About VIDA Voices & Views • VIDA: Women in Literary Arts

EPISODES

Fatimah Asghar I	Fatimah Asghar II	Rita Dove	Gregory Pardlo
Don Share II	Patricia Smith	Cheryl Strayed	Joy Harjo

ABOUT THE SHOW

VIDA Voices & Views is an interview program designed to call attention to a plurality of voices by conducting both audio and video interviews with writers, editors, publishers, series curators, anthologists, awards committee members, and other dedicated members of the literary community about their own work, vision, and concerns, as well as topics at the forefront of literary activism. The program seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the literary landscape and the issues facing artists of all genders, as well as to foster nuanced conversation about gender parity, race, disability, LGBTQ, economic, and other crucial issues impacting writers today.

PRODUCTION STAFF

Host and Executive Producer: Melissa Studdard is the author the poetry collection I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfast and the young adult novel Six Weeks to Yehidah. Her short writings have appeared in a wide variety of publications, such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Psychology Today, The Journal, and Poets & Writers. A short film of the title poem from I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfast (by Dan Sickles of Moxie Pictures for Motionpoems) was an official selection for the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival and the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival. Her awards include the Forward National Literature Award, the International Book Award, the Kathak Literary Award, and more.

Film Producer: Lauren Rachel Berman is Director at Divergent Delusion Productions and an MFA candidate in poetry.

Executive Producer, Digital Audio Media: R.J. Jeffreysis a poet, writer, novelist, writing coach and mentor, celebrity ghost writer, playwright, and contributing editor and Senior Producer of Radio Interviews Media for Tiferet Journal. He is the host of The Write Step with RJ Jeffreys radio interview show. Jeffreys’ poetry, prose and dramatic works have appeared in numerous publications, media outlets and websites such as Mass Poetry.org, 100 Thousand Poets for Change, Tiferet Journal, Saint Julian Press, Bareback Alchemy and the anthologies, The Darwin Murders, Tasteful Murders and Stories from a Holiday Heart, among others. He is also a “best of the web” Shorty Award nominee and a frequent guest speaker on national media outlets. Jeffreys’ The Write Step blog is also featured by Networkedblogs.com as a top ten website for writing advice. *Emeritus Digital Media Film Producer and Editor (Episodes 1-3).