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Resounds: Poets Laureate, The Jams

photo courtesy Wendy and Jason Jam

On this episode of Resounds: Arts and Culture on the High Plains, hosts Anna Paige and Corby Skinner discuss poetry with two Montana Poets Laureate and the creative process behind a 100 day drawing challenge with husband-and-wife artist team Jason and Wendy Jam.

Credit courtesy Tami Halland, Michael Earl Craig
Tami Haaland (left), Michael Earl Craig

April is National Poetry Month, and co-host Corby Skinner celebrates with a discussion with Montana Poets Laureate Michael Earl Craig and Tami Haaland. Craig is the current Montana Poet Laureate and is the author of four poetry anthologies: Talkativeness, The Kimono, Yes, Master, and Can You Relax in My House. Haaland is the immediate past Montana Poet Laureate and is the author of A Breath in Every Room and When We Wake in the Night. Together, they talk about the honor of being a Poet Laureate, how they approach their work, and read a selection of their poems.

 

Credit courtesy Wendy and Jason Jam
Another of Wendy Jam's knitted dolls, with watercolor painting by Jason Jam

During National Poetry Month, many writers commit to writing a poem a day for the duration of the month. Billings artists Jason and Wendy Jam talk with Resounds co-host Anna Paige about a similar challenge they undertake every other year: 100 drawings in 100 days. The husband-and-wife team discuss the process of preparing for the challenge and where they draw inspiration during the hundred days. They also discuss working together on projects outside the 100-day challenge, such as Wendy's knitted dolls becoming characters in Jason's short comics and paintings, which are available online at jamcomics.com

Ken Siebert began work at YPR in 1992 as a part-time, evening board operator. He was hired full time in 1994.
Corby Skinner is an independent marketing professional with an enormous capacity for assessing issues and creating positive, effective messages.
Anna Paige is a Montana-based journalist, poet and educator. She is originally from Wyoming and has lived in Billings for more than a decade, where she co-founded Young Poets, winner of the 2021 Library of Congress Award for Literacy.