I’m taking queries from poets interested in participating in Line Break, my five minute weekly poetry program for shortwave radio. Episodes will air on WBCQ Shortwave’s Radio Angela lineup, either after a music program or A Way with Words. I’ll also post these episodes to my YouTube channel, Dancing with the Distance, as time allows.
Here’s what I’m looking for:
- Three to four minutes of recorded poetry per poet. I’ll feature one poet per episode. (You can introduce your poems if you’d like or just read poems. The time is yours. Just keep in mind that this is FCC territory, so keep it clean, and since this is for general audiences, no objectionable material.)
- Since I can’t pay, I’m more than happy to reuse audio you recorded for other purposes, as long as a.) you have the rebroadcast rights and b.) the audio quality is good. (In other words, please don’t send me a phone recording from the back of a busy coffee house….)
- Non-exclusive broadcast rights for radio (and, optionally, a video on YouTube, which will consist of a title card and the audio you send–you won’t need to make any video recordings).
If you’d like to participate, please listen to these recent episodes featuring Christina M. Rau and Akua Lezli Hope, then send me an email with the subject “Line Break Query” and including the following:
- A bio, including recent books/publications/awards, etc.
- Sample poems (we can change these later if the recorded time falls too far outside the 3-4 minute time frame) in the body of an email. Published poems preferred, as I’d like to link to the poems (or the magazine/book they’re in) on my website.
- A quick intro note including where you saw this posting and your recording experience.
Please do not do any of the following, or I will delete your email unread:
- Send any attachments.
- Send me anything that would be on the standard “don’t send us this” submissions requirements. Think PG with regard to language and content.
- Send anything that isn’t poetry. (Prose poems are fine.)
I’ll try to get back to everyone as soon as I can, but this is a one-person operation, so please be patient. If I’ve turned down your submission, please wait six months before querying again. Thank you.