Dr. Anand Prahlad on his new poetry collection, ‘Dreaming of Endangered Species’

T'Keyah Thomas: You're listening to 91.3 FM KBIA. Thanks for tuning in for this special edition of Thinking Out Loud. My name is T’Keyah Thomas and today I'm in the KBIA studio with my friend and mentor, Dr. Anand Prahlad.

Anand Prahlad: Thanks for inviting me.

Thomas: Dr. P is a poet, creative nonfiction writer, folklorist, editor, songwriter, and musician. He is the author of three books of poetry has published widely in American literary journals and is the author of the memoir “The Secret Life of a Black Aspie,” which won the 2017 permafrost Book Prize in nonfiction. Dr. Prahlad was previously editor of creative writing at the University of Missouri, where he taught folklore of the African diaspora, film, creative writing, and disability studies earning numerous teaching awards over the years.

After 30 years of teaching and research, Dr. P is now retired and is gearing up for the release of his new book, a collection of poems titled “Dreaming of Endangered Species.” Coming up on Tuesday, March 14, Prahlad is having a book release party over at Orr Street Studios. The event is free and open to the public.

We sat down a few days ago to talk about the themes, ideas and questions that came up for me while reading these poems with topics ranging from race, disability, gender identity, spirituality. Let's start with the title, “Dreaming of Endangered Species.” Where did it come from?

Prahlad: It just came to me. Of course, most of my books, well, all of my poetry books, there is no poem in the book that has the title of the book. So, no need to go looking for a poem called dreaming of engendered species. This manuscript went through a lot of different changes and had a lot of different titles. And toward the end, I just threw all of them out and thought, okay, the right title will come to me. And this is what came to me. Yeah.

https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781622889280/dreaming-of-endangered-species/

Thomas: Yeah.

Prahlad: It wasn't like, thinking through something. It was more. Ah, that's the title. And so I just went with it. And since then, there have been moments where I said to myself, why that title? So I have the same question. In a way, it's just that it feels right.

Thomas: You know, I hadn't thought about the fact that there is no poem in this book with that title, dreaming of an endangered species. But I feel you want that it just felt right, because I mean, this is just one of the themes that come up. But you speak throughout this book about the historic violence, the present violence against black bodies. So on my first initial read when considering the endangered species, we are one of them, you, and me as black folk. So I guess, you know, the other part of my question is, even though it may not have been explicit or intentional, are there other quote unquote, endangered species that you are referring to throughout the work?

Prahlad: I'm thinking of most embodied forms of life. There are plenty of what we call Plant and Animal Kingdom species that's endangered. Human beings are endangered. People of color are endangered. Black people are endangered people who are oppressed in one way or another, all over the globe. People who don't fit any traditional gender identity or sexual identity are endangered. People with disabilities, people with illnesses. So it, it just feels like a time in history where forms of life in general, are endangered, not just forms of life, but ways of imagining grace, beauty, care, kindness, all those kinds of things. When you just look around. They seem to be endangered. I could just say some of the best qualities of, of humanity. Yeah. So that's kind of the way that I was thinking about it all along. And the title kind of emerged from that. Perfection. Yeah. And then of course, there's the dream part.

How much of what we see? Are we dreaming? And I made that you know more in the metaphysical way of talking about things on

Who we can't really know at any given moment, exactly what's going on with all the human beings on earth, and the information that we have to tell us what's going on. A lot of it is fabricated, are, are slanted from one political point of view to another political point of view. So how do we ever really have a realistic sense of what's really going on planet Earth with people?

Thomas: Your last book was a memoir – Beautiful, by the way,

Prahlad: Thank you.

Thomas: “Secret Life of a Black Aspie.” In what ways was writing these poems, similar or different to writing that memoir, whether in theme or just in the writing process?

Prahlad: Okay, I'll start with how is writing prose different than writing poetry? For me, writing prose is inherently more difficult to write sentences, and paragraphs that go all the way across the page. And then edit and revise so that all of the sentences are interesting and aesthetically appealing or are challenging or whatever, is a much harder process than writing poems. The idea of disability runs throughout this collection of points, just as it did the memoir, The issue of human frailty, in terms of illnesses or disability, our vulnerability to a lot of forces, whether they're natural forces or whether they're social or political forces. I think those undercurrents are really connect these two books together. And in a lot of ways, this one goes a little bit further, as far as exploring issues related to gender identity. And being vulnerable as a result of that than the memoir does. The memoir offers more historical, biographical autobiographical information. And in poetry, the thing is, no one can really know how much of a poem is autobiographical, and how much of it is imaginative, whereas in a memoir, there's that assumption that this is you're telling the truth about yourself in a certain kind of way. So yeah.

Thomas: You've mentioned that in poetry, there's a little bit more room for the author to be imaginative and to develop characters, other voices. Would you say that the speaker changes throughout this book?

Prahlad: Yes, the end. That's an interesting question. And I've thought a lot about it because the speaker changes. But the author's voice doesn't necessarily change along with that. So there's a poem called Tutti Frutti in the junkyard. And in that point, okay, I read a stanza. Somewhere in one of the cars or radio clicks on playing little Richard's Tutti Frutti. It's a poem about a homeless, transgendered young person who is really kind of living in a junkyard, so they sleep in and one of the cars in the junkyard and that car, they've kind of made their own by pasting up clippings from magazines on the windows and that kind of thing. But they're also prey, their prey for male predators who are out to prey on young trans vulnerable transgender women. And in this particular case, they don't even have to pay any money for it. So that's a very particular persona that I was So trying to give a very specific kind of voice to because of their very specific kind of circumstances that they're in. But that's very different from, let's say, the poem doll, that poem doll is the speaker is a young person, perhaps transgender woman who has been oppressed and abuse by their father. And they're recalling childhood memories. And in the last part of the point, they're speaking to a partner that they're with, and basically, pointing out, there are moments when their partner who is not their father, who may be kinder, in some ways, talks to them in the same way as their dad. Well, that's another persona and a different voice. All of these poems in some way reflect experiences that I've had, either personally, are I've known people who've had those experiences. And so, so my own experiences are part of those personas, but not necessarily in a strictly autobiographical kind of way. For me, it's giving voice to people who may not have a voice. So absolutely, and, and for certain periods of my life, I did they have a homeless life. And that probably had one of the biggest impacts on the way that I see things as any other experience that I've had in my life. I noticed that a lot of homeless people are kinder than the general population. And that's something I'll never forget. So I always think about the homeless, no matter what conversation comes up about, let's say the state of affairs of, of human beings and any country or any state or any city or any town. What about the homeless people? And why are they homeless? And how do the people who have homes relate to them? And, you know, the big question that you hear the way they phrase it in the news, what to do about the homeless? Which, if we were driven by, let's say, the value of just compassion, and the belief that every human being has a right to human dignity and, and food and education and a place to live and medical care, then we wouldn't even have to ask some of those questions, right.

Transitioning, I am becoming everything appetite is to hunger. It feels like the truth, the melody of it, the quiver. Even the stronger effort for breath, pudding and cakes and french fries all day long and counting Mama's memories like rich people counting money. The bigger I get, the better I levitate, the easier I float a noticed across bridges the roundness of my aunt's fleshy arms that kept the rhythm steady as clocks that harbored the wounded and sometimes healed the sick are my compasses. My Maps. Hunger is the blackout of bodies dangling from oaks. The received document with almost no readable print. Taste is the embarrassment, the shameful relief that I was not one of them.

Thomas: You're tuned in to a special edition of thinking out loud right here on KBIA. My name is T’Keyah Thomas. You've just heard Dr. Anand Prahlad reading a poem titled transitioning from his new collection. Dreaming of endangered species. He's having a book release party on Tuesday, March 14 over at or Street Studios, the event is free and open to the public. Let's get back to the conversation. So you've been a professor and a scholar of folklore for many years. Can you speak to how your poetry takes on elements of those African Caribbean folklore traditions?

Prahlad: Okay. That would seem to be an easy question, but it's actually very hard when you might have noticed on the book blurbs, they mentioned that I integrate folklore into my poetry. But for me, that is just life. So when I'm, when I'm writing, well, I was born poor. I was born in a rural area; I was born in a community of people who were descendants of slaves from the plantation that was there. And I grew up with what people now tend to call folklore, stories that had been passed along jokes that had been passed along the, you know, being birthed by midwives, and the herbal medicine and traditional healing and proverbs and all of those things. That was just a part of my growing up. So for me, it comes very naturally, to have those influences in my writing, whether it's poetry, or whether I'm writing academic articles, so whether I'm writing a memoir, creative nonfiction, because that's what's real to me. And that's what, what grounds me. And it's unfortunate that not enough people pay attention to those things. So Proverbs, for example, where I grew up, everyone use proverbs. And so I use them, because that's just comes naturally, and I liked them. And every time I use when I think of those old people who use them, well, I recognize most people now, and especially African Americans, growing up in cities, you may not be around great grandparents and great-great grandparents who are telling those stories, or using proverbs or just having a certain kind of sensibility. And the way that I can see folklore influencing my writing is actually more and the sensibility of it. Many poets are drawing upon Western aesthetics and paradigms. So we would study 18th century British poetry, and we would study 19th century American poetry. Well, I'm looking at African mythology, for example, our Caribbean mythology, or vodou or black mythology, from the south art wherever in the United States that may come. To me that's much more of an influence than Western poetics. That's who I am. You know, in my end, that book as good as mango, I actually reference some of these deities, Papa Legba, for example. And I discovered that almost no one reading the points knew what I was talking about. And that in some cases, it could work against me actually getting the work published. And so I don't have the specific references in this book and that way, but don't worry, they're coming back.

Thomas: To kind of quote the poet rapper, Noname. I do believe it's our vulnerability that's gonna save the world one day in your book, dreaming of an endangered species. A lot of these are very personal poems. I saw you on stage at Cafe Berlin last month during kala Bahrainis book tour. And man, you almost took me out with that performance. So powerful, so relevant. Can you talk a little bit about what sharing these poems in front of an audience does for you or does for the poem.

Prahlad: There are some poems in here that are so personal that I would be afraid to read them. And in public. There are poems about my experiences with cancer, particularly. And I did actually had a reading not long ago, I think that was in maybe January, I did read one of those poems. But halfway through, I almost was in tears. So maybe as time goes by, that would become easier. Or maybe it won't. Maybe they're assessed some points in here that are too personal to, to actually read. So for me, at this point, at least reading them is more of reliving the trauma that's associated with the poem. And also a certain sense of thankfulness. But being thankful can also make you cry. Because you're thankful because you're aware of whatever the trauma was, and that you got through it, though. Yeah,

Thomas: yeah, that's real, that's real. You talk about this in your memoir, and I feel like this is true for all artists and poets, but you especially back to someone who knows themselves to be a channel connected to spirit to the land to the ancestors, I don't know if it's that you call on them, or they call on you. But can you talk about your ability to give voice not only to the oppressed of this world, but to the unseen spirits, or to those who have been here before?

Prahlad: I think it’s; it works both ways. I call on them. And calling on them is almost an unconscious process. It's sort of like, if you're very close to, to one of your parents, and they were, like always encouraging of you and supporting you, and then they pass away. Well, as you go through life and do things and think about things, there's a way in which they're always there. So you're calling on them consistently, even when you aren't aware that you're doing that. And at the same time, they're also always calling on you, and a part of that call is,

Prahlad: Be your best. Remember why you're here. Be mindful of the work that you need to do. And remember, what I taught you are the things along those lines. And at the same time, don't go down that road. You see what I'm saying? Yeah, so. So it's an ongoing interaction between the ancestors and the spirits, and me, where sometimes I'm calling on them, and sometimes they're calling on me, or alerting me or encouraging me or, or whatever the case might be. Sometimes it's not. Any of those things you can put into words. There is no need to necessarily translate that into this is what they're saying, or that's what they're saying. It can simply be something very visceral, and physical in the sense that your spirit is connected to your, to your body and it's all part of, of, of your being. But yes, the spirits and ancestors are very important in my life. And that's another thing I grew up with. And I had the experience at one point where I went to a psychic for a reading. So I studied psychic healing, and I spent time with psychics. And the psychic said to me A while there's this being who I need to have their permission before I can do any kind of psychic reading on you. And they described my great grandmother. So, and she thought that psychic was okay, so she gave her permission, and she went ahead and did the reading so they're always They're beautiful. Yeah. I mean when you think about it, isn't it a scientific law? Matter can neither be created nor destroyed that part? So if that's true of the matter, then come on.

Thomas: Perfect. Yeah

my life is a band. Yes, please. Okay. My life as a band book, perfect fodder for bonfire. The Forever Catcher in the Rye is singing the Song of Solomon in this brave new world and the sweltering Fahrenheit 451 Where the Wild Things Are. The Lorax is looming. For Huckleberry Finn is helping Anne Frank to face Charlotte's Web. The brown bear and Little Red Riding Hood are writing The Scarlet Letter, As I Lay Dying with The Bluest Eye with the color purple on this trough night. A black boy, an invisible man, a catch 22, a native son in the jungle where Hansel and Gretel eat Leaves of Grass, and Grapes of Wrath while their eyes are watching God. One went To Kill a Mockingbird, and the other One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and I became banned on both sides. The Lord of the Flies following the paths of mice and men enter the Tropic of Cancer, following the call of the wild Stranger in a Strange Land, like Wild Swans into the river, where the Naked and the Dead would eat Naked Lunch, and how then Cold Blood and that brave new world, another country, an area of darkness, the dark forever Amber, one day of life that could have become a Well of Loneliness forever became the awakening and I, the beloved, the giver of great soul.

Thomas: Thanks for tuning in for this special edition of thinking out loud. That was Dr. Anand Prahlad, reading his poem titled “My life as a banned book,” one of my favorites from his newest collection “Dreaming of Endangered Species.” March 14, Dr. P is hosting a book release event over at Orr Street Studios located at 106 or street down in the North Village Arts District. The event is free and open to the public. There will be books for sale, and you can get your copy signed. My name is T’Keyah Thomas. You can find this conversation and all of our podcasts and special programs online at kbia.org.