Friday Special Blend
Friday September 20th, 2024 with Micah Petti - Susan Johnston
On Beauty (rob mclennan). The Wayward Sound. Heliotropia (Manahil Bandukwala). Root Cause.

In our first hour, rob mclennan joins Susan to talk about On Beauty, his latest work of short stories. rob mclennan is the author of more than thirty books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. rob’s most recent titles include World’s End and essays in the face of uncertainties. On Beauty is published by University of Alberta Press. Launch info: The Royal Oak, 1 Beechwood Avenue, Ottawa, ON. Join rob mclennan and host Rhonda Douglas to launch On Beauty at The Royal Oak (upstairs) on Wednesday, September 25. Doors open at 6 pm if you want to have dinner first. rob will read from the collection, followed by a Q&A. Copies of On Beauty as well as copies of prior works will be available (cash or e-transfer). In our second hour, Manahil Bandukwala joins Micah and Susan to talk about her latest work, Heliotropia. Manahil Bandukwala’s second collection of poems is a meditation on love during times of social and political upheaval. As a sunflower’s growth reaches toward the sun, so, she suggests, is a lover’s growth compelled by the gravitational pull and soul-light of their beloved. Many of these poems are in conversation with other poets and artists, creating a lineage of call and response. Against a backdrop of terrestrial crisis, come, spend your precious minutes in love’s Heliotropia, where we are magnetized by the unfathomable dark matter of another person, and know ourselves as celestial bodies flowering in spacetime, together. Launch info: Heliotropia launches as part of the Plan 99 Reading Series, starting at 5:00pm on Saturday September 21 at The Manx.