Omotara James vs. The Speaker

On today’s episode of VS, Ajanae and Brittany are joined by poet Omotara James. Join them as they discuss the failure of poetry as savior, whistleblowers, art as a meet-cute, resisting shielding the speaker, and building trust with the reader. Until Next Time: Here is some media to accompany your experience of the episode and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again! Sharon Olds: Sharon Olds talks about her work Michaela Coel: ‘There is power in the word no’: Michaela Coel’s journey from Chewing Gum to I May Destroy You | CBC Comedy Lucille Clifton: Lucille Clifton talks of her books of poems, including “Good Times” Writing Prompt: Write a confessional poem that addresses your reader directly. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You can listen to Omotara James vs. The Speaker online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Omotara James vs. The Speaker is an episode from VS by Poetry Foundation.

This episode is 01:05:41 long.

This episode was published on Apr 29, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from VS when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.