On this episode of Arts & Letters, we sit down with poet and folklorist Greg Brownderville, who hails from Pumpkin Bend, Arkansas. He is the author of Deep Down in the Delta: Folktales and Poems (Butler Center Books, 2011) and Gust (Northwestern University/TriQuarterly, 2011).
A deep felt sense of place persists throughout much of his work, which incorporates the images, stories, songs and landscape of the Arkansas Delta where he grew up. Brownderville is currently assistant professor of English at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
This project is sponsored by the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Supplements
i_felt_my_way_to_pumpkin_bend.mp3
Greg Brownderville reads an excerpt from the poem "Last Song for Brother Langston."
jesus_on_the_main_line.mp3
Greg Brownderville sings "Jesus On The Main Line."
listing_of_words.mp3
Brownderville on the words he loved as a child: an excerpt from the poem "Lord, Make Me a Sheep."
what_s_a_two_head.mp3
Brownderville explains a "two-head."
you_grew_up_in_pumpkin_bend.mp3
Brownderville talks about growing up in Pumpkin Bend
