodcast/
And listen to,The Poet Speaks Podcast, on the go on ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE!
Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1cM1rdF...
Did you know The Poet Speaks is also Amanda's touring global workshop? She teaches people all about how to make, create and the history of Spoken Word and Indigenous oral traditions! To make a booking for The Poet Speaks Workshop with your organization, apply for mentorships with Amanda, book interviews, as well as writing consultations, please use this link: https://www.amandaeke.com/services
Music by: Buzu Buzu
https://www.instagram.com/bbuzu/
Marlana-Patrice Pugh Hamer (She/Her) is an award-winning poet, writer, performer, public speaker, educator, and volunteer/activist. She has a BA in English. Also, an MEd in Curriculum & Instruction.
Her poetry and nonfiction have appeared in various anthologies. Most recently, Dimepiece: Ten Years of CLI Poetry. Her debut poetry collection is Taking Off My Black & White Saddle Shoes: Cleveland Poems. It is a memoir in verse spanning from her birth to the present (World Stage Press, 2024).
Marlana-Patrice is a veteran English and reading teacher who has taught on many levels, including teaching Freshman Composition at Purdue University. Both a lifelong teacher and lifelong learner, she is currently a Teaching Assistant with Community Literature Initiative (CLI).
A native Clevelander, Marlana-Patrice caught the open mic bug before taking an early retirement and relocating to the Phoenix Metro area in Arizona. She performs as "Marlana-Patrice." To date, one of her most memorable poetry performances was at the iconic Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center during a Los Angeles Poet Society 2022 Open Mic.
Marlana's Links: Linktr.ee/marlanapph
Be sure to check out The Poet Speaks Podcast on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/thepoetspeakspodcast/
And listen to,The Poet Speaks Podcast, on the go on ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE!
Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1cM1rdF...
Did you know The Poet Speaks is also Amanda's touring global workshop? She teaches people all about how to make, create and the history of Spoken Word and Indigenous oral traditions! To make a booking for The Poet Speaks Workshop with your organization, apply for mentorships with Amanda, book interviews, as well as writing consultations, please use this link: https://www.amandaeke.com/services
Music by: Buzu Buzu
https://www.instagram.com/bbuzu/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello everyone, it's your host, Amanda aka and I have
some amazing news. Starting this fall, The pote Speaks is
coming to your TV screens. Yes, that's right. After eight
amazing seasons as a podcast, The Poet Speaks with Amanda
Akay is now a TV show erin are the Archaeology
Channel's new streaming service, Heritage. Everyone, get ready for a
(00:26):
visual feast, spoken, more performances, and deep dives into the
minds of pods from all over the world.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Something extraordinary is coming.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
And you won't want to miss a single moment.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Stay tuned, everyone, Welcome back to The pold Speaks Podcast.
Now our next guest. Award winning poet, writer, performer, public speaker,
educator and volunteer and activist. Her debut poetry collection is
Taking Off My Black and White Saddle Shoes Cleveland Poems.
It to memoir on verse, spanning from her birth to
the present. She's a veteran English teacher and reading teacher.
(00:58):
Was taught on many levels, including teaching freshman composition at
Purdue University. She got the open mic bug before taking
an early retirement and relocaing to the Phoenix metro area
in Arizona. Everyone please welcome to the Post Speaks podcast
Orlena Patrice Pugh Hamer Marlena, how are you?
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Thank you for welcoming. So great to be here. I'm
doing pretty good today. How about yourself?
Speaker 1 (01:22):
I'm doing very very good, better now that we're talking.
So go ahead, tell us before we like to begin,
tell us where you locate in the world right now?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Where are we talking to you from? Is it beautiful,
is it sunny? Is it rainy? What's going on where
you're at?
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Well, I'm in Phoenix metro area and that's a very
expansive area and we're hot.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
I didn't look at my phone, but it's been.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Over one hundred degrees lately, so many of us are
inside a perfect time to write, read and reflect. I've
been doing a little bit of both, absolutely absolutely well.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah, Phoenix, so are to your west coast kind of
towards there, so we got a west coast east coast connection,
is how we're talking.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
So tell us a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
I mean, did you grow were you born and raised
in Phoenix, Arizona area? I know you're a bio says
you relocated where did you relocate from them?
Speaker 3 (02:20):
That's an excellent question.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Many people think I'm from the Midwest, Cleveland, Ohio born
and raised, and I'm proud to say my debut book,
I focused on my life in memoir, memoir and verse
my life to present, so it pretty much covers me
transitioning to moving here. However, it doesn't exactly explain well.
(02:47):
If you put the poems together, it does in a sense.
I came here, took an early retirement for the purpose
of starting a new life, I would say a second career,
and my focus. I always wanted to write more, perform more.
(03:08):
I had interest in those areas most of my life,
and being a teacher had some fulfilling moments, especially helping
students to be young authors. I was in a special
program with them for almost ten years where I allowed
my students to get class credit for writing books, most
(03:31):
of many of them were poetry. Also, on the personal side,
my parents had passed both of them but separately, in
two thousand and five, and we had to.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Deal with that loss.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
And also I stayed in Cleveland for a length of
time even after they passed, in order to settle their
their the states, and also to just make.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Peace with what I needed to do next.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
And I reflected upon it and decided it was time
to move on.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Sometimes you just have to make those hard choices.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
And I felt a new place, living near relatives, making
new friends, finding new ways to express myself. So I
did take the retirement. I felt it was time to
do something else.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Absolutely, Wow, such an amazing story. So tell us a
little bit. Where did writing kind of find you in
that path? So, like you said, it was a bit
of a second career, so you grew up. Were you
any type of a writer, any type of a poet,
or was this something really truly it just popped, popped up,
popped for you later on in life.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
That's an excellent question. I will say.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
I've been writing for a very very long time. I
have a little note book. I should have brought it
as a visual. It's actually a little spiral notebook. I
wrote a few poems in when I was nine years old.
So if I can pinpoint when I started, I guess
the little notebook would say I was nine years old.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
I always enjoyed writing.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
My mother, just as a side note, she taught me
how to write cursive writing when my teachers failed. I
even mentioned that in my poetry book. And she was
also a writer. She wrote poetry, songs, even a children's book,
but she never got published. So I would say my
(05:38):
mother was a strong influence. I dedicated my book to
my mother and just being exposed to the arts.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
I've journaled for many, many years.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
I started with a little diary, and you know how
young girls get those diaries and then you're like this.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Is too little. You know, those little books.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
And then I started writing buying journals in bookstores, and
I have several. So it's a combination of many things.
But I will say age nine was the beginning. And
being a teacher, I was busy checking papers and so forth,
so I needed well more time and I got finally
(06:26):
got it when I retired.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Yeah no, that's really amazing.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I'm so curious for you, though, I mean, what was
the kind of you had mentioned a little bit just
you needed a change in life. I mean, what was
the was there just an impetus? Was there one moment
where you were just like, all right, I need to
let me go write my debut book now after teaching
for so many years. And we'll get into that a
little later with your debut collection. Taking off my black
(06:56):
and white saddle shoes Cleveland Poems. Was there just one
moment where you were just where things just changed for
you and you were like, all right, no, I'm writing
full time.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
This is where I'm going now.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Well, I won't I won't say teacher burnout. We you know,
we don't want to say that, but I will say
it was a culmination of several events. As I said,
my parents both passed in the same year.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
That's a lot.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
And also I had to take on more family responsibilities.
So at one point I had to take a break
sickly from my job in order to handle some personal
things which I don't want to go into detail about,
but that that was my breaking point.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
You know, it was very emotional.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
As I said, maybe when I write in the future,
I'll explain more, but it was a point where I've
had enough, I need to go and I know so
many of us reached that when you feel like a
fight or flight. I guess I was in the flight mode,
and I'm happy I did it, because sometimes you have
(08:11):
to close a door and open a new one, and
that was.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Basically what I did. Amen.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Absolutely, yes, sometimes you really do have to close one
door to open up another one. That's very, very inspirational
for folks no matter what states they're at.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
I think a lot of people don't know how to
start over. I don't know how.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
To reclaim something that maybe has always been inside of them.
So thank you so much for sharing that. Tell us
a little bit about I'm so curious about so you were.
You know, you describe yourself in a veteran teacher in
your bio.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I'm just curious how teaching. I mean, like you mentioned
your students.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Were, I mean, what was you know, going from teacher,
being a veteran teacher.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
For so long.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
First I'll tell us what school district, But going from
being a teacher to now a full time writer, I mean,
what were the kind of what are some synonymous things
you see maybe in the fields? Did your students really
kind of inspire you in some ways to even write
what you're writing now? Tell us a little bit about
that trajectory switching from a career field of being a
(09:15):
teacher to a poet.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Okay, that's also you're giving me such great questions. Well,
I will say that being a teacher and being a poet,
actually there they merge, and I was a little I
won't say I'm shocked but.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Right now, I know you didn't mention it.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
But I'm a teaching assistant with a group called Community
Literature Initiative, which is located in Los Angeles, and so
poets are have an opportunity to be teaching artists.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
If not everybody, but.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
You know, if you get the chance chants to do it,
I'll say do it. So it's not so much that
you're just sitting at home writing. Some people have that
kind of image that, oh, I can just lay back
in my favorite chair and write. We are very proactive,
(10:17):
and I'm saying we because I'm part of the Community
Literature Initiative clique, if you want to use that term,
the crew. We are actively writing, reading, performing doing things
in our community.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
And as a teacher, I did that too because.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
For example, I'll give you an example, it was Cleveland
Metropolitan School System. They changed the name many times, but
I think that's what they call themselves. Now, I was
involved in the union, so I was a delegate or
whatever position I held at the time, so we would
(11:01):
actually go out do petitions. We had a strike for
a minute, so we were vocal and did things. And
of course, being a teacher, you speak all the time.
So some of the skills that I had I developed
(11:21):
as a teacher are still being utilized.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
And recently I had to do a power.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Point and I learned that as in my academic studies
and so forth, So skills are transferable, and I'm finding myself.
You know, hey, wait a minute, I'm still a teacher.
And I'm not knocking that because I enjoy teaching and
expressing myself and sharing my knowledge with other people, and
(11:52):
I recently did.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
I'll say, we had the.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
Beach Writers Beach Writers Writing Conference this past weekend, and
I was a presenter, so I spoke to an audience
of at least I don't remember how many people, at
least forty people. So as I'm saying, I'm sorry if
I'm giving you too long an answer, the skills are transferable,
(12:20):
so I don't.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Feel like I've stopped being a teacher. I'm still a teacher.
I was always a writer, I was always a poet.
Even those things, if those.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Things weren't being utilized to their fullest potential, absolutely absolutely,
I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
I think teaching, being a teacher, a.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Poet, they are one in the same path field and
pathway because you're you know, you're teaching and giving grace
and giving to the people. Right, whoever is with willing
ears as a poet there, they're learning from you.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
So I absolutely see that.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Then just the mechanics of the ever crossing, the t's
dotting the i's like you had mentioned, awesome, awesome.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
So you know, I found something interesting about you.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
You described you caught the open mic bug obviously before,
like you said, in early retirement. Tell us more about
that experience on stage that you had where you just
caught that open mic bug and tell us, like what
stage you were at in your life. I mean, because
again I think so many people they they're scared, and
(13:27):
they they they're closeted poets for years, decades, and they
don't they don't come and give their gift with the
world at all. You know, was the quote by Viola Davis.
The best stories are those in the graves because so
many people don't come out tell their story. Right, tell
us about that experience where you just caught that open
(13:47):
mic bug.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Before your early retirement.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
Well, again, I can trace this back to childhood. On
some of the interviews I've had, people say I've said
that in church they used to have us read little
little passages for like Easter, so I recalled doing it
that at least once. And then in church I also
(14:12):
was in some talent quote unquote talent programs where I
read some Gwndolin Brooks or my Angelo, so that was
probably a little prior.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
And then.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
We used to act out plays, my siblings and I
in the backyard, and I used to be like the Star.
I used to be Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty, something of
that nature. Then in high school I did I dabbled
a little bit in drama and even thought about becoming
(14:48):
an actress. So there's you know, there are threeads that
didn't just boom, I'm gonna do it kind of thing.
So then I became a toast Master toast Masters International.
My highest award was winning the Humorous Speech Contest District ten.
(15:10):
So I always wanted to express myself and I felt
I had a talent. I did have a teacher long
ago who said, no, you're a writer, you're not a speaker.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
But as we all know, all we do.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
All of that now, and those that are afraid to speak,
I encourage you to join toast Masters. It's a big commitment,
but I was in it for quite some years and
I just don't have time for.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
It now, but I would like to go back to it.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
So the open mic thing was like, Okay, I want
to go out and express myself. And I used to
go to some places you might call them dive bars,
you know, some of these places where you do open mics.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
But the Tremont area, oh, in Cleveland, is a very
artistic area. So I was never fearful and I did
go to some of those, and it was a release.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
So I could go on and on about some of
the threads of why I do this, but I enjoy it,
and now that I'm hearing Phoenix, I do make an
effort to go out, even at night. Although you know,
if my parents were still here, they'd be like, no,
don't go.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
But safety was never an issue for me. I just
did it for the joy of it.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Tell us a little bit more. You had mentioned you
did it and it's just you got release. Tell us
a little bit more about what that release really means
to you.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Well, I usually had a little folder with which poems
I figured I might perform, and then I would kind
of feel out the audience and look at who performed
before me and select my what I would do accordingly,
(17:12):
And so I tried to read the audience ahead of
time and present something. Sometimes they want something dealing with emotions,
and sometimes they you can sense they need something more humorous.
So it's a variety of ways.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
You know, you look at your audience.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
That's what I usually do when I'm like, okay, I think,
and I look at who's there, and so I try
to involve the audience and what I'm going to present,
and obviously I try to.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Connect with them and.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
Try to allow them to experience what I'm experiencing. And
it's a real joy to field that you've touched people
and they can give you snaps and claps and relate
to what you have to release and give to them
as a kind of gift. So so that's my best
(18:13):
answer right now.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I think that's a beautiful thing, very very beautiful.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Well, let's get it. Let's get into it.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
The Book of the Hour, your debut poetry collection, Taking
Off My Black and White Saddle Shoes Cleveland Poems. Tell
us a bit about what that well, first and foremost,
I mean, what's the what's the what has been the
reaction so far. How you what has been the process
to finally from conception to now your your buckets released
(18:47):
to the world.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
It's your debut.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Tell us a little bit about that process and the
inspiration behind it.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Okay, well, I'll try to keep it breathe. First of all,
I did have my virtual open mic. I believe it
was on May nineteenth. I may have the date wronged.
It was on a Sunday, and I was told I
had about give or take forty people, which is I
(19:16):
was told us good for an online book release. And
because I live in Cleveland, I mean now I live
in Phoenix area, and my audience is kind of widespread,
Like I have a niece who lives in Africa. I
had a nephew, Kan who lives in Dayton. People Phoenix,
(19:38):
people Los Angeles who are my friends. So it was
even somebody I think from Colorado.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
So it worked out well. I was happy with that.
So that was decided.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
My publishers, World Stage Press, we decided early on we're
going to do it that way, and I did. They
get pre orders. So then I also made bookmarks. Well
I didn't make them, but one of our publishing managers
made them.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Her name's Emily Ann.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
So I've been working on that, so it's an active thing.
As I said, a writer doesn't just sit back and
wait for the royalties to come. So the book, if
you can see it, I'll just hold it up for them.
And people are asking, well, where did the shoe thing
come from?
Speaker 3 (20:32):
And I'm kind of it just evolved.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
These are actually my shoes on the cover, and they
find that you an interesting point to jump off on.
And I felt like, since I like fashion, I could
write about.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
The various shoes I've worn in my life and it
just fit.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
And I had one of my teachers, Community Literature Initiative
has publishing classes, poetry publishing classes. I talked it over
with two of the people I've been working with, my
teacher and the teaching assistant, and I pitched pretty much
the different themes I was going to have in my book,
(21:17):
and they were like, no, no, no, and this one.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
This one stuck.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
So this book is about my life from beginning to end,
well to present and moving here. And the shoes, as
I said, are the tying. Do you want me to
name what the shoes are?
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Let us know, Yeah, what's the shoes? Name them? Okay, Well, logically, baby.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Shoes are the first shoes, and then I go to sneakers,
which is funny. We have a picture all for me
and my siblings we all have on sneakers, so that
was like wow. So I put certain key pictures in
the book that fit black and.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
White saddle shoes. That goes with me going to high.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
School, a Catholic high school, high heels, my formative years
where I.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
Was trying to, you know, make a name.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
For myself and get out their party, all those things
we young people do. Flat shoes reflects the difficult times
in my life and taking off my shoes finally to
have bare feet to reveal all of the things I've
experienced and learned. As the last section of the book,
(22:41):
my goodness.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
While so the shoes are really a metaphor for each
kind of place in your life.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
So going from yeah, no, already you get that visual
going from those sneakers, the heels, the flat shoes to
finally barefoot. That's such a powerful but also very unique
metaphor to kind of describe your life these different stages
as to what type of shoes you were wearing.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
It does make people, I think, even even though I
haven't been able to read your debut book.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Just from hearing that description, it makes me kind of
ponder on my own life, the shoes that I've worn
at the different times in my life, and how that
really is a reflection metaphor, if you will, where you're at,
who you're trying to be right?
Speaker 3 (23:25):
What is it? I think?
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Also, what is the term that people use? You know,
you dress for the job that you want. So I
love how you describe the heels. It's like, you know,
when you were trying to be when you were you're trying.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
To be out here, it's trying to be out and
parting right. It described perfectly where you were at. Now,
that's such a good thing.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Kind of go into a little bit what was I mean,
what kind of was the catalyst for you to make
the shoes intricate part moving part of your debut and the.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Poems in there. What was so?
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Why did you choose shoes out of anything else one
could use?
Speaker 3 (24:02):
You know, I know you said you loved fashion.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
You know you could have maybe used the hat last,
you know, whatever may have you? What was it about
shoes specifically in the journey with how with Our Feet right?
Speaker 4 (24:14):
Well as I said, it was a fluid kind of thing.
So you know, if I needed to write out how
it happened, I really couldn't explain it to you, but
I will say I had. I also like to take pictures. Photography.
It's just, you know, a fun thing for me. And
(24:37):
I don't know the things. Some of the things I
was writing about were my formative things that stayed with
me are still stay with me.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
And those saddle shoes, they just seem.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Like a dominant image of you know, they would kind
of like the at the center of some of the
poems I was writing, because I did write poems about
my experience. Well they're in the book about my experiences
being in a Catholic school, and prior to that, I
(25:12):
had been in a public school most of my life.
So the Catholic school they put me up to grade
I think they put me up to grade ten, because
when I went to a Catholic school, I was in
what they.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Call nine A. Was it nine A or nine B.
Speaker 4 (25:32):
I know you're too young to remember how they broke
up the grades, but I was in the second part
of the ninth grade and they said, oh, your grades
are good enough, so we'll put you in the tenth
grade and tenth, eleventh, twelfth. So I was in Catholic
school for three years and then I went to a
Catholic university. And if you look carefully on the cover,
(25:55):
I know you can't see it, but the name of
my college that you are.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
On my shoes too. So I wrote that on later.
But so that was a pivotal part of my life.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
And so the shoes just seem like, like you said,
a real metaphor that I could work with.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
And tie it in.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
And I have in the book, if you don't mind
me mentioning, I have quotes in regard to each pair
of shoes, famous people and some poets. And I also
have a Sicily Tyson quote. So I tried to tie
it to popular culture too, And most people are in
(26:39):
the clothes and fashion and on some level, so I
tried to make it relatable.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Absolutely, tell us a bit about what's the reaction been,
what of your community, what have they really what is
this kind of harnessed in terms of people's feelings and
their reactions to your debut.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
Well, some people I've read performed many of the poems
over a period of time, not just since the book
came out. But when I was out there in Cleveland
at night, I did do some of these poems for
open mics, and majority of them enjoyed these poems, and
so that encouraged me to say, well, hey, maybe I
(27:24):
finally need to put this book together and people have well,
one lady, I'll give you an example recently, when I
was in Los Angeles, I was telling her about one
of my poems, and I happened to have the book
with me, and she read the poem and then I
gave her a bookmark which has the QR code, and
(27:48):
right on the spot, she ordered my book. Now, I'm
not saying everybody's going to do that, hopefully, and I've
been given opportunities to sell my book and I have
done that at some June teenth events recently, and I
did get sales, and I have friends who have come
(28:10):
to me and bought the book. So it's looking positive
right now. And of course it's a lengthy process, as
you know. Absolutely we'll have Marlena her debut taking off
my black and white styled shoes.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Cleveland Poems will have the link and the description for
everyone to check out that book and go buy it
and go be inspired. It's really really something quite amazing.
So Marlena, you know that we're really appreciative. You're dropping
so many gems and really telling us a bit about
your life and where you're at and where you came from.
(28:46):
Tell us kind of when was it if you could
name a specific time.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
We kind of talked about.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Your childhood and your writing, and you got mentioned at
nine years old.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
But was there any specific time outside of that.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Where you just knew I'm a writer?
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Was there a moment that hits you, any type of
moment that just beat you in the fact, I don't know,
just hit you like a freight train where you know, hey, no,
this is I'm a writer for sure.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
Well, I guess I'm going to Well I did mention
about the Toastmasters thing when you write speeches a lot
some of that, you know, it's creative, creative nonfiction, or
whatever we want to call it. So every time I
won an award of some kind for speaking, and as
I said, the teacher said, I really wasn't a speaker.
(29:36):
You know that that tied into the writing. So writing
and speaking to me are in tandem. It's really never
one or the other. But so I will give an example,
and I actually won some money.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
It wasn't you know, a million dollars.
Speaker 4 (29:56):
But I was in the Hessler street Fare Annual Hessler
Street Fair Poetry Contest, and they said, you wrote the poem,
you submitted it, but you also had to perform the poem,
and so you were.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Judged on both.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
You had to perform it in front of a live
audience and then they would decide who was the winner. Now,
I won second place and got a check, and I
will not tell you which rank I really deserve, but
I guess you can guess. It was me, three men,
(30:36):
three men, and me, So I'll just leave that one alone.
But I was so elated and I was like, yes, yes,
And that was a little before I moved here.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Actually for sure.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Well wow, I want to know, you know, and I'm
curious and when it comes to you, you know, you
have such an amazing story, especially this idea of just
starting over again, becoming really engaging in writing, going to
open mics, you know, a later stage in life. I mean,
what is your if you could give advice to our listeners,
you know, we have such a wide demographic, diverse array.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
Of people all around the world.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
That love to listen to this show, and they are
at different stages of their lives, but you know, they
all tune into this community here on this podcast because
they love poetry, they love to write. What would your
advice be the folks you know in terms of starting
that second win in their career, no matter what stage
they're at. You know a lot of people you know,
they probably feel like, no, I'm too it's too late
(31:37):
for me.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
Why why I can't do that anymore? What is your advice?
Speaker 1 (31:41):
What do you tell those folks you know, seeing that
you've done it so beautifully, what would you tell those people?
Speaker 3 (31:48):
That's a wonderful question.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
I actually wrote my book if you don't mind me saying,
my target audience is young black women and then of
course and dearly women in general. I want women to
know and even men that we're still here and the
(32:13):
fact that we're older doesn't mean we need to, you know, assistance.
Our minds hopefully are still working, and if they are,
use your talents.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
There was a friend who.
Speaker 4 (32:28):
Spoke at the Writer's conference about our talents, and my
parents often spoke about that too. It's in the Bible
that you can't hide your talents under a rock. You must,
and I'm impelled. It's like I have to do it
(32:50):
and coming here. Yeah, I could play golf and do
some of the other things that people hike and so
on and so forth. But when I get up in
the morning, I'm often ready to write, and that's my
favorite time to write. I feel that many people, they
(33:12):
do want to share their experiences. And my speech at
the conference was writing a memoir in verse, so it
was very popular. Now you reach a certain age fifty
sixty seventy, you want to help other people or just
tell the world what your life was like.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
And I feel I've reached.
Speaker 4 (33:34):
That point and gain knowledge which I want to share
and help other people live quality lives in the process.
And I will say I've encountered a lot of people,
some of them older than I am. I'm like wow,
But they're out there writing too, so they inspire me
(33:57):
to keep going. And I consider myself, for example, the
black grandma Moses and I don't have any kids, but
I started quote unquote late writing, but she was prolific.
And Picasso wrote into I mean drew pictures into his nineties.
(34:19):
They're countless stories about people being prolific at a later age.
So I'm following their lead. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
While such a beautiful statement, such a beautiful testimony, We
really thank you so much for sharing that and sharing
your grace and your wisdom and just your story.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
We really do appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
So, Marlena, we have one final question for you on
the Post Speaks podcast.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
Why do you need to get your words out? Well,
I said this on another podcast.
Speaker 4 (34:52):
I feel I am a vessel and I am a
religious person. I feel, well, some people they become ministers
later in life, I said. I. I said to myself, no,
that's that's not what I want to do. But I'm
ministering through my words to help others to live quality
(35:14):
lives and to learn from their mistakes and realize whatever
mistakes you make, that's not going to defeat you. You
learn from your mistakes and move forward. And you know,
whatever shoes you have on, those can be fixed if necessary,
(35:37):
or get some new ones and move, just move and
do what you feel you must do in a positive
light to help everybody to help the world be a
better play.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
Absolutely, thank you so much, Thank you so much to
be a vessel.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
What an amazing, amazing thing.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
All right, Well, Marlena tell us as we wrap up,
what is next for you in twenty twenty four? Any
events places where we can also find all of the
amazing work that you're doing. In terms of website social media,
please do tell the.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
Folks thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
Well.
Speaker 4 (36:16):
I'm posting as often as I can on Instagram.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
I'm not on TikTok, but I'm.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
In various other places Instagram, I like to do reels
and I like to post like what activities I'm going
to be participating in soon.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
My handle is m A R LA n A.
Speaker 4 (36:41):
PPH and as me with a hat on, so you
can't miss that. I also like hats, but you know
in accessories, see I have a scarf on today and
I will say I'm trying to be in the events
through gigs.
Speaker 3 (37:00):
If you want to book me, you can go to
gig Salad.
Speaker 4 (37:04):
I am on that app and I think it's an
excellent one for creatives. Also open Mike wise. There's one
I want to attend. It's at the Palabrus. I think
I'm pronouncing it right, Polarberus Bilingual Bookstore in Phoenix. It
(37:25):
will be July thirteenth. I believe the time is seven
to nine pm. And if everything works out. You'll see
me there and I will have some of my bookmarks
as well. And if you're in the Phoenix area interested
in getting my book, just contact me through Instagram. I'm
also on Facebook, my full name on Facebook. I think
(37:49):
that's enough for now, right, Well, thank you so much,
No so, everyone.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
Marlana's information all those links will be down below description box.
No matter where you're listening to this podcast at MAT
the streaming service, check the description box with all of
mar Lane's links. All right, Marlena, thank you so much
for being an amazing guest today on the Fold Speaks podcast.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
Thank you so much. It was a honor and a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
Absolutely all right, everyone again, all of Marlena's links will
be in the details box down below.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
Everyone, this is the Fold Speaks Podcast.
Speaker 3 (38:23):
We'll talk to you soon. Bye everyone, Bye everyone,
Hello everyone, it's your host, Amanda aka and I have
some amazing news. Starting this fall, The pote Speaks is
coming to your TV screens. Yes, that's right. After eight
amazing seasons as a podcast, The Poet Speaks with Amanda
Akay is now a TV show erin are the Archaeology
Channel's new streaming service, Heritage. Everyone, get ready for a
(00:26):
visual feast, spoken, more performances, and deep dives into the
minds of pods from all over the world.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Something extraordinary is coming.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
And you won't want to miss a single moment.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Stay tuned, everyone, Welcome back to The pold Speaks Podcast.
Now our next guest. Award winning poet, writer, performer, public speaker,
educator and volunteer and activist. Her debut poetry collection is
Taking Off My Black and White Saddle Shoes Cleveland Poems.
It to memoir on verse, spanning from her birth to
the present. She's a veteran English teacher and reading teacher.
(00:58):
Was taught on many levels, including teaching freshman composition at
Purdue University. She got the open mic bug before taking
an early retirement and relocaing to the Phoenix metro area
in Arizona. Everyone please welcome to the Post Speaks podcast
Orlena Patrice Pugh Hamer Marlena, how are you?
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Thank you for welcoming. So great to be here. I'm
doing pretty good today. How about yourself?
Speaker 1 (01:22):
I'm doing very very good, better now that we're talking.
So go ahead, tell us before we like to begin,
tell us where you locate in the world right now?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Where are we talking to you from? Is it beautiful,
is it sunny? Is it rainy? What's going on where
you're at?
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Well, I'm in Phoenix metro area and that's a very
expansive area and we're hot.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
I didn't look at my phone, but it's been.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Over one hundred degrees lately, so many of us are
inside a perfect time to write, read and reflect. I've
been doing a little bit of both, absolutely absolutely well.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah, Phoenix, so are to your west coast kind of
towards there, so we got a west coast east coast connection,
is how we're talking.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
So tell us a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
I mean, did you grow were you born and raised
in Phoenix, Arizona area? I know you're a bio says
you relocated where did you relocate from them?
Speaker 3 (02:20):
That's an excellent question.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Many people think I'm from the Midwest, Cleveland, Ohio born
and raised, and I'm proud to say my debut book,
I focused on my life in memoir, memoir and verse
my life to present, so it pretty much covers me
transitioning to moving here. However, it doesn't exactly explain well.
(02:47):
If you put the poems together, it does in a sense.
I came here, took an early retirement for the purpose
of starting a new life, I would say a second career,
and my focus. I always wanted to write more, perform more.
(03:08):
I had interest in those areas most of my life,
and being a teacher had some fulfilling moments, especially helping
students to be young authors. I was in a special
program with them for almost ten years where I allowed
my students to get class credit for writing books, most
(03:31):
of many of them were poetry. Also, on the personal side,
my parents had passed both of them but separately, in
two thousand and five, and we had to.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Deal with that loss.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
And also I stayed in Cleveland for a length of
time even after they passed, in order to settle their
their the states, and also to just make.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Peace with what I needed to do next.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
And I reflected upon it and decided it was time
to move on.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Sometimes you just have to make those hard choices.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
And I felt a new place, living near relatives, making
new friends, finding new ways to express myself. So I
did take the retirement. I felt it was time to
do something else.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Absolutely, Wow, such an amazing story. So tell us a
little bit. Where did writing kind of find you in
that path? So, like you said, it was a bit
of a second career, so you grew up. Were you
any type of a writer, any type of a poet,
or was this something really truly it just popped, popped up,
popped for you later on in life.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
That's an excellent question. I will say.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
I've been writing for a very very long time. I
have a little note book. I should have brought it
as a visual. It's actually a little spiral notebook. I
wrote a few poems in when I was nine years old.
So if I can pinpoint when I started, I guess
the little notebook would say I was nine years old.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
I always enjoyed writing.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
My mother, just as a side note, she taught me
how to write cursive writing when my teachers failed. I
even mentioned that in my poetry book. And she was
also a writer. She wrote poetry, songs, even a children's book,
but she never got published. So I would say my
(05:38):
mother was a strong influence. I dedicated my book to
my mother and just being exposed to the arts.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
I've journaled for many, many years.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
I started with a little diary, and you know how
young girls get those diaries and then you're like this.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Is too little. You know, those little books.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
And then I started writing buying journals in bookstores, and
I have several. So it's a combination of many things.
But I will say age nine was the beginning. And
being a teacher, I was busy checking papers and so forth,
so I needed well more time and I got finally
(06:26):
got it when I retired.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Yeah no, that's really amazing.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I'm so curious for you, though, I mean, what was
the kind of you had mentioned a little bit just
you needed a change in life. I mean, what was
the was there just an impetus? Was there one moment
where you were just like, all right, I need to
let me go write my debut book now after teaching
for so many years. And we'll get into that a
little later with your debut collection. Taking off my black
(06:56):
and white saddle shoes Cleveland Poems. Was there just one
moment where you were just where things just changed for
you and you were like, all right, no, I'm writing
full time.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
This is where I'm going now.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Well, I won't I won't say teacher burnout. We you know,
we don't want to say that, but I will say
it was a culmination of several events. As I said,
my parents both passed in the same year.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
That's a lot.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
And also I had to take on more family responsibilities.
So at one point I had to take a break
sickly from my job in order to handle some personal
things which I don't want to go into detail about,
but that that was my breaking point.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
You know, it was very emotional.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
As I said, maybe when I write in the future,
I'll explain more, but it was a point where I've
had enough, I need to go and I know so
many of us reached that when you feel like a
fight or flight. I guess I was in the flight mode,
and I'm happy I did it, because sometimes you have
(08:11):
to close a door and open a new one, and
that was.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Basically what I did. Amen.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Absolutely, yes, sometimes you really do have to close one
door to open up another one. That's very, very inspirational
for folks no matter what states they're at.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
I think a lot of people don't know how to
start over. I don't know how.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
To reclaim something that maybe has always been inside of them.
So thank you so much for sharing that. Tell us
a little bit about I'm so curious about so you were.
You know, you describe yourself in a veteran teacher in
your bio.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I'm just curious how teaching. I mean, like you mentioned
your students.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Were, I mean, what was you know, going from teacher,
being a veteran teacher.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
For so long.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
First I'll tell us what school district, But going from
being a teacher to now a full time writer, I mean,
what were the kind of what are some synonymous things
you see maybe in the fields? Did your students really
kind of inspire you in some ways to even write
what you're writing now? Tell us a little bit about
that trajectory switching from a career field of being a
(09:15):
teacher to a poet.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Okay, that's also you're giving me such great questions. Well,
I will say that being a teacher and being a poet,
actually there they merge, and I was a little I
won't say I'm shocked but.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Right now, I know you didn't mention it.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
But I'm a teaching assistant with a group called Community
Literature Initiative, which is located in Los Angeles, and so
poets are have an opportunity to be teaching artists.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
If not everybody, but.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
You know, if you get the chance chants to do it,
I'll say do it. So it's not so much that
you're just sitting at home writing. Some people have that
kind of image that, oh, I can just lay back
in my favorite chair and write. We are very proactive,
(10:17):
and I'm saying we because I'm part of the Community
Literature Initiative clique, if you want to use that term,
the crew. We are actively writing, reading, performing doing things
in our community.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
And as a teacher, I did that too because.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
For example, I'll give you an example, it was Cleveland
Metropolitan School System. They changed the name many times, but
I think that's what they call themselves. Now, I was
involved in the union, so I was a delegate or
whatever position I held at the time, so we would
(11:01):
actually go out do petitions. We had a strike for
a minute, so we were vocal and did things. And
of course, being a teacher, you speak all the time.
So some of the skills that I had I developed
(11:21):
as a teacher are still being utilized.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
And recently I had to do a power.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Point and I learned that as in my academic studies
and so forth, So skills are transferable, and I'm finding myself.
You know, hey, wait a minute, I'm still a teacher.
And I'm not knocking that because I enjoy teaching and
expressing myself and sharing my knowledge with other people, and
(11:52):
I recently did.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
I'll say, we had the.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
Beach Writers Beach Writers Writing Conference this past weekend, and
I was a presenter, so I spoke to an audience
of at least I don't remember how many people, at
least forty people. So as I'm saying, I'm sorry if
I'm giving you too long an answer, the skills are transferable,
(12:20):
so I don't.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Feel like I've stopped being a teacher. I'm still a teacher.
I was always a writer, I was always a poet.
Even those things, if those.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Things weren't being utilized to their fullest potential, absolutely absolutely,
I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
I think teaching, being a teacher, a.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Poet, they are one in the same path field and
pathway because you're you know, you're teaching and giving grace
and giving to the people. Right, whoever is with willing
ears as a poet there, they're learning from you.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
So I absolutely see that.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Then just the mechanics of the ever crossing, the t's
dotting the i's like you had mentioned, awesome, awesome.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
So you know, I found something interesting about you.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
You described you caught the open mic bug obviously before,
like you said, in early retirement. Tell us more about
that experience on stage that you had where you just
caught that open mic bug and tell us, like what
stage you were at in your life. I mean, because
again I think so many people they they're scared, and
(13:27):
they they they're closeted poets for years, decades, and they
don't they don't come and give their gift with the
world at all. You know, was the quote by Viola Davis.
The best stories are those in the graves because so
many people don't come out tell their story. Right, tell
us about that experience where you just caught that open
(13:47):
mic bug.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Before your early retirement.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
Well, again, I can trace this back to childhood. On
some of the interviews I've had, people say I've said
that in church they used to have us read little
little passages for like Easter, so I recalled doing it
that at least once. And then in church I also
(14:12):
was in some talent quote unquote talent programs where I
read some Gwndolin Brooks or my Angelo, so that was
probably a little prior.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
And then.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
We used to act out plays, my siblings and I
in the backyard, and I used to be like the Star.
I used to be Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty, something of
that nature. Then in high school I did I dabbled
a little bit in drama and even thought about becoming
(14:48):
an actress. So there's you know, there are threeads that
didn't just boom, I'm gonna do it kind of thing.
So then I became a toast Master toast Masters International.
My highest award was winning the Humorous Speech Contest District ten.
(15:10):
So I always wanted to express myself and I felt
I had a talent. I did have a teacher long
ago who said, no, you're a writer, you're not a speaker.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
But as we all know, all we do.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
All of that now, and those that are afraid to speak,
I encourage you to join toast Masters. It's a big commitment,
but I was in it for quite some years and
I just don't have time for.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
It now, but I would like to go back to it.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
So the open mic thing was like, Okay, I want
to go out and express myself. And I used to
go to some places you might call them dive bars,
you know, some of these places where you do open mics.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
But the Tremont area, oh, in Cleveland, is a very
artistic area. So I was never fearful and I did
go to some of those, and it was a release.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
So I could go on and on about some of
the threads of why I do this, but I enjoy it,
and now that I'm hearing Phoenix, I do make an
effort to go out, even at night. Although you know,
if my parents were still here, they'd be like, no,
don't go.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
But safety was never an issue for me. I just
did it for the joy of it.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Tell us a little bit more. You had mentioned you
did it and it's just you got release. Tell us
a little bit more about what that release really means
to you.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Well, I usually had a little folder with which poems
I figured I might perform, and then I would kind
of feel out the audience and look at who performed
before me and select my what I would do accordingly,
(17:12):
And so I tried to read the audience ahead of
time and present something. Sometimes they want something dealing with emotions,
and sometimes they you can sense they need something more humorous.
So it's a variety of ways.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
You know, you look at your audience.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
That's what I usually do when I'm like, okay, I think,
and I look at who's there, and so I try
to involve the audience and what I'm going to present,
and obviously I try to.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Connect with them and.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
Try to allow them to experience what I'm experiencing. And
it's a real joy to field that you've touched people
and they can give you snaps and claps and relate
to what you have to release and give to them
as a kind of gift. So so that's my best
(18:13):
answer right now.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I think that's a beautiful thing, very very beautiful.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Well, let's get it. Let's get into it.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
The Book of the Hour, your debut poetry collection, Taking
Off My Black and White Saddle Shoes Cleveland Poems. Tell
us a bit about what that well, first and foremost,
I mean, what's the what's the what has been the
reaction so far. How you what has been the process
to finally from conception to now your your buckets released
(18:47):
to the world.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
It's your debut.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Tell us a little bit about that process and the
inspiration behind it.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Okay, well, I'll try to keep it breathe. First of all,
I did have my virtual open mic. I believe it
was on May nineteenth. I may have the date wronged.
It was on a Sunday, and I was told I
had about give or take forty people, which is I
(19:16):
was told us good for an online book release. And
because I live in Cleveland, I mean now I live
in Phoenix area, and my audience is kind of widespread,
Like I have a niece who lives in Africa. I
had a nephew, Kan who lives in Dayton. People Phoenix,
(19:38):
people Los Angeles who are my friends. So it was
even somebody I think from Colorado.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
So it worked out well. I was happy with that.
So that was decided.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
My publishers, World Stage Press, we decided early on we're
going to do it that way, and I did. They
get pre orders. So then I also made bookmarks. Well
I didn't make them, but one of our publishing managers
made them.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Her name's Emily Ann.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
So I've been working on that, so it's an active thing.
As I said, a writer doesn't just sit back and
wait for the royalties to come. So the book, if
you can see it, I'll just hold it up for them.
And people are asking, well, where did the shoe thing
come from?
Speaker 3 (20:32):
And I'm kind of it just evolved.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
These are actually my shoes on the cover, and they
find that you an interesting point to jump off on.
And I felt like, since I like fashion, I could
write about.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
The various shoes I've worn in my life and it
just fit.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
And I had one of my teachers, Community Literature Initiative
has publishing classes, poetry publishing classes. I talked it over
with two of the people I've been working with, my
teacher and the teaching assistant, and I pitched pretty much
the different themes I was going to have in my book,
(21:17):
and they were like, no, no, no, and this one.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
This one stuck.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
So this book is about my life from beginning to end,
well to present and moving here. And the shoes, as
I said, are the tying. Do you want me to
name what the shoes are?
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Let us know, Yeah, what's the shoes? Name them? Okay, Well, logically, baby.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Shoes are the first shoes, and then I go to sneakers,
which is funny. We have a picture all for me
and my siblings we all have on sneakers, so that
was like wow. So I put certain key pictures in
the book that fit black and.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
White saddle shoes. That goes with me going to high.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
School, a Catholic high school, high heels, my formative years
where I.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
Was trying to, you know, make a name.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
For myself and get out their party, all those things
we young people do. Flat shoes reflects the difficult times
in my life and taking off my shoes finally to
have bare feet to reveal all of the things I've
experienced and learned. As the last section of the book,
(22:41):
my goodness.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
While so the shoes are really a metaphor for each
kind of place in your life.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
So going from yeah, no, already you get that visual
going from those sneakers, the heels, the flat shoes to
finally barefoot. That's such a powerful but also very unique
metaphor to kind of describe your life these different stages
as to what type of shoes you were wearing.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
It does make people, I think, even even though I
haven't been able to read your debut book.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Just from hearing that description, it makes me kind of
ponder on my own life, the shoes that I've worn
at the different times in my life, and how that
really is a reflection metaphor, if you will, where you're at,
who you're trying to be right?
Speaker 3 (23:25):
What is it? I think?
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Also, what is the term that people use? You know,
you dress for the job that you want. So I
love how you describe the heels. It's like, you know,
when you were trying to be when you were you're trying.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
To be out here, it's trying to be out and
parting right. It described perfectly where you were at. Now,
that's such a good thing.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Kind of go into a little bit what was I mean,
what kind of was the catalyst for you to make
the shoes intricate part moving part of your debut and the.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Poems in there. What was so?
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Why did you choose shoes out of anything else one
could use?
Speaker 3 (24:02):
You know, I know you said you loved fashion.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
You know you could have maybe used the hat last,
you know, whatever may have you? What was it about
shoes specifically in the journey with how with Our Feet right?
Speaker 4 (24:14):
Well as I said, it was a fluid kind of thing.
So you know, if I needed to write out how
it happened, I really couldn't explain it to you, but
I will say I had. I also like to take pictures. Photography.
It's just, you know, a fun thing for me. And
(24:37):
I don't know the things. Some of the things I
was writing about were my formative things that stayed with
me are still stay with me.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
And those saddle shoes, they just seem.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Like a dominant image of you know, they would kind
of like the at the center of some of the
poems I was writing, because I did write poems about
my experience. Well they're in the book about my experiences
being in a Catholic school, and prior to that, I
(25:12):
had been in a public school most of my life.
So the Catholic school they put me up to grade
I think they put me up to grade ten, because
when I went to a Catholic school, I was in
what they.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Call nine A. Was it nine A or nine B.
Speaker 4 (25:32):
I know you're too young to remember how they broke
up the grades, but I was in the second part
of the ninth grade and they said, oh, your grades
are good enough, so we'll put you in the tenth
grade and tenth, eleventh, twelfth. So I was in Catholic
school for three years and then I went to a
Catholic university. And if you look carefully on the cover,
(25:55):
I know you can't see it, but the name of
my college that you are.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
On my shoes too. So I wrote that on later.
But so that was a pivotal part of my life.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
And so the shoes just seem like, like you said,
a real metaphor that I could work with.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
And tie it in.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
And I have in the book, if you don't mind
me mentioning, I have quotes in regard to each pair
of shoes, famous people and some poets. And I also
have a Sicily Tyson quote. So I tried to tie
it to popular culture too, And most people are in
(26:39):
the clothes and fashion and on some level, so I
tried to make it relatable.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Absolutely, tell us a bit about what's the reaction been,
what of your community, what have they really what is
this kind of harnessed in terms of people's feelings and
their reactions to your debut.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
Well, some people I've read performed many of the poems
over a period of time, not just since the book
came out. But when I was out there in Cleveland
at night, I did do some of these poems for
open mics, and majority of them enjoyed these poems, and
so that encouraged me to say, well, hey, maybe I
(27:24):
finally need to put this book together and people have well,
one lady, I'll give you an example recently, when I
was in Los Angeles, I was telling her about one
of my poems, and I happened to have the book
with me, and she read the poem and then I
gave her a bookmark which has the QR code, and
(27:48):
right on the spot, she ordered my book. Now, I'm
not saying everybody's going to do that, hopefully, and I've
been given opportunities to sell my book and I have
done that at some June teenth events recently, and I
did get sales, and I have friends who have come
(28:10):
to me and bought the book. So it's looking positive
right now. And of course it's a lengthy process, as
you know. Absolutely we'll have Marlena her debut taking off
my black and white styled shoes.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Cleveland Poems will have the link and the description for
everyone to check out that book and go buy it
and go be inspired. It's really really something quite amazing.
So Marlena, you know that we're really appreciative. You're dropping
so many gems and really telling us a bit about
your life and where you're at and where you came from.
(28:46):
Tell us kind of when was it if you could
name a specific time.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
We kind of talked about.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Your childhood and your writing, and you got mentioned at
nine years old.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
But was there any specific time outside of that.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Where you just knew I'm a writer?
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Was there a moment that hits you, any type of
moment that just beat you in the fact, I don't know,
just hit you like a freight train where you know, hey, no,
this is I'm a writer for sure.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
Well, I guess I'm going to Well I did mention
about the Toastmasters thing when you write speeches a lot
some of that, you know, it's creative, creative nonfiction, or
whatever we want to call it. So every time I
won an award of some kind for speaking, and as
I said, the teacher said, I really wasn't a speaker.
(29:36):
You know that that tied into the writing. So writing
and speaking to me are in tandem. It's really never
one or the other. But so I will give an example,
and I actually won some money.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
It wasn't you know, a million dollars.
Speaker 4 (29:56):
But I was in the Hessler street Fare Annual Hessler
Street Fair Poetry Contest, and they said, you wrote the poem,
you submitted it, but you also had to perform the poem,
and so you were.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Judged on both.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
You had to perform it in front of a live
audience and then they would decide who was the winner. Now,
I won second place and got a check, and I
will not tell you which rank I really deserve, but
I guess you can guess. It was me, three men,
(30:36):
three men, and me, So I'll just leave that one alone.
But I was so elated and I was like, yes, yes,
And that was a little before I moved here.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Actually for sure.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Well wow, I want to know, you know, and I'm
curious and when it comes to you, you know, you
have such an amazing story, especially this idea of just
starting over again, becoming really engaging in writing, going to
open mics, you know, a later stage in life. I mean,
what is your if you could give advice to our listeners,
you know, we have such a wide demographic, diverse array.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
Of people all around the world.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
That love to listen to this show, and they are
at different stages of their lives, but you know, they
all tune into this community here on this podcast because
they love poetry, they love to write. What would your
advice be the folks you know in terms of starting
that second win in their career, no matter what stage
they're at. You know a lot of people you know,
they probably feel like, no, I'm too it's too late
(31:37):
for me.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
Why why I can't do that anymore? What is your advice?
Speaker 1 (31:41):
What do you tell those folks you know, seeing that
you've done it so beautifully, what would you tell those people?
Speaker 3 (31:48):
That's a wonderful question.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
I actually wrote my book if you don't mind me saying,
my target audience is young black women and then of
course and dearly women in general. I want women to
know and even men that we're still here and the
(32:13):
fact that we're older doesn't mean we need to, you know, assistance.
Our minds hopefully are still working, and if they are,
use your talents.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
There was a friend who.
Speaker 4 (32:28):
Spoke at the Writer's conference about our talents, and my
parents often spoke about that too. It's in the Bible
that you can't hide your talents under a rock. You must,
and I'm impelled. It's like I have to do it
(32:50):
and coming here. Yeah, I could play golf and do
some of the other things that people hike and so
on and so forth. But when I get up in
the morning, I'm often ready to write, and that's my
favorite time to write. I feel that many people, they
(33:12):
do want to share their experiences. And my speech at
the conference was writing a memoir in verse, so it
was very popular. Now you reach a certain age fifty
sixty seventy, you want to help other people or just
tell the world what your life was like.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
And I feel I've reached.
Speaker 4 (33:34):
That point and gain knowledge which I want to share
and help other people live quality lives in the process.
And I will say I've encountered a lot of people,
some of them older than I am. I'm like wow,
But they're out there writing too, so they inspire me
(33:57):
to keep going. And I consider myself, for example, the
black grandma Moses and I don't have any kids, but
I started quote unquote late writing, but she was prolific.
And Picasso wrote into I mean drew pictures into his nineties.
(34:19):
They're countless stories about people being prolific at a later age.
So I'm following their lead. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
While such a beautiful statement, such a beautiful testimony, We
really thank you so much for sharing that and sharing
your grace and your wisdom and just your story.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
We really do appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
So, Marlena, we have one final question for you on
the Post Speaks podcast.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
Why do you need to get your words out? Well,
I said this on another podcast.
Speaker 4 (34:52):
I feel I am a vessel and I am a
religious person. I feel, well, some people they become ministers
later in life, I said. I. I said to myself, no,
that's that's not what I want to do. But I'm
ministering through my words to help others to live quality
(35:14):
lives and to learn from their mistakes and realize whatever
mistakes you make, that's not going to defeat you. You
learn from your mistakes and move forward. And you know,
whatever shoes you have on, those can be fixed if necessary,
(35:37):
or get some new ones and move, just move and
do what you feel you must do in a positive
light to help everybody to help the world be a
better play.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
Absolutely, thank you so much, Thank you so much to
be a vessel.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
What an amazing, amazing thing.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
All right, Well, Marlena tell us as we wrap up,
what is next for you in twenty twenty four? Any
events places where we can also find all of the
amazing work that you're doing. In terms of website social media,
please do tell the.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
Folks thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
Well.
Speaker 4 (36:16):
I'm posting as often as I can on Instagram.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
I'm not on TikTok, but I'm.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
In various other places Instagram, I like to do reels
and I like to post like what activities I'm going
to be participating in soon.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
My handle is m A R LA n A.
Speaker 4 (36:41):
PPH and as me with a hat on, so you
can't miss that. I also like hats, but you know
in accessories, see I have a scarf on today and
I will say I'm trying to be in the events
through gigs.
Speaker 3 (37:00):
If you want to book me, you can go to
gig Salad.
Speaker 4 (37:04):
I am on that app and I think it's an
excellent one for creatives. Also open Mike wise. There's one
I want to attend. It's at the Palabrus. I think
I'm pronouncing it right, Polarberus Bilingual Bookstore in Phoenix. It
(37:25):
will be July thirteenth. I believe the time is seven
to nine pm. And if everything works out. You'll see
me there and I will have some of my bookmarks
as well. And if you're in the Phoenix area interested
in getting my book, just contact me through Instagram. I'm
also on Facebook, my full name on Facebook. I think
(37:49):
that's enough for now, right, Well, thank you so much,
No so, everyone.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
Marlana's information all those links will be down below description box.
No matter where you're listening to this podcast at MAT
the streaming service, check the description box with all of
mar Lane's links. All right, Marlena, thank you so much
for being an amazing guest today on the Fold Speaks podcast.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
Thank you so much. It was a honor and a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
Absolutely all right, everyone again, all of Marlena's links will
be in the details box down below.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
Everyone, this is the Fold Speaks Podcast.
Speaker 3 (38:23):
We'll talk to you soon. Bye everyone, Bye everyone,
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