Art and artists and artistic women and public radio and Women's Voices Radio Show
artistic women, arts in mendocino county, feminism, kristin suratt, kzyx.org, Mendocino Film Festival, mendocino fort bragg, Women Filmmakers, women writers, women's voices kristinsuratt
6:03 am
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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About me and artistic women and public radio and women singers and Women's Voices Radio Show
artistic women, kristin suratt, kzyx.org, mendocino fort bragg, women's voices, Women's Voices radio show kristinsuratt
6:51 am
Sometimes Valentine’s Day is not just hearts and flowers. It can be a reminder that romantic love is sometimes elusive. But what’s love without love songs? Sometimes the saddest songs open our hearts. So whether you are happy, sad, or just like to listen to cool music, join me on Women’s Voices this Valentine’s Day, streaming live on KZYX at 7:00 PM PST for a hot night of love songs. From pop to electronica to country and classic jazz, we’ll listen to some groovy girl singers.
I discovered Duffy when I watched An Education (nice little film, by the way), and that led to an exploration of a few singers in the pop genre whom I may not have discovered otherwise. I love Corinne Bailey Rae’s sweet voice, and the contrast to Duffy’s rough edged sound. I snuck in some Nina Simone, Lucinda Williams, and we’ll finish the night with Adele. The Grammy’s are in the news lately, and it’s fun to listen to modern young singers along with some other favorites. Let’s mix it up this Monday night.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
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Uncategorized and Women authors and women writers and Women's Voices Radio Show
artistic women, Beijing China, feminist authors, Havana Cuba, kristin suratt, kzyx.org, mendocino fort bragg, new york times, University of Iowa writers, women writers, women's voices kristinsuratt
3:05 am
Join me on KZYX Monday January 10 at 7:00 PM Pacific Time for an interview with Chicana writer, activist, and world traveler Stephanie Elizondo Griest.
She’s mingled with the Russian Mafiya, polished propaganda in China, and belly danced with rumba queens in Cuba. Her adventures have inspired many books, including Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana, and 100 Places Every Woman Should Go.
She’s a passionate activist, and founder of the Youth Free Expression Network, an anti-censorship organization for teens, a program of the National Coalition Against Censorship in New York City, where she is a board member.
She travelled 45,000 miles in 42 states across America and has been a political reporter and teacher of journalism at China Daily in Beijing. During a three month fellowship at the New York Times, she wrote about male belly dancers, Latina filmmakers, and dentists who replace canines with fangs.
A Hodder Fellow at Princeton University, Griest loves the open road, and her wanderlust has taken her to 35 countries. She’s currently pursuing an MFA in the Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa. This should be an interesting interview…please join us streaming live on KZYX
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artistic women and Women authors and Women's Voices Radio Show
arts in mendocino county, creative non fiction, family, kristin suratt, kzyx.org, latina writers, magic realism, magic theatre, mendocino fort bragg, portland oregon, Whidbey Writers Workshop, women writers, Women's Voices radio show kristinsuratt
8:42 pm
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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About me and family and friends
family and friends, mendocino fort bragg kristinsuratt
2:19 am
My friend Victoria Leary took this photo of me around New Years in San Francisco. The holidays for me this year were exciting yet hectic. Every year I bring out my holiday decorations, kind of resisting this tradition, yet somehow feeling compelled to do it anyway. I guess there is some part of me that participates in this yearly ritual partly to keep the memory of my mother and my Danish grandmother near, and partly to pause from ordinary activities to remember people as I wrap their gifts, rush to the post office, and do my once a year baking. My family is now spread out in many parts of the country, and my son is in Canada, so it’s not like the days so many years ago when people spent the month before the holidays preparing food, making gifts, and spending time together. It’s not so much fun traveling during the holidays any more since we are subjected to searches, pat downs, and long lines, not to mention questionable weather! I still think it would be wonderful if we could all take a few weeks off at the end of the year to maintain the traditions that feel meaningful to each of us. Most of us still “do it all” if we are in the mood, and yet in the rush and bustle of the season it is easy to forget why we do it. I’ve meant to write this post since before the holidays, but I didn’t have time!
Well, anyway, every year when I put away my holiday decorations, I feel a little sad. For me, it always turns out to be both comforting and appropriate to deck the halls in the dark time of the year, and that glow that we feel stretches back through many generations, I think. Still, it’s always good to see the house again as a plain clean slate ready for the New Year, new experiences, and whether or not we make resolutions, a chance to begin the wheel of the year once again.
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artistic women and public radio and Women authors and Women's Voices Radio Show
feminist authors, mendocino fort bragg, public radio show, women writers kristinsuratt
3:33 am
The World I Imagine by Debbie Jordan
Please join me as I interview author and peace activist Debbie Jordan on Women’s Voices on KZYX.org January 11 at 7:00 PM Pacific Time. Debbie Jordan’s essays introduce creative ideas for ending poverty everywhere, in the hope that humans can finally build a truly peaceful society where everyone enjoys at least the basic benefits of prosperity for the first time in history. A peace activist and journalist, Debbie Jordan says the election of Barack Obama is a positive step toward a peaceful society, “but it’s only one step,” she warns. “There is still much work to do, because we will never have peace on earth as long as anyone is forced to live in poverty.” She says that establishing and maintaining peace takes far more creativity, dedication and hard work than war ever did.
Jordan is also the author of Lion’s Pride, a mystery novel touching on polygamy and Mormonism. Though she was only nine years old at the time, Debbie Jordan was intrigued by newspaper reports of polygamist events in 1953 Short Creek, AZ. A curious child, she read all she could on the issue of polygamy. Lion’s Pride offers insight into the ways that religious excess in any denomination can distort the attitudes and choices of both women and men. Jordan explains that current news reports on the complexities of a polygamous society demonstrate how religious extremism, when allowed to develop in secret, can distort the nature of family, social and personal relationships.
“. . . Jordan has created a novel that allows the reader to learn about an earlier time in our country’s history and how it has shaped where we are today. If we can use this reading experience to rethink how we react to situations in our own communities I think this novel can go far beyond being just an interesting and exciting story of the old west.”…Donna Coomer, Between the Lines Reviews
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Women authors
feminism, feminist authors, kzyx.org, mendocino fort bragg, public radio show, women's voices kristinsuratt
4:33 am
Barbara J. Berg, author of Sexism in America
Join me on Monday December 14 at 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time on www.kzyx.org for an interview with author and feminist historian Barbara Berg, Ph.D. about her new book, Sexism in America: Alive, Well, and Ruining our Future. In this provocative new book, Barbara Berg exposes society’s current acceptance of sexism in some of its most traditional yet insidious forms–she explores the last two women’s movements in the United States, and analyzes how sexism is perpetuated in popular culture in the 21st century. Sexism in America reveals the cultural and structural sexism that prevails today as it takes us through an exposé of battles women still face as they continue their struggle for true gender equality. Issues facing women today include health insurance inequity, the right to reproductive freedom, the rise in infant mortality, teen pregnancy, heart disease and diabetes in women, and sexually transmitted diseases in adolescent girls, along with rampant workplace discrimination and continuing wage disparity. This should be a fascinating and topical show!
Barbara J. Berg is the author of The Crisis of the Working Mother, Nothing to Cry About, and The Remembered Gate: Origins of American Feminism. She has taught at Sarah Lawrence College, Yale Medical School, Columbia University’s Physicians & Surgeons, and has written for the Baltimore Sun, Ladies’ Home Journal, Ms., the New York Times Magazine, Parents, the Washington Post, and Working Woman. She is a nationwide lecturer and has appeared on the CBS Morning Show, CNN, and Oprah.
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Art and artists and artistic women and public radio
artistic women, artistic women mendocino collage creativity love romance play, arts in mendocino county, mendocino fort bragg, public radio show, women writers, women's voices kristinsuratt
3:25 am
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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artistic women and Women's Voices Radio Show
Art Fort Bragg CA, artistic women, arts in mendocino county, kzyx.org, mendocino fort bragg, public radio show, women's voices kristinsuratt
2:56 am
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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Art and artists and inspiration
arts in mendocino county, kids art, mendocino fort bragg kristinsuratt
3:27 am
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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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.
