The Lives of Writers

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Michael Wheaton interviews Emily Adrian.Emily Adrian is the author of Everything Here Is Under Control and The Second Season, as well as two critically acclaimed novels for young adults. Her work has appeared in Granta, Joyland, Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Millions. She is also a co-editor of the new press Great Place Books.Michael Wheaton is the publisher of Autofocus Books and producer of this podcast.____________PART ONE, topics include:-- a summer in the West-- kids going into first grade-- the founding of Great Place Books-- writers getting pushed into commercial directions-- the number of great unpublished manuscripts out there-- the first few forthcoming books for the press-- GPB's educational arm and Emily's class on Alice Munro____________PART TWO, topics include:-- writing without ambition as a kid-- dropping out of high school-- writing novels after college -- writing young characters while a young person-- writing mothers while a mother-- how different and idiosyncratic people's lives are-- Emily's most recent novel The Second Season-- the relief of not thinking about a book anymore-- imagining a future phase of life through story-- basing her main character on NBA analyst Doris Burke-- researching the novel & talking to lots of people-- becoming a genuine fan of the NBA___________PART THREE, topics include:-- writing in third vs. first person-- the beauty of clarity and context in a story-- knowing why you reveal what you reveal and don't reveal-- the urgency of structuring the novel around the NBA finals-- a novel in progress-- writing and publishing stories-- a memoir that did not get published-- Alice Munro  and time____________Podcast theme music provided by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex. 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, Aaron Burch interviews Andrew Porter.Andrew Porter is the author of the novel In Between Days and two short story collections, The Theory of Light and Matter and, most recently, The Disappeared. Porter’s short stories have appeared in One Story, Ploughshares, The Threepenny Review, The Missouri Review, and Prairie Schooner, among others. Aaron Burch is the author of the essay collection A Kind of In-Between and editor of How to Write a Novel: An Anthology of 20 Craft Essays About Writing, None of Which Ever Mention Writing, both from Autofocus Books. He's also the author of several other books, including the novel, Year of the Buffalo. He is currently the editor of Short Story, Long and the co-editor of WAS (Words & Sports) and HAD. ____________PART ONE, topics include:-- finishing up summer-- writing longhand-- teaching intro to creative writing-- discovering writing as an undergrad-- relationships with rejection-- early jobs and time in an MFA-- Twitter as a kind of MFA-- the decision to teach____________PART TWO, topics include:-- Andrew's new story collection, THE DISAPPEARED-- guilt about not writing much during early fatherhood-- writing the first story in the collection-- spinning a classic story in a new direction-- nostalgia as life and writing theme-- the line of sentimentality-- stories as self-contained moments in time____________PART THREE, topics include:-- short story gut punch moments-- knowing when a long story isn't a novel-- mixing the longer and short forms in a collection-- story collection order as album order-- quiet-loud-quiet-- work on a next novel____________Podcast theme music provided by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex. 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, Sara Rauch interviews Christine Sneed.Christine Sneed is the author of the new story collection Direct Sunlightin addition to three novels and two previous story collections, most recently Please Be Advised and The Virginity of Famous Men. She is also the editor of a collection of short fiction, Love in the Time of Time's Up. 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.____________PART ONE, topics include:-- juggling teaching gigs-- the fate of mid-list fiction writers-- writing stories vs novels-- novels in drawers-- Christine's Substack, Bookish-- mainstream publishing-- sticking it out-- poetry before fiction____________PART TWO, topics include:-- life before the first book-- 25 years of rejection from one mag-- disappointment-- Christine's new story collection Direct Sunlight-- stories as windows-- beginning with a title-- layering details -- the comic potential of the every day-- collecting a story collection-- the truth, revealed_________PART THREE, topics include:-- balancing formal inventiveness--  associative logic--  the enmeshment of character and plot-- the stories of Alice Munro-- the first couple lines-- figuring it out as you go-- dealing with disappointment-- tuning out the outside world-- new work____________Podcast theme music provided by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex. 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, Holly Pelesky interviews Allegra Goodman.Allegra Goodman is the author of two stories collections and many novels, including Intuition, The Cookbook Collector, The Chalk Artist, and most recently SAM. Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker and elsewhere, and she’s been a finalist for the National Book Award.Holly Pelesky is the author of the essay collection, Cleave, from us at Autofocus Books. She also writes fiction and poetry and co-edits Vast Chasm literary magazine.____________PART ONE, topics include:-- a recently empty nest-- writing routines-- holding the thread-- growing up in Honolulu-- the seven-year-old novelist--  a literary family-- Little House in the Big Woods--  writing short stories at Harvard in the 80's-- a story as a ship in a bottle-- living with a novel-- words as tools vs words as jewels-- writing as performance with a delay between the audience-- Allegra's new coming-of-age novel SAM-- evolving consciousness as plot____________PART TWO, topics include:-- process changing over time as a writer-- studying Shakespeare and writing the Markowitz stories-- throwing away hundreds of pages-- versatility-- writing about interests in different keys-- multimedia research-- imaginative research-- startling humor-- Tolstoy-- new reading recommendations-- laws, rituals, and rules-- observing the Sabbath ____________PART THREE, topics include:-- writing things when ready to write them--  courage-- working through uncertainty-- the hugeness of coming-of-age-- the prospect of being a moon lady-- self-deception-- not pushing-- forthcoming books____________Podcast theme music provided by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex. 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, Jeff Alessandrelli interviews Brandon Shimoda.Brandon Shimoda is a yonsei poet/writer, and the author of eight books of poetry and prose, including Portuguese, The Desert, The Grave on the Wall, and most recently Hydra Medusa, which is out now from Nightboat Books. He is also the curator of the Hiroshima Library, an itinerant reading room/collection of books on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He teaches at Colorado College.Jeff Alessandrelli is the author of several books, including the poetry collection Fur Not Light. He is also the director and co-editor of the small presses Fonograf Editions and Bunny Presse.____________PART ONE, topics include:-- parenting small children-- sibling relationships-- growing up with a frustrated artist-- living on the moon-- writing while in motion-- the bus as residency____________PART TWO, topics include:-- working five jobs in pandemic lockdown-- negative optimism-- more leading to more-- Brandon's new book Hydra Medusa-- travel-mania  and/or material-seeking-- the MFA -> publish three books -> visiting professor -> tenure track pipeline-- messiness and non-messiness-- Brandon's previous book The Desert-- corresponding with other writers-- Brandon's blurb stance____________PART THREE, topics include:-- more about Hydra Medusa-- writing about dreams-- orderly language-- feeling like a piece of hardware-- waking up in the morning-- the writing coming before the book-- the book coming before the writing-- writing poetry and/or prose-- the forthcoming A Book on the Afterlife of Japanese-American Incarceration-- putting a rectangle around a river-- editing an anthology as creative act____________Podcast theme music provided by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex. Here's more of his project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.

Michael talks with Aaron Burch about longhand, episode 10 of this podcast, Aaron’s help getting Autofocus and The Lives of Writers noticed, HAD/WAS, Short Story Long, slowing down, A Kind of In-Between, sounding like yourself, constraint, the How to Write a Novel anthology, teaching writing by thinking about other crafts, how books might come together, and more.Aaron Burch is the author of A Kind of In-Between, The Year of the Buffalo, How to Write a Novel: An Anthology of 20 Craft Essays About Writing, None of Which Ever Mention Writing, and several other books. He started the literary journal Hobart, which he edited for twenty years, and is currently the editor of Short Story, Long and the co-editor of WAS (Words & Sports) and HAD. He lives in Ann Arbor, MI and is online: on Twitter and Instagram at @aaron__burch, and the world wide web at aaronburch.netYou can buy A Kind of In-Between and the How to Write a Novel anthology bundled here.Podcast theme: DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Guest host Emily Costa talks with Shannon McLeod about writing (or not) over summer break, watching kids learn to read, pushing against and accepting your tendencies, NATURE TRAIL STORIES (Thirty West, 2023), "borecore," walking (and noticing), birds, loneliness, writing short vs. long, reality TV, writing communities, and more.Shannon McLeod is the author of the collection Nature Trail Stories (Thirty West, 2023), the novella Whimsy (Long Day Press, 2021) and the essay chapbook Pathetic (University of Indianapolis Etchings Press). Her writing has appeared in Tin House Online, Wigleaf, Hobart, Joyland Magazine, Cosmonauts Avenue, and Prairie Schooner, among other publications. Emily Costa is the author of Until It Feels Right (Autofocus Books, 2022). Her work can be found in X-R-A-Y, Hobart, Barrelhouse, Wigleaf, and elsewhere. She is currently working on a novel sort of about her father's video store, as well as a book of short stories.Podcast theme: DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Guest host Sara Lippmann talks with Seth Rogoff about collaboration, a triangle of place (Berlin, Prague, Maine), a relationship with seminal texts, the old testament, THE KIRSCHBAUM LECTURES (Sagging Meniscus, 2023), decentering meaning, making choices for or against expectation, handwriting (and not outlining), working with former NBA player Kendrick Perkins, and more.Seth Rogoff is the author of the novels First, the Raven: a Preface (2017), Thin Rising Vapors (2018), and The Kirschbaum Lectures (2023), and the nonfiction book The Politics of the Dreamscape (2021). He is the co-author with former NBA player Kendrick Perkins of the memoir The Education of Kendrick Perkins (2023). Find more at sethrogoff.com.Sara Lippmann is the author of the novel Lech (Tortoise Books) and the story collections Doll Palace (re-released by 7.13 Books) and Jerks (Mason Jar Press). Her fiction has been honored by the New York Foundation for the Arts, and her essays have appeared in The Millions, The Washington Post, Catapult, The Lit Hub and elsewhere. With Seth Rogoff, she is co-editing the anthology Smashing the Tablets: Radical Retellings of the Hebrew Bible for SUNY Press. Podcast theme: DJ Garlik and Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Guest host Erin Slaughter talks with Emma Bolden about leaving academia, editing for Screen Door Review, asexuality, southern influence, writing across genres and modes, her memoir THE TIGER AND THE CAGE (Soft Skull Press, 2022), fractal form, writing about other people, writing about embodied trauma, confessional literature, endometriosis, and more.Emma Bolden is the author of The Tiger and the Cage: A Memoir of a Body in Crisis, House Is an Enigma, medi(t)ations, and Maleficae. The recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Literary Fellowship, her work has appeared in The Norton Introduction to Literature, The Best American Poetry, The Best Small Fictions, and journals including Mississippi Review, Seneca Review, StoryQuarterly, Prairie Schooner, TriQuarterly, and Shenandoah.Erin Slaughter is the author of A Manual for How to Love Us, The Sorrow Festival, and I Will Tell This Story to the Sun Until You Realize That You Are the Sun. She is the managing editor of Autofocus.Podcast theme: DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Guest host Lena Crown talks with Jessica E. Johnson about miner parents, trees, biology and literature, meaning making, mechanism, metaphor, her new book METABOLICS, the book-length poem form, accumulation, research as authority, place and context, writing the body, troubling the notion of a self, figures and diagrams, and more.Jessica E. Johnson writes poetry and nonfiction. She's the author of the book-length poem Metabolics and the chapbook In Absolutes We Seek Each Other. Her poems, essays, and reviews have appeared in The Paris Review, Tin House, The New Republic, Poetry Northwest, River Teeth, DIAGRAM, Annulet Poetics, The Southeast Review, and Sixth Finch. Podcast theme: DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.