DeLana Dameron - Podcast Details

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The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily[encore] 995: Dear—, by DéLana R.A. DameronToday’s poem is Dear—, by DéLana R.A. Dameron. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on November 9, 2023. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem of rhyming couplets speaks a truth about loneliness; the wish for a sustaining love and companionship motivates us to work through our differences sometimes at the expense of our emotional health.” Celebrate the power...2025-05-0805 min

whttrRedwood Court by DéLana R.A. Dameron [BOOK DISCUSSION & SUMMARY]🏡 Home isn’t just a place—it’s a story waiting to be told.In Redwood Court, DéLana R.A. Dameron paints a moving portrait of family, identity, and the ties that bind us. Set in Columbia, South Carolina, the novel follows Mika Tabor, a young girl coming of age in the close-knit neighborhood of Redwood Court. As Mika navigates the complexities of family dynamics, community history, and personal growth, she uncovers the powerful connections that shape her understanding of love, loss, and belonging.Join our AI hosts, j(AI)n and...2025-03-1111 min

Cooking with positivityTalk About It TuesdayIt's book club time. We're discussing Redwood Court by Delana R.A. Dameron. “Mika, you sit at our feet all these hours and days, hearing us tell our tales. You have all these stories inside you: all the stories everyone in our family knows and all the stories everyone in our family tells. You write ’em in your books and show everyone who we are.”So begins award-winning poet DéLana R. A. Dameron’s debut novel, Redwood Court. The baby of the family, Mika Tabor spends much of her time in the care of loved ones, listening to their stories an...2024-10-2227 min

Cooking with positivityTalk About It Tuesday It's book club time. We're discussing Redwood Court by Delana R.A. Dameron. “Mika, you sit at our feet all these hours and days, hearing us tell our tales. You have all these stories inside you: all the stories everyone in our family knows and all the stories everyone in our family tells. You write ’em in your books and show everyone who we are.”So begins award-winning poet DéLana R. A. Dameron’s debut novel, Redwood Court. The baby of the family, Mika Tabor spends much of her time in the care of loved ones, listening to their stor...2024-10-2227 min

Library TalksLibrary Talks: DéLana R. A. Dameron with Renée Watson: Redwood CourtDéLana R.A. Dameron is in conversation with author Renée Watson about her debut novel Redwood Court. 2024-10-011h 01

bookfare2024 So FarKat and Ashley discuss their current reads, recap the best of their 2024 reads so far, and discuss Sally Rooney's short fiction piece: "Opening Theory" Books mentioned in order of appearance: Master, Slave, Husband, Wife by Ilyon Woo Real Americans by Rachel Khong Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin Little Rot by Awaeke Emezi Bookfare's 2024 Reads: The Bee Sting, Paul Murray Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan Redwood Court, DeLana RA Dameron Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar Wandering Stars, Tommy Orange Live by Night, Dennis Lehane Kat's Five Star Reads: Prophet Song, Paul Lynch The Wren...2024-07-0550 min

bookfareBook Review: Redwood Court by DeLana R. A. DameronKatherine and Ashley discuss their current reads, big news in the book world, and their book of the month: Redwood Court by DeLana R.A. Dameron. Books mentioned in the episode: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsen Sure I'll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid I. Khalidi Come and Get It by Kiley Reid Harry Potter by JK Rowling Glossy by Marisa Meltzer Pelican Girls by Julia Malye Beach Read by Emily Henry Redwood Court by DeLana RA Dameron Martyr by Kaveh Akbar Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange 2024-03-211h 09

bookfareSpring Break ReadsKatherine and Ashley discuss their fav vacation reads just in time for spring break. Books mentioned in the episode Katherine’s current reads: Redwood Court by DeLana RA Dameron Prophet Song by Paul Lynch Dune by Frank Herbert Ashley’s current reads: Passing by Nella Larsen Prophet Song by Paul Lynch The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson The Courage to be Disliked by Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsen Book News: Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (to be published in September) One Day by David Nichols Reads like an HBO mini series: The In...2024-03-071h 18

bookfareBook Review: Small Things Like These by Claire KeeganKatherine and Ashley discuss their current reads, book news, and Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. Books mentioned in the episode: Good Material by Dolly Alderton Redeployment by Phil Klay The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez 11/22/63 by Stephen King Prophet Song by Paul Lynch Passing by Nella Larsen The Midnight Library by Matthew Haig Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan Redwood Court by DéLana R. A. Dameron 2024-02-2258 min

The Bookshop PodcastExploring Charleston With Polly Buxton Co-owner Buxton BooksSend us a textToday, we're hitting the cobblestones of Charleston, South Carolina, unlocking the secrets of independent bookstores and the joy they bring to local communities. First, we're charmed by Polly Buxton, the passionate founder of Buxton Books, as she recounts how a single conversation with her (now) husband led to her dream of owning a bookstore. Polly, a resident cheerleader for local authors and issues, talks about the bookstore's unique book-based walking tours and important community conversations they host. Her love for books and Charleston is infectious!Polly talks about the curation process...2023-12-1832 min

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily995: Dear—,Today’s poem is Dear—, by DéLana R.A. Dameron. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem of rhyming couplets speaks a truth about loneliness; the wish for a sustaining love and companionship motivates us to work through our differences sometimes at the expense of our emotional health.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp 2023-11-0905 min

DEEP in the WorkEp 14: Gina DuncanIn this episode, we’re talking to Gina Duncan, who I met when she ran BAM Film in Fort Greene Brooklyn, and while there partnered with my husband’s film organization Luminal Theater. It always made me feel at home at BAM to walk in and know that a Black woman was behind the scenes and making me feel seen. I don’t know when we went from Black girl head nods across the room to sister-friends texting each other about the absurdities of the work, but I am so glad we have each other these days. 2021-08-181h 21

DEEP in the WorkEp 13: Toya LillardIn this episode we’re talking to Toya Lillard, one of our faves over at Black Art Futures Fund, and champion of safe spaces and theater and strong voices for our young Black women and girls. We met when viBe Theater Experience was awarded our inaugural Shay Wafer Legacy Fund, then decided to continue to do good and deep work together through Red Olive. These days we enjoy sisterhood and laughter, and pointing towards the absurdities of what it means to be Black women in this work, in the fields where we find ourselves. Toya Lillard is Ex...2021-07-291h 15

DEEP in the WorkEp 12: Novella FordIn this episode we’re talking to Novella Ford, super connected arts maven who read my unsolicited book of poetry Weary Kingdom then invited me to come and read my poems about Harlem at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture—a dream come true. Connecting over poetry and Black culture and Black art meant that we were destined to be fast friends, and I’m excited to be in conversation around what it means to care for Black culture, make way for others, and more. Novella Ford is a cultural producer. She connec...2021-06-241h 33

DEEP in the WorkEp 11: Caitlin CrewsIn this episode we’re talking to Caitlin Crews, who I met through Fatima Jones at a Black Art Futures Fund friendraiser, and we became fast friends, and neighbors in Bedstuy Brooklyn. Then over the course of the interview, we learned — it turns out— Caitlin is related to one of my closest poetry friends from my days in college at UNC Chapel Hill! What a small world, and truly, we’re all connected. Caitlin has volunteered her time with Black Art Futures Fund and encouraged her colleagues at Adobe to support the work as well. Of course, we love that!2021-05-181h 15

DEEP in the WorkEp 10: Hallie S. HobsonIn this episode we’re talking to Hallie Hobson, who I first met at the Cave Canem summer poetry retreat in 2007, which was also the year I graduated from undergraduate school at UNC Chapel Hill. I knew I was moving to NYC and so meeting a Black woman who lived and worked there—and especially Harlem—was exciting, and I had NO IDEA at the time what development meant, but I was jealous Hallie got to work at a museum—then I think the Museum of Modern Art. When it became time for me to understand the idea of fundrais...2021-04-191h 08

Dance Magazine PodcastAddison Rae on Fallon, Keeping Dancers Paid, and Sydnie L. MosleyA transcript of this episode is available here: https://thedanceedit.com/transcript-episode-57Links referenced in/relevant to episode 57:-New York Times story on Broadway vaccination sites: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/25/theater/broadway-vaccinations-coronavirus.html-Los Angeles Magazine story on the Addison Rae/Jimmy Fallon controversy: https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/addison-rae-tonight-show/-Datebook piece on San Francisco's guaranteed income program for artists: https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/more-than-100-san-francisco-artists-to-receive-1000-a-month-under-new-pilot-program-Application for that program: https://ybca.org/guaranteed-income-pilot/-Pointe story on Ballet Co.Laboratory and its dual-contract structure: https://www.pointemagazine.com/ballet-co-laboratory-2651173176...2021-04-0151 min

DEEP in the WorkEp 9: Fatima JonesIn this episode we’re talking to Fatima Jones, who I check in with almost weekly, getting a read on everything from the Black cultural landscape and how to keep my proverbial wig on straight when folks try us (you know how that goes), to understanding how to make the marketing and communications of our Black arts spaces sing, and whose family I love love love. We met through a mutual sister-friend Jessica Lynne, and continue to be sisters in this space and beyond. Fatima has joined hands with the Red Olive Universe and hosted one of the last in...2021-03-181h 30

DEEP in the WorkEp 8: Jess SolomonEpisode 8: Jess Solomon In this episode we’re talking to Jess Solomon who I have been in community with for a few years in the areas of philanthropy and Black women’s labor, community-building, and influence in the arts & culture sphere. Jessica Solomon is an organization change consultant, cultural worker, and founder of Art in Praxis, who brings a racial equity lens and intersectional feminist analysis to her work in nonprofit capacity building, cultural organizing, and philanthropy. This episode was recorded on December 18, 2020 Produced by Lauren Francis Music by a...2021-02-161h 02

DEEP in the WorkEp 7: Renée WatsonIn this episode we’re talking to Renée Watson, an award-winning Young Adult author whose narratives and characters I truly wished I had on my bookshelves growing up. Her protagonists are tough cookies: brown and full-bodied young Black girls, and yet resilient. Renée herself is a dynamic world-builder who put that expertise to work in real-life with the I, Too Arts collective, a project to activate the Langston Hughes’ house in East Harlem. We talk through what it means to build a world that doesn’t yet exist, who you need with you along the way, and how Blac...2020-12-141h 22

DEEP in the WorkEp 6: Alison McNeilEpisode 6: Alison McNeil In this episode we’re talking to Alison McNeil, who I met in 2019 at the Grantmakers in the Arts annual convening, but who we both learned as Black women consultants, have a lot of circles and circles of beloved arts organizations and workers in common. Alison has been helping me amplify what it means to think about data and evaluation for arts organizations, as well as how to ask the deep and right questions of our organization and mission to tell the best stories. Alison T. McNeil is the Founder and Chief Cr...2020-10-0900 min

DEEP in the WorkEp 5: Shaunda McDillIn this episode, we’re talking to Shaunda McDill, who is my philanthropy sister, and a member of the maybe newly formed “Shay’s Babies” group -- folks who have had the pleasure to come of professional age in the culture world with Shay Wafer as a mentor. We met back in 2018, but leaned heavily on each other in the early days of the pandemic, mourning, sharing best practices, fast-money-movements to organizations, and looked to the future. Shaunda McDill joined The Heinz Endowments in October 2017 As program officer for arts and culture, promoting the strength and vitality of a sui...2020-09-251h 22

DEEP in the WorkEp 4: Jessica LynneIn this episode, we’re talking to Jessica Lynne, a beloved sister, a Southern center for me, someone for whom I would not be in the arts + culture space without, and who I advise on most of my life moves before I make them—and someone who I ask to always to continue to journey with me, including on the executive Board of Black Art Futures Fund. I tell everyone in an introduction to Jessica Lynne that I absolutely make no life decisions without her. Yall know her also as a writer and art critic. She is a foun...2020-08-2559 min

DEEP in the WorkEp 3: Sherrie BeltonIn this episode, I’m meditating on what defines community, especially Black community, and what it means to be a Black cultural worker at a major museum in Columbia, South Carolina with my friend Sherrie Belton. Sherrie Belton is a Fairfield County, SC native who loves asking questions, solving problems, and causing good trouble. From classrooms to museums, she has spent the last decade doing creative community work across the Midlands of South Carolina. Though typically she serves as an arts programmer and arts educator, she began exploring what it means to be a maker through an op...2020-07-241h 23

DEEP in the WorkEp 2: Stephanye WattsDeep in the Work Intro—Stephanye Watts In this episode, we’re talking to Stephanye Watts, who is a Philly native, music fan, and one of the biggest and most-active HBCU Alumni reps I know. A graduate of Clark Atlanta University, Stephanye is the Assembly Program Coordinator at Recess, an artist-led alternative to incarceration empowering court-involved young people to take charge of their own life story and imagine a positive future through art. Stephanye served her community in her previous post as Community Engagement Manager at Weeksville Heritage Center and continues to do so as a me...2020-07-121h 16

DEEP in the WorkEp 1: Shay WaferIn this episode, we’re talking to Shay Wafer, who is a mentor, Mama, grandmama, And so much more to many Black cultural workers in the world right now. In her long career in performing arts, Shay Wafer, has demonstrated a stalwart dedication to the arts and community development through many years of service to the field. Her passionate vision is balanced with pragmatic experience, as she has held senior level positions at a number of non-profit arts organizations with a focus on African Diasporic programming and community engagement. Currently the Executive Director of...2020-07-1159 min

DEEP in the WorkDEEP IN THE WORK: Sherrie Belton (excerpt)In this excerpt of the full episode, Sherrie and DéLana discuss one of two poems, and this excerpt is a poem by Marge Piercy, "To be of use" and their experiences with what it means to be an invisible / maybe essential laborer in a white work force. What does it mean to have a "responsibility" to a community, and a responsibility to self? In response to the poem, and her work in the cultural sector, specifically at an art museum, Sherrie says, "I don't want to be the one always carrying water...but I'm the only one here."&n...2020-06-0708 min

DEEP in the WorkDEEP IN THE WORK: Stephanye Watts (excerpt)In this excerpt of the full episode, Stephanye and DéLana reminisce about their year together in 2016 at Weeksville Heritage Center, "dreaming up possibilities with pennies." DéLana reminisces on the day Stephanye came into her office with a red wool coat and found a place for her, and what it means to look for a place for Black women with divergent careers, and then with the blessing and love from a Black woman, Tia Powell Harris program and fund a new 19,000 sq ft building with---inadequate funding from philanthropy, and yet! And yet! The work we did was no...2020-06-0711 min

DEEP in the WorkDEEP IN THE WORK: Jessica Lynne (excerpt)DEEP IN THE WORK podcast host DéLana R.A. Dameron is in conversation with Jessica Lynne. In this excerpt of the full episode, Jessica and DéLana read the text of an epistolary collaboration titled WHERE DO WE GO TO LIVE? WHERE DO WE GO TO GET FREE?, a component of THIS DESIRE: Poetics & Longing, a project with Able Baker Contemporary. The excerpt references three exchanges originally published in Arts.Black and Los Angeles Review of Books. Texts Referenced: Up Here, From There - ARTS.BLACK In Church In Charleston - LOS ANGELES RE...2020-06-0712 min

GIA PodcastPodcast #23: Creating Access for GranteesIn this podcast episode, we are glad to have the Black Art Futures Fund joining us! We’ll be hearing from DéLana R.A. Dameron, founder, Black Art Futures Fund (BAFF). We will discuss new ways of funding Black arts groups, refine the definition of who can be a funder, and learn about the additional, and crucial, support that BAFF offer grantees throughout the process of applying for funding.2020-03-1500 min