What is art? Who defines it? Who makes it, and where in Atlanta poets, thespians and artists come together to create? To use this space to catch up with some for some… there are things you might know. Others hope you are happy to make acquaintances for them.
When I was 16, I went through my first musical renaissance. At the time, you didn’t go to Apple or Amazon to buy music. Head to the mall, browse Camelot music, flip through album covers, check out the cool guys and girls behind the counter, listen to playlists for the latest releases, and buy. When I was in Camelot, I first heard the unforgettable synthesizer solo tension on a reggae beat, and then the drums. Then, on the contrary, “My Jamaican” repetition, and her third iteration, made me hooked. Grace Jones and her album, Live my lifeit became an art at the defining moment of my ears, consciousness, and my youth.
By the time I left for college I had Grace Jones albums, cassettes, life-size posters, and my favorite buttons. But it took more important moments in my life to bring her importance home.
One day I was walking down the beltline, remembering Prince’s piano, and a microphone tour was being played at Fox that night. I found the ticket and put it in my “shopping cart” and then took it out because I was trying to save money. After a lot of walks, by the time I finished my walk I changed my mind and went back to the shopping cart, and my tickets were gone. But I cheered up and declared that I would travel to watch him perform on his next tour. Well, most Atlanterns already knows the very unfortunate mistake I made on April 14, 2016, as Prince was unexpectedly dead, just a week later. And I learned another adult lesson. So to speak, don’t leave anything you’ll regret later in your shopping cart.
My point is that music acts as a great equalizer. It’s a marker of our adult DNA, as in the case of our youth soundtrack, our emotional record, our pivotal life lessons, or Megan Volpertt’s case, a marker of our adult DNA. In her new book, Why Alanis Morissette is important (Texas University Press), Volpert examines Alanis Morissette’s artistic journey and explains her album Jagged little medicine At the age of 14, he influenced her. Volpert highlights the themes and insights found in Morissette’s creative life. Thirty years later, she continues to provide valuable lessons and ideas that can resonate with teenagers in 2025.
Volpert is an interdisciplinary thinker, writer, teacher, healer, teaching at Kennesaw State University and Reinhard University. She also works primarily in seeded and intuitive tarot and scent work, starring in Stillwell’s Emporium in Decatur and Stone Mountain. A 20-year-old Decatur resident, Volpert hangs out around the two rock shops where she works, enjoying the community built there, and using the services of other healers who share those spaces when she doesn’t enjoy the quietness of her home. See what Volpert discusses her Morissette Renaissance below.
Tell us about your book, Why Alanis Morisette is importantits origin and your research. Have you discovered anything surprising about her and herself in the process?
When I was a teenager, radio was where I found my poet. I have always been interested in writing about music from a literary and philosophical perspective. Over time I have written many music books – Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and Warhol’s impact on the underground – Popmatters. A while ago I reviewed Tanya Pearson’s debut book about Marianne Faithful and not only really enjoyed it, but also enjoyed the Musical Substances series from the University of Texas Press, which was part of it. So Tanya gave me a good thrust and I sent them to them a short list of short musicians of my own fandom mission and my own fandom, mostly suitable for rock women. Alanis was at the top of my list and after submitting two sample chapters it was a completed transaction.
I’m a greedy researcher, so I gathered everything together and put my jaw indifferent. But seriously, there are very few books on Alanis, so the main job was to read all the interviews and lots of reviews. I’ve read everything she’s ever published everywhere, and I’ve also made a playlist of every version of every song she has and listened to it for about a year and a half. The most surprising discovery was one that I almost immediately hit. She and I are both extremely sensitive people. The first chapter of the book focuses on this. Approximately 15% of individuals of all species are extremely sensitive. By taking this little quiz you can start thinking about whether you are.
I took the quiz – I’m not very sensitive, but not too far from it – it sent me apart from the funny ones about the connections between HSP and empathy. So, how was Morissett? Jagged little medicine The album has influenced you – did you have a particular song on the album that connected you to her?
The book’s epigraph is a quote from “Right Strow You,” and the first single to chart from the album in the summer of 1995 was “You Exeda Know,” but as the book moves through the entire album track by track, I will eventually make a massive case. Jagged little medicine “You learn.” Each song on JLP continues to resonate with me in a fresh way as I get older, at various moments throughout my life. Recently I realized that I have a real soft spot for “not a doctor.” But the main point of the book is that the beauty and power of her voice never stops in JLP. Whatever you like about the album, it has grown deep roots and fresh leaves that allow you to trace all the work that followed, both musically and on other projects, including her podcasts, advice columns, philanthropy, and book introductions.
In the book, you referenced Morissett’s lyrics. “Yeah, Mr. Hello, I didn’t think I was back / I didn’t think you would appear on my army and my back with this ammunition” and from “From the right,” and then from “You” and as you were in high school, you were at the top of your epigraph list? Can you share the importance of that?
When I was 15, I stuck to it as a simple revenge fantasy. In my 20s, my appetite for vengeance replaced Taylor Swift’s notion of “karma.” In my 30s, when I gathered an army of thousands of students who had passed through the classroom, I began to see these lines because of their perseverance and an organic sense of community building. Now, in my 40s, I’ve done quite a bit of Punk Monk, so it reminds me that everything is back, moving in the waves and finding cycles. There are always moments when it’s useful to tell the truth to power, and in this way, 2025 is very similar to 1995 for me. The importance of the epigraph is that it offers a little prayer that my book may be part of our ammunition.
Morisset was compared to Antigone. If you had to compare yourself to someone in Greek mythology, who was it and why?
I’m biased towards Medusa. Also Cassandra. and nyx. Or one of the women running in the pack – Amazon, Siren, Fate, Fury, etc. why? They are all punk feminists. They are all witches. But in general, I feel that I am more called by Eastern mythology. In Indian texts, I invested time studying all forms of khari, and in Chinese texts I admire Feng Shui, the goddess of wind. All of these women have a strong sense of justice.
Incidentally, I took another online quiz to see who was in Greek mythology. It was Perseus. I disagree, but I apologize to Medusa. That being said, you have been a 10th grade English teacher for many years. If I remember 15, it was an unsettling time for me. How will it be translated in the 21st century? Looking back at Morissett’s self-discovery, 14-year-old, why is her music now related to teenagers?
That’s easy! Alanis was the first. Ask Olivia Rodrigo if her musicianship is possible without the influence of Alanis. If she’s never heard of Alanis, ask Billie Eilish how her album sounds. Ask Lana Del Rey, who paved her way. Ask Taylor Swift. p! Ask nk. Back to the sauce, the kids. A quote from Professor Sarah Marcus in English is what I consider to use in this book to think about the transformation of feminist ideology throughout the generation of music. Even the spice girls are like four generations of degraded copies from Riot Grrrl. ”
Check out the Volpert playlist. This includes the following SOIEREE (a short walk from Alanis) by Stevie Nix,” she says. White Winged Dove: Stevie Nicks Poetry Anthology Our own Colin Kelly, Executive Editor Rough Draft Atlanta. It will be published by Madville Publshing in spring 2026.
Connect with Volpert on Instagram: @meganvolpert. She will also be chatting with Alix Olson at Book Bird in Avondale on Friday, April 18th at 7pm. You can sign up for this free event.
