Podcasts about The Best American Essays

Marty Ross-Dolen joins Let's Talk Memoir for a conversation discovering the story while writing, inviting the speculative and magical elements into a narrative, rediscovering lost relatives, advocating for our vision and for our books, scaffolding fragmented forms, being raised by a mother in protracted mourning, incorporating letters, photographs, and erasure poetry, when people tell you what your book is supposed to be, living with an inherited sense of grief, unspoken family pacts, when structure is a surprise, and her new memoir Always There, Always Gone: A Daughter's Search for Truth.   Also in this episode:  --being raised in silence around a tragedy -telling 3 stories at once -memoir as erasure   Books mentioned in this episode: -Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas -Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn -Ghostbread by Sonja Livingston -Disconto for My Father by Harrison Kandelaria Fletcher -Fearless Confessions by Sue William SIlverman   Marty Ross-Dolen is a graduate of Wellesley College and Albert Einstein College of Medicine and is a retired child and adolescent psychiatrist. She holds an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Prior to her time at VCFA, she participated in graduate-level workshops at The Ohio State University. Her essays have appeared in North Dakota Quarterly, Redivider, Lilith, Willow Review, and the Brevity Blog, among others. Her essay entitled “Diphtheria” was named a notable essay in The Best American Essays series. She teaches writing and lives in Columbus, Ohio. Connect with Marty: Website: www.martyrossdolen.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martyrossdolen Get the book: https://a.co/d/5HtWU4s https://www.thurberhouse.org/adult-writers-studio – Ronit's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer's Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts' 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories.  She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Subscribe to Ronit's Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll's Fingers

What muscles are for, how to get them, and why it's never too late to start building them. Bonnie Tsui is a longtime contributor to The New York Times and the bestselling author of Why We Swim, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and a Time magazine and NPR Best Book of the Year. Her work has been recognized and supported by Harvard University, the National Press Foundation, the Mesa Refuge, and the Best American Essays series. Her newest book is called On Muscle. This episode is part of our ongoing Get Fit Sanely series.    In this episode we talk about: The connection between our muscles and mental health  The many benefits of strength training  How society, culture, and history have shaped the way we think about beauty standards and strength  Misconceptions about the six-pack  Running as a tool for healing  The psychological impact of realizing your own physical potential  The symbolism and science of the push-up  The connection between our muscles and our longevity Practical advice for beginning strength training And food habits that supports muscle growth   Paid subscribers of DanHarris.com will have exclusive access to a set of all-new guided meditations, led by friend of the show Cara Lai, customized to accompany each episode of the Get Fit Sanely series. We're super excited to offer a way to help you put the ideas from the episodes into practice. Learn all about it here.   Join Dan's online community here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel   To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/10HappierwithDanHarris.  

Host Jason Blitman welcomes bestselling author Victoria "V.E." Schwab for a conversation about her remarkable milestone—her 25th book, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. They discuss the profound power of names, exploring how identity shapes both fantasy storytelling and LGBTQIA+ narratives, the impact of representation in literature, and the moment that nearly drove Schwab to walk away from writing altogether. Later, Melissa Febos joins Jason as our Guest Gay Reader, calling in from her treadmill desk, to share what she's been reading as well as more about her new memoir, The Dry Season. Victoria "V.E." Schwab is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including the acclaimed Shades universe, the Villains series, the City of Ghosts series, Gallant, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Fragile Threads of Power. When not haunting Paris streets or trudging up English hillsides, she lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is usually tucked in the corner of a coffee shop, dreaming up monsters.Melissa Febos is the nationally bestselling author of four books, including Girlhood—which won the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism, and Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative. She has been awarded prizes and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, LAMBDA Literary, the National Endowment for the Arts, the British Library, the Black Mountain Institute, the Bogliasco Foundation, and others. Her work has appeared in The Paris Review, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Best American Essays, Vogue, The Sewanee Review, New York Review of Books, and elsewhere. Febos is a full professor at the University of Iowa and lives in Iowa City with her wife, the poet Donika Kelly. BOOK CLUB!Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERE for only $1July Book: Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan SUBSTACK!https://gaysreading.substack.com/ MERCH!http://gaysreading.printful.me PARTNERSHIP!Use code READING to get 15% off your madeleine order! https://cornbread26.com/ WATCH!https://youtube.com/@gaysreading FOLLOW!Instagram: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanBluesky: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanCONTACT!hello@gaysreading.com

On the heels of Mother's Day, tune into Memoir Nation this week for a conversation about *mother as character*—among many other potential characters any one of us might be on the page. Guest Nicole Graev Lipson explores the idea of where fiction ends and truth begins when you're a woman through this fascinating conversation prompted by her recent memoir-in-essays Mothers and Other Fictional Characters. If you've ever thought about the boundaries between truth and fiction as a writer or a reader, or the confines certain roles limit women to or within—girl, mother, wife—you won't want to miss this episode. Nicole Graev Lipson is the author of the memoir-in-essays Mothers and Other Fictional Characters. Her writing has been awarded a Pushcart Prize, selected for The Best American Essays anthology, and shortlisted for a National Magazine Award. Her work has appeared in The Sun, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Gettysburg Review, Creative Nonfiction, Fourth Genre, River Teeth, Alaska Quarterly Review, LA Review of Books, The Millions, Nylon, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe, among other publications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicole and Rachael talk about what success might look like on any given (changing) day, as well as how to find trust in ourselves as writers, accessing solitude, and how taking ourselves seriously is a deep kindness. NICOLE GRAEV LIPSON is the author of the memoir-in-essays Mothers and Other Fictional Characters. Her writing has been awarded a Pushcart Prize, selected for The Best American Essays anthology, and shortlisted for a National Magazine Award. Her work has appeared in The Sun, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Gettysburg Review, Creative Nonfiction, Fourth Genre, River Teeth, Alaska Quarterly Review, LA Review of Books, The Millions, Nylon, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe, among other publications. Nicole holds a BA from Cornell University and an MFA from Emerson College. Originally from New York City, she lives outside of Boston with her family.Books mentioned: John Kenny - I See You've Called in DeadBrenda Ueland - If You Want to Write

Host Jason Blitman sits down with bestselling author Fredrik Backman (My Friends) to discuss his love of films, why he could win a Taylor Swift lyric competition, and the exact moment he recalls where his humor originated. Fredrik shares why he doesn't call himself an "author," how he's struggled with confidence, and much more. Jason is then joined by Guest Gay Reader Erika J. Simpson (This is Your Mother), who discusses her recent reading, while Jason explains why experiencing her memoir was particularly unique.Fredrik Backman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Us Against You, Anxious People, The Winners, My Friends, as well as two novellas and one work of nonfiction. His books are published in more than forty countries. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children. Connect with him on Facebook and X @BackmanLand and on Instagram @Backmansk.Erika J. Simpson is a Southern girl living in Denver, Colorado, with her partner and their black cat. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Kentucky and is the recipient of the 2021 MFA Award in Nonfiction. Her essay “If You Ever Find Yourself” was published in Roxane Gay's The Audacity and featured in Best American Essays 2022, edited by Alexander Chee. This Is Your Mother is her debut memoir, and she also writes fiction for the page and screen.SUBSTACK!https://gaysreading.substack.com/ BOOK CLUB!Use code GAYSREADING at checkout to get first book for only $4 + free shipping! Restrictions apply.http://aardvarkbookclub.com WATCH!https://youtube.com/@gaysreading FOLLOW!Instagram: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanBluesky: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanCONTACT!hello@gaysreading.com

Notes and Links to Alexander Chee's Work          Alexander Chee is the bestselling author of the novels Edinburgh and The Queen of the Night, and the essay collection How To Write An Autobiographical Novel, all from Mariner Books. A contributing editor at The New Republic and an editor at large at VQR, his essays and stories have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, T Magazine, The Sewanee Review, and the 2016 and 2019 Best American Essays. He was guest-editor for The Best American Essays of 2022.    He is a 2021 United States Artists Fellow, a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow in Nonfiction, and the recipient of a Whiting Award, a NEA Fellowship, an MCCA Fellowship, the Randy Shilts Prize in gay nonfiction, the Paul Engle Prize, the Lambda Editor's Choice Prize, and residency fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the VCCA, Leidig House, Civitella Ranieri and Amtrak.    He is a full professor of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College and lives in Vermont. Buy How To Write an Autobiographical Novel   Alexander's Website   Book Review for How To Write an Autobiographical Novel from The New York Times   At about 2:00, Alexander details his Amtrak residency, later written about in The New Yorker At about 6:00, Alexander outlines some interesting characters that he met during his Amtrak residency  At about 12:00, Alexander reflects on a book project inspired by an interesting encounter with a former detective and British and American sensibilities  At about 16:30, Pete shares his own Amtrak story, possible fodder for essays and short stories, as Alexander remarks on “immediate friendship”  At about 18:50, Alexander talks about upcoming novel and short story projects and the process of picking a title; he recounts how he arrived at his essay collection's title, through a Buzzfeed publication  At about 26:30, Alexander highlights Kirkus Review naming How to Write an Autobiographical Novel one  At about 27:35, Alexander gives background on his essay collection's cover photo At about 34:10, Alexander talks about the composition of the previous essay collection and his upcoming one, with regards to placement and focuses on his “rose garden”- “The Rosary”-essay's development At about 39:00, Alexander responds to Pete's questions about the order of the essays in the collections and any throughlines-Garnette Cadogan and Naomi Gibbs are shouted out At about 43:40, Alexander talks about a manuscript that he has been working At about 44:45, Pete is complimentary of Alexander's “The Rosary” essay, and Alexander tells a story of an interested and poignant conversation with   At about 48:00, Pete shouts  At about 49:00, Pete and Alexander talk about the essay collection's first piece, and Alexander talks about being “Alejandro from Oaxaca” for a short time-he references Yiyun Li's powerful essay, “To Speak is to Blunder” At about 55:10, Pete compliments Alexander's powerful advocacy work and asks him about perspective and time, and how Alexander looks back at the essays from the collection so many years later (for some of the essays) At about 1:02:00, In talking about modern protest and activist culture, mutual aid, etc., Alexander shouts out Sarah Thankam Mathews' powerful All This Could Be Different At about 1:04:30, Alexander discusses a dynamic class that he has mentored at Dartmouth At about 1:05:30, Alexander responds to Pete's questions about what fiction allows him to do with his writing At about 1:06:30, Alexander reflects on ideas of catharsis in his writing      You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow Pete on IG, where he is @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where he is @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both the YouTube Channel and the podcast while you're checking out this episode.       Pete is very excited to have one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. His conversation with Episode 270 guest Jason De León is up on the website this week. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review.     Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl      Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting Pete's one-man show, his DIY podcast and his extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!    This month's Patreon bonus episode will feature an exploration of the wonderful poetry of Khalil Gibran. Pete has added a $1 a month tier for “Well-Wishers” and Cheerleaders of the Show.    This is a passion project, a DIY operation, and Pete would love for your help in promoting what he's convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.    The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.     Please tune in for Episode 282 with Emely Rumble, a licensed clinical social worker, school social worker, and seasoned biblio/psychotherapist who specializes in bibliotherapy, the use of literature and expressive writing to heal. Pub Day and episode air day are April 29 for her wonderful book, Bibliotherapy in The Bronx.

Karen Kirsten joins Let's Talk Memoir for a conversation about the messy complexity of family, asking the right questions, writing about a time in history when you weren't present in that history, utilizing and incorporating primary research, recorded interviews, archived documents, diaries, film, and photographs into memoir, writing fact-based vivid scenes, working with historians to accurately depict world-altering events, being honest with the reader and grappling with conflicting information on the page, changing the central question of your memoir, being a detective and being dogged, having a care plan and a nurturing creative community, writing about transgenerational trauma, inserting yourself into the narrative as a character, and her new memoir Irina's Gift.   Also in this episode: -structural changes late in the process -delaying reveals to add suspense -using image systems to address transgenerational trauma   Books mentioned in this episode:    The Fact of a Body by Alex Marzano-Lesnevich The Most Dangerous Book by Kevin Birmingham The Sinner and the Saint by Kevin Birmingham Fairyland by Alysia Abbott The Postcard by Anne Berest The Situation and the Story by Vivian Gornick Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel WIlkers The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante Leviathan by Paul Auster Question 7 by Richard Flanagan Swimming in Paris: A Life in Three Stories by Colombe Schneck Who I Always Was by Theresa Okokon Karen Kirsten is the author of Irena's Gift, a National Jewish Book Award finalist for Autobiography & Memoir, winner of Zibby Awards for Best Family Drama & Best Story of Overcoming, and an Australian Jewish Book Award finalist. Irena's Gift is also The Australian newspaper's'notable book', and described by Pulitzer prize winning author Geraldine Brooks as ”a disturbing investigation into the power of secrets to harm and to haunt.”   Karen is an Australian-American writer and Holocaust educator who speaks around the world on the topics of hate and reconciliation. Karen's essay “Searching for the Nazi Who Saved My Mother's Life” was selected by Narratively as one of their Best Ever stories and nominated for The Best American Essays. Karen's writing has also appeared in Salon.com, The Week, The Jerusalem Post, Huffington Post*, Boston's National Public Radio station, The Boston Herald, The Sydney Morning Herald, and more.    Connect with Karen: Website: https://www.karenkirsten.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/findingbabcie/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karen.kirsten Book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/747811/irenas-gift-by-karen-kirsten/   – Ronit's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer's Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts' 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories.  She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Subscribe to Ronit's Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll's Fingers

In this episode of The Watchung Booksellers Podcast, authors Laurie Lico Albanese and ANastasia Rubis discuss reading and writing historical fiction.Laurie Lico Albanese is a historical novelist, most recently of the acclaimed novel Hester,  which gives voice to Hester Prynne in a retelling of The Scarlet Letter. Hester was a Book of the Month club selection and an Audible and Goodreads Best Books of 2022. Laurie's previous historical novels include Stolen Beauty, about the famed Gustav Klimt portrait known as The Lady in Gold. She lives in Montclair with her husband, where they raised their two grown children. She writes for New Jersey Monthly, teaches writing, and is at work on a new novel.Anastasia Rubis' writing has appeared in the New York Times, Huffington Post, New York Observer, and literary journals. One of her stories, “Girl Falling,” was named a Notable Essay in Best American Essays of 2014. Another, “Blue Pools,” was included in the anthology Oh, Baby published by Creative Nonfiction. She co-wrote and co-directed a 13-minute documentary titled Breakfast Lunch Dinner: The Greek Diner Story. Her latest work, Oriana, is a novel based on the life of journalist Oriana Fallaci. Rubis earned a BA magna cum laude from Brown University and an MA from Montclair State University. She teaches memoir writing and is working on a second novel. She and her husband live in Montclair, where they raised their daughter, and spend summers in Greece, where their parents were born.Books:A full list of the books and authors mentioned in this episode is available here. Register for Upcoming Events.The Watchung Booksellers Podcast is produced by Kathryn Counsell and Marni Jessup and is recorded at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, NJ. The show is edited by Kathryn Counsell. Original music is composed and performed by Violet Mujica. Art & design and social media by Evelyn Moulton. Research and show notes by Caroline Shurtleff. Thanks to all the staff at Watchung Booksellers and The Kids' Room! If you liked our episode please like, follow, and share! Stay in touch!Email: wbpodcast@watchungbooksellers.comSocial: @watchungbooksellersSign up for our newsletter to get the latest on our shows, events, and book recommendations!

Today my guest is author Nicole Graev Lipson, whose work has appeared in The Sun, Virginia Quarterly Review, LA Review of Books, The Millions, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe, among other venues. Her work has been awarded a Pushcart Prize, nominated for a National Magazine Award, and selected for The Best American Essays anthology. She is the author of the just-out memoir in essays Mothers and Other Fictional Characters, published by Chronicle Books. Listen in as we talk about the fine art of the persoanl essay, writing essays and how to write a book-length collcetion of them. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own journey to writing what you know. To learn more, join The Memoir Project free newsletter list and keep up to date on all our free webinars and instructive posts and online classes in how to write memoir, as well as our talented, available memoir editors and memoir coaches, podcast guests and more.

How can women grapple with society's unattainable standards for beauty, femininity, and motherhood? Nicole Graev Lipson, author of the new book MOTHERS AND OTHER FICTIONAL CHARACTERS, discusses how she has started to divorce herself from these ideas and get more comfortable with uncertainty. Nicole Graev Lipson's essays have appeared in The Best American Essays 2024, The Sun, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Gettysburg Review, River Teeth, Fourth Genre, The Boston Globe, and more. Nicole, Amy, and Margaret discuss: The role that mothers are expected to play How society treats aging women as invisible How Nicole learned to sit with her own uncertainty about parenting Here's where you can find Nicole: nicolegraevlipson.com @nglipson on IG and @NicoleGLipson on X Buy MOTHERS AND OTHER FICTIONAL CHARACTERS: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9781797228563 We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/ What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson. mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid's behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“We do a lot of writing alone, in our own space. But writing is not a solitary practice. The business of writing requires a community.” –Angelique Stevens In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Angelique talk about what her writing life is like in the decade since she first took Rolf’s Paris class, with the ambition of becoming a travel writer, and how her travel book transformed into something different (2:00); how Angelique gave herself permission to write about herself in an honest way, and what craft lessons have helped her writing (8:00); and Angelique’s reading habits as a writer, her writing process, and how she came to think of herself as a writer (23:00). Angelique Stevens‘ is creative writing professor whose nonfiction has been published in Best American Essays two years in a row (2022, edited by Alexander Chee and 2023 edited by Vivian Gornick), Granta, LitHub, The New England Review, and a number of anthologies. Notable Links: Paris Writing Workshops (Rolf’s annual writing classes) Zapatistas (political group in in Chiapas, Mexico) Bootstrapping myth (narrative about self-starting process) Haudenosaunee (Iroquois indigenous people from the Northeast U.S) Zora Neale Hurston (American writer) Toni Morrison (American novelist) Melissa Febos (American writer) Honor, by Thrity Umrigar (book) The Situation and the Story, by Vivian Gornick (book) A Little Devil in America, by Hanif Abdurraqib (book) The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel's 2017 album Lumber. Note: We don't host a “comments” section, but we're happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

Nicole Graev Lipson joins Let's Talk Memoir for a conversation about our culture's fascination with reducing women to readymade templates and archetypes, performing fictional versions of ourselves, finding our way back to who we are, the essay as a place where writers can grapple with confusion, working sentence by sentence, finding the most precise microscopic truth, embracing our particularities, focusing on we're enthralled with, what it means to be a woman today, writing about children, attention as a loving act, drawing from the mess, writing as our own form of protest, how writing can be a shame eraser, and her new book Mothers and Other Fictional Characters. Also in this episode: -finding your genre -the architecture of the sentence -finding community with other writers   Books mentioned this episode:  The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland Any Person is the Only Self by Elisa Gabbert Spilt Milk by Courtney Zoffness The Leaving Season by Kelly McMasters “The Seam of the Snail” essay by Cynthia Ozick    NICOLE GRAEV LIPSON is the author of the memoir-in-essays Mothers and Other Fictional Characters (Chronicle Books, March 2025). Her writing has been awarded a Pushcart Prize, selected for The Best American Essays anthology, and nominated for a National Magazine Award. Her work has appeared publications such as The Sun, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Gettysburg Review, LA Review of Books, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and more. Born and raised in New York City, she lives outside of Boston with her husband and children.  Connect with Nicole: Website: www.nicolegraevlipson.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nglipson X: http://x.com/@NicoleGLipson Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicole.g.lipson   – Ronit's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer's Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts' 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories.  She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Subscribe to Ronit's Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll's Fingers

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Karen McElmurray about her new essay collection I COULD NAME GOD IN TWELVE WAYS. is the author of Wanting Radiance: A Novel. Her memoir Surrendered Child: A Birth Mother's Journey is a National Book Critics Circle Notable Book and winner of the AWP Award Series for Creative Nonfiction. She has received numerous awards, including the Annie Dillard Prize, the New Southerner Literary Prize, the Orison Anthology Award, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and multiple notable mentions in Best American Essays. She is a visiting writer and lecturer at various programs and reading series across the United States.

Karen McElmurray is the author of Wanting Radiance: A Novel. Her memoir Surrendered Child: A Birth Mother's Journey is a National Book Critics Circle Notable Book and winner of the AWP Award Series for Creative Nonfiction. She has received numerous awards, including the Annie Dillard Prize, the New Southerner Literary Prize, the Orison Anthology Award, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and multiple notable mentions in Best American Essays. She is a visiting writer and lecturer at various programs and reading series across the United States.

Karen McElmurray is the author of Wanting Radiance: A Novel. Her memoir Surrendered Child: A Birth Mother's Journey is a National Book Critics Circle Notable Book and winner of the AWP Award Series for Creative Nonfiction. She has received numerous awards, including the Annie Dillard Prize, the New Southerner Literary Prize, the Orison Anthology Award, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and multiple notable mentions in Best American Essays. She is a visiting writer and lecturer at various programs and reading series across the United States.

We're continuing to focus on the experience of trans children and their parents this week with this reading of the exquisite essay As They Like It: Learning To Follow My Child's Lead, by the author, Nicole Graev Lipson. The piece — about gender in Shakespeare and Nicole's journey of watching her child let go of girlhood — was originally published in the Virginia Quarterly Review and then included in The Best American Essays, 2024, edited by Wesley Morris. It's also part of Nicole's upcoming collection, Mothers and Other Fictional Characters, which will be published on March 4th. Links:* Order Nicole's book Mothers and Other Fictional Characters* Read As They Like It: Learning To Follow My Child's Lead* Check out Nicole's book events and other great work This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit motherofitall.substack.com/subscribe

Sari Botton joins Let's Talk Memoir for a conversation about editing the magazines Adventures in Journalism, Memoir Land, and Oldster, her experience publishing on Substack, editing vs. generating material, putting ourselves in our story, wrestling with what to share, creating safe boundaries, growing into the truest version of ourselves, vomit drafts, leaving the perfectionist out of the room, turning death on its head, shedding false identities, being our own best champion, and her mid-life coming of age memoir in episodes And You May Find Yourself...Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen-X Weirdo.   Also in this episode:  -lowering standards for an early draft -finding time for our own writing -giving ourselves downtime to switch gears   Books mentioned in this episode: -Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott -Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott -Bodywork by Melissa Febos -The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr -All books by Abigail Thomas   Sari's audibook is available here: https://www.audible.com/pd/And-You-May-Find-Yourself-Audiobook/B0DVMR3V2M   Sari Botton's memoir in essays, And You May Find Yourself...Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen-X Weirdo, was chosen by Poets & Writers magazine for the 2022 edition of its annual "5 Over 50" feature. An essay from it received notable mention in The Best American Essays 2023, edited by Vivian Gornick. For five years, she was the Essays Editor at Longreads. She edited the bestselling anthologies Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving NewYork and Never Can Say Goodbye: Writers on Their Unshakable Love for New York. She publishes Oldster Magazine, Memoir Land, and Adventures in Journalism. She was the Writer in Residence in the creative writing department at SUNY New Paltz for Spring, 2023.    Connect with Sari: http://saribotton.com https://www.facebook.com/sari.botton/ https://www.instagram.com/saribotton/ https://bsky.app/profile/saribotton.bsky.social http://oldster.substack.com http://memoirland.substack.com http://adventuresinjournalism.substack.com https://www.audible.com/pd/And-You-May-Find-Yourself-Audiobook/B0DVMR3V2M https://bookshop.org/p/books/and-you-may-find-yourself-sari-botton/18519104 https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/sari-botton/goodbye-to-all-that-revised-edition/9781541675681/?lens=seal-press https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Never-Can-Say-Goodbye/Sari-Botton/9781476784403 – Ronit's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer's Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts' 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories.  She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Subscribe to Ronit's Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll's Fingers

We've wanted to talk to writer Sarah Menkedick for a long time, but we weren't sure how we could make our conversation fit into this season's focus on childbirth- until she wrote the essay Why the Left Must Reclaim Birth on her Substack, Terms of Endearment, in late 2024. In her essay, which Kaitlin and Sarah explore in their conversation we share with you today, Sarah posits that, in order to make progress in our patriarchal society, the feminist left must embrace motherhood and the experiences of women who cherish identities and lives that have typically been co-opted by the right. Motherhood could be an opportunity for us to connect, to commune, and to find commonality even when we think we are so far apart. In a time that can often feel divided, exclusive, and judgmental, Sarah brings an energy and curiosity to how, potentially, we can find a path forward together.More about Sarah: Sarah's a writer whose work explores motherhood, feminism, and the human experience. She is the author of Homing Instincts: Early Motherhood on a Midwestern Farm and Ordinary Insanity: Fear and the Silent Crisis of Motherhood in America. She has lived between the U.S. and Mexico for over 15 years, giving her a unique lens on American culture, and her writing has appeared in Harper's, The New York Times, The Guardian, and more. She's also a Fulbright Fellow and a three-time Best American Essays nominee. She currently splits her time between Pittsburgh and Oaxaca, Mexico.In this conversation, Sarah and Kaitlin discuss:The political and philosophical implications of her essay, Why the Left Must Reclaim BirthThe paradox of feminist identity and traditional femininityHow motherhood can serve as a bridge in today's divided political climateThe role of activism and policy in shaping a more inclusive futureHer experiences living between Pittsburgh and Oaxaca, and how they inform her workAlso referenced in the podcast:Naomi Klein Doppleganger: A Trip into the Mirror WorldPlease subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and give us a rating. This will help us reach more listeners like you who are navigating the joys and pitfalls of artistic and parenting identities.Visit our website: postpartumproduction.com Follow us on Instagram: @postpartumproductionpodcastSubscribe to our podcast newsletter on Substack:...

In this episode, Matt speaks with Lauren Elkin about her new novel, Scaffolding. They discuss Lacan, marriage, and why Paris is so damn literary, among other things. Lauren Elkin is a French and American writer and translator, most recently the author of the novel Scaffolding (FSG), a New York Times Editor's Choice which the Observer called both "erudite" and "horny." Previous books include Art Monsters: Unruly Bodies in Feminist Art, No. 91/92: Notes on a Parisian Commute, and Flâneuse: Women Walk the City, which was a finalist for the 2018 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay, a  New York Times Editor's Choice and a Notable Books of 2017, a Radio 4 Book of the Week, and a best book of 2016 by the Guardian, the Financial Times, the New Statesman, and the Observer. Her writings on books, art, and culture have appeared in a variety of publications including the London Review of Books, the New York Times, Granta, Harper's, Le Monde, the Times Literary Supplement, Les Inrockuptibles, and Frieze, and her essay "This is the Beginning of Writing," published in the Sewanee Review, was awarded notable distinction in the Best American Essays of 2019, edited by Rebecca Solnit. Her website is: https://www.laurenelkin.com/ You can find her on BlueSky here: https://bsky.app/profile/laurenelkin.bsky.social The Spotify playlist she created for the novel is here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3saYDj2BSKyCFWGXsUhCTZ?si=f7a471a0e77e45bc   Contact Dave & Matt:  Email - concavityshow@gmail.com Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/ConcavityShow Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threadless.com/

Alisa Zipursky is a keynote speaker, CSA survivor advocate and the author of Healing Honestly a survivor-to-survivor book to support people healing from childhood sexual abuse. She is the founder of HealingHonestly.com an online community of over 500,000 survivors from around the world. Alisa works with universities, nonprofits, and medical organizations to provide support to survivors and the people who love them.Emi Nietfeld is the author of Acceptance (Penguin Press ‘22), a memoir of her journey through foster care and homelessness, interrogating the true meanings of resilience, ambition, and success. After graduating from Harvard in 2015, she worked as a software engineer, an experience she wrote about in her viral New York Times essay, “After Working At Google, I'll Never Let Myself Love a Job Again.”Emi is passionate about mental health, helping young people navigate their careers, and the connection between engineering and creativity. A dynamic, sought-after speaker, she can be found on podcasts, leading conference keynotes, and speaking at universities and companies alike. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Atlantic, and other publications, been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, noted in The Best American Essays, and taught in classrooms from high schools to MFA programs. In This EpisodeEmi's articleAlisa's websiteEmi's website---If you'd like to support The Trauma Therapist Podcast and the work I do you can do that here with a monthly donation of $5, $7, or $10: Donate to The Trauma Therapist Podcast.Click here to join my email list and receive podcast updates and other news.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-trauma-therapist--5739761/support.

Amy Leach discusses her new book, The Salt of the Universe: Praise, Songs, and Improvisations (Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2024). We discuss freedom, fundamentalism, and the Ellen White/Ted Wilson prohibition of pickles.  Leach grew up in Texas and earned her MFA from the Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa. Her work has appeared in The Best American Essays, The Best American Science and Nature Writing, and numerous other publications. She is the recipient of a Whiting Writers' Award, a Rona Jaffe Foundation Award, and a Pushcart Prize. She is also the author of Things That Are (Milkweed 2012) and The Everybody Ensemble (Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2021). She lives in Montana. 

Mason Stokes is a professor of English at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs where he teaches African American Literature and Queer Fiction. In addition to his scholarly writing, he is the author of the adult novel “Saving Julien” and the essay “Namesake” which was selected for inclusion in the 2016 edition of “Best American Essays.” The new book “All the Truth I Can Stand” is his young adult debut.

179 Oldster magazine creator, Sari Botton, joins Nadine to talk about the highlights and hardships of “traveling through time in a human body at every phase of life.” As a collector of stories, Sari also shares what she has learned about aging and new beginnings from others. Ultimately, Nadine and Sari explore how to embrace life's contradictions and feel less alone in the process. If you've ever asked yourself, “Am I the only one who feels this way?” this episode is for you!Covered in this episode:-What inspired Sari to start Oldster magazine-What Sari has learned from Oldster interviewees and her own aging process-Her plans for her 60s and beyond-Her self-compassion and boundary-setting practices-Two unexpected life events that made her feel the urgency of time-Why people love, leave, and come back to NYC-The benefits of being a community builder and story collector-Two things that bring Sari great joy Want access to the full episode? Become a paid Substack subscriber here. About Sari: Sari Botton is a bestselling author, editor, and teacher with decades of experience. She is the author of the memoir in essays, And You May Find Yourself…Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen-X Weirdo, which was chosen by Poets & Writers Magazine for the 2022 edition of its annual “5 Over 50” feature. An essay from it received notable mention in The Best American Essays 2023, edited by Vivian Gornick. For five years she served as the Essays Editor for Longreads. She edited the bestselling anthologies Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving NewYork and Never Can Say Goodbye: Writers on Their Unshakable Love for New York. She publishes Oldster Magazine, Memoir Monday, and Adventures in Journalism. About Nadine:Nadine Kenney Johnstone is a holistic writing coach who helps women develop and publish their stories. She is the proud founder of WriteWELL, an online community that helps women reclaim their writing time, put pen to page, and get published. The authors in her community have published countless books and hundreds of essays in places like The New York Times, Vogue, The Sun, The Boston Globe, Longreads, and more. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest...

Author Bio: Toni Tipton-Martin is an award-winning food and nutrition journalist who is busy building a healthier community through her books, foundation and in her role as Editor in Chief of Cook's Country Magazine and its television show. She is the recipient of the Julia Child Foundation Award, which is given to an individual (or team) who has made a profound and significant difference in the way America cooks, eats and drinks; is a three-time James Beard Book Award winner; and she has earned the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Trailblazer Award, its Book of the Year Award, and Member of the Year Award. She appeared as a guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef, was featured on CBS Sunday Morning's annual Food Show and in the anthology, Best Food Writing of 2016. She received Notable Mention in The Best American Essays of 2015 and is profiled in Aetna's 35th Annual African American History Calendar. Former First Lady Michelle Obama invited Toni to the White House twice for her outreach to help families live healthier lives. In 2014 she earned the Southern Foodways Alliance John Egerton Prize for this work, which she used to host Soul Summit: A Conversation About Race, Identity, Power and Food, an unprecedented 3-day celebration of African American Foodways. Toni has been a guest instructor at Whole Foods Culinary Center, and has appeared on the Cooking Channel's Foodography and the PBS feature Juneteenth Jamboree. She has been a featured speaker at the Library of Congress, Duke University, the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and Charlotte; Austin History Center; the Longone Center for American Culinary Research, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan; Roger Smith Cookbook Conference; Foodways Texas; Culinary Historians of Southern California; International Association of Culinary Professionals; Les Dames D'Escoffier; Webster College; Prairie View A&M University; Women Chefs and Restaurateurs; the College of Charleston; Mississippi University for Women; and Austin Foodways. She has shared her passion for cooks and the community as a freelance writer for Epicurious, the Local Palate, UNC Wilmington's Ecotone Journal, the Austin Chronicle, Edible Austin Magazine, Texas Co-op Magazine, Gastronomica The Journal of Food and Culture, and Cooking Light Magazine. In 2008, after 30 years teaching cooking in the media and demonstrations, Toni founded The SANDE Youth Project as a grassroots outreach to improve the lives of vulnerable families. The 501(c)(3) not-for-profit is dedicated to combating childhood hunger, obesity and disease by promoting the connection between cultural heritage, cooking, and wellness. Through community partnerships with universities, private and public entities, including Oldways Preservation Trust, the City of Austin, Edible Austin Magazine, and others, Toni's foundation has presented two community events, Soul Summit: A Conversation About Race, Identity, Power and Food and the Children's Picnic A Real Food Fair.   Toni is a member of the Oldways African Heritage Diet Pyramid Advisory Committee, Les Dames D'Escoffier Washington, D.C. Chapter, and Jack and Jill of America, Inc. She is a co-founder and former president of Southern Foodways Alliance and Foodways Texas. Toni is a graduate of the University of Southern California School of Journalism. She and her husband are restoring a 19th Century rowhouse, one of the “Painted Ladies” in Baltimore's historic Charles Village. She is the mother of four. Website: https://tonitiptonmartin.com/ When Southern Women Cook: https://www.amazon.com/When-Southern-Women-Cook-American-ebook/dp/B0CVKT3YNW?ref_=ast_author_mpb Jemima Code: https://www.amazon.com/Jemima-Code-Centuries-American-Cookbooks/dp/0292745486/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=v2gQ0&content-id=amzn1.sym.05575cf6-d484-437c-b7e0-42887775cf30&pf_rd_p=05575cf6-d484-437c-b7e0-42887775cf30&pf_rd_r=141-8602571-9498943&pd_rd_wg=tuU3h&pd_rd_r=19dbe5ba-704d-4432-84f8-b776698f7759&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk Jubilee https://www.amazon.com/Jubilee-Recipes-Centuries-African-American-Cookbook/dp/1524761737 If you follow my podcast and enjoy it, I'm on @buymeacoffee. If you like my work, you can buy me a coffee and share your thoughts

On this episode of The Zach Show, Michael Clune discusses his eleven-year long year battle with heroin use, his double life between the streets of Baltimore and the college classroom, the "magic" of the first time, which films depict heroin addiction most realistically, good times with 'Fun Boy,' the long road of recovery, advice for addicts, standup comedy, the realities of the fentanyl crisis, and more.  Guest bio: Michael Clune is the award-winning author of 'White Out: The Secret Life Of Heroin' and a Professor of Humanities at Case Western Reserve University. Michael's essays have appeared in Harper's—where he is a contributing editor—Critical Inquiry, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The Atlantic, Best American Essays, PMLA, and elsewhere. His work has been supported by fellowships from the Guggenheim and Mellon Foundations, and his books have appeared on “best of the year” lists from The New Yorker, NPR, and elsewhere.  SUPPORT THE AUXORO PODCAST BY SUBSCRIBING TO AUXORO PREMIUM (BONUS EPISODES & EXCLUSIVE CONTENT): https://auxoro.supercast.com/ MICHAEL CLUNE LINKS:White Out - The Secret Life Of Heroin: https://amzn.to/3Okpqad Bio: https://english.case.edu/faculty/michael-clune/Website: https://www.michaelwclune.com/Publications: https://www.michaelwclune.com/gamelife THE AUXORO PODCAST LINKS: Apple: https://apple.co/3B4fYjuSpotify: https://spoti.fi/3zaS6sPOvercast: https://bit.ly/3rgw70DYoutube: https://bit.ly/3lTpJdjAUXORO Premium: https://auxoro.supercast.com/Website: https://www.auxoro.com/ AUXORO SOCIAL LINKS: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auxoroYouTube: https://bit.ly/3CLjEqFFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/auxoromagNewsletter: https://www.auxoro.com/thesourceYouTube: https://bit.ly/3CLjEqF To support the show, please leave a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. This nudges the algorithm to show The AUXORO Podcast to more new listeners and is the best way to help the show grow. It takes 30 seconds and the importance of getting good reviews cannot be overstated.  Thank you for your support: Review us on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/458nbhaReview us on Spotify: https://bit.ly/43ZLrAt 

In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Aube Rey Lescure chats with Irma about how she initially followed a friend's advice not to become a writer but then ditched law to pursue it anyway, how being multilingual impacts the way she writes, why she refused to follow the career trajectory her creative writing course advised, why she got fixated on publishing a book before she was 30 – and then was forced to let go of it, how her mum's April Fool's joke led to an important plot line in her debut novel, how she approached writing from different POVs, why she let go of the need for external valuation – and was then shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction, the pressure of writing the second novel, the impact of her essay on women's safety, what she learnt from the publication day disappointment of not finding her book in stores, and the phone call that made her squeal on the streets.ABOUT AUBE REY LESCUREAube Rey Lescure is a French-Chinese-American writer. She grew up between Provence, northern China, and Shanghai, and graduated from Yale in 2015. Her debut novel, River East, River West, was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2024, and her fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in Guernica, Best American Essays, The Florida Review online, and more. She has also co-authored and translated two books on Chinese politics and economics, and is the Deputy Editor at literary magazine Off Assignment. 

Dear Loyal Readers,Happy Halloween! I wish you successful tricking and treating. In case this needs to be said, 100 Grand is the best candy bar. (It used to be Twix.) Thank you.Now let's get to this month's featured article. But before that:* If you're a newish subscriber: Since January 2020, I've chosen one article every month for a deep dive. Folks who are interested read it, annotate it, and discuss it. The author generously records a podcast interview. It's been fun.If you've never participated (that is to say, most of you), you're invited. We're a kind, thoughtful reading community. I think you'll enjoy it.All right, let's get down to business. I'm excited to announce this month's article: “Athens, Revised.” Written by Erin Wood and published in The Sun, the article is equal parts devastating and uplifting. It's raw and vulnerable. Throughout, it is brilliantly written.Here's what you can expect in today's issue:* My blurb about this month's article* A short biography about the author* A podcast interview with the author* What you need to do if you'd like to participateAre you already confident that you'd like to join? We're meeting up on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT. All you need to do is click on the button below and sign up.

Edwidge Danticat is the author of several books, including Breath, Eyes, Memory, an Oprah Book Club selection, Krik? Krak!, a National Book Award finalist, The Farming of Bones, The Dew Breaker, Brother, I'm Dying, Create Dangerously, Claire of the Sea Light, The Art of Death, Everything Inside, a Reese's Book Club selection and National Book Critics Circle Awards winner. She is also the editor of The Butterfly's Way: Voices from the Haitian Dyaspora in the United States, Best American Essays 2011, Haiti Noir, and Haiti Noir 2. She has written seven books for children and young adults. Her new essay collection is We're Alone. She teaches at Columbia University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brooke Champagne joins Let's Talk Memoir for a conversation about rejecting and accepting identity, growing up in New Orleans and feeling bifurcated by race, language, and class, knowing you're a writer, humor on the page, selecting work for a collection, why we write, watching ourselves continue to make the same mistakes, deciding what stories are ours, how much permission we ask, preparing for editorial work on our projects, keeping the bigger picture in mind, the many different versions of ourselves, seeing yourself as a persona, and her new book Nola Face: A Latina's Life in the Big Easy.   Also in this episode: -writing about trauma -Proust -the nature of art and truth   Books mentioned in this episode: The Situation and the Story by Vivian Gornick The Lifespan of a Fact by John Degoda Hell if We Don't Change Our Ways by Brittany Means   Brooke Champagne is the author of Nola Face: A Latina's Life in the Big Easy, published with the Crux Series in Literary Nonfiction at the University of Georgia Press. Nola Face has received starred reviews from Kirkus and Independent Book Review. Champagne's work has been selected as Notable in several editions of the Best American Essays anthology series, and she is the recipient of the 2023-2024 Alabama State Council on the Arts Literary Fellowship in Prose. She lives with her husband and children in Tuscaloosa, where she is Assistant Professor of Creative Writing in the MFA Program at the University of Alabama.   Connect with Brooke: Website: https://www.brookechampagne.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BuggyGirl Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/champagne_brooke/ x: https://x.com/brchampagne Get Nola Face: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820366531/nola-face/   – Ronit's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer's Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts' 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories. She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com   Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Newsletter sign-up: https://ronitplank.com/#signup   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll's Fingers

CHRISTINE BOYER chats to Paul about her noir crime debut Black Maria, the American dream, honing style, short story v novel, psychogeography, regional fiction.BLACK MARIA: Business magnate Thomas Farney and Detective Felix Kosmatka both want the same thing: to catch the monster who brutally murdered Farney's young grandson.Thomas, brutal and savvy, didn't become wealthy by playing by the rules or kowtowing to authority. Felix, smart but green, still believes in the integrity of law and order...and he believes solving this case may be his ticket out of his dying hometown.Felix must team up with seasoned detective Adam Shaffer to hunt the killer. Their investigation leads them into the past-when Thomas and his coal company owned the town, and when the riches beneath the surface belonged to anyone ruthless enough to claim them. Thomas made a multitude of enemies in those lawless days, and perhaps a few followed him into the present to exact their revenge.Set in the Pennsylvania Rust Belt in the 1970's, Felix's faith in his institutions is shaken when the killer reveals a difficult truth: the rich and powerful rarely pay for their own sins, and vengeance can sometimes look uncomfortably like justice.Christine Boyer's writing has been honored in both the Best American Mystery and Suspense anthology (Distinguished Mystery and Suspense of 2022) and the Best American Essays anthology (Notable Essays of 2020). Her work has been published in numerous anthologies and literary journals, including Jacked: A Crime Fiction Anthology, Weren't Another Other Way to Be: Outlaw Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Waylon Jennings, FOLIO, Little Patuxent Review, and Tahoma Literary Review. Black Maria is her first novel. Originally from Pennsylvania, Christine now lives in Massachusetts.Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2024. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out in late 2025.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeProduced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023& Newcastle Noir 20232024 Slaughterfest, National Crime Reading Month, CWA Daggers

A new 'Craftwork' episode about the art of literary collage. My guest is David Shields, author of How We Got Here: Melville Plus Nietzsche Divided by the Square Root of (Allan) Bloom Times Zizek (Squared) Equals Bannon and A Christian Existentialist and a Psychoanalytic Atheist Walk Into a Trump Rally, both of which are available from Sublation Media. Shields also wrote and directed a documentary film called How We Got Here, based on his book and available now on Prime and other platforms. ***Note: Here is a list of some of David's favorite works of literary collage. Shields is the internationally bestselling author of twenty-five books, including Reality Hunger (which, in 2020, Lit Hub named one of the most important books of the past decade), The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead (New York Timesbestseller), Black Planet: Facing Race During an NBA Season (finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and PEN USA Award), Remote: Reflections on Life in the Shadow of Celebrity (PEN/Revson Award), and Other People: Takes & Mistakes (NYTBR Editors' Choice). The Very Last Interview was published by New York Review Books in 2022. The recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, two NEA fellowships, and a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship, Shields--a senior contributing editor of Conjunctions--has published essays and stories in New York Times Magazine, Harper's, Esquire, Yale Review, Salon, Slate, Tin House, A Public Space, McSweeney's, Believer, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Best American Essays. His work has been translated into two dozen languages. The film adaptation of I Think You're Totally Wrong: A Quarrel, which Shields co-wrote and co-stars in, was released in 2017 and is now available as a DVD on Prime Video. Shields wrote, produced, and directed Lynch: A History, a 2019 documentary about Marshawn Lynch's use of silence, echo, and mimicry as key tools of resistance (streaming on Prime, Peacock, AMC, Sundance, Apple, and many other platforms). I'll Show You Mine, a feature film that Shields co-wrote and was produced by Mark and Jay Duplass, was released in 2023 and is now available on Prime and several other platforms. A new film, How We Got Here, which Shields wrote and directed and which argues that Melville plus Nietzsche divided by the square root of (Allan) Bloom times Zizek (squared) equals Bannon, is streaming now on Prime and several other platforms; the companion volume is forthcoming in September 2024. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch Twitter Instagram  TikTok Bluesky Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ready to read this collection for yourself? ➡️ https://bookshop.org/a/81838/9781952177798 In this episode, we interview the editor of It Came From The Closet, a collection of essays blending LGBTQ+ experiences with horror. We discuss the inspiration behind focusing on queer stories in the genre, how essays were selected, and the recurring themes throughout the collection. The editor shares insights on amplifying diverse LGBTQ+ voices in horror, why the genre resonates with queer communities, and the impact he hopes the collection will have on discussions around representation. Want access to every episode early, ad-free content, and access to our discord server? Join our Community ➡️ https://www.patreon.com/ClosetedHistory

In her stunning debut short story collection, The Goodbye Process (Zibby Books, 2024), Mary Jones uses her distinctive voice to examine the painful and sometimes surreal ways we say goodbye. The stories--which range from tender and heartbreaking to unsettling and darkly funny--will push you out of your comfort zone and ignite intense emotions surrounding love and loss. A woman camps out on the porch of an ex-lover who has barricaded himself inside the house; a preteen girl caught shoplifting finds herself in grave danger; a Los Angeles real estate agent falls for a woman who helps him detach from years of dramatic plastic surgery; a man hires a professional mourner to ensure his wife's funeral is a success. Again and again, Jones's characters find themselves facing the ends of things: relationships, health, and innocence. Arresting, original, and beautifully rendered, this story collection packs a punch, just the way grief does―knocking us off our feet. Mary Jones's work has appeared in Electric Literature's Recommend Reading, Subtropics, EPOCH, and The Best American Essays, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. The Goodbye Process is a national bestseller. Originally from Upstate New York, she lives in Los Angeles. Recommended Books: Miranda July, All Fours Taylor Koekkoek, Thrillville USA Ling Ma, Bliss Montage Claire Keagan, Small Things Like These  Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro Against World Literature, is forthcoming with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her stunning debut short story collection, The Goodbye Process (Zibby Books, 2024), Mary Jones uses her distinctive voice to examine the painful and sometimes surreal ways we say goodbye. The stories--which range from tender and heartbreaking to unsettling and darkly funny--will push you out of your comfort zone and ignite intense emotions surrounding love and loss. A woman camps out on the porch of an ex-lover who has barricaded himself inside the house; a preteen girl caught shoplifting finds herself in grave danger; a Los Angeles real estate agent falls for a woman who helps him detach from years of dramatic plastic surgery; a man hires a professional mourner to ensure his wife's funeral is a success. Again and again, Jones's characters find themselves facing the ends of things: relationships, health, and innocence. Arresting, original, and beautifully rendered, this story collection packs a punch, just the way grief does―knocking us off our feet. Mary Jones's work has appeared in Electric Literature's Recommend Reading, Subtropics, EPOCH, and The Best American Essays, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. The Goodbye Process is a national bestseller. Originally from Upstate New York, she lives in Los Angeles. Recommended Books: Miranda July, All Fours Taylor Koekkoek, Thrillville USA Ling Ma, Bliss Montage Claire Keagan, Small Things Like These  Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro Against World Literature, is forthcoming with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In her stunning debut short story collection, The Goodbye Process (Zibby Books, 2024), Mary Jones uses her distinctive voice to examine the painful and sometimes surreal ways we say goodbye. The stories--which range from tender and heartbreaking to unsettling and darkly funny--will push you out of your comfort zone and ignite intense emotions surrounding love and loss. A woman camps out on the porch of an ex-lover who has barricaded himself inside the house; a preteen girl caught shoplifting finds herself in grave danger; a Los Angeles real estate agent falls for a woman who helps him detach from years of dramatic plastic surgery; a man hires a professional mourner to ensure his wife's funeral is a success. Again and again, Jones's characters find themselves facing the ends of things: relationships, health, and innocence. Arresting, original, and beautifully rendered, this story collection packs a punch, just the way grief does―knocking us off our feet. Mary Jones's work has appeared in Electric Literature's Recommend Reading, Subtropics, EPOCH, and The Best American Essays, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. The Goodbye Process is a national bestseller. Originally from Upstate New York, she lives in Los Angeles. Recommended Books: Miranda July, All Fours Taylor Koekkoek, Thrillville USA Ling Ma, Bliss Montage Claire Keagan, Small Things Like These  Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro Against World Literature, is forthcoming with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

Bill revisits his conversation with Andre Dubus last year after his release of Such Kindness.Andre Dubus III's nine books include the New York Times' bestsellers House of Sand and Fog, The Garden of Last Days, and his memoir, Townie, a #4 New York Times bestseller and a New York Times "Editors Choice". His work has been included in The Best American Essays and The Best Spiritual Writing anthologies, and his novel, House of Sand and Fog was a finalist for the National Book Award, a #1 New York Times Bestseller, and was made into an Academy Award-nominated film starring Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly. His 2013 novella collection, Dirty Love, was listed as a “Notable Book” by The Washington Post and The New York Times, and was named a New York Times Editors' Choice” and a Kirkus “Starred Best Book of 2013”.  His 2018 novel, Gone So Long, was named on many “Best Books” lists, including selection for The Boston Globe's “Twenty Best Books of 2018” and “The Best Books of 2018, Top 100”, Amazon. His most recent novel, Such Kindness, was one of Amazon's “The Best Books of 2023, Top 100”. His acclaimed collection of personal essays, Ghost Dog: On Killers and Kin, was published in March 2024. He is also the editor of Reaching Inside: 50 Acclaimed Authors on 100 Unforgettable Short Stories, 

The stories–which range from unsettling and heartbreaking to quirky and tender—are connected by a central theme of the intensity of loss and letting go; they pack a punch, just the way grief does—knocking us off our feet. This breathtaking debut has been met with incredible early praise, with a starred Library Journal review noting, "Short story fans might just discover their new favorite author in this arresting collection, a must-have.” Mary Jones's stories and essays have appeared in many journals including Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, Subtropics, EPOCH, Alaska Quarterly Review, Columbia Journal, The Hopkins Review, Gay Mag, The Normal School, Epiphany, Santa Monica Review, Brevity and elsewhere. The recipient of a summer prose fellowship from The University of Arizona Poetry Center, her work has been cited as notable in The Best American Essays and appeared in The Best Microfiction 2022. She holds an MFA from Bennington College and teaches fiction writing at UCLA Extension. Originally from Upstate New York, she lives in Los Angeles.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-unplugged-totally-uncut--994165/support.

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Jason McCall interviews Brooke Champagne.Brooke Champagne is the author of Nola Face:  A Latina's Life in the Big Easy.  Her writing appears widely in literary journals and has received various awards, including the inaugural William Bradley Prize for the Essay for her work “Exercises.”  Her essays have been selected as Notables in several editions of Best American Essays.  She is the recipient of the 2023-2024 Alabama State Council on the Arts Literary Fellowship in Prose. She lives with her husband and children in Tuscaloosa, where she is an Assistant Professor of English in the MFA Program in creative writing at the University of Alabama.Jason McCall is the author of the essay collection Razed by TV Sets (Autofocus, 2024) and the poetry collections What Shot Did You Ever Take (co-written with Brian Oliu); A Man Ain't Nothin'; Two-Face God; Mother, Less Child (co-winner of the 2013 Paper Nautilus Vella Chapbook Prize); Dear Hero, (winner of the 2012 Marsh Hawk Press Poetry Prize and co-winner of the 2013 Etchings Press Whirling Prize); I Can Explain; and Silver. He and P.J. Williams are the editors of It Was Written: Poetry Inspired by Hip-Hop. He holds an MFA from the University of Miami. He is a native of Montgomery, Alabama, and he currently teaches at the University of North Alabama.____________Conversation topics include:-- finding time-- 20+ years of teaching-- reading turning into writing-- Nola Face: A Latina's Life in the Big Easy-- trying to quit writing-- putting together an essay collection-- time's role in craft-- approaching the page in different stages of life-- sports and new projects_______________Podcast theme music  by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex and Culdesac. Here's his music project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.

I remember when I was a kid that we'd sometime encounter people who just seemed to go off for no reason, and my mama would lean in an tell us, "That one woke up with hell in 'em this morning!" These many years later, I think of what she said because it seems a whole lot of people are waking up that way. The social graces we once took for granted in terms of how we treat other have fallen away and been replaced with an anger and argumentativeness that's always on. How'd this happen and what, if anything, can we do about it? Well, that's what we're getting after today in my conversation with Jeannette, who spent a decade as an investigative reporter, then another as staff writer for a city magazine, winning multiple national awards. She is now a staff writer for The Common Reader, a journal of the essay, and her work has twice been cited in Jeannette spent a decade as an investigative reporter, then another as staff writer for a city magazine, winning multiple national awards. She is now a staff writer for The Common Reader, a journal of the essay, and her work has twice been cited in Best American Essays. She majored in philosophy and has a doctorate in American studies. She majored in philosophy and has a doctorate in American studies.

Today's episode features my interview with Jennifer Lang. Her memoir, Places We Left Behind, is a marvel of brevity and form. It's the story of how one woman, a hybrid of American-French-Israeli identities, navigates cultural and religious differences with her husband over the course of three decades, as her family searches for what it means to find a sense of home.In our interview, Jennifer shares how she transformed a “long-winded, boring, and flat” 90,000-word draft into a concise and sharp 14,000-word memoir told through a fragmented structure—what she's calling a “memoir-in-miniature.” She also addresses the critical feedback from a developmental editor, which helped her uncover an innovative structure.Finally, we talk about writing about other”: the emotional and creative negotiations involved in writing about her husband and their marriage, revealing how this process has both challenged and strengthened their relationship.----------------------"I had a very traditional manuscript of over 90,000 words when all was said and done. And it was really long-winded and boring and flat, and I hated it…I hired a developmental editor who gave me a lot of feedback. And one of the last things she said was, put it away for a while. Just let all of this sink in. And I think that was the best advice she gave me."----------------------KEY TAKEAWAYS* Transformation Through Editing: Jennifer Lang's journey from a 90,000-word manuscript to a 14,000-word concise and effective memoir underscores the fact that it can take time to figure out to figure out your story, and that brevity can be a crucial factor to remember.* Cultural Identity and Belonging: The memoir reflects Jennifer's complex relationship with her Jewish identity and her experiences living in California, France, and Israel.* Marriage and Memoir Writing: Writing about others is one of the most fraught areas of memoir for a reason. And writing about intimate relationships requires especially careful consideration. In Jennifer's case, it ended up unexpectedly strengthening the bond with her husband.* Innovative Structure & Form: The fragmented, playful structure of Jennifer's memoir, with elements like strike-throughs and “chapterettes” as she likes to call them, adds a unique layer of engagement and depth to her storytelling.* Literary Community Engagement: Jennifer's work with the Israel Writer Studio highlights the importance of community in a place with fewer English-language writers.----------------------"The level of pain, trauma, loss is so beyond. I don't know how we're going to get out of it." —about the impact of Oct 7, 2023 on the Israeli psyche----------------------NOTABLE QUOTES"I have been writing around it for years, if not decades. I have been writing about longing, belonging, culture, language, community, other, and home. In short, in long, in essay, in short, memoir, in flash. I just kept going around and around and finally had time to figure out how to get through it." (0:02:50)"I really feel like the story of me bouncing between cultures starts way back. Like kindergarten way back." (0:03:46)"I think that when we write long or when we write without any kind of constraint, we are lazy with our word choice. And so putting the constraint on makes a writer understand that every word counts." (0:21:16)"If you're going to reveal a character's underbelly, you have to reveal your own. If you're going to fault a character for their flaw, you have to do the same for yourself." (0:24:01)"I think I did anything but make him a villain. I think in the end, it's like a love letter." (0:24:41)ABOUT TODAY'S GUESTJennifer Lang was born in the San Francisco Bay Area, lives in Tel Aviv, and runs Israel Writers Studio. Her essays have appeared in the Baltimore Review, Crab Orchard Review, Under the Sun, Ascent, Consequence, and elsewhere. A Pushcart Prize and Best American Essays nominee, she holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and serve as Assistant Editor for Brevity.She is the author of the memoir Places We Left Behind. Her forthcoming memoir Landed: A Yogi's Memoir in Pieces and Poses, will be published by Vine Leaves Press in October 2024. Building off themes explored in her first memoir, Landed spans seven years (and then some), each punctuated with chakra wisdom from nationally-acclaimed Rodney Yee, her first teacher.LINKS* Jennifer Lang at the Israel Writer Studio* Places We Left Behind: A Memoir-in-Miniature* Landed: A Yogi's Memoir in Pieces and Poses (October 15)* “From Writer to Publicist: An Unexpected Pivot,” Brevity, March 15, 2023.CREDITSThis episode was produced by Magpie Audio Productions. Theme music  is "The Stone Mansion" by BlueDot Productions. Get full access to The Book I Want to Write at bookiwanttowrite.substack.com/subscribe

Yael van der Wouden is a writer and teacher. She currently lectures in creative writing and comparative literature in the Netherlands. Her essay on Dutch identity and Jewishness, "On (Not) Reading Anne Frank", has received a notable mention in The Best American Essays 2018. On this episode of Little Atoms she talks to Neil Denny about her debut novel The Safekeep. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Jeremiah Sullivan is a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine and has written for Harper's, The New Yorker, and GQ. He is the author of Pulphead and the forthcoming The Prime Minister of Paradise: The True Story of a Lost American History. “I love making pieces of writing and trying to find the right language to say what I mean. It's such a wonderful way of being alive in the world. I mean, your material is all around you. ... I'm lucky that it has stayed interesting for me. It hasn't faded. The challenges of writing, they still glow.” Show notes: Sullivan on Longform Sullivan's GQ archive Sullivan's New York Times Magazine archive 10:00 “Uhtceare” (Paris Review • May 2021) 28:00 Pulphead (FSG Originals • 2011) 30:00 The Best American Essays 2014 (Mariner Books • 2014) 30:00 “The Ill-Defined Plot” (New Yorker • Oct 2014) 50:00 “Man Called Fran” (Harper's • Sept 2023) 50:00 “The Final Comeback of Axl Rose” (GQ • Aug 2006) 50:00 “Upon This Rock” (GQ • Jan 2004) 50:00 “Peyton's Place” (GQ • Oct 2011) 50:00 “Leaving Reality” (GQ • Oct 2011) 54:00 “Pulp Fever” (Daniel Riley • GQ • Nov 2011) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, live from Exile in Bookville in Chicago, Shze-Hui Tjoa discusses her debut memoir, The Story Game, as well as excavating her childhood from buried trauma, crafting her sister into a listener character in the book, pushing past profound dissatisfaction, the submission process, making space for being corny, and more! Plus audience questions! Shze-Hui Tjoa is a writer from Singapore who lives in the UK. Her debut, The Story Game (Tin House Books, 2024), is a genre-bending memoir about using storytelling to overcome the memory lapses of c-PTSD and recover personal identity.  Shze-Hui writes about and beyond herself - and is particularly interested in creative nonfiction that challenges formal conventions to speak the deepest possible truth to power. She has upcoming interviews or features in BOMB Magazine, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, The Millions, Poets & Writers magazine, Between the Covers podcast, and elsewhere. Her work has been listed as notable in three successive issues of The Best American Essays (2021-23).  Shze-Hui is currently a nonfiction editor at Sundog Lit, where she works to uplift writers from different backgrounds and bring them into conversation. Her career has received support from the Tin House Summer Workshop (USA), Ceriph Mentorship Programme (Singapore), Disquiet International (Portugal), and VONA Voices (USA), among other organizations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's flashback, an outtake from Episode 774, my conversation with Kathryn Miles. It first aired on May 25, 2022. Miles is an award-winning journalist and science writer. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Saint Louis University and took both her Master of Arts and Doctorate in English from the University of Delaware. The long-time editor of Hawk & Handsaw, Miles served as professor of environmental studies and writing at Unity College from 2001-2015 and has since taught in several graduate schools and low residency-MFA programs. Miles is the author of five books: Adventures with Ari, All Standing, Superstorm, Quakeland, and Trailed: One Woman's Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders. Her essays and articles have appeared in publications including Audubon, Best American Essays, The Boston Globe, Down East, Ecotone, History, National Geographic, The New York Times, Outside, Pacific Standard, Politico, Popular Mechanics, and Time. She currently serves as a scholar-in-residence for the Maine Humanities Council, a visiting professor at Colby College, and a member of the Eastern Oregon University MFA faculty. She is also a private consultant available for emerging and established writers. Kathryn lives in Portland, Maine. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch @otherppl Instagram  TikTok Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, Debbie talks with Sarah Fay, an award-winning author, writing teacher, and keynote speaker whose work has been featured in and on NPR, Oprah Daily, Forbes, The Los Angeles Times, and more. Her journalistic memoir Pathological: The True Story of Six Misdiagnoses (HarperCollins, 2022) was an Apple Best Books pick and was hailed in The New York Times as a “fiery manifesto of a memoir.” Her sequel memoir, called Cured, tells the story of Sarah's full recovery from serious mental illness and how recovery is possible for everyone. You can find it on her Substack as an exclusive publication.She writes for many publications, including The New York Times, The Atlantic, Time, and The Paris Review, where she was an advisory editor. Her essays have been chosen as a Notable Mention in Best American Essays and nominated for Pushcart Prizes. As a teacher, she's on the faculty at Northwestern University and runs Writers at Work, a weekly publication, along with workshops, to help writers produce their best work on Substack and get paid (very) well to do it. Her master plan is to make Substack the literary center of the universe. Today, Debbie and Sarah talk about the parallels between her work as an author, her journey from misdiagnosis to recovery from serious mental illness and her work as a teacher for Substack writers. They touch on emotional literacy, the prerequisites for healing from mental illness, how to deal with anxieties as writers, what Substack is and who it is for and what Sarah loves the most about helping writers.  //////////Don't miss the Behind The Scenes for every episode in Debbie's [B]OLD AGE newsletter. ////////// Mentioned in this episode or useful:Pathological: The True Story of Six Misdiagnoses by Sarah Fay (‎HarperOne, 2022)Cured - The Memoir, serialized on SubstackSarah Fay on NPR - Best Of: Diagnosing Mental Health and 'A Molecule Away from Madness' and Without a biological basis, how reliably can we diagnose and treat mental illness? Community of Substack Writers run by Sarah: Substack Writers at WorkSarah's website: https://sarahfay.org/Thomas Insel, MD, former director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and author of Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health (Penguin Press, 2022) where he mentions the 3 Ps Sarah talks about on this episode. Connect with Debbie:debbieweil.com[B]OLD AGE podcast[B]OLD AGE newsletter on SubstackEmail: thebolderpodcast@gmail.comDebbie and Sam's blog: Gap Year After SixtyInstagram: @debbieweilLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/debbieweil Our Media Partners:CoGenerate (formerly Encore.org)MEA and with thanks to Chip ConleyNext For Me (former media partner and in memory of Jeff Tidwell) How to Support this podcast:Leave a review on Apple PodcastsSubscribe Credits:Host: Debbie WeilProducer: Far Out MediaMusic: Lakeside Path by Duck Lake

In today's flashback, an outtake from Episode 377, my conversation with author Karolina Waclawiak. The episode first aired on August 26, 2015. Waclawiak  is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Life Events, The Invaders, and How to Get Into the Twin Palms. She was most recently the Editor in Chief of Pulitzer Prize-winning BuzzFeed News. Previously, she was the Executive Editor of Culture for BuzzFeed News and Deputy Editor of The Believer magazine. Work she has edited has been nominated for two National Magazine Awards, received a number of prestigious awards, and been selected for the Best American Essays anthology series.  Karolina received her BFA in Screenwriting from USC and her MFA in Fiction from Columbia University. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, VQR, the Believer, Hazlitt, and other publications.   *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch @otherppl Instagram  TikTok Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kathleen Dorothy Blackburn joins Let's Talk Memoir for a conversation about listening to and putting our younger selves on the page, recognizing family codes we can no longer adhere to, place as a character in memoir, writing like nobody will ever see our work, how shame and pain can manifest as silence, sharing with readers what we may not be able to reveal to loved ones, the contracts we enter as writers of memoir, creating intimacy on the page, and her new memoir Loose of Earth.   Also mentioned in this episode:  -the toll of forever chemicals on our bodies and homes -incorporating environmental elements -managing our grief   Books mentioned in this episode: -Mil Town by Kerrie Arsenault -Full Body Burden by Kristen Iverson -The Yellow House by Sarah Broom -Ground Glass by Karen Savage   Kathleen Dorothy Blackburn teaches in the University of Chicago Creative Writing Program. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee whose work has appeared in Colorado Review, Guernica, Gulf Coast, Pleiades, and swamp pink, and was listed as notable in Best American Essays.   Connect with Kathleen: Website: https://www.kdblackburn.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thequietwildlife/ Get her book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/loose-of-earth-a-memoir-kathleen-dorothy-blackburn/20690152 — Ronit's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer's Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts' 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories. She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com   Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll's Fingers

What can reading teach us about loss, healing, and survival? How can we transform anger into empathy? What can we learn from the creative act about turning personal setbacks into opportunities for self-discovery and growth?Andre Dubus III's nine books include the New York Times' bestsellers House of Sand and Fog, The Garden of Last Days, and his memoir, Townie. His work has been included in The Best American Essays and The Best Spiritual Writing anthologies. His novel, House of Sand and Fog was a finalist for the National Book Award and was made into an Academy Award-nominated film starring Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly. His most recent books are the novel, Such Kindness and a collection of personal essays, Ghost Dogs: On Killers and Kin. Dubus has been a finalist for the National Book Award, and has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, The National Magazine Award for Fiction, two Pushcart Prizes, and is a recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature. His books are published in over twenty-five languages, and he teaches at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. "If you want to check in and get some clarity on what you believe, I tell people, well, just write something really honest and emotionally naked and read it back to yourself, and you'll see a lot of what you believe, think, fear, regret, desire, et cetera.We always reveal ourselves in our work. The truth is, I identify far more with those on the outside than on the inside. And even though from the outside it looks like I'm on the inside – you know, I'm a successful author, professor, white, privileged, educated, straight male from the United States – you can't get more privileged than that in a patriarchal, misogynistic, racist society. But I don't identify with those people. And I don't know if it's because of my youth or just how I am in the world. When you read that passage from Ghost Dogs back to me about my hatred of all those things. That hatred for those kinds of injustices has never left me. In fact, they've just grown sharper."www.andredubus.comwww.andredubus.com/ghost-dogswww.andredubus.com/house-of-sand-and-fogwww.andredubus.com/such-kindnesswww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.orgIG www.instagram.com/creativeprocesspodcast

"If you want to check in and get some clarity on what you believe, I tell people, well, just write something really honest and emotionally naked and read it back to yourself, and you'll see a lot of what you believe, think, fear, regret, desire, etc.We always reveal ourselves in our work. The truth is, I identify far more with those on the outside than on the inside. And even though from the outside it looks like I'm on the inside – you know, I'm a successful author, professor, white, privileged, educated, straight male from the United States – you can't get more privileged than that in a patriarchal, misogynistic, racist society. But I don't identify with those people. And I don't know if it's because of my youth or just how I am in the world. When you read that passage from Ghost Dogs back to me about my hatred of all those things. That hatred for those kinds of injustices has never left me. In fact, they've just grown sharper."Andre Dubus III's nine books include the New York Times' bestsellers House of Sand and Fog, The Garden of Last Days, and his memoir, Townie. His work has been included in The Best American Essays and The Best Spiritual Writing anthologies. His novel, House of Sand and Fog was a finalist for the National Book Award and was made into an Academy Award-nominated film starring Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly. His most recent books are the novel, Such Kindness and a collection of personal essays, Ghost Dogs: On Killers and Kin. Dubus has been a finalist for the National Book Award, and has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, The National Magazine Award for Fiction, two Pushcart Prizes, and is a recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature. His books are published in over twenty-five languages, and he teaches at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. www.andredubus.comwww.andredubus.com/ghost-dogswww.andredubus.com/house-of-sand-and-fogwww.andredubus.com/such-kindnesswww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.orgIG www.instagram.com/creativeprocesspodcast