Let's Have a Renaissance: The DateKeepers Podcast with Itto and Mekiya Outini

The DateKeepers
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Welcome to Let’s Have a Renaissance, a podcast about literature and the arts, where where authors, editors, artists, composers, and other creative professionals come together to discuss what it takes to build a sustainable career in the arts in the twenty-first century. If you enjoy the pod, help us keep it going by making a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?business=HE5EAYSMNWB34&no_recurring=0&item_name=Thank+you+for+keeping+the+creative+community+strong%21+¤cy_code=USD

  1. 2d ago

    147: Are Publicists Paid to Burn Bridges?

    In this episode, we talk about publicists—the good, the bad, and the ugly—from our dual POV as authors and podcasters. Our goal, as always, is to help you make informed decisions about how to navigate your creative practice, build your platform, reach new audiences, and cultivate a sustainable creative career.

  2. 4d ago

    146: Editing America's Oldest Literary Magazine, Part 1 – A Conversation with Jeremy Schraffenberger

    In this episode, we speak with Jeremy Schraffenberger, poet, author, educator, and editor of The North American Review, about his many deaths and resurrections, what it means to lose a mother, the history of the NAR, his editorial philosophy, what types of submissions he’s currently seeking, and more. Jeremy has published several collections of poetry, most recently Dueling Shovels (Final Thursday Press, 2026) and has won the Seattle Review’s Poetry Prize, Arkana’s Creative Nonfiction Prize, Revolver’s Wanted Fiction Contest, and others. Over the years, he’s given numerous lectures and taught seminars on the life and work of the famous Iowa farmer-poet James Hearst. His work can also be read in the Mid-American Review, Best Creative Nonfiction, Notre Dame Review, Poetry East, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere.

  3. 6d ago

    145: Finding Your Voice in a Mysterious State – A Conversation with Acie Clark

    In this episode, we speak with multi-genre writer Acie Clark about finding his voice as a poet, how to curb disillusionment with MFA programs, and why Arkansas isn’t what you think it is (spoiler alert: it’s much weirder). Acie’s debut poetry collection, Small Talk, was released this month by Hub City Press, where it was selected by Derrick Austin (also a former guest on Let's Have a Renaissance) as the winner of the New Southern Voices Poetry Prize. Acie holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Alabama, has been supported by the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Rhode Island, and teaches film, theater, and creative writing at the University of Central Arkansas and the Interlochen Center for the Arts.

  4. Sep 25

    144: Why Are Words Cheap Now, and What Can We Do About It? – A Conversation with Gwydion Suilebhan

    In this episode, we speak with author, playwright, and cultural critic Gwydion Suilebhan about the cheapening of language in the digital age, the cost of political correctness for the marginalized, the joys of co-authorship, and more. Gwydion’s writes on topics ranging from the history of Jewish comedy to the intersection of technology and theatre, solo and in collaboration with his long-time friend, the philosopher Steven Gimbel. He’s been anthologized in Best American Short Plays and has received one Individual Artist Fellowship from the Maryland State Arts Council, who also honored him with a Larry Neal Writing Award, two from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and three from the Montgomery County Arts Council. Armed with an MFA in poetry from Johns Hopkins University, he now serves as executive director of the Pen/Faulkner Foundation and as Project Director of the New Play Exchange.

  5. Sep 23

    143: Is Craig Drennen Awful? – A Conversation with Craig Drennen

    In this episode, we speak with visual and performing artist Craig Drennen about his years-long project to resurrect the full cast of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens—widely considered The Bard’s worst play—in various media, the generative function of satire and self-deprecation as artistic wellsprings, and the toxic market pressures inhibiting the creativity of today’s up-and-coming artists. Craig holds two MFAs, one in art history, the other in painting, both from Ohio University, and currently teaches at Georgia State University, where he’s received the Distinguished University Professorship, among other honors. He’s also a MacDowell fellow, an Art Matters grant recipient, an Idea Capital grant recipient, a Guggenheim fellow, and much more.

  6. Sep 21

    142: Listen to This Before Submitting to Literary Magazines

    In our first year of writing and submitting together, we published in over fifty literary magazines around the world and learned more about the magazine industry than either of us had in our graduate programs (an MA in journalism and an MFA in fiction, respectively). In this episode, we bring you a crash-course on what we learned that year conducting research, running IRL experiments, and fine-tuning a successful submission strategy, as well as more recently through conversations with hundreds of literary magazine editors, founders, and publishers, whom we’ve been vetting to bring on the podcast. If you enjoy this episode stay tuned: we’ve got more about litmags and publishing coming soon.

  7. Sep 18

    141: How to Become Poet Laureate – A Conversation with Jennifer Militello

    In this episode, we speak with Jennifer Militello about her journey to become the poet laureate of New Hampshire, what she’s doing to bring poetry to the people, her origin story, and her memoir, Knock Wood, winner of the 2019 Dzanc Nonfiction Prize. Jennifer has also published five books of poems and one hybrid collection, and her work has appeared in The Paris Review, The American Poetry Review, The Nation, Poetry Magazine, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in the University of North Carolina, Greensboro and a PhD in creative writing from Bath Spa University in Bath, England, and she taught at Brown University, The University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and the Rhode Island School of Design before stepping into her current post as director the MFA program at New England College in New Hampshire.

  8. Sep 16

    140: Artists in Love – A Digital Exhibition by Masha Ryskin & Serge Marchetta

    In this special episode, visual artists Masha Ryskin and Serge Marchetta showcase work that they’ve created individually and as a couple and share the personal narratives and hidden wounds that undergird their individual and collaborative practices.   Masha was born in the Soviet Union and pursued an academic education in painting in Moscow before relocating to the US and completing her BFA at Rhode Island School of Design and her MFA at the University of Michigan. Her work has since been exhibited in the US and internationally and has been reviewed in a number of publications, including Art New England and The New York Times. Her honors include several residencies, a Rhode Island Artist Fellowship, and two Fulbrights.   Serge served Post Canada for 18 years before quitting in 1993 and to launch his artistic career. A graduate from Université du Québec à Montréal, he’s participated in and curated numerous solo and group exhibitions in Canada, Europe, and the United States, directed the non-profit organization C2S Arts et Événements, and received grants from the Fondation Ténot in France, Ragdale Foundation in the US, and Conseil des Arts et Lettres du Québec in Canada.    Since 2011, Masha and Serge have maintained a collaborative practice investigating displacement and memory. Together, they’ve been invited to numerous residencies and exhibited their work internationally.

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Welcome to Let’s Have a Renaissance, a podcast about literature and the arts, where where authors, editors, artists, composers, and other creative professionals come together to discuss what it takes to build a sustainable career in the arts in the twenty-first century. If you enjoy the pod, help us keep it going by making a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?business=HE5EAYSMNWB34&no_recurring=0&item_name=Thank+you+for+keeping+the+creative+community+strong%21+¤cy_code=USD

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