This week on The Write Question, a celebration of mothers in all forms—a conversation with poet Preeti Vangani, author of Fifty Mothers (River River Books), a collection that continues Preeti’s investigation into grief, chronic illness, and sex—themes that populated her first collection, Mother Tongue Apologize, and conflate in her second to energize these poems and speak to the myriad ways grief might reconsitute itself.
What does it mean to raise a mother? What does it look like to mother oneself? To have fifty mothers, and not just one “Gone Mother”? In poems that confront personal loss and sexual becoming within India’s patriarchal culture, Fifty Mothers layers family dynamics, gender roles, and the pain and pleasure of embodiment in lyrical, often joyful language.
About Preeti:
Preeti Vangani is an Indian poet & writer based in San Francisco. She is the author of Fifty Mothers (2026) and Mother Tongue Apologize (2019), winner of the RLFPA Poetry Prize. Her work has been published in AGNI, The Georgia Review, Gulf Coast, and Prairie Schooner among several other places. Her debut short story won the 2021 Pen/Dau Emerging Writers Prize. Vangani has been a resident at UCross, Djerassi and Ragdale. She has received artist grants from San Francisco Arts Commission and YBCA through which she facilitates poetry workshops rooted in writing grief through joy. She holds an MFA in Writing from University of San Francisco.
Mentioned in this episode:
Mother Tongue Apologize by Preeti Vangani (RLFPA Editions)
Douglas Kearney, author of Buck Studies (Fence Books), Sho and Pulitzer Prize Finalist I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always (Wave Poetry), among others
Layli Long Soldier, author of National Book Award Finalist Whereas and the forthcoming collection, We (Graywolf Press)
Patricia Smith, author of National Book Award Winner The Intentions of Thunder (Scribner), Pulitzer Prize Finalist Incendiary Art (TriQuarterly Books), and National Book Award Finalist Blood Dazzler (Coffee House Press), among others
Workshops rooted in writing grief through joy
Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay (University of Pittsburgh Press)
“Fifty Mothers,” “Raising Mothers,” “Nearest Exit,” and “The Cremation I Wasn’t Allowed to Attend” from Fifty Mothers by Preeti Vangani (River River Books)
Preeti Vangani recommends:
Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay (University of Pittsburgh Press)
Blessing the Boats by Lucille Clifton (BOA Editions)
Obit by Victoria Chang (Copper Canyon Press); listen to Lauren’s conversation with Victoria here!
Elegy by Mary Jo Bang (Graywolf Press)
Book of Hours by Kevin Young (Alfred A. Knopf)
Lauren Korn recommends:
Fifty Mothers (River River Books) and Mother Tongue Apologize (RLFPA Editions) by Preeti Vangani
Obit (Copper Canyon Press) and Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence, and Grief (Milkweed Editions) by Victoria Chang; listen to Lauren’s conversation with Victoria here!
My Baby First Birthday by Jenny Zhang (Tin House Books)
Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong (Penguin Press)
Everything Left to Remember: My Mother, Our Memories, and and a Journey Through the Rocky Mountains by Steph Jagger (Flatiron Books); listen to Lauren’s conversation with Steph here!
A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure by Hoa Nguyen (Wave Poetry); listen to Lauren’s conversation with Hoa here!
Onement Won (Wave Poetry), Grief Sequence (Wave Poetry), Undergloom (Fence Books), and Infamous Landscapes (Fence Books) by Prageeta Sharma; look for Lauren’s conversation with Prageeta soon!
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (Vintage Books)
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The Write Question team for the this episode was Lauren Korn, host, co-producer, and editor; and Chris Moyles, co-producer, editor, and sound engineer. This episode is supported by Chapter One Bookstore in Hamilton, Montana, a literary and community resource for the Bitterroot Valley—providing space to explore, discover, and share passions since 1974. More information can be found at Chapter1Bookstore.com.
The Write Question logo and brand (2022) was designed by Molly Russell. You can see more of her work at iamthemollruss.com and on Instagram @iamthemollruss.
Funding for The Write Question comes from members of Montana Public Radio; and from the Greater Montana Foundation—encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans. A hat-tip to Humanities Montana for supporting this program since 2008.
The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.
