Bret Anthony Johnston, author of Remember Me Like This (Random House, 2014) joins Barbara for an hour of literary talk about his new novel, how it began, revising, and much more.
(Broadcast date: Aug. 20, 2014)
Alex Tizon, the author of Big Little Man: In Search of My Asian Self, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. He joins Nicole Nelson for a conversation about stereotypes in fiction and other art, journaling, and writing about identity. Then Carl Phillips, the author of The Art of Daring: Risk, Restlessness, Imagination and a distinguished poet with awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, The Pushcart Prize, and the Thom Gunn Award for Gay Male Poetry, talks about intentional and unintentional daring, life as a form of revision, and why we read poetry.
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(Broadcast date: August 13, 2014)
I love that Andy Ross is the former owner of Cody’s Books in Berkeley, and that I went there when I first moved to San Francisco after college. When The Satanic Verses came out, someone threw a pipe bomb through the window (it didn’t explode), and the staff voted unanimously to continue to sell the controversial novel (was there ever a more controversial novel??).
“That was my proudest moment in bookselling,” Andy says on his website, andyrossagency.com.
For the entire hour that he was was on the show, Andy talks about the types of books and authors his agency takes on, the current state of publishing, Amazon, and more. He was great fun to talk to.
Barbara
(Broadcast date: August 6, 2014)
Jennifer duBois, author of Cartwheel talks about the challenges of writing (and discussing) a novel that drew its initial inspiration from a real event, in this case, the Amanda Knox trial and the strong and diverse opinions that people held about the verdict. She also talks about learning to relax into a scene, and writing plays to sharpen her dialogue skills. Kate Zambreno, author of Green Girl and Heroines, talks about her experience re-releasing Green Girl — from how the re-release came to pass, and what it was like to have the option to revise a work that was published years earlier. She talks about developing the shopgirl protagonist Ruth, who tries to sell the scent “Desire” to people, and achieving urgency in her prose by writing toward confrontation.
[The show begins abruptly due to the loss of the very beginning (but the interviews are complete).]
Download audio.
(Broadcast date: July 30, 2014)
New York Times bestselling author Lisa See talks with Marrie about her latest novel, China Dolls, finding inspiration, research, and the complicated world of female friendships. In the second half, Jojo Moyes discusses her novel, One Plus One, compelling characters, difficult points of view, and the drawbacks and advanges of social media for authors.
(Broadcast date: July 2, 2014)
Joanna Rakoff shares her memoir, My Salinger Year, with Marrie. She talks about the similarities between memoir and fiction, the right time to write a memoir, and what she learned about publishing and writing from her year of working with a literary agent. Kseniya Melnik joins in the second half to discuss her debut short story collection, Snow in May. She discusses the importance of place, dialogue, and writing in a language that’s not her own.
(Broadcast date: July 16, 2014)
Palm Springs Noir, an anthology published by Akashic Books, edited by Barbara, also features her short story “The Water Holds You Still.” Order anywhere you buy books.
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Get in the flow with typewriter music by Travis Barrett.
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