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Self-Discovery Through Poetry, With Jenny Sadre-Orafai

Self-Discovery Through Poetry, With Jenny Sadre-Orafai

Weekly Inspiration: Third Culture Kids

Have you ever heard of the term Third Culture Kid? Well, it refers to people who have grown up in multiple countries or with multiple cultures. Being a third culture kid herself, Michelle is inspired by these multifaceted individuals. Being a TCK opens you up to see the world in a whole new way. These people are truly global citizens. Michelle recently went on the As Told By Nomads podcast to discuss this and just how interconnected our planet is. You can check that episode out here.

Unearthing the magic of poetry with Jenny Sadre-Orafai

All you grandma’s boys and girls are going to love this episode. On Episode 20 of The Cultured Podcast, Michelle welcomes Jenny Sadre-Orafai to the show. Jenny is an acclaimed poet and a professor at Kennesaw State University. Her newest book of poetry, Malak, is as much about her grandmother, the book’s namesake and a mystic who read people’s futures in coffee grounds, as much as it is about Jenny’s own experiences with metaphysical miracles.

Jenny shares how poetry gave way to a lifelong journey of self-discovery, awareness, and putting complex emotions into words. Together, Jenny and Michelle uncover the vulnerability in poetry and how this form of writing is meant not to convey raw emotion rather than information.

Jenny spills the secret on the sky-high place where inspiration flows most freely. Listen until the end to hear Jenny give an intimate reading of her poem “Language of Signs.”

About Jenny Sadre-Orafai, poet and professor

Jenny Sadre-Orafai is the author of Paper, Cotton, Leather and Malak. Her poetry has appeared in Cream City Review, Ninth Letter, The Cortland Review, Hotel Amerika, The Pinch, and other journals. Her prose has appeared in Los Angeles Review, The Rumpus, South Loop Review, Fourteen Hills, The Collagist, and other journals. She is co-founding editor of Josephine Quarterly and an Associate Professor of English at Kennesaw State University..

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Mentioned in the episode:

Malak

Mary Ruefle

Nicole Sealey

Anne Sexton