{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvoices-of-the-future.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Fepisode-11-benedita-hMC_SrhL","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"Episode 11: Benedita","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/e35cdbbb-cf98-47cf-a62e-0ad0d141b2dd/ae74f3ce-2c1c-42a3-85d2-de01207e9b01/6.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"<iframe src=\"https://player.simplecast.com/cc278977-dbd1-4f6d-913a-adb4d276c523\" height=\"200\" width=\"100%\" title=\"Episode 11: Benedita\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"></iframe>","height":200,"description":"Benedita Zalabantu joins Maine Poet Laureate Stuart Kestenbaum in conversation and to read her poem \"Drop of Melanin and Blood,\" featured in A NEW LAND, a poetry anthology from The Telling Room. Stuart and Benedita discuss writing for yourself, finding people like yourself reflected in a community of writers, a love of Stephen King and horror, working through mental health in the pandemic, finding the small details that encapsulate bigger themes, and talent’s role in poetic performance. Benedita is a senior at Portland High School and was one of the youngest students accepted into The Telling Room’s Young Writers and Leaders program. "}