On June 25th 2025, in collaboration with Open Folk, we presented our first ever live interview event in Los Angeles. As Open Folk put it: "In These Lines is a live event where three artists each bring one song — not just to perform, but to explore. They sit down with Sofia Loporcaro, host of Before The Chorus, to talk about where the song came from, what it meant to write it, and what it still holds. Then they play it. Just the song, and the truth behind it." Find Open Folk on Instagram: @openfolkla Find Gaby on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0K9pSmFx0kWESA9jqx8aCW?si=Wz4RUP88Qlm_RKs7QTLvWQ On Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/gaby-moreno/472697737 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gaby_moreno/ Find Lily on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0p0ksmwMDQlAM24TWKu4Ua?si=Bmdg-uIUTHu-zRUc_dqL3g On Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/lily-kershaw/526884610 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilykershaw/ Find James on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3u50TPoLvMBXNT1KrLa3iT?si=OoLoq7ZTRZyUiytQcz0FsQ On Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/james-spaite/905076868 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesspaite/ Subscribe: https://beforethechorus.bio.to/listen Sign up for our newsletter: https://www.beforethechorus.com/ Follow on Instagram: @beforethechoruspodcast & @soundslikesofia About the podcast: Welcome to Before the Chorus , where we go beyond the sounds of our favourite songs to hear the stories of the artists who wrote them. Before a song is released, a record is produced, or a chorus is written, the musicians that write them think. A lot. They live. A lot. And they feel. A LOT. Hosted by award-winning interviewer Sofia Loporcaro, Before the Chorus explores the genuine human experiences behind the music. Sofia’s deep knowledge of music and personal journey with mental health help her connect with artists on a meaningful level. This is a space where fans connect with artists, and listeners from all walks of life feel seen through the stories that shape the music we love. About the host: Sofia Loporcaro is an award-winning interviewer and radio host who’s spent over 8 years helping musicians share their stories. She’s hosted shows for Amazing Radio, and Transmission Roundhouse. Now on Before the Chorus, she’s had the chance to host guests like Glass Animals, Feist, Madison Cunningham, Mick Jenkins, & Ru Paul's Drag Race winner Shea Couleé. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…
BCLF Cocoa Pod is a Caribbean storytelling experience in which writers of Caribbean heritage narrate their own stories. Each story is a seed, a nugget of an original work of fiction, rich with the rhythm, pitch and intonation of the one who wrote it. It is Caribbean storytelling told in the best way possible - in the voice of the place(s) that inspired it, imbued with the magic and accents of the region. BCLF Cocoa Pod is an original production of the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival (BCLF)Follow the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival on IG and FB @bklyncbeanlitfestVisit www.bklyncbeanlitfest.com
BCLF Cocoa Pod is a Caribbean storytelling experience in which writers of Caribbean heritage narrate their own stories. Each story is a seed, a nugget of an original work of fiction, rich with the rhythm, pitch and intonation of the one who wrote it. It is Caribbean storytelling told in the best way possible - in the voice of the place(s) that inspired it, imbued with the magic and accents of the region. BCLF Cocoa Pod is an original production of the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival (BCLF)Follow the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival on IG and FB @bklyncbeanlitfestVisit www.bklyncbeanlitfest.com
"An Unending Search", by Ryan Bachoo is a novel set in South Trinidad in the late 1970s. It follows the story of Tar, a young man who dreams of escaping poverty and systemic racism. Inspired by Uncle Sundar, Tar's journey is one of hope and ambition, ultimately leading him to New York or London. The novel explores themes of identity, racism, and classism, painting a vivid picture of life in Trinidad during that era. To commemorate Indian Arrival celebrations in the month of May, this episode includes a Q&A between Ryan and Stephanie Ramlogan, the 2020 winner of the BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writer's Prize.…
“The Trouble with the Dog” by Stefan Bindley-Taylor was awarded the 2024 BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writer’s Prize. This category was judged by Lauren Francis-Sharma, Desmond Hall and Wandeka Gayle. From the judges: ‘It is, at first, an exploration of a twisting familial relationship that embodies the hopes and expectations that live between perception and actuality. But with a sure hand, “The Trouble with the Dog” takes us through the perspectives of an uncle and his niece grappling with loss in different ways. The story, not just a psychological study, also presents their struggles with a directness, a wry humor, and without overt sentimentality yet still offers an emotional resonance and tenderness that guides the reader through the silences between generations, the silence that threatens to stifle intimacy between people committed to loving one another. This short tale shows us another way.’…
There is bad luck in New Felicity. The people of the small coastal village have taken in Milagros, an 11-year-old Venezuelan refugee, just as Trinidad’s government has begun cracking down on undocumented migrants—and now an American journalist has come to town asking questions. New Felicity’s superstitious fishermen fear the worst, certain they’ve brought bad luck on the village by killing a local witch who had herself murdered two villagers the year before. The town has been plagued since her death by alarming visits from her supernatural mother, as well as by a mysterious profusion of scarlet ibis birds. Skittish that the reporter’s story will bring down the wrath of the ministry of national security, the fishermen take things into their own hands. From there, we go backward and forward in time—from the town’s early days, when it was the site of a sugar plantation, to Milagros’s adulthood as she searches for her mother across the Americas. In between, through the voices of a chorus of narrators, we glimpse moments from various villagers’ lives, each one setting into motion events that will reverberate outwards across the novel and shape Milagros’s fate. With kinetic, absorbing language and a powerful sense of voice, Ibis meditates on the bond between mothers and daughters, both highlighting the migrant crisis that troubles the contemporary world and offering a moving exploration of how to square where we come from with who we become. Justin Haynes is a novelist and short story writer who was born in Port of Spain and raised just outside of it. He later moved to Brooklyn, NY. He holds degrees from St. Francis College, the University of Notre Dame, and Vanderbilt University.…
Set in the heart of rural Jamaica, A HOUSE FOR MISS PAULINE (Algonquin Books), from award-winning author Diana McCaulay, tells the captivating, tender tale of Pauline Sinclair—a fiercely independent 99-year-old Jamaican woman who built her own home from the ruins of a plantation. As she faces her 100 th birthday, the old stones of her house begin to rattle and shift and call out mysterious messages, prompting her to reckon with long-buried secrets from her past. Lyrical, funny, eerie, and urgent, infused with the patois and natural beauty of Jamaica, A HOUSE FOR MISS PAULINE asks profound questions about ancestry, colonialism, and ownership of the places where our identities are forged. Join Diana on the occasion of BCLF-directed US book launch on Tuesday 25 February. Get tickets here! https://events.humanitix.com/a-house-for-miss-pauline-book-launch…
Casualties of Truth, inspired by Francis-Sharma’s time at South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation’s Amnesty Hearings, is a gripping tale that explores themes of justice, revenge, race, parenting, and of course, the complications of friendship. It is a riveting literary novel with the sharp edges of a thriller about the abuses of history and the costs of revenge, set between Washington, D.C., and Johannesburg, South Africa. Her third offering, Casualties of Truth is published by Grove Atlantic and will be celebrated by Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival on Feb 18, 2025 at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn. Get tickets here https://events.humanitix.com/casualties-of-truth Ticket link About Lauren Francis-Sharma Lauren Francis-Sharma is the author of Book of the Little Axe, a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and the critically acclaimed novel ’Til the Well Runs Dry. She was a MacDowell fellow and is the Assistant Director of Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference at Middlebury College. She resides near Washington, DC, with her family.…
Love sorrel at Christmas? Thank Anancy, that trickster spider, for the drink all West Indians eagerly enjoy during the festive Yuletide season! In this episode, Ms. Velma Pollard, revered Jamaican author and oral storyteller, shares the backstory of sorrel’s infamous association with Christmas in a folktale that originated in Jamaica. This telling is adapted from a story by Ms. Louise Bennet, Jamaican poet, folklorist, writer, educator whose pioneering work in performing her poems in Jamaican Creole earned her many distinctions including the Order of Jamaica and an MBE. Award-winning Velma Pollard’s career is filled with acclaim for establishing the validity of Jamaican patwa as a form of literary expression. This Cocoa Pod episode is an important addition to the wider movement to preserve the practice of presenting poetry, folk songs and stories in Nation Language. Pour yourself a tall glass of sorrel on the rocks, press play and have yourself a very Merry Christmas! Love, Marsha and Mellany…
مرحبًا بك في مشغل أف ام!
يقوم برنامج مشغل أف أم بمسح الويب للحصول على بودكاست عالية الجودة لتستمتع بها الآن. إنه أفضل تطبيق بودكاست ويعمل على أجهزة اندرويد والأيفون والويب. قم بالتسجيل لمزامنة الاشتراكات عبر الأجهزة.