We Were Visionaries

Discussing rituals of alternate consciousness within the creative process. Podcast/moving portraits.

[wewerevisionaries-blog]

Episode Two: Allison Titus

Richmond-based poet and novelist Allison Titus (NEA award-winner and author of three books) was our very first interview — and the first stop on Janaka's April book tour that later took us through St. Louis to meet up with Paul Legault, who was featured in Episode One. Allison and her partner Joshua Poteat (an award-winning poet in his own right), put us up for the night in their beautiful home, filled with dusty salvaged antiques, dreamy original artwork, and four adorable and loving rescued pugs. We did several takes of the video segment with Allison, in a few different settings, and through each one she gazed patiently, silently, and intently for minutes on end into the camera as her dogs fidgeted in the wings. Her ability to unflinchingly focus on command is impressive, and seems to be a sign of someone who can comfortably slip into their interior — or, more likely, as someone who is most comfortable there.

Episode Two: Allison Titus - Video Portrait / MP3

[wewerevisionaries-blog]

[wewerevisionaries-blog]

[wewerevisionaries-blog]

Episode One: Paul Legault

We met up with the poet Paul Legault on a stormy afternoon in St. Louis, one foot into an oncoming fever dream that would eventually send one of us to the ER a few days later in Minneapolis. The rain began coming down harder and harder as Paul, known not only for his original poems but also for his one-line renderings Emily Dickinson — and for being a founding editor of Telephone Books (which "publishes works of radical translation"), spoke at length about the somatic and nomadic influences on his creative process. By the end of the shoot Adrianne had wrapped her sweater around the camera to protect it from the increasingly horizontal downpour, while Paul serenely reached out to catch it directly in the palm of his hand. "That exact, precise moment of just the word coming out of nowhere. There's a certain magic to it," says Paul. "And you don't have to believe that it's magical, but if you do ... if you believe that it's magical then it is more likely to be magical."

Episode One: Paul Legault - Video Portrait / MP3

[wewerevisionaries-blog]

[wewerevisionaries-blog]

[wewerevisionaries-blog]

First Stop: Richmond, VA

This Sunday we’re gathering all of our gear and hopping into the car for Janaka’s first tour reading, and our first WWV interview. After Richmond we’ll be hitting up Nashville, St. Louis, Iowa City, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Detroit before heading back to Boston, meeting up with writers and artists all along the way.

Are you a visionary? Contact us.

First episode will post May 1st. One new episode every other Friday at noon.