Susan Kelly-DeWitt and Michelle Bitting

On the 7/3/24 edition of Dr.Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Susan Kelly-DeWitt discusses her various inspirations for her new book Frangible Operas, citing loss and aging as two thematic pillars for the collection. Susan also gives an insight into her writing process, then reads a poem about her adolescence in Oahu, titled “Poem After The War.” She read two more pieces, “Teaching Poetry in Prison,” and “Confluence,” while also elaborating on the validity of answering questions with poems. Michelle Bitting cites California native Joan Didion and Polish scientist Marie Curie as muses for her new book Dummy Ventriloquist, and describes how she tries to embrace ventriloquizing speech in her poetics. Michelle talks about a multitude of topics ranging from Oingo Boingo to science experiments in her garage, and reads a poem called “For Phil.” She also describes watching LA change over the years, and the importance of discovery drafts.

Susan Kelly-DeWitt is a former Wallace Stegner Fellow and the author of Frangible Operas, which came out from Gunpowder Press this summer, 2024. She is also the author of Gravitational Tug, Gatherer’s Alphabet, Spider Season, The Fortunate Islands, and a number of other collections. Her past professional and writing life includes having been a reviewer for Library Journal, the editor-in-chief of the online journal Perihelion, the Program Director of the Sacramento Poetry Center and the Women’s Wisdom Arts Program, a Poet in the Schools and a Poet in the Prisons, a blogger for Coal Hill Review, and a longtime instructor for the UC Davis Division of Continuing Education. She is currently a member of the National Book Critics Circle, the Northern California Book Reviewers Association and a contributing editor for Poetry Flash. Please visit her website at www.susankelly-dewitt.com

Michelle Bitting was short-listed for the 2023 CRAFT Character Sketch Challenge,  2020 Montreal International Poetry Prize, and was a finalist for the 2021 Coniston Prize and 2020 Reed Magazine Edwin Markham Prize. She is the author of five poetry collections, including Nightmares & Miracles, winner of the Wilder Prize and recently named one of Kirkus Reviews 2022 Best of Indie. Her chapbook Dummy Ventriloquist is being published this July from C & R Press. Recent poetry appears on The Slowdown, Thrush, Cleaver, The Poetry Society of New York’s Milk Press, and is featured as Poem of the Week in The Missouri Review. Bitting holds an MFA in Creative Writing and a PhD in Mythological Studies, emphasis Poetry and Psychology. She is writing a novel that centers around Los Angeles and her great grandmother, stage and screen actor Beryl Mercer, and is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and Literature at Loyola Marymount University. 

The Poetry Night Reading Series, taking place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. This event is made possible by Katerina Hanks, producer of The Poetry Night Reading Series. Our next Poetry is on July 18 featuring Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas and Rina Wakefield!

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.