Volume Six: Chapter Two - Our Conversation with Dr. Theri Pickens

This week on the program, we welcomed Poet, Scholar, Educator, and Author of the poetry collection "What Had Happened Was" -  Dr. Therí Pickens . Dr. Pickens is a Professor of English at Bates College, where she teaches courses in African American and Arab American literature, disability studies, philosophy, and literary theory. In our conversation, we explore the intersections of Blackness, disability, poetry, and presence — and how she weaves these into both her creative and academic work.We begin with a fun round of word association that touches on everything from “Mad Blackness” to ‘90s R&B and Uno (yes, the card game), before diving into her creative history — from being the “young nerd” with a backpack full of books to her early dreams of publishing poetry. Dr. Pickens shares how she began seriously honing her craft as a poet in 2017, using poetic forms to guide and discipline her creativity. We discuss how her scholarly work in disability studies, particularly Black Disability Studies, informs her poetry — and how she challenges dominant frameworks like “mutual constitution” in understanding Blackness and disability. She offers insightful distinctions between impairment and disability, and how structural barriers—not bodies—create inaccessibility.Contact Dr. Pickens:Instagram: @tapphd2010Website: tpickens.orgRecorded Spoken Word Performances Featured Include:Ariana Brown – SupremacyInstagram: @arianapbrown          Website: arianabrown.comYaw – Ancestral GhostsInstagram: @kingyaw_ Dasan Ahanu – Conversation With GodInstagram: @dasanahanu        Website: dasanahanu.comAyanna Florence – Boy Calls Me PrettyInstagram: @poetnextdoor Ifrah Hussein – Tell UsInstagram: @ifrahhussein Support the show