A podcast where writers talk writing.
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Heather Clark is the author of Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath, a 2021 Pulitzer Prize finalist now out in paperback from Knopf. She and Courtney discuss how biography is like archeology, the "hysterical woman writer" stereotype, and the "profound and bottomless optimism" needed to undertake a large writing project. In the bonus segment, Heather talks about finding joy in the writing process and how the joy she found writing Red Comet influenced the book's structure. Bonus segments are available to Patreon subscribers at patreon.com/wmfapodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Kristen Arnett's latest novel, WITH TEETH, is out now from Riverhead. In this conversation from 2019, she and Courtney talk about queer writing beyond the coming-out narrative, creating supportive frameworks for getting the work done, and, of course, taxidermy. In the bonus segment, Kristen talks about writing about her home state of Florida. Listen to this and other bonus segments by visiting Patreon.com/wmfapodcast and pledging just $2 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Elissa's new essay collection, White Magic, is out now from Tin House. She and Courtney discuss reckoning with your past selves, time loops, and giving up control over the process. We also discuss one of Courtney's and the book’s favorite subjects: Twin Peaks. In the bonus segment, Elissa—who has received fellowships and awards from numerous institutions, including Creative Capital and the National Endowment for the Arts—shares some great advice on successfully applying for grants and other funding. Bonus segments are available to Patreon subscribers at patreon.com/wmfapodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this conversation from 2018, Courtney and Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers, discuss complicating the notions of motherhood, why working on your characters is working on yourself, and keeping the faith through seven years of novel drafts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dantiel W. Moniz's debut collection, Milk Blood Heat, is out now from Grove Atlantic. She and Courtney discuss not protecting your characters, the inextricableness of place and identity, and deciding to take your writing seriously. In the bonus segment, Dantiel talks about endings and death, and what makes for a good short story ending. Bonus segments are available to Patreon subscribers at patreon.com/wmfapodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Lauren Oyler's debut novel, FAKE ACCOUNTS, is out now from Catapult. She and Courtney discuss social media, autofiction, and our various efforts to be understood online and on the page. In the bonus segment, Lauren talks about how she approaches her reading habit, especially as a critic, and we talk about books we’re excited about. Bonus segments are available to Patreon subscribers at patreon.com/wmfapodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
R.O. Kwon is the co-editor, with Garth Greenwell, of KINK, a new anthology of literary short fiction exploring love and desire, BDSM, and interests across the sexual spectrum. She is also the author of THE INCENDIARIES. In this episode from 2019, 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
Matthew's latest book is Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping. He and Courtney discuss what's wrong with the way we talk about our work, how we can do better, and the most ill-used terms in craft discussions—some of which Matthew has banned from his own workshops. In the bonus segment, Matthew talks about the workshop experience that led Matthew down a two-year dead end for his own novel in progress, and how he got himself turned back around. Bonus segments are available to Patreon subscribers at patreon.com/wmfapodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mateo Askaripour's debut novel, Black Buck, is out now. He and Courtney talk about the intimacy of first-person POV, managing plausibility, and what we learn from the novels we don’t sell. (NOTE: There are some Black Buck plot spoilers between 40:30-45:15.) In the bonus segment, Mateo discusses point of telling and addressing the reader in your work. Bonus segments are available to Patreon subscribers at patreon.com/wmfapodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Danielle Evans' latest book is The Office of Historical Corrections, out now from Riverhead Books. She and Courtney talk about flipping received narratives, reckoning with the past, and the relationship between a work's active and emotional plots. In today's bonus segment, Danielle and Courtney talk about race and the craft of writing. Bonus segments are available to WMFA Patreon subscribers at patreon.com/wmfapodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Simon Han's debut novel is Nights When Nothing Happened, out now from Riverhead Books. He and Courtney discuss the tricky label of universality, turning a short story into a novel, and how writing is like the Fast & Furious franchise. In today's bonus segment, Simon and Courtney talk about the value of writing the suburbs. Bonus segments are available to WMFA Patreon subscribers at patreon.com/wmfapodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Anne Helen Petersen's latest book is Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation. She and Courtney talk about the difficulty behind advice about "doing what you love," what freelance writing careers look like now, and how she synthesizes research into prose. In today's bonus segment, Anne and Courtney talk about burnout and writing. Bonus segments are available to WMFA Patreon subscribers at patreon.com/wmfapodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Deesha Philyaw's fiction debut, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, is a National Book Award finalist. She and Courtney talk about creating complex characters, writing Black women, and staying true to your vision even in the face of rejection. In today's bonus segment, Deesha and Courtney talk about what makes good sex writing. Bonus segments are available to WMFA Patreon subscribers at patreon.com/wmfapodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Originally airing on November 8, 2017, Courtney and Celeste Ng—author of Little Fires Everywhere and Everything I Never Told You—do a deep dive into process: what makes a good beginning, finding the voice, reverse outlining and more. They also discuss writing about identity and the other, and the importance of multiple narratives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Garth Greenwell is the author of What Belongs to You and Cleanness, and a 2020 Guggenheim fellow. In 2017, he and Courtney talked about being a poet novelist, the language of desire, and why he writes first drafts by hand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Genevieve Hudson's debut novel, BOYS OF ALABAMA, is out now from Liveright. They and Courtney talk about developing complicated characters, writing the supernatural, and exploring "capital-T truth" in fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What in your creative process are you ready to say goodbye to? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What in your creative process are you ready to say goodbye to?
Carter Sickels latest novel, THE PRETTIEST STAR, is out now from Hub City Press. He and Courtney talk about activist art, writing poignancy without sentimentality, and documenting queer rural narratives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Carter Sickels latest novel, THE PRETTIEST STAR, is out now from Hub City Press. He and Courtney talk about activist art, writing poignancy without sentimentality, and documenting queer rural narratives.
In the second quarantine call-in episode, writers with new releases share their favorite moments from a very different kind of book tour than they’d expected. Plus they shout out the new releases they’re reading! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In the second quarantine call-in episode, writers with new releases share their favorite moments from a very different kind of book tour than they’d expected. Plus they shout out the new releases they’re reading!
On being with our surroundings—and our creative work—in a new way during quarantine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On being with our surroundings—and our creative work—in a new way during quarantine.
Elizabeth Acevedo's latest book, the novel-in-verse CLAP WHEN YOU LAND, is out now from Quill Tree Books. She and Courtney talk about creating character while working in verse, discovering the container that each story needs, and the "secret projects" she has as an author. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Elizabeth Acevedo's latest book, the novel-in-verse CLAP WHEN YOU LAND, is out now from Quill Tree Books. She and Courtney talk about creating character while working in verse, discovering the container that each story needs, and the "secret projects" she has as an author.
A minisode update and a call out to writers with new and forthcoming releases to call in with your quarantine book release stories!
C Pam Zhang's debut novel, How Much of These Hills Is Gold, is out now. She talks with Courtney about writing a book for the characters in it, capturing nuanced performances of gender, and reinventing the myth of the American West. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
C Pam Zhang's debut novel, How Much of These Hills Is Gold, is out now. She talks with Courtney about writing a book for the characters in it, capturing nuanced performances of gender, and reinventing the myth of the American West.
Writers should be great at solitude, right? I’m not. Today I'm talking about how isolation is forcing me to confront that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Writers should be great at solitude, right? I’m not. Today I'm talking about how isolation is forcing me to confront that.
Emma Copley Eisenberg's first book, The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia, was released in January. She and Courtney discuss the complicated nature of truth and how she wrote a complex narrative that weaves first-person reportage with memoir. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Emma Copley Eisenberg's first book, The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia, was released in January. She and Courtney discuss the complicated nature of truth and how she wrote a complex narrative that weaves first-person reportage with memoir.
I'm reading excerpts from the diary of one of my literary idols, Virginia Woolf, that resonate with our current moment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I'm reading excerpts from the diary of one of my literary idols, Virginia Woolf, that resonate with our current moment.
Welcome to this experimental episode of WMFA, featuring messages from writers around the country about how they’re handling creative life in quarantine. Let me know if you liked this episode—I might do more as this surreal reality continues! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Messages from writers around the country about creative life in quarantine.
A check-in during unstable times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Courtney Maum's most recent book is the indispensable writers' guide Before and After the Book Deal. She and Courtney talk about navigating everything from contracts to marketing to what to pack on book tour. They also talk about Courtney's latest novel, Costalegre. In the Patreon bonus segment, Courtney talks about the advice she most wishes she'd received as a debut author. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Courtney Maum's most recent book is the indispensable writers' guide Before and After the Book Deal. She and Courtney talk about navigating everything from contracts to marketing to what to pack on book tour. They also talk about Courtney's latest novel, Costalegre. In the Patreon bonus segment, Courtney talks about the advice she most wishes she'd received as a debut author.
On the last episode of the season, I'm reflecting on gratitude for our work, and how often (or rarely) we feel it.
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.
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.
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.
The important piece of writing advice that finally sunk in.
How good are you at letting yourself (and your work) just be?
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.
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