Arts
ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Valerie Mason-John, author of I Am Still Your Negro: An Homage to James Baldwin. I Am Still Your Negro was a finalist for the 2021 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. In their conversation Valerie talks about how she used poetic forms like the sonnet and the villanelle to tackle domestic violence and racial trauma. ABOUT VALERIE MASON-JOHN: Poet, author, and public speaker Valerie Mason-John (a.k.a. “Queenie”) highlights issues of the African Diaspora and the Black, female, Queer identity, and resists the currently existing overt and covert forms of colonialism through their fierce and brave writing. They are the author /editor of ten books. Their debut novel, Borrowed Body, won the 2006 Mind Book of the Year Award. They co-edited the award-winning anthology, The Great Black North: Contemporary African Canadian Poetry, and co-produced blackhalifax.com. Their most recent book is an edited collection: Afrikan Wisdom: New Voices Talk Black Liberation, Buddhism, and Beyond. Valerie lives in Vancouver. Find them online at valeriemason-john.com. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in The Puritan, Untethered, Invisible publishing's invisiblog, This Magazine and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book titled Head Over Feet: The Lasting Heartache of First Loves. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.