Writers on Writing

Authors Natashia Deón and Judith D. Schwartz with Nicole Nelson on Writers on Writing

Debut novelist Natashia Deón, author of Grace, talks to co-host Nicole Nelson about writing complex characters, letting readers laugh in tense situations, taking her story from a screenplay to a novel, and getting to a place of honesty.

In the second half, environmental journalist Judith D. Schwartz, author of Water in Plain Sight: Hope for a Thirsty World talks about how highlighting hope is important when writing about climate change, how her career in journalism evolved, how technology has affected her reading life, and more.

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(Broadcast date: August 17, 2016)

Patrick Ryan and Ottessa Moshfegh on Writers on Writing

Short story writer and editor Patrick Ryan, author of The Dream Life of Astronauts, talks with Marrie Stone about the short story form, writing from the space of childhood, how being an editor impacts his writing, how stories reveal themselves over time, and more.

In the second half, Ottessa Moshfegh joins Marrie to talk about her novel, Eileen.  Moshfegh creates psychologically complex and challenging characters, and talks about her intense relationship with the people she creates, what fuels her, what satisfies her, and why her novel will leave a lasting and important impression.

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(Broadcast date: August 10, 2016)

Molly Antopol and Brad Watson on Writers on Writing

Short story writer Molly Antopol, author of The UnAmericans, returns to talk with Marrie Stone about craft, inspiration, family history, and the role of art and fiction in an uncertain and unstable world.

In the second half, Brad Watson joins to share his latest novel, Miss Jane.  He talks about the power of inhabiting another POV, writing from a different time and place, how relationships and intersections between characters can create powerful plot, and more.

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(Broadcast date: July 27, 2016)

Poetry panel with Kim Dower, Tess Taylor, and Dean Rader

Marrie Stone hosts a poetry panel with poets Kim Dower, Last Train to the Missing Planet; Tess Taylor, Work and Days; and Dean Rader, Self-Portrait as a Wikipedia Entry (forthcoming).

The panel discusses poetry as both fiction and nonfiction, why everyone should be reading poems, why you shouldn’t be scared of poetry, what a good poem can do for your soul, how to teach poetry, and much more.

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(Broadcast date: June 1, 2016)

Novelists JJ Amaworo Wilson and Edan Lepucki interviewed by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

JJ Amaworo Wilson, author of Damnificados, and Edan Lepucki, author of California, talk with author and host Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about getting the setting just right, flashbacks, alternating points of view, cliffhangers, sequels, and more.

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(Broadcast date: August 3, 2016)

Daniel Calvisi and George Hodgman on Writers on Writing

Daniel Calvisi, author of Story Maps: TV Drama, and I talk about writing for TV and why if you want to be a screenwriter, TV is the way to go. He talks about the planning that needs to happen before you write that script, and why. I love this book. It’s one of the most helpful texts on writing for TV that I know of.

Memoirist George Hodgman talks about leaving NYC to move to Missouri, his hometown, to care for his mother. The book is moving, funny, and one of my favorite memoirs of all time.

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(Broadcast date: July 6, 2016)