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"The Symphony," an African-American poetry collective

From: New Letters on the Air
Series: New Letters on the Air
Length: 29:00

The Symphony, an African-American poetry collective, comprised of John Murillo, Randall Horton, Reginald Betts and Marcus Jackson, formed over a shared love of the late Etheridge Knight. They discuss the collective and writing as black man in the 21st century. Read the full description.

Logosquare_small After meeting at Cave Canem, the black writers' symposium, John Murillo, Dwayne Betts, Randall Horton, and Marcus Jackson discovered they all had a shared love of the late African-American poet Etheridge Knight.  The four bonded, kept in touch, and formed their own poetry collective called "The Symphony."  Each poet of the collective reads from his own work and discusses writing from the perspective of the African-American male experience.

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Piece Description

After meeting at Cave Canem, the black writers' symposium, John Murillo, Dwayne Betts, Randall Horton, and Marcus Jackson discovered they all had a shared love of the late African-American poet Etheridge Knight.  The four bonded, kept in touch, and formed their own poetry collective called "The Symphony."  Each poet of the collective reads from his own work and discusses writing from the perspective of the African-American male experience.

Broadcast History

This program originally uplinked to PRSS' Content Depot on April 15, 2011 for delivery to member stations.

Timing and Cues

PROMO: Next time on NEW LETTERS ON THE AIR... hear "The Symphony," four African-American men with diverse backgrounds--from ex-convict to magna cum laude graduate--who formed a poetry collective based on their love of the late poet Etheridge Knight. Listen to The Symphony, on the next NEW LETTERS ON THE AIR...
UPLINK DATE: 01/13/2012
PROGRAM LENGTH: 29:00 minutes
INCUE: (music) "Friendships often begin from shared experiences..."
OUTCUE: "...I'm Angela Elam for NEW LETTERS ON THE AIR."

Musical Works

Title Artist Album Label Year Length
Faster Does It Kevin MacLeod royalty free production music. incompetech.com 2010 00:00
Bass Vibes Kevin MacLeod royalty free production music. incompetech.com 2010 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.

Related Website

http://www.newletters.org/radio