Women’s Voices Interview May 16: Filmmakers Dayna Goldfine and Jen McGowan Monday, May 16 2011

Tune in to Women’s Voices at 7:00 PM Pacific Time on KZYX Monday May 16 for an interview with two filmmakers, Emmy award winning Dayna Goldfine, and Jen McGowan who will screen films at the upcoming Mendocino Film Festival June 3-5. I’ve just taped  an interview with Dayna, who has, with her husband Dan Geller, been making documentary films for more than 25 years, including Ballets Russes (available on Netflix, by the way) and Isadora Duncan: Movement from the Soul as well as several other award winning documentaries. Something Ventured, the Geller/Goldfine film to be shown at 2 PM Saturday, June 4 at the festival, is a fascinating, quirky weaving of the stories of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs from the 1950s to the 1970s, and follows their stories into the present, with insightful, revealing, and often funny interviews. In spite of egos, personalities, and enormous risk, the people in these films intrepidly created companies like Apple, Cisco Systems, Atari, Genentech and other icons of our day. This film is fascinating and fast paced – and one of the reasons I love the documentary form. Can hardly wait to see more of their films.

Both women will be part of a panel discussion on Saturday at 11 AM at the festival: Women Behind the Camera, discussing the role of documentary and narrative women directors in the industry. Jen McGowan, who began her career in acting at NYU, will screen a short narrative film, Touch, as part of the Short Films program, screening Friday and Sunday. I’m looking forward to speaking with Jen, and learning about her plans for her first feature film. 

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A Jazzy Holiday on Women’s Voices December 13 Friday, Dec 10 2010

Join me on Women’s Voices at 7:00 PM Pacific Time Monday December 13 for a jazzy holiday music show with some great artists, both old and new. We’ll spin some tunes from classic to contemporary. Women’s Voices will include Nancy Wilson, who now hosts NPR’s wonderful Jazz Profiles show on KZYX on Sunday nights, as well as some of my favorite female vocalists including  Julie London, Kay Starr, the Mediaeval Baebes, Pink Martini, Sarah McLachlan, and other great voices past and present.

It’s a great pleasure to contemplate sharing this music with Women’s Voices listeners. I usually do an interview show, but a few times a year, it’s fun to share my love of music. Hope you’ll join me Monday night, and don’t forget we stream live on KZYX.org…

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Kathleen Alcala on Women’s Voices November 29 7 PM Monday, Nov 29 2010

Join me on Women’s Voices tonight at 7 PM Pacific Time for an interview with Latina author and teacher Kathleen Alcala, author of a short story collection, three novels set in 19th Century Mexico and the Southwest, and a collection of essays based on her family history. I’ve been reading her wonderful book Treasures in Heaven. She mines her family history and heritage, and creates a world where the heart rules and deepest longings are revealed. She’s done work with The Miracle Theatre in Portland, Oregon (my hometown–I’ve seen productions there years ago, and loved it!) Her work has received the Western States Book Award, the Governor’s Writers Award, and a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award. She received an Artist Trust Fellowship in 2008.

Kathleen has a B.A. in Linguistics from Stanford University and an M.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Washington. Her work is often referred to as magic realism, but Kathleen considers most of it historical fiction. She does, however, have a great affinity for the story-telling techniques of magic realism and science fiction, and has been both a student and instructor in the Clarion West Science Fiction Workshop.Kathleen teaches fiction at the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts on Whidbey Island.

I’m looking forward to this interview. It seems important at this time of year to explore the meaning of our family connections and heritage no matter where we come from, and Latino literature has long been a favorite of mine.
Ursula LeGuin said of her first collection, “This is a book of wonders. Each story unfolds with humor and simplicity and perfect naturalness into something original and totally unpredictable. The kingdom of Borges and García Marquez lie just over the horizon, but this landscape of desert towns and dreaming hearts … is Alcalá-land. It lies just across the border between Mexico and California, across the border between the living and the dead, across all the borders – a true new world.”

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Jeanette Boyer on Women’s Voices Nov 30 Thursday, Nov 26 2009

Jeanette Boyer, author of Junkyard Dreams

Jeanette Boyer, author of Junkyard Dreams, moved to Mendocino for eight months in order to write her second novel. Two years later, she is still here, still writing (she says she is a slow writer!) and feeling at home in northern California. Join me for an interview with Jeanette Boyer on Women’s Voices Monday November 30th at 7:00 PM Pacific time to explore elements of a writer’s life: the writer’s process, inspiration, themes, and how to stay with the creative process while earning a living.

“My family moved a lot, often driving cross country for long stretches at a time, sleeping in the car when we had too little money to stay in even the cheapest of motels. It was on those voyages that I first began to compose stories. Seeing houses in the middle of nowhere and wondering who lived in them, I invented lives. Junkyard Dreams resulted from my personal attempt to prevent the development of a ridgetop near my home in New Mexico. Although completely fictional, the novel represents my attempt to understand why our very desire for beauty can lead us to damage our environment.”

How does the writing process affect our lives as artists and world citizens, and how can we use our art and writing to affect social change? Join us on Women’s Voices to hear about the writing life and how to make it happen!

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Christina Perez Slam Poet on Women’s Voices November 9 Tuesday, Nov 3 2009

On November 9th at 7:00 PM Pacific Time Monday November 9 I’ll be interviewing Latina slam/performance poet Christina Perez on Women’s Voices, streaming live on www.KZYX.org. It should be a very interesting show– Christina is an amazing performance poet. I met her at the Mendocino Coast Writer’s Conference this past summer and was blown away by the power of her poetry and her presence.

Her work is comedic, political, self-exposing, and connecting. Her poems are both deeply personal and completely honest. Christina mines for words that get right “to the bone,” yet maintain a deft and hypnotic complexity, and she is explosively engaging to watch. She uses voice and body to add layer, depth, and power to her art. Christina will also perform in Fort Bragg at Women’s Open Mic Night at V’Cantos restaurant at 124 East Laurel Steet on Thursday November 12th. One performance only: 7:30 PM

We want to bring Christina to Fort Bragg for future workshops with at-risk youth in association with the Mendocino Coast Writer’s Conference,  Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Mendocino County, and the Youth Project, so if you are in the area on November 12th, support this vision and stop by V’Cantos to experience her amazing voice for yourself!

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Fruit of the Redwoods at Art@3G Saturday, May 9 2009

There is an amazing exhibit at the art gallery in my building, Art@3G in Fort Bragg, CA It’s called Fruit of the Redwoods and it’s on display until the end of June. The art has been created by Taiji and Masako Arita. The amazing part of this exhibit is that all of the pieces in the show are made from wood salvaged from stumps left over from logging operations in the Mendocino Coast region between the late 1800s and early 1900s. The shapes and motifs are simple, subtle, and extremely powerful, carved with sensitivity and humble regard for the grace and power of the ancient trees. Gallery owner Luz Harvey hung the show with great regard both for the artists and the medium. Peace surrounds you from the moment you walk in the door. It is like being in the sanctuary of a great cathedral or holy place. Definitely a world class installation.  I’ll include more photos in future blogs. See it if you can.

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Cat Art Paper and Paste Friday, Feb 20 2009

Montessori school cat art

Loved this little image done by a Montessori school student. So simple and striking, bold and colorful. I just love kid’s art! The local community college here is doing a lot more outreach to the community–booksignings, several all day college days open to the public, this small but wonderful art show of county wide kid’s art, and other offerings. I attended the Mendocino Coast Writer’s Conference at College of the Redwoods last summer. It was the first writer’s conference I had ever attended, and I was impressed. The community here is progressive, liberal, and offers a lot of interesting artistic possibilities considering its relatively small size. My favorite art gallery in Fort Bragg is Art at 3G.

Luz Harvey chooses fascinating shows with unusual artists ranging from conceptual art, modern painters like Taiji Arita, outsider art, and works from Art Explorers, an incredible organization in Fort Bragg that supports developmentally disabled artists as they produce their truly amazing work.

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