NOTE: Apologies for the sound quality of this recording.

Welcome to the Lit for Christmas National Poetry Month party!

In this episode, Marty and his wife, Beth, imbibe in the official state cocktail for Michigan, visit the Motor City (and Greece and France) with colby Cedar Smith's novel in verse Call Me Athena: Girl from Detroit.

BONUS POINTS:  Take a shot every time you hear the word "call."

SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT:

The Hummer

courtesy of Punch (https://punchdrink.com/articles/how-the-hummer-cocktail-recipe-became-detroit-michigan/)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 shots white rum
• 1 1/2 shots Kahlua
• 2 scoops vanilla ice cream

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to a blender, add two ice cubes and blend until smooth.
2. Pour into a rocks glass.

SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT NONALCOHOLIC ALTERNATIVE (courtesy of boozybisou.com):

Ingredients:

• Substitute 1 1/2 shots of rum extract for white rum
• Substitute 1 tsp. of cocoa powder for Kahlua
• 2 scoops vanilla ice cream

Use above ingredients and follow same directions to prepare.

Lit for Christmas Party Hosts:

Marty has an Master's in fiction writing, MFA in poetry writing, and teaches in the English Department at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  He served two terms at Poet Laureate of the Upper Peninsula, and has published the poetry collection The Mysteries of the Rosary from Mayapple Press.  For more of Marty's thoughts and writing visit his blog Saint Marty (saintmarty-marty.blogspot.com) or listen to his other podcast Confessions of Saint Marty, also on Anchor.fm.  Marty is a writer, blogger, wine sipper, easy drunk, and poetry obsessor who puts his Christmas tree up in mid-October and refuses to take it down until the snow starts melting.

Beth has a BS in English Secondary Education.  She has worked as a substitute teacher, medical transcriptionist, medical office receptionist, deli counter attendant, and Office Max cashier.  Currently, she works in a call center and enjoys discussing/arguing about literature with her loving husband.

Music for this episode:

"Jingle Bells Jazzy Style" by Julius H, used courtesy of Pixabay.

"A Christmas Treat" by Magic-828, used courtesy of Pixabay.

Other music in the episode:

Kiss. "Detroit Rock City." Destroyer. Casablanca, 1976.

A Christmas Carol sound clips from:

The Campbell Theater 1939 radio production of A Christmas Carol, narrated by Orson Welles and starring Lionel Barrymore.

This month's Christmas lit:

Cedar Smith, Colby.  Call Me Athena: Girl from Detroit.  Andrews McMeel Publishing:  Kansas City, Missouri, 2021.