By Elizabeth Howard

Episode Summary

In this Short Fuse episode, Holly Smith, a volunteer and board member at Big House Books in Jackson, Mississippi, is in conversation with Elizabeth Howard. They talk about the mission of Big House Books—to package and send books to individuals held in prison complexes throughout Mississippi. Smith believes that books and reading are a way “to hold the line,” a way to combat the hopelessness of life on the inside. America’s carceral system is dedicated to constricting the physical body, to controlling every moment of an individual’s daily routine. But prisons cannot confine the mind or kill the soul of the imagination. Throughout their conversation, Smith reads letters from people on the inside requesting books.

Episode Notes

Big House Books. Big House Books is a non-profit, volunteer organization that sends free books by request to prisoners in Mississippi correctional facilities in order to promote literacy and be a vehicle of change for prison reform. The organization would appreciate your paperback books – westerns, fantasy novels  and science fiction are genres often requested.  Books can be shipped through media mail.  More information on the Big House Books website.

Lemuria Bookstore  With over 40 years in the book business Lemuria has formed valuable author relationships. Lemuria believes in the value of the physical book, whether you’re a collector in search of a literary gem or you are looking for the latest bestseller. In a digital age, Lemuria is areal bookstore with floor-to-ceiling shelves, that quintessential book smell, and a little bit of Southern hospitality, you’ll feel right at home.

The Short Fuse Podcast  is hosted by Elizabeth Howard. She talks with artists, writers, musicians, and others whose art reveals our communities through their lens and stirs us to seek change through their art, music, ideas, and performances. James Baldwin reminds us that “artists are here to disturb the peace.”  Her articles related to communication and marketing have appeared in European Communications, Investor Relations, Law Firm Marketing & Profit Report, Communication World, The Strategist, and the New York Law Journal, among others.  Her books include Queen Anne’s Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David Godine, 2015) and Ned O’Gorman:  A Glance Back (Easton Studio Press, 2016).   @elizh24 on Instagram

Gerald Kent is the producer and editor of the Short Fuse. Based in Cape Town, South Africa. Gerald is a talented musician and audio engineer who has been releasing his own music independently since 2021. Alongside his artistry, he’s built up experience working with multiple clients in the podcasting space, from editing through full-scale production.

Hannah Brueske, manages social media and marketing for the Short Fuse. She is a senior journalism student at Emerson College, with a special interest in feature stories, arts reporting, and documentary filmmaking. She is active in campus publications as a reporter for The Berkeley Beacon, Emerson’s only independent student newspaper, and the editor in chief of The Independent, an arts magazine that covers independent art.

Evelyn Rosenthal, copy edits the Short Fuse. She is a singer specializing in jazz and Brazilian music, a freelance editor, and the former editor in chief and head of publications at the Harvard Art Museums. She writes about music for the Arts Fuse and copy edits the magazine

The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication’s over 70 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. There is a robust readership for arts coverage that believes that culture matters.

The goal of The Arts Fuse is to treat the arts seriously, to write about them in the same way that other publications cover politics, sports, and business — with professionalism, thoughtfulness, and considerable attitude. The magazine’s motto, from Jonathan Swift, sums up our editorial stance: “Use the point of your pen … not the feather.”

The Arts Fuse has published over 10, 000 articles and receives 80,000+ visits a month. This year the magazine is celebrating its 18th birthday – a milestone for a small, independent magazine dedicated to covering the arts.

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Serious criticism, by talking about the strengths, weaknesses, and contributions of the arts, plays an indispensable role in the cultural ecology. Smaller, newer organizations need a response. When they are ignored as they are by the mainstream media, they fail to gain an audience. And without an audience, they fold, further weakening the entire ecosystem.

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Show Contributors:

Holly Smith
Hannah Brueske
Gerald Kent