The Lives of Writers

Michael talks with DeMisty Bellinger about learning to read early, taking the love of a literature to a phD, the development of her forthcoming novel NEW TO LIBERTY, her poetry collection PECULIAR HERITAGE, the degree to which all writing is personal, coming to the page to write a poem, writing from reading, and more.DeMisty Bellinger is the author of the chapbook Rubbing Elbows (Finishing Line Press), the poetry collection Peculiar Heritage (Mason Jar Press), and the forthcoming  novel New to Liberty (Unnamed Press), which is now available for preorder. Besides writing, she is a poetry editor at Malarkey Books, an alumni reader at Prairie Schooner, and a professor at Fitchburg State University.Podcast theme: DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Michael talks with Colleen Kinder about living in several different countries, navigating new environments with a toddler, the roots of her love of reading, writing, and travel, the genesis of Off Assignment, editing the anthology LETTER TO A STRANGER, the effect of direct address for a reader and writer, her memoir-in-progress, and more.Colleen Kinder is an essayist whose work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, A Public Space, National Geographic Traveler, and many other magazines. She is a cofounder of Off Assignment and the editor of the anthology Letter to A Stranger: Essays to the Ones Who Haunt Us, which is out from Algonquin Books on March 22.Podcast theme:  DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Michael talks with Diane Exavier about growing up and living in Flatbush, playwriting and participatory theater, writing through grief and about family, books as events, poems as integers, and why her book cover matches her walls.Diane Exavier is a writer, theatermaker, and educator who creates performances, public programs, and games that invite audiences to participate in a theater that rejects passive reception. She is the author of book THE MATH OF ST. FELIX (The 3rd Thing, 2021). Find more at dianeexavier.livePodcast theme: DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Michael talks with Travis Cravey about his foot getting run over and then starting to write, his flash fiction collection MANIFOLD, parachute stories, his first car and his current car, authenticity in writing, and more.Travis Cravey is a mechanic and maintenance main from Southern Pennsylvania. He's the author of the flash fiction collection Manifold  (ELJ, 2021) and an editor for Malarkey Books. You can follow him on twitter: @TravisCravey.Podcast theme: DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Michael talks with Mike Nagel about getting into literature and writing, acknowledging artifice in an essay, accessing literature's unique qualities, the very first Autofocus book DUPLEX, turning the mundane absurd, pandemic drinking, accidentally writing a book, writing between genres and lengths, the wonderful uselessness of literature, and much more.Mike Nagel is the author of Duplex (Autofocus Books, 2022). His essays have appeared in apt, Hobart, Split Lip, Salt Hill, DIAGRAM, and elsewhere around the internet. He lives in Plano, Texas.Podcast theme: DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Michael talks with Zac Smith about burning out on linguistics, getting into writing, writing in collaboration, his poetry collection 50 BARN POEMS, poems as jokes/jokes as poems, his story collection EVERYTHING IS TOTALLY FINE, deadpan humor, sentence energy, performing first person, the fine lines of gimmicks, and more.Zac Smith is the author of EVERYTHING IS TOTALLY FINE (Muumuu House, 2021) and 50 BARN POEMS (Clash Books, 2019). His writing has been published by Hobart, X-Ray, Maudlin House, New World Writing, Wigleaf, Bending Genres, and other magazines.Podcast theme: DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Michael talks with Francesca Kritikos about refinding an identity in the daily grind, her forthcoming collection Exercise in Desire, the influence of pop music, punctuation, short vs. long poems, writing about the body, and more.Francesca Kritikos is a Greek-American writer and editor based in Chicago. She is the author of the poetry collection Exercise in Desire (forthcoming from Vegetarian Alcoholic Press) and the chapbooks It Felt Like Worship (Sad Spell Press, 2017) and Animals Don't Go to Hell (Bottlecap Press, 2021). You can find links to her various works on Instagram: @fmkrit.Podcast theme: DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Michael talks with Chris Gonzalez about early reading and writing experiences, his story collection I'M NOT HUNGRY BUT I COULD EAT, narrators and characters in the same world, determining POV, ordering a collection, changing forms, therapy as a useful part of the writing process, and more.Chris Gonzalez is a queer Puerto Rican writer living in New York. He is the author of the short story collection I’m Not Hungry but I Could Eat (SFWP, 2021). His writing appears in the Nation, Catapult, the Millions, Little Fiction, the Forge, Lunch Ticket, Cosmonauts Avenue, and elsewhere. He currently serves as fiction editor at Barrelhouse.  Podcast theme: DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Michael talks with Sebastian Castillo about having fun writing, impatience as a reader, first person, his books, form as plot, blurring the personal and fictional, modification as a digital writing process, Twitter, a new collection, and more.Sebastian Castillo is the author of Not I (Word West Press) and 49 Venezuelan Novels (Bottlecap Press).Podcast theme: DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Michael talks with Sarah Minor about her visual and installation art, her collection of visual essays Bright Archive (Rescue Press), the process of making mixed media literature, her newest book Slim Confessions (Noemi Press), the importance of tension rather than plot in creative non-fiction work, and more.Sarah Minor is a writer, interdisciplinary artist, and the author of the The Persistence of The Bonyleg: Annotated (Essay Press, 2016), Bright Archive (Rescue Press, 2020), and most recently Slim Confessions: The Universe as a Spider or Spit (Noemi Press, 2021). In addition to curating the visual essays at Essay Daily and video essays at TriQuarterly Review, she is currently teaching writing at the University of Iowa.Podcast theme: DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.