The Lives of Writers

In today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Sara Rauch interviews Ursula Villarreal-Moura.Ursula Villarreal-Moura is the author of Math for the Self Crippling and Like Happiness. Her stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in numerous magazines including Tin House, Catapult, Prairie Schooner, Midnight Breakfast, Washington Square, Story, Bennington Review, Wigleaf Top 50, and Gulf Coast. Sara Rauch is the author of the book-length essay XO, from us at Autofocus Books. She’s also the author of the story collection, What Shines from it, from Alternating Current Press. Her book reviews and author interviews have been featured in the LA Review of Books, Newcity Lit, Lambda Literary, The Rumpus, and elsewhere._____________Conversation topics include:-- teaching college English remotely-- bilingual teaching with AmeriCorps-- learning to read like learning to drive-- the switch from poetry to fiction-- endometriosis-- finding a community through flash-- selling a novel that didn't sell-- the debut novel Like Happiness-- two timelines-- not writing in third person-- ambiguity-- stories we tell ourselves--looking away-- healing in the right environment _____________Podcast theme music provided by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex and Culdesac. Here's more of his project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.

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.

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Mike Nagel interviews Andrew Bertaina.Andrew Bertaina is the author of the essay collection The Body Is A Temporary Gathering Place, out now from Autofocus Books, and the short story collection One Person Away From You (2021), which won the Moon City Short Fiction Award. Mike Nagel is the author of Duplex and Culdesac (Autofocus Books, 2022 and 2024). He also wrote the music for this podcast and a column called The Unintentionalist for the literary magazine Little Engines.____________Full conversation topics include:-- selves on the page-- hyperfocusing-- The Body Is A Temporary Gathering Place-- reading as a pathway to writing-- grading your own writing-- essays vs. fiction-- modes of essays-- mind as setting-- representing others in an essay-- representing yourself in an essay-- a good catalyst-- what goes in and what goes out-- speed-- writing and not writing every day-- getting and not getting stuck-- valuing the reader-- the essay "On Trains" specifically-- gratitude____________Podcast theme music also provided by Mike Nagel. Here's more of his project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.

On today's episode ofThe Lives of Writers, Jeff Alessandrelli interviews Mallory Smart.Mallory Smart is the author of the books I Keep My Visions to Myself, The Only Living Girl in Chicago, I Want to Feel Happy But I Only Feel _____, and The Writer. She's the editor-in-chief of Maudlin House  and host of the podcast Textual Healing, where you can find a recent episode with the roles of this conversation reversed and hear Mallory interview Jeff.Jeff Alessandrelli is the author of several books, including the poetry collection Fur Not Light. His novel And Yet was reissued this year by Future Tense Books. He is also the director and co-editor of the small presses Fonograf Editions and Bunny Presse.____________Full conversation topics include:-- Chicagoland-- growing up in Chicago-- writing in high school-- four siblings-- history and philosophy-- logic and therapy-- writing a poetry collection-- the preference for narrative-- the story of Maudlin House-- relationships with authority-- writing a first novel-- maladaptive daydreaming-- an app that forces you to write-- a novel in two weeks-- fear of saying the wrong thing-- pressure and nostalgia-- editorial and publicity_______________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.

Aaron Burch interviews Josh Denslow, author of 'Not Everyone Is Special' and 'Super Normal.' They discuss moving to Barcelona, learning a new language, the desire to share creative work, rejection in publishing, the publication process of 'Super Normal,' and exploring superheroes outside Marvel. They also touch on humor in fiction, quality, and fun in writing, as well as channeling a unique voice in storytelling.

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Teresa Carmody interviews Kristen E. Nelson.Kristen E. Nelson is a queer writer, performer, and community builder. In addition to In the Away Time (Autofocus Books, 2024), she is the author of the length of this gap (Damaged Goods, August 2018) and two chapbooks: sometimes I gets lost and is grateful for noises in the dark (Dancing Girl, 2017) and Write, Dad (Unthinkable Creatures, 2012). She has published creative and critical writing in Feminist Studies, Bombay Gin, Denver Quarterly, Drunken Boat, Tarpaulin Sky Journal, Trickhouse, and Everyday Genius, among others. Kristen is the founder of Casa Libre en la Solana, a non-profit writing center in Tucson, Arizona, where she worked as the Executive Director for 14 years and the co-founder of Four Queens with Selah Saterstrom. Kristen is currently a Ph.D. student and graduate student instructor at the University of California – Santa Cruz in the Literature Department’s creative/critical writing concentration.Teresa Carmody’s writing includes fiction, creative nonfiction, inter-arts collaborations, and hybrid forms. She is the author of three books and four chapbooks, including Maison Femme: a fiction (2015) and The Reconception of Marie (2020). Her work has appeared in The Collagist, LitHub, WHR, Two Serious Ladies, Diagram, St. Petersburg Review, Faultline, and was selected for the &NOW Awards: The Best Innovative Writing and by Entropy for its Best Online Articles and Essays list of 2019. Carmody is co-founding editor of Les Figues Press, an imprint of LARB Books in Los Angeles, and director of Stetson University’s MFA of the Americas. Her forthcoming book A Healthy Interest in the Lives of Others is out early next year with Autofocus Books.____________Full conversation topics include:--  the first event for In the Away Time--  imperfect queer and trans narratives -- calling in community-- projects conceived in love--other voices in In the Away Time-- getting a PhD later in life-- hybridity and divinations-- the limits of the body-- constraint and the autobiographical-- the timescape of In the Away Time-- the roles we play in our own disasters-- autotheory and autoethnography-- knowing when the form is the form____________Podcast theme music provided by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex and Culdesac. Here's more of his project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton, author of Home Movies.

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Emily Adrian interviews Justin Taylor.Justin Taylor's most recent book is the novel Reboot. He is also the author of the memoir Riding with the Ghost, the novel The Gospel of Anarchy, and two story collections: Everything Here Is the Best Thing Ever and Flings. His work has appeared in the New Yorker, Harper's, the Oxford American, and the Sewanee Review.Emily Adrian is the author of several novels and the forthcoming memoir Daughterhood. Her work has appeared in Granta, Joyland, EPOCH, Alta Journal, and Los Angeles Review of Books. ____________Full conversation topics include:-- growing up as a child actor--  always wanting to be a writer-- a father who read and read into his work-- editing a couple Donald Barthelme anthologies-- the leadup to his first few books-- the new novel REBOOT-- the role, limits, and manipulation of realism in his work-- inviting the supernatural-- the show within the novel-- a bottle chapter-- The Hungry Tiger-- Dawson's Creek-- Judy Blume moments for middle aged men-- writing a short story again____________Podcast theme music provided by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex and Culdesac. Here's more of his project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton, author of Home Movies.

Lucas Mann, author of 'Attachments: Essays on Fatherhood and Other Performances' and co-owner of Riffraff Bookstore & Bar, dives deep into the intersection of parenthood and writing. He candidly discusses the nuanced challenges of navigating fatherhood, including its messy realities and the vulnerability it demands. Mann also shares insights about creating a supportive literary community in Providence, and the delicate balance of entrepreneurship and family life. His reflections on intimacy and the complexities of writing touch on deeply personal experiences that resonate with many.

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Drew Hawkins interviews Maurice Carlos Ruffin.Maurice Carlos Ruffin is the author, most recently, of the historical novel, The American Daughters. He is also the author of The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You, which was longlisted for the Story Prize and was a finalist for the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and We Cast a Shadow, which was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the PEN Open Book Award, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and International Dublin Literary Award. A recipient of an Iowa Review Award in fiction, he has been published in the Virginia Quarterly Review, AGNI, the Kenyon Review, The Massachusetts Review, and Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas. Drew Hawkins is a writer and journalist in New Orleans. He's the producer and host of Micro, a podcast for short but powerful writing. You can find his work on NPR, The Guardian, Scalawag Magazine, HAD, and elsewhere.Today's episode is brought to you in part by the podcast Micro, where today you can hear Maurice read on the new episode, available wherever you listen to podcasts like this one.____________Full conversation topics include:-- book tour -- a previous life as a lawyer and restaurant-owner-- becoming a writer-- overcoming imposter syndrome-- paces of production and practice-- distraction as being useful-- the reading you do while writing-- approaching novels and/or stories-- New Orleans-- the new novel THE AMERICAN DAUGHTERS-- research-- knowing who you are -- writing as a man about women -- jumping through time  and sound--  POV-- freedom and loss-- a forthcoming book_______________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, author of Home Movies.

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Lena Crown interviews Richard Scott Larson.Richard Scott Larson is the author of  the memoir The Long Hallway  (UW Press). He has received fellowships from MacDowell and the New York Foundation for the Arts, and his creative and critical work has appeared in The Sun Magazine, Los Angeles Review of Books, Harvard Review, and other journals and anthologies.Lena Crown is a book editor for us at Autofocus Books. Her essays are published or forthcoming in The Rumpus, Guernica, Gulf Coast, Narratively, North American Review, The Offing, and elsewhere, and her poems have appeared in Bellevue Literary Review, The Boiler, Poet Lore, No Contact, and Variant Lit.____________Full conversation topics include:-- blocking out time to write-- doing residencies-- horror movies and mass-market fiction as a kid-- writing as a critic and with the NBCC-- the role of film in his life and the book-- a crisis of fiction-- memoir vs book-length essay-- the new memoir THE LONG HALLWAY-- gender, sexuality, and horror-- visibility and hiding queerness-- masks and Michael Myers in Halloween-- horror tropes appearing in memoir-- loneliness and observation-- film form-- fear and shame-- the Midwestern suburbs-- epiphany, revelation, and resolution (or lack of)-- examining our own cruelties-- writing about family-- the next book and gymnasts_______________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, author of Home Movies.