Poet Martha Serpas on the disappearing Louisiana Gulf Coastline
Series: New Letters on the Air
From: New Letters on the Air
Length: 00:29:00
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Related Pieces
Piece Description
Growing up in bayou country, the poet Martha Serpas became attached to the landscape and to the culture of southern Louisiana. Not surprisingly, poems about the environment and the endangered Gulf shores permeate her work, including her 2006 collection, THE DIRTY SIDE OF THE STORM, and her earlier book, CôTE BLANCHE. Raised Roman Catholic, Serpas discusses the role religion plays in her work and in her life as a lesbian and a hospital chaplain. Her environmental concerns led to the inclusion of her poetry in the 2011 documentary, VEINS IN THE GULF.
Broadcast History
This program originally uplinked to PRSS' Content Depot on June 4, 2010 for delivery to member stations. It reran in a slightly modified form on 3/25/2011.
Timing and Cues
PROMO: Coming up on NEW LETTERS ON THE AIR... Poet Martha Serpas (sir-PASS), who was born in the Louisiana Bayou, writes with love and longing about her beloved wetlands in her books COTE BLANCHE and THE DIRTY SIDE OF THE STORM. She also talks about being raised Cajun Catholic, going to divinity school in New Haven, and how religion plays a part in her poetry and her life as a lesbian and a hospital chaplain. She talks about her concern for the disappearing bayous and reads some of her poetry...Martha Serpas...next time on NEW LETTERS ON THE AIR...
UPLINK DATE: 03/25/2010
PROGRAM LENGTH: 29:00 minutes
INCUE: (music) "Where do landscape, poetry, and spirituality intersect? In the work of Martha Serpas..."
OUTCUE: "...I'm Angela Elam for NEW LETTERS ON THE AIR."
Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Fried | Studio Cutz Production Library | All About Bluegrass. | Studio Cutz | 00:00 | |
| Passing Time | Studio Cutz Production Library | Light and Bright Classical Guitar. | Studio Cutz | 00:00 |
Additional Credits
New Letters on the Air is a production of the quarterly literary magazine, New Letters, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Partial financial support comes from the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.
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