
QWERTY: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
Welcome to Qwerty, the podcast for writers on how to live the writing life. Host Marion Roach Smith interviews the best writers in all genres to discover their process. Qwerty is by, about and for writers and explores the real challenges of writing and the steps anyone can take to become a better storyteller. Listen in for writing tips, publishing advice and encouragement on how to live the writing life.
Latest episodes

Apr 21, 2023 • 31min
Ep. 97 Rona Maynard
How to write dog memoir. Writer and author Rona Maynard talks with Qwerty podcast host Marion Roach Smith about her new book, Starter Dog. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own journey to writing what you know.

Apr 7, 2023 • 30min
Ep. 96 Julie Zickefoose
Naturalist, writer, author, illustrator and wildlife rehabilitator, Julie Zickefoose, speaks with Qwerty podcast host Marion Roach Smith about writing from nature. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own journey to writing what you know.

Mar 24, 2023 • 30min
Ep. 95 Rebecca Fogg
Memoirist Rebecca Fogg speaks with Qwerty opdcast host Marion Roach Smith about writing a first memoir and the lessons learned when writing from trauma. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own journey to writing what you know.

Mar 10, 2023 • 31min
Ep. 94 Heinz Insu Fenkl
Author, translator and professor Heinz Insu Fenkl and host Marion Roach Smith talk about writing from one's own life story and the writing tools available from being an outsider. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own journey to writing what you know.

Feb 24, 2023 • 28min
Ep. 93 Iris Smyles
Author, essayist and humorist Iris Smyles and host Marion Roach Smith discuss how to write funny in this latest episode of the Qwerty podcast. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own journey to writing what you know.

Feb 10, 2023 • 29min
Ep. 92 Scott Keyser: A Podcast for Writers on How to Life the Writing Life
Author Scott Keyser and host Marion Roach Smith discuss the great art of rhetoric on this episode of The Qwerty podcast. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own journey to writing what you know.

Dec 30, 2022 • 33min
Ep. 91 Shirley Showalter: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
Author, opinion writer, essayist and speaker Shirley Showalter talks about how to write memoir with host Marion Roach Smith in this episode of the Qwerty podcast, a podcast by, for and about writers. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own journey to writing what you know.

Dec 16, 2022 • 27min
Ep. 90 Joanne Tubbs Kelly: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
First time author Joanne Tubbs Kelly talks with host Marion Roach Smith on how to write the book you want to read. Listen in as they discuss Kelly's memoir, Walking Him Home: Helping my Husband Die with Dignity, just out from She Writes Press. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own journey to writing what you know.

Dec 2, 2022 • 31min
Ep. 89 Lisa Lucca: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
In episode 89 of The Qwerty Podcast, author Lisa Lucca and host Marion Roach Smith take on the tricky topic of writing about our past while living in the present. Many decisions go into how to characterize ourselves, our family, the times and more as we look from here back to there, especially when viewed through the lens of changing cultural norms. In 1974, when the author's father came out as gay, the family blew apart. Looking back, now with the eyes of a devoted ally, Lisa Lucca talks about how to look at ourselves and those we love when - and as - we change. Listen in and read along. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own journey to writing what you know.

Nov 18, 2022 • 35min
Ep. 88 Amy Biancolli: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
In this episode of The Qwerty podcast, we discuss how to write memoir about loss and grief with Amy Biancolli, author of two memoirs on that topic. Amy is a staff writer for Mad in America, an online site that takes on global mental health. Qwerty is the podcast by, for and about writers. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life.The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own journey to writing what you know.