Ep. 5: JILLIAN CHRISTMAS on Flock Memory
In episode five, Alessandra sits down with award-winning poet and author Jillian Christmas to discuss mental health, ritual, and the wisdom we hold together. The pair share personal stories of crisis and recovery, illness and adaptation, while drawing on the migratory wisdom and family systems of geese and crows. The final episode of the season is a love letter, filled with poetry, practical tools, prayers and stalwart faith it is possible to find our way home together.
In this extended interview, you'll hear new poetry by Jillian Christmas, alongside work from her critically acclaimed, award-winning collection "The Gospel of Breaking." You'll hear an intimate story about mental health crisis and PTSD; but one where care was present and healing was possible. And you'll be given insight into "mad mapping," a practical tool for mapping out community care and strategies for survival, that has been used by mad/crip/disabled communities for decades.
This season ends with Jillian's proposition: "The world that I believe as possible is the one that we are willing to work for." May the world we work for be one of peace, justice, and collective liberation.
More about Jillian Christmas: Jillian Christmas is an artist, creative facilitator, curator, consultant, and advocate in the arts community. She is the long-time spoken word curator of the Vancouver Writers Fest, and former artistic director of Verses Festival of Words. Utilizing an anti-oppressive lens, Jillian has performed and facilitated workshops across North America. She is the author of The Gospel of Breaking (Arsenal Pulp Press 2020), and the children’s book, The Magic Shell (Flamingo Rampant Press 2022). She lives on the unceded territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam people (Vancouver, BC.)
This episode was recorded in September 2023.
Our thanks goes to Canada Council for the Arts for their support in bringing this podcast to life. This podcast is an expansion of Alessandra's essay collection, Imminent Domains: Reckoning with the Anthropocene. Our thanks goes to publisher Book*hug Press.
Transcripts & Additional Information to Come Shortly.
