Nigel Poor Speaks of Podcasting, Storytelling, and Connecting with Underserved Communities

Kathy Pletcher, Tracy Vreeke, Kathy Lefebvre, Nigel Poor, and Julia Wallace (photo by Steve Platterer)

When the Wisconsin Library Association (WLA) was looking for sponsors for its annual conference, Nicolet Federated Library System (NFLS) jumped at the chance to sponsor keynote speaker Nigel Poor.
 
Nigel is a woman of many talents: visual artist, author, professor, and podcast co-host. In her keynote address at the WLA Annual Conference, Nigel spoke about podcasting as a form of storytelling, the creation and evolution of her podcast, Ear Hustle, and connecting with underserved communities.

NFLS Trustee Kathy Pletcher said “I especially liked her "key components" of storytelling and how she used Ear Hustle stories to illustrate the components.”

"In her powerful keynote, Nigel Poor shared poignant anecdotes about her work with prisoners and the importance of storytelling," recalled Laura Sauser, WLA Executive Director.

Ear Hustle was the first podcast created and produced in a prison. It features first-hand stories from those incarcerated about the daily realities of life inside California’s San Quentin State Prison. In 2020, Ear Hustle was named a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in audio reporting for bringing audiences “a consistently surprising and beautifully crafted series on life behind bars.”

Signed copies of Nigel’s books, The San Quentin Project (June 2021) and This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life (October 2021), were available after her keynote and sold out quickly.

About Nigel Poor
Nigel is a visual artist whose work explores the various ways people make a mark and leave behind evidence of their existence. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and can be found in various museum collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.

Nigel is also a Professor of Photography at California State University, Sacramento.

In 2011, Nigel got involved with San Quentin State Prison as a volunteer professor for the Prison University Project. In 2013, she started working with a group of incarcerated men producing a radio project called The San Quentin Prison Report. She is the co-creator, co-producer and co-host of the podcast Ear Hustle.