Today, V. V. Ganeshananthan talks to us about writing a novel set in the Sri Lankan civil war, the role that medicine played in the life of her character, building tension, writing non-chronologically to start and then switching to chronological, and more! V. V. Ganeshananthan is the author of the novels Brotherless Night and Love Marriage, which was longlisted for the Women's Prize and named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post. Her work has appeared in Granta, The New York ...
Jan 24, 2023•59 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Today, Alia Trabucco Zerán talks to us about the unique structure of her new book, the discomfort of writing about these women and their crimes, the backlash against the book, the decision to include graphic images in the book, making a place for fiction in academic work, her new novel (out on Riverhead in 2024), and more! Alia Trabucco Zerán was born in Chile in 1983. She was awarded a Fulbright scholarship for a master’s in creative writing in Spanish at New York University, where she wrote he...
Jan 17, 2023•55 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Today, Christine Sneed talks to us about leaning on the absurdity of working in an office for her new satirical novel, her long career, almost giving up, deciding to place her latest books herself, figuring out how to hype her work, teaching part-time, and more! Christine Sneed is the author of the novels Please Be Advised: A Novel in Memos, Little Known Facts, and Paris, He Said, and the story collections Portraits of a Few of the People I've Made Cry and The Virginity of Famous Men(Bloomsbury ...
Jan 10, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Coco Picard talks to us about the decade she spent working on her new book, using constraints, locating the reader, opening her book with a "magical transformation," writing a funny book about dying, and more! Coco Picard is a writer, cartoonist, and curator. She is the author of The Healing Circle (August, 2022; Red Hen Press), which is the winner of the Red Hen Press Women's Prose Prize, and of two graphic novels, Meowsers (2022) and The Chronicles of Fortune (2017), which was nominated for a ...
Nov 22, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 48
Today, Elisa Gabbert talks to us about conceptualizing her audience(s), the difference for her between writing prose and poetry, “borrowing greatness” from other authors as well as Reddit and Wikipedia, “pseudo-sequiturs,” titles, and more! Elisa Gabbert is the author of six collections of poetry, essays, and criticism: Normal Distance (Soft Skull); The Unreality of Memory & Other Essays, out now from FSG Originals and Atlantic UK; The Word Pretty (Black Ocean, 2018); L’Heure Bleue, or the J...
Nov 15, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 47
Today, Christina Cooke (BROUGHTUPSY, Jan. 2024) talks to us about spending 11 years writing her debut novel, working on it at the Iowa Writers Workshop and MacDowell, the stamina of being a writer, all the “life stuff,” the ego death of going on submission, and more! Christina Cooke’s writing has previously appeared in PRISM international, The Caribbean Writer, Prairie Schooner, Epiphany: A Literary Journal, and elsewhere. A MacDowell Fellow and 2022 Journey Prize winner, she holds a Master of A...
Nov 08, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 2Ep. 46
Today Steve Almond (All the Secrets of the World) talks to us about scorpions, taking three decades to finish his first novel, how he came to write a “social novel,” writing from the perspective of a teenaged Latina, Nancy Reagan, and a man who lusts after teenaged girls while maintaining the book’s authenticity, and more! Steve Almond is the author of eleven books of fiction and nonfiction, including the New York Times bestsellers Candyfreak and Against Football. His essays and reviews have bee...
Nov 01, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 45
Today, Andrew Bomback talks to us about using his experience as a formerly angry father to write a cultural history on modern parenting, moving from writing fiction to nonfiction, the pressure cooker of parenthood today, looking for answers in parenting books, and more! Andrew Bomback is Associate Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the author of DOCTOR (2018) and LONG DAYS, SHORT YEARS (2022). His essays have appeared in the Atlantic, Los Angeles Review of Boo...
Oct 25, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Season 2Ep. 44
Today Deborah Shapiro (CONSOLATION) talks to us about her new novel, writing about grief, the journey to her decision to self-publish this amazing, gorgeous, “quiet” book, working with Bookmobile, the power of simple covers, and more! Deborah Shapiro is the author of the novels The Sun in Your Eyes (a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice), The Summer Demands, and Consolation. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, Sight Unseen, Chicago Magazine, Litera...
Oct 18, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 43
Today, Sara Flemington (EGG ISLAND) talks to us about her debut novel, moving it from short story to longer narrative, its path to publication, the lit scene in Toronto, writing mantras, and more! Sara Flemington is the author of the novel, Egg Island. Her work has previously appeared in publications such as subTerrain, The Humber Literary Review, The Feathertale Review, and Paper Darts, among others. Sara lives in Toronto, Canada. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 11, 2022•41 min•Season 2Ep. 42
Today, Luke Geddes (Heart of Junk) talks to us about his ideal relationship with his fans, how readings can go wrong, the unique way his book found a publisher, kitsch and pop culture, his record company, and more! Luke Geddes holds a PhD in comparative literature and creative writing from the University of Cincinnati. He lives in Milwaukee, WI. He is the author of the novel Heart of Junk, the short story collection I Am a Magical Teenage Princess, and his writing has appeared in Conjunctions, M...
Oct 04, 2022•1 hr 26 min•Season 2Ep. 41
Today, Simon Jacobs (String Follow) joins us to talk about nailing the tone of his new novel, starting with a very tight draft and “blowing it out from the middle,” finding an agent, being the son of a successful writer, revising the book to make space for the reader, childhood haunted houses, and more! Simon Jacobs is from Dayton, Ohio, and lives in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of the novels String Follow (MCD/FSG, 2022) and Palaces (Two Dollar Radio, 2018), and of two collections of shor...
Sep 27, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 40
Today, Tim Jones-Yelvington (Don't Make Me Do Something We'll Both Regret) talks to us about their new book, writing about sex, using existing language or text to create friction to rub up against, working toward accessing a more traditional narrative form, their work in social movement contribution, the influence of pop culture, their favorite camp authors, and more! Tim Jones-Yelvington is the author of the fiction volumes Don't Make Me Do Something We'll Both Regret (Texas Review Press), This...
Sep 20, 2022•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 39
Today, Chantal V. Johnson talks to us about capturing the traumatized mind of a brilliant woman, her unique writing process, her use of dialogue and argument, going to auction, retiring from the law, and more! Chantal V. Johnson is the author of the debut novel Post-Traumatic, published by Little, Brown in April of 2022. Post-Traumatic has been longlisted for the 2022 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, named a Best Debut Novel of 2022 by Debutiful, and hailed as a "sharp psychological novel" ...
Sep 13, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 38
Today, A.M. Homes (The Unfolding) joins us to talk about her new book, the current trash fire that is our democracy, releasing a timely book in such an intense time, writing and revising such a conversational novel, and more! A.M. Homes is the author of thirteen books, among them the bestselling memoir The Mistress’s Daughter; the novels This Book Will Save Your Life, The End of Alice, and Jack; and the short story collections Days of Awe, The Safety of Objects, and Things You Should Know. She a...
Sep 06, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 37
Today A. Natasha Joukovsky (The Portrait of a Mirror) joins us to talk about working in the corporate world while writing her novel, funding her own writing retreat to France, her favorite types of books, the world of management consulting, Proust, and more! A. Natasha Joukovsky holds a BA in English from the University of Virginia and an MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business. She spent five years in the art world, working at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and The Metropolitan ...
Aug 30, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Today, Shane Kowalski talks to us about being funny, starting his writing career on Tumblr, working with Kevin Sampsell on Future Tense, formerly working for the post office, his favorite writers, and more! Shane Kowalski is the author of Small Moods (Future Tense). He lives in Pennsylvania. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 23, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Today, Sandra Newman talks to us about bringing concept into form, considering how much power women have in the world, thinking deeply about gender, being non-binary, the controversy about her book, and more! Sandra Newman is the author of the novels The Heavens, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and The Country of Ice Cream Star, longlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and named one of the best books of the year by the Washington Post and NPR, as well as several other work...
Aug 02, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 34
Today, Leyna Krow joins us to talk about her special blend of historical fiction and magical realism, working with featherproof and Viking, having a short story optioned by Hollywood, doing research about the Spokane fire, Miriam Toews, and more! Leyna Krow is the author of the debut novel, Fire Season, and the story collection I’m Fine but You Appear to Be Sinking, a Believer Book Award finalist. Her next book, Sinkhole and Other Inexplicable Voids is forthcoming on Viking in 2023ish. She lives...
Jul 26, 2022•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 33
Today Justin Taylor joins us to talk about recording his own audio book, taking a frank, fair look at his father and himself as a son, finding a narrative in a personal/true story, how writing memoir helped re-teach him how to write a novel, what being a professor gives to him in his own practice, and more! Justin Taylor is the author, most recently, of the memoir Riding with the Ghost, as well as three books of fiction: Flings, The Gospel of Anarchy, and Everything Here Is the Best Thing Ever. ...
Jul 19, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Andrew Lipstein (Last Resort) talks to us about using a pseudonym to sell his novel, writing in such a close first person headspace, pushing forward after books have failed, learning how to make a plot move, working without an outline, Patrick Somerville’s advice on writing a novel, rewriting the ending, wanting/not wanting to find yourself in someone else’s art, and more! Andrew Lipstein is a writer based in Brooklyn. His debut novel Last Resort is out now from Farrar, Straus & Giroux in th...
Jun 28, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Today we talk with Isle McElroy (THE ATMOSPHERIANS) about establishing tone in their debut novel, the close relationship between joy and horror, sculpting sentences, their love of simile and metaphor, finding shape and focus as they wrote this novel, finding the right first readers, being a child of divorce, and more! Isle McElroy is a nonbinary writer based in Brooklyn. Their debut novel, THE ATMOSPHERIANS, was published in May by Atria and was named a NY Times Editors' Choice. Other writing ap...
Jun 14, 2022•56 min•Season 2Ep. 30
Today we talk with Sasha Fletcher (Be Here To Love Me at the End of the World) about finding inspiration in the structure of other forms of art, staying surprised as a writer, writing a novel that is actually a poem, writing the books he wants to read, and more! Sasha Fletcher is the author of the novel Be Here to Love Me at the End of the World, a book of poems, several chapbooks of poetry, and a novella. His work can be found both online and in print. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit me...
Jun 07, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 28
Today we talk with Farah Jasmine Griffin (Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature) about telling her family's story alongside Black history and literature, bearing witness, her favorite contemporary works, her new book(s), and more! Farah Jasmine Griffin is the William B. Ransford Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University where she also served as the inaugural Chair of the African American and African Diaspora Studies Department. S...
Jun 01, 2022•57 min•Season 2Ep. 28
Today we're joined by poet Christian J. Collier (The Gleaming of the Blade)! Christian talks with us about the influence of art and horror films on his writing, moving away from overwriting, the shapes of his poems, using race as a way of looking at intimacy and society and humanity as a whole, monsters, ghosts, and more! Christian J. Collier is a Black, Southern writer, arts organizer, and teaching artist who resides in Chattanooga, TN. He is the author of the chapbook The Gleaming of the Blade...
May 24, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 2Ep. 27
Today we talk with Erika Krouse (Tell Me Everything) about her debut true crime/searching/memoir, putting plot into nonfiction, her brilliant use of anecdote and metaphor, writing fast, the supportive response to the book, studying with Lucia Berlin, and more! Erika Krouse is the author of Come Up and See Me Sometime, a New York Times Notable Book, and Contenders, a finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Erika’s fiction has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Ploughshares,...
May 19, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Alex and Lindsay talk with Linda LeGarde Grover (Gichigami Hearts: Stories and Histories from Misaabekong) about making a book that is fiction, memoir, myth, truth, and poetry; the many wonders of Duluth and Lake Superior; the “ghost presence” in her book; showing a sense of time and change in her work; and more! Linda LeGarde Grover is professor of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth and a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. Her novel The Road Back to Sweetgrass (...
May 10, 2022•57 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Alex and Lindsay talk with Rachel Krantz (OPEN: An Uncensored Memoir of Love, Liberation, and Non-Monogamy) about immersion journalism, being funny, going from shorter form to longer form, her new podcast, and more! Rachel Krantz is the namer of Bustle, and one of its three founding editors. At Bustle, she served as Senior Features Editor for three years, and Senior News Editor before that. She also worked at The Daily Beast as Homepage Editor, and at the nonprofit Mercy For Animals as Lead Writ...
Apr 26, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 24
Today we talk with Rachel Signer (You Had Me at Pét-Nat) about writing so honestly about her personal life, plumbing her diaries for inspiration, deciding what kind of book she wanted to write, publishing her own magazine, her current inspirations, the drudgery of crafting with children, and more! Rachel is a writer originally from the U.S., now based in South Australia. She is the author of the memoir, You Had Me At Pét-Nat, and publisher and founder of Pipette Magazine. As well, Rachel is the ...
Apr 14, 2022•49 min•Season 2Ep. 23
Alex and Lindsay talk with Jessamine Chan (The School for Good Mothers) about writing and rewriting her novel, her love of experimental fiction, Lydia Kiesling as our fave parent influencer, the silent scream inside gentle parenting, being an instant bestseller, and more! Jessamine Chan’s short stories have appeared in Tin House and Epoch. A former reviews editor at Publishers Weekly, she holds an MFA from Columbia University and a BA from Brown University. Her work has received support from the...
Apr 05, 2022•58 min•Season 2Ep. 22
