"Be in my mouth memory": How Memory Speaks in Cheryl Whitehead's Distant Relations

Loblolly Press: In Conversation

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"Be in my mouth memory": How Memory Speaks in Cheryl Whitehead's Distant Relations

Cheryl's profound and evocative exploration of family ties, identity, and the search for belonging across generations and geographies.

Andrew Mack

and

Cheryl Whitehead

May 05, 2025

Transcript

In this episode of Loblolly Press: In Conversation, we sit down with poet Cheryl Whitehead to talk about her debut collection, Distant Relations, published April 3rd, 2025 by us, Loblolly Press.

We don’t begin with poetry—and that’s intentional. This conversation moves through family, memory, rural life, and the language that holds it all. From a horse named Oliver to tin buckets and wind, Cheryl shows how poetry can emerge from what we inherit and what we’re still trying to name.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

Cheryl read “Landscape of the Spangle Mind,” “Landscape with Fog,” “Band of Tambourines,” “Closer to the Ground,” and “God Is Plenty” from Distant Relations.
How Cheryl’s mother shaped her voice, values, and creative life
What it means to return home—and write from that distance
The landscapes and people of rural North Carolina as poetic source material
How music, especially Coltrane, informs the rhythm and structure of her work
The long journey to publishing Distant Relations at age 61
Why Oliver the horse shows up again and again in her poems
Teaching, mentorship, and how students impact her writing practice
The politics of staying rooted in the South—and writing through it
The role of silence, fragmentation, and jazz-like movement in her poetic form

🔗 Links & Resources:

📚 Distant Relations by Cheryl Whitehead

🐻 Beasts of Chase — new chapbook from Andrew Mack

📦 The Poet Trio Bundle — 3 books for $42 (save $8) + free shipping on orders $25+

📰 Subscribe on Substack: loblollypress.substack.com. Get a free ebook download of Weekend Revival when you subscribe.

📸 Follow us on Instagram: @loblolly_press

🎧 Loblolly Press: In Conversation is a monthly podcast spotlighting writers from the American South—especially queer, BIPOC, and rural voices. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and don’t forget to like, subscribe, download, and leave a review to help more people discover the voices of Loblolly Press.