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Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980s, Jane Kim and her brother, Kevin, dutifully embodied the model minority myth as their parents demanded: both stellar tennis players and academically gifted, they worked hard to make their parents proud. Jane went on to law school. Kevin came close to becoming a professional tennis player. But where they started is nowhere near where they have ended up: Jane has stopped going to her law school classes, and Kevin, now a policeman, has become increasingly distant. Their parents, each on their own path toward the elusive American Dream (their mother hell-bent on having the perfect house and the perfect family, their father obsessed with working his way up from one successful business to the next), don't want to see the family unraveling. When Kevin goes missing, no one recognizes his absence as the warning sign it is until it erupts, forcing them all to come to terms with their past and present selves in a country that isn't all it promised it would be. Both deeply serious and wickedly funny, American Han (Algonquin Books, 2026) is a profound story about striving and assimilation, difficult love, and family fidelity. A searing portrait that challenges assumptions about the immigrant experience, Lisa Lee's debut introduces a powerful new voice on the literary landscape. Lee is the recipient of the Marianne Russo Emerging Writer Award from the Key West Literary Seminar, an Emerging Writer Fellowship from the Center for Fiction, and a Pushcart Prize. She has received additional fellowships and awards from Kundiman, Millay Arts, Hedgebrook, the Rona Jaffe Foundation, Tin House, Jentel Artist Residency, the Korea Foundation, and others. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, North American Review, Sycamore Review, Gulf Coast, Tusculum Review, Reed Magazine, New World Writing, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from the University of Houston and a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Southern California. She lives in Los Angeles and grew up in Napa, California. Recommended Books: Giada Scodellaro, Ruins, Child Morgan Day, The Oldest Bitch Alive Elaine H. Kim, “Home is Where the Han Is” Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro Against World Literature, is published 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
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980s, Jane Kim and her brother, Kevin, dutifully embodied the model minority myth as their parents demanded: both stellar tennis players and academically gifted, they worked hard to make their parents proud. Jane went on to law school. Kevin came close to becoming a professional tennis player. But where they started is nowhere near where they have ended up: Jane has stopped going to her law school classes, and Kevin, now a policeman, has become increasingly distant. Their parents, each on their own path toward the elusive American Dream (their mother hell-bent on having the perfect house and the perfect family, their father obsessed with working his way up from one successful business to the next), don't want to see the family unraveling. When Kevin goes missing, no one recognizes his absence as the warning sign it is until it erupts, forcing them all to come to terms with their past and present selves in a country that isn't all it promised it would be. Both deeply serious and wickedly funny, American Han (Algonquin Books, 2026) is a profound story about striving and assimilation, difficult love, and family fidelity. A searing portrait that challenges assumptions about the immigrant experience, Lisa Lee's debut introduces a powerful new voice on the literary landscape. Lee is the recipient of the Marianne Russo Emerging Writer Award from the Key West Literary Seminar, an Emerging Writer Fellowship from the Center for Fiction, and a Pushcart Prize. She has received additional fellowships and awards from Kundiman, Millay Arts, Hedgebrook, the Rona Jaffe Foundation, Tin House, Jentel Artist Residency, the Korea Foundation, and others. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, North American Review, Sycamore Review, Gulf Coast, Tusculum Review, Reed Magazine, New World Writing, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from the University of Houston and a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Southern California. She lives in Los Angeles and grew up in Napa, California. Recommended Books: Giada Scodellaro, Ruins, Child Morgan Day, The Oldest Bitch Alive Elaine H. Kim, “Home is Where the Han Is” Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro Against World Literature, is published 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
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980s, Jane Kim and her brother, Kevin, dutifully embodied the model minority myth as their parents demanded: both stellar tennis players and academically gifted, they worked hard to make their parents proud. Jane went on to law school. Kevin came close to becoming a professional tennis player. But where they started is nowhere near where they have ended up: Jane has stopped going to her law school classes, and Kevin, now a policeman, has become increasingly distant. Their parents, each on their own path toward the elusive American Dream (their mother hell-bent on having the perfect house and the perfect family, their father obsessed with working his way up from one successful business to the next), don't want to see the family unraveling. When Kevin goes missing, no one recognizes his absence as the warning sign it is until it erupts, forcing them all to come to terms with their past and present selves in a country that isn't all it promised it would be. Both deeply serious and wickedly funny, American Han (Algonquin Books, 2026) is a profound story about striving and assimilation, difficult love, and family fidelity. A searing portrait that challenges assumptions about the immigrant experience, Lisa Lee's debut introduces a powerful new voice on the literary landscape. Lee is the recipient of the Marianne Russo Emerging Writer Award from the Key West Literary Seminar, an Emerging Writer Fellowship from the Center for Fiction, and a Pushcart Prize. She has received additional fellowships and awards from Kundiman, Millay Arts, Hedgebrook, the Rona Jaffe Foundation, Tin House, Jentel Artist Residency, the Korea Foundation, and others. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, North American Review, Sycamore Review, Gulf Coast, Tusculum Review, Reed Magazine, New World Writing, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from the University of Houston and a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Southern California. She lives in Los Angeles and grew up in Napa, California. Recommended Books: Giada Scodellaro, Ruins, Child Morgan Day, The Oldest Bitch Alive Elaine H. Kim, “Home is Where the Han Is” Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro Against World Literature, is published 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
In this episode of What Are You Reading?, host Jason Blitman sits down with Lisa Lee to talk about the books that shaped and sustained her through the decade-long journey to her debut novel, American Han.Lisa Lee is the recipient of the Marianne Russo Emerging Writer Award from the Key West Literary Seminar, an Emerging Writer Fellowship from the Center for Fiction, and a Pushcart Prize. She has received other fellowships and awards from Kundiman, Millay Arts, Hedgebrook, the Rona Jaffe Foundation, Tin House, Jentel Artist Residency, and the Korea Foundation. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, VIDA, North American Review, Sycamore Review, Gulf Coast, and elsewhere. Lee holds an MFA from the University of Houston and a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Southern California. She lives in Los Angeles.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! hello@gaysreading.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Notes and Links to Lisa Lee's Work Lisa Lee is the recipient of the Marianne Russo Emerging Writer Award from the Key West Literary Seminar, an Emerging Writer Fellowship from the Center for Fiction, and a Pushcart Prize. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, North American Review, Sycamore Review, and elsewhere. Her essay on racial invisibility and erasure in the writing workshop was featured on Bitch Media's feminism & pop culture podcast Popaganda, on the episode “Writing About Race.” Today, March 31, is Pub Day for her novel, American Han. Buy American Han Lisa Lee's Website Review of American Han from Kirkus Reviews At about 1:40, Lisa discusses the exhaustion and excitement that comes with Pub Day and the book's unveiling At about 4:45, Lisa gives info on publishing and buying her book At about 5:40, Lisa and Pete shout out meaningful writers in her life and talk about her book events coming up At about 6:15, Lisa responds to Pete's question about her language and reading life in childhood and into young adulthood At about 9:00, Lisa cites Housekeeping by Robinson and Everett's Erasure as changing her perceptions of what writers At about 10:30, Lisa expands upon the greatness of Percival Evertett, homing in on Erasure At about 13:20, Pete reads a generic definition of han and compares it to a word like saudade that is virtually untranslatable At about 14L15, Lisa responds to Pete's questions about the meaning(s) of han At about 16:00, Pete sets the book's exposition, and Lisa expands on the narrator Jane's mindset at the beginning of American Han At about 20:45, The two discuss the competitiveness within the family and expectations of Jane's mother At about 21:45, Lisa responds to Pete asking about the quote that Jane has succeeded “despite” her mother, not “because of” her mother At about 25:15, Pete cites the Korean folk tale of Chun in talking about parental-child relationships and sibling relationships At about 26:05, Lisa responds to Pete's question about empathy/sympathy for her characters At about 29:05, Lisa reflects on Pete's wondering about han and intergenerational traumas in the book, and expands upon differences in han's impact in contemporary Korea and among members of the Korean diaspora At about 33:30, Pete highlights a memorable scene that At about 34:05, Pete riffs on the "manosphere" and connections to Kevin, the narrator's sister, and his misogyny; Lisa speaks on Kevin's background and sense of han and sense of gender identity At about 40:15, Lisa and Pete discuss the book's timing and pacing and flashbacks At about 42:40, Pete highlights an important and well-drawn scene about an alternate way of being mother and daughter At about 43:55, Lisa expands on a Korean custom of associating parents with their children through different forms of address At about 45:40, The two reflect on children as the parents' “identity” At about 46:40, Pete points out the independence of the mother and father at a point in the book where Kevin's horrific act shakes up the family At about 47:35, The two discuss the importance of a family vacation and ideas of “let[ting] the lid off” At about 48:10, Pete asks Lisa about ending the book as she does, with a flashback, and with the tone that she uses 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 Jeff Pearlman, a recent guest, is up now 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, DIY podcast and extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content! This month's Patreon bonus episode features an exploration of formative and transformative writing for children, as Pete surveys wonderful writers on their own influences. 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 335 with Toni Ann Johnson, who won the 2024 Screen Door Press Prize for Fiction with her linked collection, BUT WHERE'S HOME? (UPK 2026). In 2021, she won the Flannery O'Connor Award for her linked short story collection LIGHT SKIN GONE TO WASTE (UGA Press 2022). The collection was shortlisted for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, and also shortlisted for the Saroyan Prize. A novella, HOMEGOING, won Accents Publishing's inaugural novella contest in 2020 and was released in May of 2021. She is also a screenwriter with a number of produced projects to her credit including, Ruby Bridges (ABC), Crown Heights (Showtime), The Courage to Love (Lifetime) the TV pilot, Save The Last Dance (Fox Television), and the feature film, Step Up 2: The Streets (Summit Entertainment). The episode airs March 31 or April 1. Please go to ceasefiretoday.org, and/or https://act.uscpr.org/a/letaidin to call your congresspeople and demand an end to the forced famine and destruction of Gaza and the Gazan people. You can also donate at chuffed.org, World Central Kitchen, and so many more, and/or you can contact writer friend Ursula Villarreal-Moura directly or through Pete, as she has direct links with friends in Gaza.
Notes and Links to Keith O'Brien's Work Keith O'Brien has written five books, won the PEN America award for best biography, and has contributed to multiple publications over the years. Keith's work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic, Rolling Stone, the Wall Street Journal, and on National Public Radio. His radio stories have aired on All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition, as well as Marketplace and This American Life. His latest gem is Heartland: A Forgotten Place, an Impossible Dream, and the Miracle of Larry Bird. Buy Heartland: A Forgotten Place, an Impossible Dream, and the Miracle of Larry Bird Keith O'Brien's Website Review for Heartland from The Wall Street Journal At about 1:50, Pete shouts out his brother as a huge Larry Bird fan At about 2:30, Keith talks about his book tour for the launch of Heartland and gives a summary of the book at about 4:40, Keith responds to Pete asking about the time period covered in the book and how he figured out his angle for the book at about 7:55, Keith talks about his attempts to talk to Larry Bird for the book at about 10:00, Pete sets the record straight grammatically, and Keith expands on Indiana State University President Dick Landini's persona at about 11:20, The two discuss the book's opening sequence, and Keith explains why he started the book where he did, with an Indiana State NIT loss and Larry Bird fracas at about 16:25, Keith talks about Larry Bird's treatment as "The Great White Hope" and the ways in which he was talked about and treated in the late 1970s at about 19:00, Larry Bird's childhood is discussed, including his father's military background, and Larry talks about his research and work to make Joey Bird "three-dimensional" at about 22:40, Keith gives background on the poverty and hardship in Larry Bird's upbringing at about 23:40, Dave Bliss, Bobby Knight, and Larry Bird's college recruitment are discussed at about 24:20, Keith recounts an amazing story involving Denny Crum and Larry Bird's recruitment at about 26:45, Larry's short time at Indiana University and Northwood Institute are highlighted at about 29:40, The two discuss important recruits for Indiana State to team up with Larry Bird, including Harry Morgan and his upbringing in a racist town/society at about 33:00, Larry responds to Pete's asking about the college basketball Magic Johnson/Larry Bird dynamic, and the racial dynamics and popularity of the NBA in the late 1970s at about 36:30, Keith gives background on the Celtics drafting Larry Bird after his junior year of college at about 37:10, Pete discusses the "glue guys" that Coach Hodges brought in to ISU for Larry's third year and the novelty of nationally-televised games at about 39:00, Keith reflects on the fact that while Magic Johnson is crucial to the book's events, he was at the time of the book's action, largely unknown to Larry, and vice versa at about 41:30, Keith responds to Pete's referring to the book's last section, a sort of "Where are they now?" by calling it his favorite section and how the players and connections to ISU were irrevocably-changed 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 Jeff Pearlman, a recent guest, is up now 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, DIY podcast and extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content! This month's Patreon bonus episode features an exploration of formative and transformative writing for children, as Pete surveys wonderful writers on their own influences. 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 334 with Lisa Lee. She is the recipient of the Marianne Russo Emerging Writer Award from the Key West Literary Seminar, an Emerging Writer Fellowship from the Center for Fiction, and a Pushcart Prize. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, North American Review, Sycamore Review, and elsewhere. Her essay on racial invisibility and erasure in the writing workshop was featured on Bitch Media's feminism & pop culture podcast Popaganda, on the episode “Writing About Race.” The episode airs on March 31, Pub Day for her novel American Han. Please go to ceasefiretoday.org, and/or https://act.uscpr.org/a/letaidin to call your congresspeople and demand an end to the forced famine and destruction of Gaza and the Gazan people. You can also donate at chuffed.org, World Central Kitchen, and so many more, and/or you can contact writer friend Ursula Villarreal-Moura directly or through Pete, as she has direct links with friends in Gaza.
Jeff VanderMeer is the author of the novel Absolution, available from MCD Books. It was the official November pick of the Otherppl Book Club. VanderMeer's New York Times-bestselling Southern Reach Trilogy has been translated into more than thirty-seven languages. The first novel, Annihilation, won the Nebula Award and the Shirley Jackson Award. His other books include Hummingbird Salamander, Dead Astronauts, Borne (in development as a TV series at AMC), and The Strange Bird. VanderMeer has lectured at MIT, Yale, Vanderbilt, and Columbia. Most recently, he gave the John Hersey Memorial Address at the Key West Literary Seminar. His Florida reporting has appeared in Current Affairs, Time, the Nation, and Esquire. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly 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
In Sara Johnson Allen's novel Down Here We Come Up (Black Lawrence Press 2023), Kate Jessup's mother lures her back home to North Carolina. Jackie Jessup is a con-artist, always working a scheme, always taking what she wanted, and she taught Kate to do the same. Now she's dying, and Kate is estranged and living far away in Boston. Kate, her mother, and a third woman, Maribel, have either alienated, given away, or otherwise lost their children. It's 2006, and Jackie has hatched a dubious plan for Kat to drive down to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, pretend she's the mother of Maribel's children, and sneak them back over the border into the states. Kate needs to figure out what's in it for her mother, because with Jackie Jessup, there's always a price to pay. This is a novel about class, inheritance, and flawed people making mistakes, taking risks, or trying to survive. Sara Johnson Allen was raised (mostly) in North Carolina. A recipient of the Marianne Russo Award for Emerging Writers by the Key West Literary Seminar, the Stockholm Writers Festival First Pages Prize, an artistic grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation, and MacDowell fellowships, her work has appeared in PANK Magazine, SmokeLong Quarterly, and Reckon Review, among others. She is finishing a second novel and starting a work of creative nonfiction, which is an exploration of cultural and political history through personal narrative, centering on her 17th century home in coastal Massachusetts. When she is not teaching or shuttling her three kids around, she writes about place and how it shapes us. 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 Sara Johnson Allen's novel Down Here We Come Up (Black Lawrence Press 2023), Kate Jessup's mother lures her back home to North Carolina. Jackie Jessup is a con-artist, always working a scheme, always taking what she wanted, and she taught Kate to do the same. Now she's dying, and Kate is estranged and living far away in Boston. Kate, her mother, and a third woman, Maribel, have either alienated, given away, or otherwise lost their children. It's 2006, and Jackie has hatched a dubious plan for Kat to drive down to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, pretend she's the mother of Maribel's children, and sneak them back over the border into the states. Kate needs to figure out what's in it for her mother, because with Jackie Jessup, there's always a price to pay. This is a novel about class, inheritance, and flawed people making mistakes, taking risks, or trying to survive. Sara Johnson Allen was raised (mostly) in North Carolina. A recipient of the Marianne Russo Award for Emerging Writers by the Key West Literary Seminar, the Stockholm Writers Festival First Pages Prize, an artistic grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation, and MacDowell fellowships, her work has appeared in PANK Magazine, SmokeLong Quarterly, and Reckon Review, among others. She is finishing a second novel and starting a work of creative nonfiction, which is an exploration of cultural and political history through personal narrative, centering on her 17th century home in coastal Massachusetts. When she is not teaching or shuttling her three kids around, she writes about place and how it shapes us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
Award-winning Florida columnist and novelist Carl Hiaasen joins Britt Myers and Mandy Miles on the latest episode of the Florida Keys Weekly Podcast. Following the release of his latest young-adult book, "Wrecker," which takes place in Key West, and just weeks before he joins the Key West Literary Seminar's panel of distinguished Florida writers, Hiaasen talks to us about his 30+ years covering South Florida and the Keys. He has exposed corruption, shamed elected officials and worked feverishly to protect our fragile ecosystems. And he's done it all with an acerbic wit and incomparable irreverence. Carl Hiaasen has covered everything in Florida from the '80s cocaine wars to today's culture wars and now he's in Key West with us recalling the best and worst of times. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Arlo Haskell is an author, historian and the executive director of the Key West Literary Seminar, which is happening from January 11 to the 14.
The characters in Nishanth Injam's The Best Possible Experience (Pantheon, 2023), his debut short story collection, are like many in India or in Indian communities in the United States: Working hard and enduring hardships to try to get a better life for themselves. They don't always succeed—and even those that do lose something along the way. That tension between hope and reality is at the core of many of Injam's stories, whether it's a recently migrated Indian family panicking that a white boy is coming to dinner, a college student trying and failing to get a visa, or a young son in Goa, increasingly frustrated with his tour bus driver father , prone to embellishment and exaggeration. Nishanth Injam received an MFA from the Helen Zell Writers' Program at the University of Michigan. He is the recipient of a PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize and a Cecelia Joyce Johnson Emerging Writer Award from the Key West Literary Seminar. His work has appeared in Zoetrope: All-Story, ZYZZYVA, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Georgia Review, Best Debut Short Stories 2021, and The Best American Magazine Writing 2022. Today, Nishanth and I talk about why he pivoted from tech to creative writing, how his stories relate to the Indian experience, and the trials of Indians and Indian-Americans trying to improve their lives. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of The Best Possible Experience. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an associate editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at@nickrigordon. 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
The characters in Nishanth Injam's The Best Possible Experience (Pantheon, 2023), his debut short story collection, are like many in India or in Indian communities in the United States: Working hard and enduring hardships to try to get a better life for themselves. They don't always succeed—and even those that do lose something along the way. That tension between hope and reality is at the core of many of Injam's stories, whether it's a recently migrated Indian family panicking that a white boy is coming to dinner, a college student trying and failing to get a visa, or a young son in Goa, increasingly frustrated with his tour bus driver father , prone to embellishment and exaggeration. Nishanth Injam received an MFA from the Helen Zell Writers' Program at the University of Michigan. He is the recipient of a PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize and a Cecelia Joyce Johnson Emerging Writer Award from the Key West Literary Seminar. His work has appeared in Zoetrope: All-Story, ZYZZYVA, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Georgia Review, Best Debut Short Stories 2021, and The Best American Magazine Writing 2022. Today, Nishanth and I talk about why he pivoted from tech to creative writing, how his stories relate to the Indian experience, and the trials of Indians and Indian-Americans trying to improve their lives. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of The Best Possible Experience. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an associate editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at@nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/asian-american-studies
The characters in Nishanth Injam's The Best Possible Experience (Pantheon, 2023), his debut short story collection, are like many in India or in Indian communities in the United States: Working hard and enduring hardships to try to get a better life for themselves. They don't always succeed—and even those that do lose something along the way. That tension between hope and reality is at the core of many of Injam's stories, whether it's a recently migrated Indian family panicking that a white boy is coming to dinner, a college student trying and failing to get a visa, or a young son in Goa, increasingly frustrated with his tour bus driver father , prone to embellishment and exaggeration. Nishanth Injam received an MFA from the Helen Zell Writers' Program at the University of Michigan. He is the recipient of a PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize and a Cecelia Joyce Johnson Emerging Writer Award from the Key West Literary Seminar. His work has appeared in Zoetrope: All-Story, ZYZZYVA, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Georgia Review, Best Debut Short Stories 2021, and The Best American Magazine Writing 2022. Today, Nishanth and I talk about why he pivoted from tech to creative writing, how his stories relate to the Indian experience, and the trials of Indians and Indian-Americans trying to improve their lives. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of The Best Possible Experience. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an associate editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at@nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
The characters in Nishanth Injam's The Best Possible Experience (Pantheon, 2023), his debut short story collection, are like many in India or in Indian communities in the United States: Working hard and enduring hardships to try to get a better life for themselves. They don't always succeed—and even those that do lose something along the way. That tension between hope and reality is at the core of many of Injam's stories, whether it's a recently migrated Indian family panicking that a white boy is coming to dinner, a college student trying and failing to get a visa, or a young son in Goa, increasingly frustrated with his tour bus driver father , prone to embellishment and exaggeration. Nishanth Injam received an MFA from the Helen Zell Writers' Program at the University of Michigan. He is the recipient of a PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize and a Cecelia Joyce Johnson Emerging Writer Award from the Key West Literary Seminar. His work has appeared in Zoetrope: All-Story, ZYZZYVA, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Georgia Review, Best Debut Short Stories 2021, and The Best American Magazine Writing 2022. Today, Nishanth and I talk about why he pivoted from tech to creative writing, how his stories relate to the Indian experience, and the trials of Indians and Indian-Americans trying to improve their lives. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of The Best Possible Experience. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an associate editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at@nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies
The characters in Nishanth Injam's The Best Possible Experience (Pantheon, 2023), his debut short story collection, are like many in India or in Indian communities in the United States: Working hard and enduring hardships to try to get a better life for themselves. They don't always succeed—and even those that do lose something along the way. That tension between hope and reality is at the core of many of Injam's stories, whether it's a recently migrated Indian family panicking that a white boy is coming to dinner, a college student trying and failing to get a visa, or a young son in Goa, increasingly frustrated with his tour bus driver father , prone to embellishment and exaggeration. Nishanth Injam received an MFA from the Helen Zell Writers' Program at the University of Michigan. He is the recipient of a PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize and a Cecelia Joyce Johnson Emerging Writer Award from the Key West Literary Seminar. His work has appeared in Zoetrope: All-Story, ZYZZYVA, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Georgia Review, Best Debut Short Stories 2021, and The Best American Magazine Writing 2022. Today, Nishanth and I talk about why he pivoted from tech to creative writing, how his stories relate to the Indian experience, and the trials of Indians and Indian-Americans trying to improve their lives. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of The Best Possible Experience. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an associate editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at@nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/asian-review
Sara Johnson Allen discusses the first pages of her debut novel, Down Here We Come Up, and her long road to publication. We talk about the power of the first pages in keeping you going, the importance of place description and how to make it move, how to find the balance between your front story and larger back story, and why it's often necessary to put a book aside to understand it fully enough to revise.Allen's first pages can be found here.Help local bookstores and our authors by buying this book on Bookshop.Click here for the audio/video version of this interview.The above link will be available for 48 hours. Missed it? The podcast version is always available, both here and on your favorite podcast platform.Sara Johnson Allen was raised (mostly) in North Carolina. Her first novel, Down Here We Come Up, is the winner of the 2022 Big Moose Prize and is forthcoming from Black Lawrence Press in August 2023. Her fiction has appeared in PANK Magazine, SmokeLong Quarterly, and Reckon Review. She was recently awarded runner-up in the 2022 Third Coast fiction contest. In 2018, she was awarded the Marianne Russo Award for Emerging Writers by the Key West Literary Seminar for her novel-in-progress. In 2019, she received the Stockholm Writers Festival First Pages Prize. She has also been awarded MacDowell fellowships and an artistic grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation. When she is not grading papers or chasing after her three kids, she likes to write about ‘place' and how it shapes us.Thank you for reading The 7am Novelist. This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com
EPISODE 1592: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Nishanth Injam, the author of THE BEST POSSIBLE EXPERIENCE, about leaving India, the misery of tech work and the subversive nature of memories NISHANTH INJAM received an MFA from the Helen Zell Writers' Program at the University of Michigan. He received a PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers and a Cecelia Joyce Johnson Award from the Key West Literary Seminar. His work has appeared in The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Georgia Review (which won the 2022 ASME Award for Fiction for its publication of his story), Catapult's Best Debut Short Stories 2021, and The Best American Magazine Writing 2022. Born in Telangana, India, he now lives in Chicago. Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
EPISODE 1592: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Nishanth Injam, the author of THE BEST POSSIBLE EXPERIENCE, about leaving India, the misery of tech work and the subversive nature of memoriesNISHANTH INJAM received an MFA from the Helen Zell Writers' Program at the University of Michigan. He received a PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers and a Cecelia Joyce Johnson Award from the Key West Literary Seminar. His work has appeared in The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Georgia Review (which won the 2022 ASME Award for Fiction for its publication of his story), Catapult's Best Debut Short Stories 2021, and The Best American Magazine Writing 2022. Born in Telangana, India, he now lives in Chicago.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.
What renowned authors have lived and written in the Keys? What is it about Key West that has inspired the likes of literary legends from Elizabeth Bishop to Robert Frost to Thomas McGuane to Judy Blume? In this episode, join host Elizabeth Harryman Lasley and producer Jason Paton as we learn about Key West's literary history with Arlo Haskell, executive director of the Key West Literary Seminar. As we tour the historic Elizabeth Bishop home, Arlo reveals quirky stories from Key West's fabled authors and details about the popular annual Key West Literary Seminar, established in 1983. For more information, go to kwls.org. For more details and travel inspiration, visit Fla-Keys.com. To call from the United States or Canada, dial 1 (800) FLA-KEYS or contact your travel advisor. Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.
Poet, community organizer, and instructor Angela Voras-Hills grew up in Wisconsin. She earned an MFA from the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is the author of the poetry collection Louder Birds (2020), selected by Traci Brimhall for the Lena-Miles Wever Todd Prize. Voras-Hills has received grants from the Sustainable Arts Foundation and Key West Literary Seminar as well as a fellowship from the Writers' Room of Boston. She cofounded The Watershed: A Place for Writers, a literary arts organization, which evolved into Arts + Literature Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin. She lives with her family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Find much more here: https://www.angelavorashills.com/ In the second hour, we'll be joined by special guest Clint Margrave, who appeared in RC24, sharing a few poems from his new book, Visitor. https://clintmargrave.com/ As always, we'll also include live open lines for responses to our weekly prompt or any other poems you'd like to share. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins. For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/ This Week's Prompt: Embodied Poetry Scavenger Hunt: Experiment with cross-pollination, incorporating movement and body awareness. To begin your scavenger hunt, head to wildhoneywords.com/create for details! Next Week's Prompt: Think about a time in your life when you felt like you lost yourself. What were the circumstances? Use as much detail as possible. How did you find yourself again? Write for 10 minutes. Next, type into a search bar: “If you don't” and then just one more letter (for example, "If you don't r".) How does the search engine think you might want to finish the sentence? Choose one of these as the first line of your poem. How can you tie the ideas together? Maybe you can incorporate a few of them into your poem? The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.
Lindsay Turner joins the podcast to talk about what is perhaps my favorite love poem ever, Elizabeth Bishop's "The Shampoo." [FYI: For some reason there's a minor technical issue w/my audio quality for the first 3-4 minutes of the episode—sorry!—but, happily, it resolved quickly and doesn't affect the rest of this lovely conversation.]The ShampooThe still explosions on the rocks,the lichens, growby spreading, gray, concentric shocks.They have arrangedto meet the rings around the moon, althoughwithin our memories they have not changed.And since the heavens will attendas long on us,you've been, dear friend,precipitate and pragmatical;and look what happens. For Time isnothing if not amenable.The shooting stars in your black hairin bright formationare flocking where,so straight, so soon?—Come, let me wash it in this big tin basin,battered and shiny like the moon.Lindsay Turner is the author of Songs and Ballads (Prelude Books, 2018) and the chapbook A Fortnight (forthcoming, Doublecross Press). She's an assistant professor in the Department of English at Case Western University. Her second collection of poetry, The Upstate, is forthcoming in the University of Chicago Press's Phoenix Poets series in fall 2023. Her translations from the French include the poetry collections adagio ma non troppo, by Ryoko Sekiguchi (Les Figues Press, 2018), The Next Loves, by Stéphane Bouquet (Nightboat Books, 2019) and Common Life, by Stéphane Bouquet (Nightboat Books, 2023), as well as books of philosophy by Frederic Neyrat (Atopias, co-translated with Walt Hunter, Fordham UP, 2017), Souleymane Bachir Diagne (Postcolonial Bergson, Fordham UP, 2019), Anne Dufourmantelle (In Defense of Secrets, Fordham UP, 2020), Richard Rechtman (Living in Death, Fordham UP, 2021) and Éric Baratay (Animal Biographies, UGA Press, 2022). She is the recipient of a WPR Creative Grant from Harvard's Woodberry Poetry Room for 2016-17 as well as 2017 and 2019 French Voices Grants.During the episode, we listen to a recording of James Merrill reading Bishop's poem. The full recording can be found on the website of the Key West Literary Seminar. My thanks to Arlo Haskell from the Key West Literary Seminar and Stephen Yenser from the Literary Estate of James Merrill for permission to use the clip. (Copyright @ the Literary Estate of James Merrill at Washington University.) Please follow, rate, and review the podcast if you like what you hear, and make sure you're signed up for my newsletter to stay up to date on our plans.
What do we really mean by “tension” when we're discussing the story writing process? And how do you know you have it in your work? What writing tools might you use to ensure that you do? We talk about all this and more with author Katrin Schumann.Katrin Schumann's latest novel This Terrible Beauty has been called "luminous and unflinching," "unputdownable," and "hard to forget." It was chosen by SheReads as among the "Most Anticipated Women's Fiction in 2020." Her debut novel, The Forgotten Hours was a Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestseller. She is also the author of several nonfiction books. Her work has been featured multiple times on TODAY and in Woman's Day, The London Times and on NPR, as well as other national and international media. For the past ten years she's been teaching writing, most recently at GrubStreet and at local prisons through PEN New England. She now lives in Boston and Key West, and is the Program Coordinator of the Key West Literary Seminar and Workshops. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com
About Host, Karla Nivens: After graduating from Texas Tech University, Karla earned her teaching certificate and began her career as an elementary music teacher in the Dallas Independent School District. She also sang for Grammy award-winning Gospel recording artists Kirk Franklin, CeCe Winans, Fred Hammond, Donnie McClurkin, Crystal Lewis, Willie Neal Johnson, John P. Kee, Alvin Slaughter, Tamela Mann, and Michael Buble'. She's traveled the world and ministered to diverse audiences in music. During her travels, she had the opportunity to sing on the Jay Leno Show, Soul Train, the Stellar Awards, and the Billy Graham Crusade with Kirk Franklin. She took a hiatus while staying at home with her children for several years and re-entered the workforce as a worship leader at Highland Park United Methodist Church. Karla has worshipped with Highland Park for the past 17 years. Currently, Karla is building the Racial Justice ministry for Highland Park UMC. Karla has also served as an adjunct instructor for Visible Music College and in 2014 released a CD entitled “True Worship.” Five years ago a good friend suggested she turn her heart toward fulfilling the Great Commission. Karla began traveling on yearly mission trips to Costa Rica and Africa. On those trips the Lord began to awaken the motto He gave her in college – “Influencing Culture for the Good of the Kingdom.” As an answer to this awakening, Karla and Dr. Roosevelt founded Karla Nivens Entertainment. Under this umbrella, Karla partnered with Love Ministries, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, started a small group for women, and a radio show both titled “Every Heart Every Woman.” Karla encourages her audience to quiet the noise and restore balance in their daily lives through inspirational entertainment. The show airs Sundays as a podcast on iTunes and Podbean weekly. The show also airs in video on YouTube. In 2019, Karla released her book, True Leaders with Heart, packed with weekly meditations for leaders. Guest: Rebecca Bruff heard the story of Robert Smalls on her first visit to South Carolina. She was so captivated that she left her job and moved across the country to research and write this novel. Bruff earned her Bachelors degree in education (Texas A&M) and Master and Doctorate degrees in theology (Southern Methodist University). In 2017, she was a scholarship recipient for the prestigious Key West Literary Seminar. She volunteers at the Pat Conroy Literary Center in Beaufort, South Carolina. She's published non-fiction, plays a little tennis, travels when she can, and loves life in the lowcountry with her husband and an exuberant golden retriever. Learn more here.
Sharon Robino-West was featured in the Nebraska Public Media segment “The Warrior's Pen” in 2015 discussing the importance of writing and the Veteran experience. In our conversation Sharon talks about issues of sexual assault in the military, PTSD, and the exploration of these and other life experiences through the medium of writing. We also talk about her memoir and much more besides. Sharon has published work in “As You Were: Volume II, a publication of Military Experience and the Arts” and another of her works, “Into the Unknown,” was read in performance by Alfre Woodard at the 2016 Gala for the Writers Guild Initiative of America East in New York City. Her most recent work was published in “From Warriors to Warrior Writers” in 2020. Sharon will be wrapping up her memoir at the Key West Literary Seminar with the assistance of Bich Minh Nguyen in January 2022.
Chet'la Sebree in conversation with Dantiel W. Moniz, celebrating the release of Chet'la Sebree's new book, "Field Study," published by FSG Originals. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Josiah Luis Alderete. Chet'la Sebree is the director of the Stadler Center for Poetry and Literary Arts at Bucknell University and the author of "Mistress," winner of the 2018 New Issues Poetry Prize and nominated for a 2020 NAACP Image Award. She earned an MFA in creative writing, with a focus in poetry, from American University, and has received fellowships from the Delaware Division of the Arts, the MacDowell Colony, Hedgebrook, Yaddo, Vermont Studio Center, and Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies. Her poetry has appeared in the Kenyon Review, Guernica, Pleiades, and elsewhere. Dantiel W. Moniz is the recipient of the Alice Hoffman Prize for Fiction, the Cecelia Joyce Johnson Emerging Writer Award by the Key West Literary Seminar, a Tin House Scholarship, and has been named a "Writer to Watch" by Publishers Weekly and Apple Books. Her debut collection, "Milk Blood Heat," is an Indie Next Pick, an Amazon "Best Book of the Month" selection, a Roxane Gay Audacious Book Club pick, and has been hailed as "must-read" by TIME, Entertainment Weekly, Buzzefeed, Elle, and O, The Oprah Magazine, among others. Her work has appeared in the Paris Review, Harper's Bazaar, Tin House, One Story, American Short Fiction, Ploughshares, The Yale Review, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern and elsewhere. She lives in Northeast Florida and currently teaches fiction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Sponsored by the City Lights Foundation.
Author Patricia Engel joins Jacke to talk about her childhood in New Jersey, her artistic family, her lifelong love of stories and writing, her new novel Infinite Country, and "The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother" by Gabriel García Márquez, a story she first read as a 14-year-old and which she returns to often. PATRICIA ENGEL is the author of Infinite Country, a Reese’s Book Club pick, Esquire Book Club pick, Indie Next pick, Amazon Best Book of the Month, and more. Her other books include The Veins of the Ocean, which won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice and a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year; It’s Not Love, It’s Just Paris, which won the International Latino Book Award, and of Vida, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Fiction Award and the Young Lions Fiction Award; winner of a Florida Book Award, International Latino Book Award and Independent Publisher Book Award, longlisted for the Story Prize and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and named a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. For Vida, Patricia was the first woman to be awarded Colombia’s national prize in literature, the 2017 Premio Biblioteca de Narrativa Colombiana. She has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Hedgebrook, and Key West Literary Seminar among others, and is the recipient of an O. Henry Award. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. (We appreciate it!) Find out more at historyofliterature.com, jackewilson.com, or by following Jacke and Mike on Twitter at @thejackewilson and @literatureSC. Or send an email to jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com. New!!! Looking for an easy to way to buy Jacke a coffee? Now you can at paypal.me/jackewilson. Your generosity is much appreciated! The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Judy Blume (née Sussman) In the Unlikely Event, he One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo, Are you there god? It's me, Margaret, Forever, Wifey, Summer SistersBooks & BooksBoston University, NYUJohn M Blume, Randy Lee and Lawrence Andrew BlumeNational Coalition Against Censorship, Authors Guild, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, The Key West Literary Seminar and “The Kids Fund”Ushttp://www.thebibliophiledailypodcast.carrd.cohttps://twitter.com/thebibliodailythebibliophiledailypodcast@gmail.comRoxiehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyAfdi8Qagiiu8uYaop7Qvwhttp://www.chaoticbibliophile.comhttp://instagram.com/chaoticbibliophilehttps://twitter.com/NewAllegroBeat
Hi loves, we're back with part deux of our conversation with the vibrant Michelle Peñaloza. Coming off of last week's lovely conversation about her own work, for this episode, she brought in Douglas Kerney's "Tallahatchie Lullabye, Baby". We excited to share the poem and this chat with you. Hope you're staying safe! MICHELLE PEÑALOZA is the author of Former Possessions of the Spanish Empire, winner of the 2018 Hillary Gravendyk National Poetry Prize (Inlandia Books, 2019). She is also the author of two chapbooks, landscape/heartbreak (Two Sylvias, 2015), and Last Night I Dreamt of Volcanoes (Organic Weapon Arts, 2015). The recipient of fellowships and awards from the University of Oregon, Kundiman, Hugo House and The Key West Literary Seminar, Michelle has also received support from Lemon Tree House, Caldera, 4Culture, Literary Arts, VONA/Voices, and the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, among others. The proud daughter of Filipino immigrants, Michelle was born in the suburbs of Detroit, MI and raised in Nashville, TN. She now lives in rural Northern California. DOUGLAS KERNEY has published six books, most recently, Buck Studies (Fence Books, 2016), winner of the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Award, the CLMP Firecracker Award for Poetry and silver medalist for the California Book Award (Poetry). BOMB says: “[Buck Studies] remaps the 20th century in a project that is both lyrical and epic, personal and historical.” M. NourbeSe Philip calls Kearney's collection of libretti, Someone Took They Tongues. (Subito, 2016), “a seismic, polyphonic mash-up that disturbs the tongue.” Kearney's collection of writing on poetics and performativity, Mess and Mess and (Noemi Press, 2015), was a Small Press Distribution Handpicked Selection that Publisher's Weekly called “an extraordinary book.” His work is widely anthologized, including Best American Poetry (2014, 2015), Best American Experimental Writing (2014), The Creative Critic: Writing As/About Practice, What I Say: Innovative Poetry by Black Writers in America, and The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop. He is also widely published in magazines and journals, including Poetry, Callaloo, Boston Review, Hyperallergic, Jacket2, and Lana Turner. His work has been exhibited at the American Jazz Museum, Temple Contemporary, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, and The Visitor's Welcome Center (Los Angeles). A librettist, Kearney has had four operas staged, most recently Sweet Land, which received rave reviews fro The LA Times, The NY Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The LA Weekly. He has received a Whiting Writer's Award, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Cy Twombly Award for Poetry, residencies/fellowships from Cave Canem, The Rauschenberg Foundation, and others. A Howard University and CalArts alum, Kearney teaches Creative Writing at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities. Born in Brooklyn, raised in Altadena, CA, he lives with his family in St. Paul.
This week, friends, we're sitting with the question "So what do you write about?" ahead of a lovely conversation with Michelle Peñaloza. We chop it up about confession, contrast, and kasamas while sipping on Fire and Chrysanthemums. Enjoy! MICHELLE PEÑALOZA is the author of Former Possessions of the Spanish Empire, winner of the 2018 Hillary Gravendyk National Poetry Prize (Inlandia Books, 2019). She is also the author of two chapbooks, landscape/heartbreak (Two Sylvias, 2015), and Last Night I Dreamt of Volcanoes (Organic Weapon Arts, 2015). The recipient of fellowships and awards from the University of Oregon, Kundiman, Hugo House and The Key West Literary Seminar, Michelle has also received support from Lemon Tree House, Caldera, 4Culture, Literary Arts, VONA/Voices, and the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, among others. The proud daughter of Filipino immigrants, Michelle was born in the suburbs of Detroit, MI and raised in Nashville, TN. She now lives in rural Northern California. FIRE AND CHRYSANTHEMUMS: Chrysanthemum tea, Scotch and lemon juice, garnished with burnt lemon.
Katrin Schumann was born in Germany and grew up in Brooklyn and London. Her writing explores our search for a sense of belonging, and the struggle to define ourselves in the context of our circumstances. Schumann now lives in Boston and Key West, and she is the Program Coordinator of the Key West Literary Seminar and Workshops. She writes fiction and non-fiction. Her novels include This Terrible Beauty and The Forgotten Hours. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We are definitely having fun here at http://YourArtsyGirlPodcast.com! Michelle Peñaloza has a new full-length poetry collection, "Former Possessions of the Spanish Empire" & we were all abuzz about it! We also discuss the necessary "hustle" of promoting our poetry because the struggle is real, ya'll. That's why tapping into "community" & getting on this podcast show is such a symbiosis of sorts. http://yourartsygirlpodcast.com/episodes http://michellepenaloza.com Michelle Peñaloza is author of Former Possessions of the Spanish Empire, which won the 2018 Hillary Gravendyk National Poetry Prize and will be published in August 2019 by Inlandia Institute. She is also the author of two chapbooks, landscape/heartbreak (Two Sylvias, 2015), and Last Night I Dreamt of Volcanoes (Organic Weapon Arts, 2015). Her work can be found in places like Prairie Schooner, upstreet, Pleiades, The Normal School and Third Coast. She is the recipient of fellowships from the University of Oregon, Kundiman and Hugo House as well as the 2019 Scotti Merrill Emerging Writer Award for Poetry from The Key West Literary Seminar. Michelle has also received scholarships from Lemon Tree House, Caldera, Vermont Studio Center, VONA/Voices, and the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, among others. The proud daughter of Filipino immigrants, Michelle was born in the suburbs of Detroit, MI and raised in Nashville, TN. She now lives, farms, and writes in rural Northern California. Michelle made a "mixtape" for her poetry collection. Check it out! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3uAR57qg44gKhnG3uDQTtG?si=Y5vAGHaNTxGbLswX4wPBeg
Katrin Schumann is the author of the novel, The Forgotten Hours, and numerous nonfiction books. She has been awarded fiction residencies from the Vermont Studio Center, the Norman Mailer Writers Colony, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Schumann teaches writing at GrubStreet in Boston and was an instructor in PEN's Prison Writing Program. She lives in Boston and Key West, where she is the program coordinator for the Key West Literary Seminar. For more information, visit www.katrinschumann.com. How Do You Write Podcast: Explore the processes of working writers with bestselling author Rachael Herron. Want tips on how to write the book you long to finish? Here you'll gain insight from other writers on how to get in the chair, tricks to stay in it, and inspiration to get your own words flowing. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Gaby sit down with poet Jay Deshpande to discuss his first book Love the Stranger, navigating the post-MFA years, and the ever-changing definition of the love poem. Buy his book here: https://www.yesyesbooks.com/product-page/love-the-stranger Jay Deshpande is the author of the poetry collection Love the Stranger (YesYes Books), named one of the top debuts of 2015 by Poets & Writers, and the chapbook The Rest of the Body. He has received fellowships or support from Kundiman, Civitella Ranieri, Saltonstall Arts Colony, and the Key West Literary Seminar. Poems have recently appeared in Boston Review, Denver Quarterly, LARB Quarterly Journal, and Horsethief. He teaches at Columbia University and lives in Brooklyn.
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg View columnist Barry Ritholtz interviews James Gleick, who worked for 10 years as an editor and reporter for the New York Times. Gleick is active on the boards of the Authors Guild and the Key West Literary Seminar. He is the author of "Time Travel: A History." This commentary aired on Bloomberg Radio.
The world is always better with poetry.. Listen to Brynn Saito talk about poetry in this wonderful interview with fellow poet Hays Berry. Let Brynn Saito read to you some of her poems and explain how her life has shaped her poetry. Savor this hour with the author of "Power Made Us Swoon" (2016) and "The Palace of Contemplating Departure" (2013), winner of the Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award and finalist for the Northern California Book Award and the Milt Kessler Poetry Award. Brynn was born and raised in Fresno (CA) to a Korean American mother and a Japanese American father. Her poetry has been anthologized by Helen Vendler and Ishmael Reed; it has also appeared in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Poetry Northwest, and Virginia Quarterly Review, among other journals. She is the recipient of a Kundiman Asian American Poetry Fellowship, the Poets 11 award from the San Francisco Public Library, and the Key West Literary Seminar’s Scotti Merrill Memorial Award. Brynn Saito teaches in the MFA at USF. Currently, Brynn lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she is the co-founder and director of the Center for Spiritual Life, an adjunct Assistant Professor in the BA program at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and director of the Center for Writing and Scholarship at CIIS. Wow!
The world is always better with poetry. Listen to Brynn Saito talk about poetry in this wonderful interview with fellow poet Hays Berry. Let Brynn Saito read to you some of her poems and explain how her life and past have shaped her poetry. Savor this hour with the author of "Power Made Us Swoon" (2016) and "The Palace of Contemplating Departure" (2013), winner of the Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award and finalist for the Northern California Book Award and the Milt Kessler Poetry Award. Brynn was born and raised in Fresno (CA) to a Korean American mother and a Japanese American father. Her poetry has been anthologized by Helen Vendler and Ishmael Reed; it has also appeared in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Poetry Northwest, and Virginia Quarterly Review, among other journals. She is the recipient of a Kundiman Asian American Poetry Fellowship, the Poets 11 award from the San Francisco Public Library, and the Key West Literary Seminar’s Scotti Merrill Memorial Award. Brynn Saito teaches in the MFA at USF. Currently, Brynn lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she is the co-founder and director of the Center for Spiritual Life, an adjunct Assistant Professor in the BA program at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and director of the Center for Writing and Scholarship at CIIS. Ay caramba!
Rita Dove speaking at the Key West Literary Seminar.
Convention season is upon us and, on the eve of his birthday, Gary K. Wolfe has ventured out into aligator-infested Florida in search of conversation, con-buddies and, above all else, boat drinks! In the first of what might just be a series of one podcasts, Gary invited Locus Publications editor-in-chief Liza Groen Trombi, editor and critic Karen Burnham, and award winning author Jeffrey Ford (visiting from the wilds of New Jersey) to sit down and join us in a fairly impromptu and rambling podcast. Starting without an agenda (or in truth and kind of plan at all) we discuss science fiction criticism and the search for the modern essay, the digital age, Locus online, awards seasons, Reza Negarestani's Cyclonopedia: Complicity with Anonymous Materials, The Secret Life of Laird Barron, and the forthcoming Key West Literary Seminar (it's about the literature of the future this time out). As always, we hope you enjoy the podcast!
Two-term poet laureate Billy Collins speaks at the Key West Literary Seminar.
Robert Pinsky speaking on “Modernism and Memory” at the Key West Literary Seminar.
Mark Doty speaking at the Key West Literary Seminar.