Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 29 novels, including By Any Other Name, Mad Honey, Wish You Were Here, and My Sister's Keeper, and, with daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page.  Picoult’s books have been translated into thirty-four languages in thirty-five countries.  Picoult also wrote five issues of DC Comic's Wonder Woman. Picoult is the co-librettist for the stage musical adaptation of her two Young Adult novels.  Picoult lives in New Hampshire with her husband. They have three children.We talked about Emilia Bassano as the author of many of Shakespeare’s most popular place, women’s voices being erased, making a bigger table so everyone can be represented in theatre, how Jodi found her love of plays, structuring her novel By Any Other Name, and her love for Gone With the Wind. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Abby Geni is the author of the novels The Wildlands and The Lightkeepers and the short story collections The Last Animal and The Body Farm. Her books have been translated into seven languages and have won the Barnes & Noble Discover Award and the Chicago Review of Books Awards, among other honors. Geni is a faculty member at StoryStudio Chicago and frequent Visiting Associate Professor of Fiction at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop.We talked about emotional intelligence, teaching creative writing, science and investigation, the perfect murder (fictional that is), following a story to see where it goes, writing from a place of mystery, and moments that make you cry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jill Ciment is the author of Small Claims, a collection of short stories and novellas; The Law of Falling Bodies, Teeth of the Dog, The Tattoo Artist, Heroic Measures, Act of God, The Body in Question, and memoirs Half a Life and Consent. She has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards, among them a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, two New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships, the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, and a Guggenheim fellowship. Ciment is a professor emeritus at the University of Florida. She lives in Gainesville, Florida, and New York City.We talked about truth and memory, #metoo, changing cultural norms, interrogating her life and her relationship, having a happy marriage with her husband who was more than 30 years older than her, and finding certainty (or not) when putting words on the page. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Barry is the author of the novels Night Boat to Tangier, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize, Beatlebone, and City of Bohane as well as three story collections including Dark Lies the Island. His stories and essays have appeared in the New Yorker, Granta and elsewhere. He also works as a playwright and screenwriter lives in County Sligo, Ireland.  His new novel is The Heart in Winter.We talked about the Irish in Butte, Montana, watching and writing westerns, Wuthering Heights, voice and character, Kevin’s writing process, comedy, and Annie Proulx. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 Amitava Kumar is a writer and journalist. He was born in Ara, and grew up in the nearby town of Patna, famous for its corruption, crushing poverty and delicious mangoes. Kumar is the author of several books of non-fiction and four novels.  His new novel is My Beloved Life. Kumar lives in Poughkeepsie, in upstate New York, where he is the Helen D. Lockwood Professor of English at Vassar College. He serves on the board of the Corporation of Yaddo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ada Limón the author of six books of poetry, including The Carrying, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her book Bright Dead Things was nominated for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Her most recent book of poetry, The Hurting Kind, was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize. As the 24th Poet Laureate of The United States, her signature project is called You Are Here and focuses on how poetry can help connect us to the natural world. This episode also features Michael Kleber-Diggs and Erika Meitner, both of whom have poems in the collection and are former guests of First Draft.We talk about nature poetry, fear, hope and grief, creating a collection, and inspire people to write their own You are Here poems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tracy Chevalier is the author of 11 novels and the editor of one short story anthology.  Her books include Girl with a Pearl Earring, Falling Angels, Remarkable Creatures, At the Edge of the Orchard, and A Single Thread.  She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia and lives in London.  Her new novel is The Glass Maker.We talked about feeling writing in the body, Tracy’s research process, adding a touch of magical realism to her work, her writing influences for this novel in particular, her female protagonist, glass making, travel and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tommy Orange is a graduate of the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts where he now teaches. An enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, he was born and raised in Oakland, California. His first book, There There, was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and received the 2019 American Book Award. His new novel is Wandering Stars. He lives in Oakland, California.We talked about where creativity comes from, lightning strikes, creative writing, historical figures, music, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lauren Camp is the author of eight poetry collections including Worn Smooth between Devourings, An Eye in Each Square, Took House, and In Old Sky among others. She is the Poet Laureate of New Mexico and was awarded a 2023 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship. Her poems have appeared in many journals and anthologies, including Kenyon Review, Prairie Schooner, Mid-American Review, Missouri Review, and The Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day.We talked about being the Poet Laureate for New Mexico, dark skies in the Grand Canyon, the pressures of writing residencies, Lauren read some of her poems, adding photos to her collection, and seizing the day, when it finally arrives, to write. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stacey D’Erasmo is the author of the novels Tea, A Seahorse Year, The Sky Below, Wonderland, and The Complicities and the nonfiction books The Art of Intimacy and The Long Run.  She is a professor of writing and publishing practices at Fordham University.We talked about inspiration and creativity as lightning bolts and melting, abstract art, aging as an artist, breakthroughs, and longevity in art. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices