Expo Presents: Transposition

In this episode of Transposition, poet and playwright Zachary Guerra sits down with host Laura Rensing and Experimental Editor Rebecca Luxton. Zachary’s experimental piece “What Are You Looking for?” was published in our Vol. VII: “Flux” issue (2022). In this discussion, we explore how online communities, such as Reddit, have become vital spaces for individuals to connect, share stories, and find solace amidst their grief. From subreddits dedicated to supporting individuals coping with loss to niche communities like those for cat owners taking care of cats with kidney disease, the internet has facilitated unprecedented avenues for collective mourning and support. As traditional forms of mourning adapt to online platforms, questions arise about the future of literature and its capacity to capture the essence of loss in an increasingly digitized world. We hope you’ll enjoy!

About Zachary Guerra

Zachary C. Guerra is a poet and playwright from Berkley, Michigan. His work, "What Are You Looking For" was featured in Exposition Review's 'Flux' issue and is a 2022 'Best of the Net' nominee. His play 'Captcha' will be premiering November 4th at The Soop to Nuts Short Play Festival. His poem 'This is It' will be featured in the upcoming edition of Filter Coffee Zine.

About Rebecca Luxton

Rebecca Luxton is the Experimental Editor of Exposition Review and worked on the Southern California Review while completing her Master of Professional Writing at the University of Southern California. Now she’s a marketing professional with a love for all things experimental. Favorite authors: a rotating cast that currently includes Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mary Gaitskill, Stephen King, and the late Joe Frank for his exceptional radio storytelling work. Follow her on Instagram at @what_even.jpg.

Help us spread the word! Download, review and subscribe to Transposition.

Thank you to Mitchell Evenson for intro and outro music, and the generous donations from our supporters that allow us to pay our authors. Exposition Review is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas.
Transposition is the official podcast of Exposition Review literary journal.

In this episode of Transposition, poet and artist Meg Reynolds is joined in conversation with host Laura Rensing and Visual Art Editor Brianna J.L. Smyk. Meg’s comics “Placenta”, “Stay”, and “Synesthesia” were published in our Vol. VII: “Flux” issue (2022). Art, comics, poetry, and everything in between is explored as Meg shares how these pieces were a departure from her typical work, how speed was of the essence, and why motherhood has become her new literary obsession.

About Meg Reynolds - Meg Reynolds is a poet, artist, and teacher from New England. An instructor in writing and humanities at Vermont Adult Learning in Burlington, her work has been published in a number of literary journals including Mid-American Review, RHINO, The Offing, Iterant, Prairie Schooner, New England Review and the Kenyon Review. A graduate of the Stonecoast MFA program, her poetry and comic work has been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize and once for Best the Net. Her first collection of poetry comics, A Comic Year, was published in October 2021 from Finishing Line Press. Her second collection, Does the Earth, was published in May 2023 from Harpoon Books. Reynolds also serves on the Board of Sundog Poetry, a nonprofit organization committed to providing and expanding poetry programming for all Vermonters.

Website: https://www.megreynoldspoetry.com/

Comic Year (2021): https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-comic-year-meg-reynolds/17679515?ean=9781646626540

Does The Earth: https://bookshop.org/p/books/does-the-earth-meg-reynolds/20077291?ean=9798218185299

About Brianna J.L. Smyk:

Brianna J.L. Smyk is on the editorial board of Exposition Review, and has served multiple roles within the journal including founding co-Editor-in-Chief, social media manager, and Visual Art, Comics, and Experimental Narratives Editor. She is an art and communication consultant who holds a Master of Professional Writing (MPW/MFA) degree from the University of Southern California and a Master of Arts in Art History from San Diego State University. Her short fiction has been published or is forthcoming in The Human Touch Journal, Drunk Monkeys, The Same and FORTH. Find out more about Brianna on X (formerly Twitter): @briannasmyk.

Correction: During the recording, we refer to one of Meg's professors asAmanda Johnson, but her name is Pamela Johnson.

Help us spread the word! Download, review and subscribe to Transposition.

Thank you to Mitchell Evenson for intro and outro music, and the generous donations from our supporters that allow us to pay our authors. Exposition Review is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas.

Transposition is the official podcast of Exposition Review literary journal.

Producer: Mitchell Evenson

Producer: Lauren Gorski

Intro Music by Mitchell Evenson
Created & Hosted by Laura Rensing

In this episode of Transposition, Nonfiction editor Ramona Pilar joins in to interview author Lori Yeghiayan Friedman whose piece “How to Survive a Genocide” was published in our Vol V: Act/Break issue (2020). The Transposition Pod team dives into themes of Lori’s essay which include building identity & finding one’s voice as a First Generation child of Armenian immigrants, and the intimate & unique ways people who are raised in Los Angeles get to know Los Angeles.

They also explore the “creative” aspects of creative nonfiction craft including: hermit crab essays, flash nonfiction favorites, and what to do when one gets bored with one’s own writing (hint: there’s a party involved).

About Lori Yeghiayan Friedman:

Lori Yeghiayan Friedman's creative nonfiction and essays have most recently appeared in Pithead Chapel, Hippocampus Magazine, Bending Genres, Autofocus Lit, Memoir Monthly and the Los Angeles Times. "How to Survive a Genocide" appeared in Exposition Review's 2020 Act/Break issue and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Lori has a BA and an MFA in Theatre, both from the University of California, San Diego. Follow her on Twitter: @loriyeg

Los Angeles Times essay: “Finding in Little Armenia the roots my parents tried to bury”

Links to other work: https://linktr.ee/loriyeg

About Ramona Pilar:

Ramona Pilar’s artistic career spans two centuries (technically). California-born & L.A.-raised, she is a story-diviner who produces prose, plays, songs, and amalgamations. She is the current Creative Nonfiction Editor at Exposition Review, lead singer of The Raveens, and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University, Los Angeles. Her favorite word is, “why?”

Help us spread the word! Please download, review, and subscribe to Transposition.

Thank you to Mitchell Evenson for intro and outro music, and the generous donations from our supporters that allow us to pay our authors. Exposition Review is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas.

Transposition is the official podcast of Exposition Review literary journal.

Producer: Mitchell Evenson

Producer: Lauren Gorski

Intro Music by Mitchell Evenson
Hosted by Laura Rensing

In this episode of Transposition, we recap our wonderful Association of Writers and Publisher's panel discussion on the challenges and strategies for maintaining longevity in independent literary journals. Mellinda Hensley, moderator, reminisces on the event with panelist CD Eskilson. They also discuss the importance of community in building and sustaining a literary journal.

Tune in to hear the insights and advice from this panel of experienced and passionate independent literary journal editors. At the end, we hear from other lit journal editors on maintaining longevity as a lit journal.

Click through for more information about:

• The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP), and the annual AWP Conference.
• Viva Padilla’s literary ventures sin/cesar Literary Journal and re/arte centro literario
• Door=Jar Magazine (Maxwell Bauman, EIC)
• Defunct Magazine and Porterhouse Review (Diamond Braxton, EIC & Copy Editor)
• Calyx Press (Brenda Crotty, Senior Editor)
• Exposition Review and our latest issue LINES

About Mellinda Hensley:

Mellinda Hensley is the co-editor of Exposition Review and has worked with the journal since its inception in 2015. She is an Emmy-nominated and Writers Guild Award-winning writer who helped craft more than 130 episodes of The Young And The Restless (and got to tell people at her high school reunion that she switched babies for a living). Additionally a director and producer, her two comedy shorts Across The Room and Apeulogy have screened at more than 60 festivals worldwide. In case of emergency, she can be used as a flotation device.

About CD Eskilson:

CD Eskilson is a trans poet, editor, and translator living in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Their work appears in the Offing, Ninth Letter, Florida Review, Washington Square Review, and they have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. CD is assistant poetry editor at Split Lip Magazine and outreach coordinator for the Open Mouth Literary Center. They are an MFA candidate at the University of Arkansas where they received the Walton Family Fellowship in Poetry and Lily Peter Fellowship in Translation.

Help us spread the word! Please download, review, and subscribe to Transposition.

Thank you to Mitchell Evenson for intro and outro music, and the generous donations from our supporters that allow us to pay our authors. Exposition Review is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas.

Transposition is the official podcast of Exposition Review literary journal.

Associate Producer: Mitchell Evenson

Intro Music by Mitchell Evenson

Hosted by Laura Rensing

While you're waiting for our Flux issue to drop, why not take a listen to Expo intern alums Leo Smith and Mitchell Evenson talk through the inspiration for Exposition Review's first chapbook, Rearview.

Leo Smith is a Black, queer transmasculine poet from Inglewood, CA. They are a graduate of Smith College and associate editor at Exposition Review. Leo's work has been published in Arcanum Magazine, and theyrecently completed their first poetry chapbook, The Body's Owner Speaks.

Coming Soon from Exposition Review:

Donate on our Fractured Atlas page to get your copy of Exposition Review's chapbook, Rearview.

Join us on June 11th, 2022 at Skylight Books for our Flux issue launch

Stay tuned for Season 3 of Exposition Review's literary podcast, dropping June 2022!

Help us spread the word! Please download, review, and subscribe to Transposition. Check out our website at www.ExpositionReview.com

Thank you to Mitchell Evenson for intro and outro music, and the generous donations from our supporters that allow us to pay our authors. Exposition Review is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas.

Transposition is the official podcast of Exposition Review literary journal.

Associate Producer: Mitchell Evenson

Intro Music by Mitchell Evenson

Hosted by Laura Rensing

Nonfiction flash writer JJ Peña joins us in our season finale to read “this is how i want you to remember me” from the Change in Perspective Flash 405 contest. Writer and judge K.B. Carle leads in the interview with JJ as they explore flash, memory, and the power storytelling.

Read along at: http://expositionreview.com/flash-405/this-is-how-i-want-you-to-remember-me/

About JJ Peña:

JJ Peña (pronouns he/they) is a queer, burrito-blooded writer. JJ is the winner of blue earth review's 2019 flash non-fiction contest, cutbank's 2019 big sky, small prose contest, mythic picnic's 2020 postcard prize, & Santa Clara Review's 2021 Flash Non-fiction contest. JJ's work is included in the Best Microfiction 2020 anthology & Wigleaf’s Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions (2020). JJ is a 2021 Periplus fellow, holds a BA in both English and Anthropology, and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso. JJ's stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Washington Square Review, Cincinnati Review, Massachusetts Review, & elsewhere. JJ serves as a flash fiction reader for Split Lip magazine

About K.B. Carle:

K.B. Carle lives and writes outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is the Associate Editor at Fractured Lit. and an Editor at FlashBack Fiction. Her stories have appeared in Waxwing Magazine, matchbook, Bending Genres, No Contact Magazine, and have been nominated for Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, and the Pushcart Prize. She can be found online at http://kbcarle.com or on Twitter @kbcarle.

Links from the Podcast:

• JJ Peña’s website: https://www.jjpena.com/
• JJ’s Insta: bootyshortsjesus
• JJ’s Twitter: @heckaseuss
• K.B. Carle’s website: https://www.kbcarle.com/
• K.B.’s Insta: @kbcarle
• K.B.’s Twitter: @kbcarle
• K.B.’s workshop: The Narrative Mystique: Embodying the Unexpected Narrator in Flash Workshop with K.B. Carle
• Exposition Review Chapbook: http://expositionreview.com/2021/04/composition-rearview-chapbook-now-available/

Help us spread the word! Please download, review, and subscribe to Transposition.

Thank you to Mitchell Evenson for intro and outro music, and the generous donations from our supporters that allow us to pay our authors. Exposition Review is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas.

Transposition is the official podcast of Exposition Review literary journal.

Associate Producer: Mitchell Evenson

Intro Music by Mitchell Evenson

Hosted by Laura Rensing

Bilingual poet and all-around literary superstar Viva Padilla dives into the beautiful disruption of moths, love, and language in her poem “exhibición: polilla en pandemia” from our new Hunger issue. Expo Poetry editor CD Eskilson is back from Season 1 to guide us through the literary journey.

Read along at: http://expositionreview.com/issues/vol-vi-hunger/exhibicion-polilla-en-pandemia/#VivaPadilla

About the Reader:

Viva Padilla is a bilingual poet, writer, editor, and publisher born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. She’s the founding editor-in-chief of Dryland, an independent print literary journal established in 2015, and Hombre Lobo, an intergenerational book series documenting paranormal/supernatural stories experienced by Xicanx. She is a first-generation Chicana, a daughter of immigrants who crossed the border from Colima, Mexico. She also runs FUTURE NOW, a virtual Black and Brown reading and open mic series. She’s been an invited speaker at universities like CSU Dominguez Hills and CSU Fullerton, and international cultural institutions like Casa de las Américas in Havana, Cuba. Her work has been featured or is forthcoming in the L.A. Times, The Acentos Review, PANK, wearemitú, SAND, the Autry Museum, L.A. Forum for Architecture and Urban Design, the X LA Poets anthology, and others. She currently works at Tia Chucha Press and lives on the Eastside in Los Angeles.

Links from the Podcast:

• Viva Padilla's website: https://vivapadilla.com/
• Viva's Twitter: @anotchka
• Viva's Insta: @anotchka
• Dryland Literary Journal: https://drylandla.org/
• Hombre Lobo: 13 True Xicanx Spooky Stories: https://drylandla.org/product/hombre-lobo-13-true-xicanx-spooky-stories-vol-1-2020/
• Re/Arte Centro Literario: https://reartela.com/
• Patria Coffee: https://www.patriacoffee.com/
• House Party Flash 405 Writing Contest: http://expositionreview.com/2021/08/call-for-entries-flash-405-august-2021-house-party/

Help us spread the word! Please download, review, and subscribe to Transposition.

Thank you to Mitchell Evenson for intro and outro music, and the generous donations from our supporters that allow us to pay our authors. Exposition Review is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas.

Associate Producer: Mitchell Evenson

Intro Music by Mitchell Evenson

Hosted by Laura Rensing

You’ll hear all sorts of strong voices on today’s episode with playwright Neal Adelman weighing in on his flash play, “Ricky Jay Meets Pain,” read by Tahmus Rounds and Ben Bergstrom. Expo editor Jessica June Rowe joins us for the interview portion as we delve into humor, pain, and submitting fearlessly.

Read along at: http://expositionreview.com/flash-405/ricky-jay-meets-pain/

About the Reader:

Neal Adelman was born and raised in Fort Worth, TX. His plays, screenplays, and short stories have been published, produced and--as Neal likes to put it--received some very cool recognition. His full length play PONTIACS received the KCACTF Mark Twain Award, and his short film, TARRANT COUNTY, was invited to the 2019 Sedona International Film Festival and the 2019 Grove Film Festival in Jersey City. Recently, his brand new full length play LARRY’S HOME FOR WAYWARD MEN had a staged re ading with Tantrum Easy Theatre Co. in NYC, and even more recently, he has been told that the editors just ‘locked picture’ on TRUCK FISHING IN AMERICA, a short film which he wrote, produced, scored, and acted in. When he’s not writing, he’s either fishing or playing in yet another shitty rock band. Currently, he lives, writes, works, plays, and loves in Las Cruces, NM.

Links from the Podcast:

• Blue Contest Winners: http://expositionreview.com/2017/10/flash-405-august-2017-blue-winners/
• Angels Flight Literary West: http://aflwmag.com/
• Flash 405 House Party Call for Submissions: http://expositionreview.com/2021/08/call-for-entries-flash-405-august-2021-house-party/
• A Very Special Episode: On Literary Identity and Responsibility with Mia Nakaji Monnier and Christopher Gonzalez: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/very-special-episode-on-literary-identity-responsibility/id1524722752?i=1000505887931

Thank you to Mitchell Evenson for intro and outro music, and the generous donations from our supporters that allow us to pay our authors. Exposition Review is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas.

Help us spread the word! Please download, review, and subscribe to Transposition.

Associate Producer: Mitchell Evenson

Intro Music by Mitchell Evenson

Hosted by Laura Rensing

This week’s episode is all about the art of conversation...or rather, the conversation of art. Artist Zoe Walsh and Expo Visual Arts Editor Brianna J.L. Smyk dig deep into how Zoe’s “Peripheries of Love” deconstructs gender, sexuality, and identity in a very literary way. See Zoe’s gorgeous art in our Hunger issue at: http://expositionreview.com/issues/vol-vi-hunger/the-peripheries-of-love/

About the Contributor:

Zoe Walsh (b. 1989, Washington D.C.) received their BA from Occidental College and MFA from Yale University. Solo exhibitions include I came to watch the morning rise at M+B in Los Angeles, Exposures at the Fondation des États-Unis in Paris, and Desire Distilled, curated by Jesse Mockrin, at Pieter in Los Angeles. Recent group shows include Eleven Figures in II Parts, Atkinson Gallery, Santa Barbara City College, Santa Barbara, California; Brush Against, Peppers Art Gallery, University of Redlands, Redlands, California; Queer Paranormal: An Exhibition Concerning Shirley Jackson and “The Haunting of Hill House,” Usdan Gallery, Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont; Virtual Dream Center, La Maison des Arts, Malakoff, France; and Queering Space, Alfred University Fosdick-Nelson Gallery, Alfred, New York. Zoe Walsh lives and works in Los Angeles.

Links from the Podcast:

• Zoe's Website: https://www.zoewalsh.com
  • Zoe's Instagram: @zcwalsh
• M+B Gallery - https://www.mbart.com/
• Felix Art Fair - Sunday August 1st with M+B, https://www.mbart.com/exhibitions/240/
• Forthcoming Exhibition: 2021 Art and Hope At The End Of The Tunnel, USC Fisher Museum of Art, curated by Edward Goldman
• S/O to Pony Sweat dance aerobics in Live Arts LA - https://www.ponysweataerobics.com/

Thank you to Mitchell Evenson for intro and outro music, and the generous donations from our supporters that allow us to pay our authors. Exposition Review is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas.

Help us spread the word! Please download, review, and subscribe to Transposition.

Associate Producer: Mitchell Evenson

Intro Music by Mitchell Evenson

Hosted by Laura Rensing

Listen to K-Ming Chang read her fiction piece "Keeper" from Exposition Review's Vol. VI: “Hunger” and as she talks about hoarding words, inventing lineages, and of course, a lot of shit talking. Read the full piece free online at: http://expositionreview.com/issues/vol-vi-hunger/keeper/

About the Reader:

K-Ming Chang is a Kundiman fellow, a two-time Lambda Literary Award finalist, and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She is the author of The New York Times Editors’ Choice novel Bestiary (One World/Random House, 2020), which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Her short story collection, Resident Aliens, is forthcoming from One World. More of her work can be found at kmingchang.com.

Links from the Podcast:

• K-Ming Chang - https://www.kmingchang.com/
  
• Ghost Forest Book Release with the Asian American Writers' Workshop July 13,
  
  • https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ghost-forest-pik-shuen-fung-and-k-ming-chang-tickets-158749272347
    
• The Offing literary journal - https://theoffingmag.com/
  
• Book: Bestiary from One World Publishing/Random House - https://www.oneworldlit.com/books/bestiary-hc
  
• Bone House Chap Book (new!) from Bull City Press - https://bullcitypress.com/product/bone-house-by-k-ming-chang-inch-47/
  

Thank you to Mitchell Evenson for intro and outro music, and the generous donations from our supporters that allow us to pay our authors. Exposition Review is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas.

Help us spread the word! Please download, review, and subscribe to Transposition.

Associate Producer: Mitchell Evenson

Intro Music by Mitchell Evenson

Hosted by Laura Rensing