a Janet Kuypers interview 8/12/23
for the “Testament” book release
and poetry reading on WZRD Radio (88.3 FM)

    WZRD Radio (88.3 FM), with a D.J. Cathleen Ann Schandelmeier, had a freeform interview with Janet Kuypers 8/12/23, where she talked about the inspiration for the release of her 2023 CyberWit poetry book “Testament” (with over the first half of this book inspired after the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade and the subsequent additional suppressions of women’s rights).

    After Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme court and women’s rights were lost in approaching half the U.S., author, college journalism major, and past acquaintance rape workshop facilitator Janet Kuypers went into journalism mode to share as many details and insights about the unraveling of the rights of so many people in the U.S. (Part One of this book). During this time, and after losing poets/loved ones to suicide (and reviewing how different countries address suicide), she compiled pieces about this touchy and intensely personal subject in Part Two of this book. Then, precisely because many people rely on religion for their moral values, Janet Kuypers very specifically chose to include as Part Three of this poetry book reflective of the first book in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, concluding with Part Four of this poetry book reflective of the last book in the New Testament of the Holy Bible.

    Because the overturning of Roe v. Wade happened just before Kuypers’s 2022 features in Chicago (and because even though the book “Testament” contains 4 parts, well-over the front half of this book is about women’s rights in the post-Roe world), all of the poetry she shared in this radio show interview pertained to this topic — in cluding the first poem as a bonus from her “Into the Spotlight” poetry feature at at Chicago’s The Gallery Cabaret on 8/9/23, just 3 days before she radio station interview. These poems are additionally poignant when the Chicago native Janet Kuypers was moved to Texas in recent years — the same state that supported Roe in the rights to an abortion in Roe v. Wade, that has now has become one of the most repressive states to women after the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade.

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    Video links are below from this show for recordings from this live radio show event.