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Podcast Episode 5: Conversations with African Poets and Writers

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Mary Jane Deeb moderates a panel with Chris Abani, Matthew Shenoda and Aracelis Girmay at the African Poetry Book Fund Spotlight, February 10, 2017. Photo by Shawn Miller.

Good news: The fifth episode of From the Catbird Seat is now available for your listening pleasure!

In this fifth installment, Ghanaian poet and editor Kwame Dawes speaks with Rob Casper about the formation of the African Poetry Book Fund, an organization that promotes and advances the development and publication of the poetic arts of Africa. He also takes us behind the scenes of the February 2017 event spotlight on the African Poetry Book Fund, hosted at the Library of Congress as part of its “Conversations with African Poets and Writers” series.

Tune in for this conversation with Kwame Dawes, and stick around to hear a few segments from the February 2017 event. You’ll hear part of a discussion between Mary Jane Deeb, chief of the Library’s African and Middle Eastern Division, and African Book Fund editorial board members Chris Abani, Matthew Shenoda, and Aracelis Girmay on contemporary African Poetry. The episode closes with readings by four of the poets featured as part of the event: Chekube O. Danladi, Safia Elhillo, Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, and Hope Wabuke.

To listen and subscribe to From the Catbird Seatvisit our podcast site or find it on iTunes.