The Literary Corner: Meet the Literary Corner’s Regular Analyst—Sarah Fabio (side a) / Meet the Literary Corner’s Regular Analysts—Daniel Kunene (side b): Museum Object and Cultura

The object in the museum catalogue

A white plastic audio cassette with recordings of two episodes of the Literary Corner radio show. The program numbers are handwritten on the cassette in graphite.

Side A: “Meet the Literary Corner’s Regular Analyst—Sarah Fabio”

Episode 3 of the Literary Corner radio program. The episode is an interview with Professor Sarah Fabio, conducted by Professor Edris Makward. It begins with Professor Fabio reading one of her poems, “My Own Thing,” before host Brooks Robinson introduces her. Some of the topics they discuss include her use of poetry as a young child as a form of expression; poetry’s significance in preserving black culture; her other forms of communication: novels, short stories, essays, literary criticism and drama; Dr. Fabio’s poetry and spoken-word poetry albums. During the interview, she also reads three of her poems: “My Own Thing,” “Sassafras Toned; My Grandma Sat,” and “For My People.” The episode concludes with Dr. Fabio reading one of her poems entitled “For My People” as the outro music plays in the background.

Side B: “Meet the Literary Corner’s Regular Analysts—Daniel Kunene”

Episode 4 of the Literary Corner radio program. It is an interview of Dr. Daniel Kunene, conducted by Dr. Makward. The episode opens with Dr. Kunene reading one of his poems. Some of the topics discussed in this episode include Dr. Kunene’s diffidence as an early writer; the role of grief in his writing, in particular his own father’s death; writing in different languages e.g. English and Sotho; as well as how the suffering of the South African people has impacted his work. Additionally, Dr. Kunene reads two of his poems: “Voices” and “The Running is a Dance.”

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1978
• Created by: Brooks B. Robinson Ph.D., American
• Interviewed by: Edris Makward PhD, Gambian
• Interview of: Sarah Fabio, PhD, American, 1928 - 1979
• Interview of: Daniel Kunene, PhD, South African, 1923 - 2016
• Directed by: Robert Cham
• Type: audio cassettes
• Medium: plastic and tape
• Dimensions: H x W: 2 3/4 × 4 1/4 × 5/8 in. (7 × 10.8 × 1.6 cm)
• Dimensions: Duration (side a): 15 min., 5 sec.
• Dimensions: Duration (side b): 15 min., 7 sec.
• Place made: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Literature
• Topic: Poetry
• Topic: Radio
• Object number: 2010.17.1.2a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Contributed in memory of Professor Sarah Webster Fabio (1928-1979), poet, educator, Black Arts Movement icon, and one of the Literary Corner's analysts.
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Brooks B. Robinson Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.