Alexander Chee's latest book is the essay collection How to Write an Autobiographical Novel. He and Courtney discuss the process of becoming real to yourself, staying accountable to the work, and how to keep a novel journal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Building containers for creative freedom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jami Attenberg's latest novel, All This Could Be Yours, is out now from HMH Books. She and Courtney discuss writing family narratives, identifying and playing to your strengths, and keeping the work fun for the reader. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Are we acting for our future selves? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Brian Allen Carr's novel Opioid, Indiana is out now from Soho Books. He and Courtney discuss finding a character's voice, writing fast, and why he loves writing prompts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The important piece of writing advice that finally sunk in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How good are you at letting yourself (and your work) just be? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Poet and essayist Mary Ruefle's new collection, Dunce, was just long-listed for the National Book Award. She and Courtney discuss boredom, uncertainty, and letting go of expectations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Keeping ourselves connected in the solitary work of writing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
R.O. Kwon's novel THE INCENDIARIES was one of last year's biggest debuts, and it was 8 years in the making. We talk about keeping faith in the writing process, holding characters at a distance, and thinking not just about who is telling the story but also why it's being told. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
It's a special crossover episode with Olivia and Meghan from Marginally Podcast! We talk about defining your own identity as a writer, our works in progress, and how we make writing and podcasting sustainable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What do you need—and how do you figure out what you need anyway? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Author Michael Parker's latest novel, Prairie Fever, follows the fraught relationship of two sisters in early 1900s Oklahoma. He and Courtney talk about writing crackling dialogue, how he thinks about plot, and growing into your creative practice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What aspect of your creative life needs a new narrative? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Appalachian poet Savannah Sipple wrote her piercing debut collection, WWJD and Other Poems, during a period in which she was also coming out of the closet. She and Courtney talk about the long journey of claiming her voice and finding the courage to use it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What kale, checks, and writing have in common. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Queer fiction writer Kristen Arnett wrote her debut novel, the eccentric and darkly hilarious Mostly Dead Things, while working full-time as a librarian. We talk about the framework she developed to keep writing, and why she wanted to write a book that looks at day-to-day queer life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Why it's helpful to check in with our whys—plus a special request. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Journalist Casey Cep—author of Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee—is on the show discussing the mysteries of Harper Lee, knowing what you need as a writer, and the lines that can be drawn and erased between invention and reality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
When you're showing up but not really showing up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tommy Orange—author of last year's fantastic There There—visits WMFA to talk about being a messy writer, creating diverse narratives, and how parenthood made him take writing more seriously. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Welcome to the first listener-request minisode! We’re talking about finding the right agent for you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The fantastic Karen Russell is on the show discussing her new short story collection, Orange World, and developing an "occult sensibility" for shaping your work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Slowing down to speed up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Journalist David K. Randall's new book, Black Death at the Golden Gate, is a gripping work of literary nonfiction about the race to stop the bubonic plague from spreading through San Francisco and beyond in the early 20th century. He and Courtney discuss bring real (dead) people to life, organizing all that research, and why creative constraint can be a good thing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A mini mini from my artist residency (👋) on expanding our ideas of process. Tell me how you write without writing by tagging @cfbalestier and using the hashtag #wmfawrites. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Susan Choi's explosive and riveting new novel, Trust Exercise, is out now from Henry Holt. She and Courtney discuss the manipulative qualities of storytelling, the slipperiness of memory, and the advice Susan would give to her younger self as a debut novelist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How do you approach your practice? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jane Alison's new book about narrative structure, Meander, Spiral, Explode, is out now from Catapult. She and Courtney discuss breaking narrative convention and how the traditional dramatic arc is and isn't like sex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
