First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing

Maggie Smith is the author of the national bestsellers Goldenrod and Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change, as well as Good Bones, named one of the Best Five Poetry Books of 2017 by the Washington Post and winner of the 2018 Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medal in Poetry; The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison, winner of the 2012 Dorset Prize and the 2016 Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medal in Poetry; and Lamp of the Body, winner of the 2003 Benjamin Saltman Award. Her new memoir is You Could Make This Place Beautiful. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Celebrated poet Edward Hirsch discusses the power of poetry in navigating grief and the transformative role of imagination in conveying emotions. The podcast delves into childhood nostalgia, explores the emotional depth of poems by Stanley Cunice and Sharon Olds, and addresses writing challenges and rejections faced by writers.

Megan Pinto is the author of Saints of Little Faith, her debut collection.  Her poems can be found in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Ploughshares, Lit Hub and elsewhere. She has won the Anne Halley Prize from the Massachusetts Review and an Amy Award from Poets & Writers, as well as scholarships and fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, the Port Townsend Writers’ Conference and Storyknife.  Megan lives in Brooklyn and holds an MFA in poetry from Warren Wilson College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tracy O'Neill is the author of the memoir Woman of Interest. Her novels include The Hopeful, one of Electric Literature's Best Novels of 2015; and Quotients, a New York Times​ New & Noteworthy Book, TOR Editor's Choice, & Literary Hub Favorite Book of 2020.  In 2015, she was named a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree and long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. In 2012, she was awarded the Center for Fiction's Emerging Writers Fellowship. She holds an MFA from the City College of New York; and an MA, an MPhil, and a PhD from Columbia University. She teaches at Vassar College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charles Baxter is the author of the novels The Feast of Love, nominated for the National Book Award, First Light, Saul and Patsy, Shadow Play, The Soul Thief, and The Sun Collective, and the story collections Believers, Gryphon, Harmony of the World, A Relative Stranger, There’s Something I Want You to Do, and Through the Safety Net. His stories have appeared in several anthologies, including The Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize Anthology, and The O. Henry Prize Story Anthology. He has won the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story. Baxter lives in Minneapolis.  His new novel is Blood Test. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

Elizabeth Strout is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lucy by the Sea; Oh William!, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize; Olive, Again; Anything Is Possible, winner of the Story Prize; My Name Is Lucy Barton; The Burgess Boys; Olive Kitteridge, winner of the Pulitzer Prize; Abide with Me; and Amy and Isabelle, winner of the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize. She has also been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize in London. She lives in Maine. Her new novel is Tell Me Everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Powers, a celebrated author known for novels like "Bewilderment" and "The Overstory," returns to share his thoughts on the intricate dance between storytelling and humanity. He delves into the themes of memory, mortality, and the impact of technology on remembrance, intertwining personal tragedies with broader societal issues. With insight into his latest work, "Playground," Powers discusses the roles of friendship and the ocean, as well as the playful energy of narrative, challenging listeners to reflect on the connections we share with the natural world.

Dr. Alan Townsend is a scientist, author and Dean of the Franke College of Forestry & Conservation at the University of Montana. His writing has appeared in multiple national venues, including The Washington Post and Scientific American. Alan's nonfiction book is called This Ordinary Stardust.  He is a highly cited author of more than 140 peer reviewed articles, and received his bachelor’s degree from Amherst College, and a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University.  He is an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow, a Google Science Communication Fellow and was featured in the Let Science Speak documentary film series.We talked about science, what we can learn from grief, stardust, our challenges facing our mortality, a promise to write a book and the pressure that may or may not place on a writer, and the beautiful cover of the book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Natalie Goldberg is the author of fifteen books, including Writing Down the Bones, which has sold over one million copies and has been translated into fourteen languages.  She co-edited a collection of talks by revered zen teacher Katherine Thanas, The Truth of This Life.  Her new book is Writing on Empty: A Guide to Finding Your Voice.  We talked about writer’s block versus losing the regular routines that sustain writing while the Covid pandemic was in full swing, her family history, writing exercises, Zen, and friendship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices