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A Hero’s Tale Inspired By An Artistic Collaboration

WUNC News | By Frank Stasio,
Amanda Magnus
Published March 13, 2019 at 12:10 PM EDT

What happens when a painter and a poet start working together on the same idea? North Carolina poet Jeffery Beam found out when he started collaborating with Welsh painter Clive Hicks-Jenkins. Both men had collaborated with other artists before — but never as they were creating the work side-by-side.

Poet Jeffery Beam joins host Frank Stasio to discuss Beam's collaboration with Welsh painter Clive Hicks-Jenkins which resulted in a new book, 'Spectral Pegasus/Dark Movements.'

The fruit of their labor is in the new book "Spectral Pegasus/Dark Movements" (Kin Press/2019). It puts Hicks-Jenkins' paintings next to Beam's poems and tells the story of the hero's journey through death, resurrection, and redemption.

Host Frank Stasio talks to Beam about the collaborative process and story behind this work. Beam is a poet, performer, and editor. He will be at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill on Monday, March 18. On Thursday, Aug. 8 he will be at the Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center in Asheville, and on Wednesday, Aug. 14, he will be at the GreenHill Center for North Carolina Art in Greensboro.

The cover of 'Spectral Pegasus/Dark Movements.'
Courtesy of Kin Press /
The cover of 'Spectral Pegasus/Dark Movements.'

Copyright 2019 North Carolina Public Radio
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio
Amanda Magnus
Amanda Magnus grew up in Maryland and went to high school in Baltimore. She became interested in radio after an elective course in the NYU journalism department. She got her start at Sirius XM Satellite Radio, but she knew public radio was for her when she interned at WNYC. She later moved to Madison, where she worked at Wisconsin Public Radio for six years. In her time there, she helped create an afternoon drive news magazine show, called Central Time. She also produced several series, including one on Native American life in Wisconsin. She spends her free time running, hiking, and roller skating. She also loves scary movies.
See stories by Amanda Magnus