S7 E16 Ren Wilding

On September 17, 2026, the Florence Poets Society released the 19th edition of their journal Silkworm. The theme for this issue is Bridge, and we were honored to be able to record the release party that evening at the Lily Library in Florence, MA. Do join us in celebrating the release of this book with readings from many of the writers included in this issue!Go to http://www.florencepoets.com/ for more information!

Our own Elizabeth MacDuffie, and Ellen Meeropol and Carolyn C. Cushing were the featured readers for the September 9, 2026 installment of the monthly Writers Read series at the Lava Center in Greenfield MA. Sit in on this lovely reading and following Q&A!From the Lava Center website:"Writers Read is a monthly opportunity for an audience to come and listen to local writers in an intimate environment. Each second Wednesday of the month, three writers read from their work, followed by a discussion facilitated by Lindy Whiton. These discussions have been eye opening, touching, and inspiring. Audiences have left the venue ready to write.Ellen Meeropol is the author of six novels, most recently Sometimes an Island and The Lost Women of Azalea Court, and the guest editor of the anthology Dreams for a Broken World. Ellen is a founding mother of Straw Dog Writers Guild and member of the WriteAngles Conference planning committee.Carolyn A. Cushing (she/her) is a Tarot practitioner, seeker of justice, and poet inspired by nature and focused on the places where life and death meet. She served as the Poet Laureate of Easthampton, Massachusetts 2023 – 2025. Find her on-line at soulpathsanctuary.com/poetryElizabeth MacDuffie Elizabeth MacDuffie is founding editor Meat for Tea: The Valley Review, producer of the Meat for Teacast, and co-runner, with her husband, Mark Alan Miller, of Meat for Tea Press. She’s had work published in Silkworm, Thimble, The Hooghly Review, and in the 2025 and 2026 New Generation Beats Anthologies, among other places. She lives and works in Holyoke, MA."https://thelavacenter.org/ for more information on this lovely venue!

Join Elizabeth as she has a great chat with Tim Gager, author of Shadows of the Seen and upcoming soon, These New Orbs, as well as many other works. He reads from Shadows of the Seen and discuss AI and many other things! Grab a beverage and a snack and tuck in!https://www.heatcityreview.com/timothygagerindex.html

For the brief interim while we are busy with other things (like the forthcoming issue of Meat For Tea "Yellow") we bring this episode back in celebration of Joshual Michael Stewart's new book This is What it's Come To. You can find more about that book on his website (link below)!We have a great chat with writer and musician Joshua Michael Stewart. He reads several of his poems, discusses some of the methods he's used, and a lot more.Also, we feature four pieces of his music! In Joshua's words:""Jig for Jim" is an original composition from my first album, "Ghost in the Room." "Brother..." & "Nobody's Business" are old traditional songs (public domain) that will be on my upcoming album "Bitches Banjo" released July 20, 2021 and "Baby Won't You Please Come Home" is also a traditional song on the upcoming album, but this version is an alternate take that won't be on the album." Learn more about Joshua at www.joshuamichaelstewart.com

We welcome perfumer and writer Pia Long to the Meat For Teacast! She and Elizabeth have a great talk about perfumery, her book Demo Accords and more, including a reading from one of the chapters in the book!www.olfiction.com (our retail store with all the things from our Olfiction Creative Universe – Demo Accords, Lab Editions, Eau de Boujee & any future books and projects)www.olfiction.studio (our B2B page) https://www.instagram.com/perfumer.piahttps://perfumer.substack.com/https://www.tiktok.com/@perfumer.piaPia's notes:"Books:Historical Perspectives on Smell, Jonathan ReinarzThe Girl from a Thousand Fathoms by David GullenA Parade of Horribles (a Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook narrated by Jeff Hays), Matt DinimanMusic:Grizz “Sioux so pretty” (especially the Qual remix version)Samantha Togni x Wax Wings – Body Mind (and Samantha’s new album is cooool)Uzi Freyja – Medusa (but the whole album that is on is great)Bloodywood – Halla Boi (as above)Ochre – Temple Ravine (I listen to a lot of Ochre’s production in general, this is a new track)KuplaToscaLane 8Rival ConsolesYoshihiro SawasakiNoisiaTurmion Katilot16 VoltLondon After MidnightStabbing WestwardOzric TentaclesLambGroove ArmadaBasement Jaxx…Watching:Rewatching the entire Babylon 5 set (the series and TV movies)& my comfort telly – Columbo, Poirot, Murder She Wrote Wearing:A magnolia themed perfume in development for Meadowfarm Lifestyle (she has posted about the collab on her socials so it’s not a secret – the product is not ready and out yet, though!). https://meadowfarmlifestyle.co.uk/"

In this episode, Elizabeth has a great conversation with Ren Wilding, author of Trans Artifacts: Bones Between my Teeth. Ren reads from the book, and as usual, a great conversation ensues.Be sure to check out Season 7, Episode 7 for the conversation with Ren and Dana Henry Martin, part of our annual Pushcart Awards Nominees series as well!For more information, do check out https://renwilding.com/

In memory of the passing of our beloved friend Jane Yolen on June 11, 2026, we're revisiting our lovely conversation with her and her partner Peter Tacy. Jane was a frequent contributor to Meat For Tea, as is Peter Tacy, and Meat For Tea Press also published their book The Black Dog Poems in 2020. We miss you, Jane."The season two finale - and what a finale it is! We had a terrific chat with poets, writers - and musicians! - Jane Yolen and Peter Tacy. They read several new poems, some to be in the upcoming issue of Meat For Tea, a couple in previous issues, and more! Tuck in and enjoy our conversation with these two brilliant folks. Find out more at: www.janeyolen.com"

On tuesday May 19, 2026, poet Jacob Chapman (a frequent contributor to Meat For Tea and a prior guest on the Meat For Teacast) had a reading celebrating his latest book My Wife Made This Possible (Human Error Publishing). We were in attendence, and grateful to Jacob and Nat Herold (Amherst Books) for allowing us to record this excellent reading. And quite a fun Q&A as well! Nat provided the lovely introduction.Enjoy!https://a.co/d/008snmawhttps://www.amherstbooks.com/

For this episode, we invited Scott Ferry, Lauren Scharhag and Lillian Necakov back for another conversation. Elizabeth basically had these three amazing writers in the virtual room together, and it is amazing. They read their works from their new books and talk like the three great friends and collaborators they are. (A few years ago, their collaborative book Midnight Glossolalia (Meat For Tea Press) was released, go listen to S4 E17 for more about that!https://ferrypoetry.com/books/https://www.anvilpress.com/authors/lillian-necakovhttp://mansfieldpress.net/lillian-necakov/https://laurenscharhag.blogspot.comhttps://www.facebook.com/laurenscharhag/

This is one heck of an episode! This conversation between Dorion Sagan and Elizabeth is deeply fascinating. He talks about his father and mother and family, going deeply autobiographical. Dorion also reads from his recent book The Road to Hedotopia (Meat For Tea Press). This is one not to be missed!Photo: Katherine Kendall