Our special curated playlist continue as we revisit some of our very favorite conversations since the start of this show.

Happy listening.

Leslie Honoré's poetry has gone viral, but the mission behind the work is bigger than likes or shares.

Leslie is committed to helping others find and use their voices that shows up in

her writing and in the work she has spent almost two decades doing in her Chicago community.

And much of that ethos is shaped by Leslie's own experience as a Blacksican woman, a single mom,

and a believer in the power of connection.

Leslie, thank you for doing this.

Thank you for having me.

It's just such an honor to be asked.

Thank you.

Awesome.

What is the first poem you ever wrote?

I think the first poem I ever wrote was something in first grade,

and I think it was about a bird, and my dad helped me practice it and do it for a talent show for my very Catholic school. You know, there was always a good talent show in Catholic schools.

And was there anyone who said, oh, this girl has it?

My seventh grade teacher was like, you're a really good writer. And I was like, that's nice.

And my mom and dad told me I had to be an attorney or a doctor. And then in high school, I had some

really great teachers who were like, no, this is what you should do.

This is really, really good. I thought about it from there, like, well, maybe it's something.

Maybe I could do this. Maybe I could be a writer like the writers I love. And then it just kind of

unfolded when I got to college. And there were so many people that were so supportive of my writing and poetry and just

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