Interview on Mandrake Society Radio: Samiya Bashir | Gospel: poems March 30, 2009

JW Richard's Interview with Samiya Bashir on Tuesday, March 31st!

Tune in or subscribe to the podcast. Click here for more info:
http://www.mandrakesocietyradio.com/how-can-i-hear-the-podcast/

Samiya Bashir will talk about her new book, Gospel: poems (RedBone Press, March 2009).
http://www.redbonepress.com/books/gospel/index.htm

Gospel is an ecumenical resistance song in four parts. In this passionate follow-up to 2005’s Lambda Literary Award finalist, Where the Apple Falls, Bashir's poems challenge truth to stare down the power of fear and paralysis. "We intended gospel to strike a happy medium for the down-trodden," said gospel music pioneer Thomas Dorsey. "This music lifted people out of the muck and mire of poverty and loneliness, of being broke, and gave them some kind of hope anyway. Make it anything but good news, it ceases to be gospel." The good news, according to Bashir, is that we are neither alone in our mess, nor alone in our grasp of the tools to heal. In this pull-no-punches collection Bashir lays down a road map, a portable flashlight, and a shaky-legged escort to usher the way toward recovered sight and strength.

MORE ABOUT MANDRAKE SOCIETY RADIO:

With keen interest in music, media, and oral histories, JW Richard is a Dallas, Texas native who began producing Mandrake Society Radio podcast in May 2005 as a personal audioblog of his own spiritual journey and companion to his written blog, Mandrake Society. Since then, the show and the blog are hosted together on this site.

So, why something called Mandrake Society Radio, you ask? In my studies, this ancient herb, also know as Mandragora Officinaris, has been known to, among other things, arouse passion between lovers and as a narcotic to aid women in giving birth. This fascinating herb is still around today, and used in many fashions (try this!)