Hear two first hand accounts of navigating the wilds of a writing conference in Northern California. Writers include Brittany Erickson Tuttle and Tony Pandola along with insights from award-winning novelist and memoirist Andre Dubus III.
Meet 90 year old debut author Lillian McCloy, who was stationed in six countries while raising three kids as the wife of a CIA undercover agent. Host Ben Hess gets to explore the real experiences of this spy family, well beyond the detective fiction of his youth. He also compares the editing of her memoir with the experiences professional editor Jay Schaefer had working on Under the Tuscan Sun and creating a short fiction magazine in the 1980s.
Take a deep dive into the film adaptation process with National Book Award finalist Andre Dubus III (House of Sand and Fog), Willa Award winning novelist BK Loren (Theft), award winning screenwriter Jonathon E. Stewart, and fiction author, teacher, and screenwriter Alan Heathcock (VOLT: stories).
Between 35 and 40 million Americans - that’s 11% to 14% of the population - move every year according to the US Census Bureau and real estate metrics site HomeData. Episode 14 features two chapters and spotlights authors at very different stages of their writing journey, Pulitzer Finalist in Nonfiction Luis Alberto Urrea (The Devil’s Highway: A True Story, Into the Beautiful North, The Hummingbird’s Daughter) and blogger Gretchen Howell. They shared several stories of impactful moves, and the effects felt on their writing
This episode, Sexuality in Lit, features three writers - Mark Doty, Fenton Johnson, and Amber Keyser - who have incorporated sex and sexuality into their work in very different ways. Chapter 1, Tina’s Transformative Performance, gives a first person account of a live concert in the late 60’s. Chapter Two, Mom’s Sex Book, dissects the challenges of writing about sex while raising kids, and Chapter Three, Shifting Identity, examines our changing cultural landscape around the LGBTQ community.
Aspiring novelist Ben Hess is fascinated with beginning of stories and novels. So much is riding on just a few words, and this opening passage can make or break a literary success. Award winning teachers and writers Craig Childs, BK Loren, and Luis Alberto Urrea sit down with Ben to discuss their approach and to read a favorite beginning of their own work.
Three nationally renowned writers - Mark Doty, Greg Glazner, and Lidia Yuknavitch - plumb the depths of language when writing about ineffable topics like spirit, sex, beauty, and death. This excerpted live panel is a thought-provoking exploration of the craft, and the episode ends with Pulitzer finalist Luis Alberto Urrea talking politics and literature.
