Episode No. 3 of the KC Art Pie podcast features poet Gloria Vando Hickok, who founded Helicon Nine, co-founded The Writers Place, and generally, is a very busy woman.

Photo by Anika Paris

We spoke over the phone about Helicon Nine: The Journal of Women’s Arts & Letters which she founded in 1977 in Kansas City, Missouri, to provide a quality literary publication by and about women. The magazine provided a forum for women in the arts at a time when women were being excluded from major anthologies, history books, museums, and academic curricula. It published the work of well over 500 artist. In 1992 Helicon Nine, changed its name to Midwest Center for the Literary Arts, Inc., in order to expand its mission to include the publication of fine books of literature through Helicon Nine Editions and the founding of The Writers Place, a regional literary community center, library, and gallery offering public and educational programs for all ages.

As a poet, Gloria has edited and published numerous anthologies of poetry and received awards for her own books, Promesas: Geography of the Impossible, a personal encounter with the history of colonialism and her family roots in Puerto Rico; Shadows and Supposes, named the Best Poetry Book of 2003 by the Latino Hall of Fame; and Woven Voices, a cross-generational work with her mother and daughter. Though she returns to Kansas City regularly, she now lives in California.

Limited back issues of Helicon Nine are available on Amazon, including one of Gloria's favorites: The Marianne Moore issue

The Helicon Nine Reader: A Celebration of Women in the Arts