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Edmon Low Library

Episode 11: Rilla Askew - Dear Tulsa

November 2, 2020

In this episode, Rilla Askew, author of four novels, a book of stories, and a collection of creative nonfiction, reads her essay “Dear Tulsa,” which first appeared in the literary journal AGNI. She talks to Emily and Lindsey about writing “Dear Tulsa,” an essay that brings together a traumatic moment from Rilla’s early twenties and the story of Tulsa, Oklahoma. She also shares her thoughts on writing about place and explains what has kept her going creatively throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Song Credits:
Dirt Rhodes by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3650-dirt-rhodes
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3522-cold-funk
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Lindsey Claire Smith and Emily Blackshear

Dr. Lindsey Claire Smith, Associate Professor of English at Oklahoma State University, directs the Center for Poets and Writers at OSU-Tulsa. The Center is a literary arts outreach program that hosts events with diverse writers, residencies for teaching artists in schools, and writing workshops for the general public. Lindsey is a native Tulsan, a product of Tulsa Public schools, and the daughter of two TPS English teacher parents. Lindsey has extensive expertise in Native American and Indigenous studies, especially Oklahoma literature, and has authored three books and numerous other publications on writers and filmmakers of this region. She serves as Editor of American Indian Quarterly journal.

Dr. Emily Blackshear joined the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program at the Oklahoma State University Library in September 2017. She directs the Deep Roots: Oklahoma Authors Oral History Project and serves as an interviewer for other projects including the Inductees of the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame and the Spotlighting Oklahoma series.