Words on a Wire

In this episode of Words on a Wire, host Daniel Chacón speaks with writer and journalist Michelle Morgante about her journey from a small agricultural town in California’s San Joaquin Valley to a globe-spanning career in journalism, and ultimately, to fiction writing. Morgante begins by reflecting on her childhood in Lindsay, California, a tiny, heavily agricultural town she describes as a real-li...

Listen to part 2 of Tim Z. Hernandez's conversation with Olga Talamante. Be sure to catch part 1 right here on the Words on a Wire podcast.

In this episode of The Storykeeper from Words on a Wire, host Tim Z. Hernandez sits down with activist and community leader Olga Talamante to explore the extraordinary journey behind her life’s work. Drawing from her migrant childhood in Gilroy, her early experiences as a student leader, and her awakening as a young Chicana organizer, Olga reflects on the forces that shaped her political conscious...

In this candid and forward-looking conversation, host Will Rose sits down with longtime Words on a Wire co-host Daniel Chacón to examine how profoundly the writing life has changed—and what the new realities mean for anyone trying to build a writing career in 2025. Drawing from personal experience and decades inside the MFA world, Chacón reflects on the fading era when a single book and an MFA cou...

In this episode, host Daniel Chacón sits down with Fredrick Luis Aldama—the award-winning author, theorist, and editor known as Professor Latinx—to explore how stories shape our minds, our culture, and even our bodies. Aldama discusses his astonishingly prolific career, from editing FlowerSong Press and launching the Brown Ink imprint to teaching courses on narrative, wellness, and smartphone stor...

In this episode of The Storykeeper on Words on a Wire , host Tim Z. Hernandez sits down with poet, performer, and educator Darren J. de Leon to explore his new collection The Hoops and Crosses of Mt. Vernon (Hinchas Press, 2025). Blending poetry and fiction, de Leon’s debut offers vivid portraits of life in San Bernardino’s working-class neighborhoods and the formative tensions of growing up betwe...

In this episode of Words on a Wire, host Will Rose speaks with award-winning author and translator Anton Hur, celebrated for bringing contemporary Korean literature to English-speaking readers through works like Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny. What began as a practical skill evolved into a creative calling that now connects readers to voices from Korea’s vibrant literary scene. He also explains how his...

On this episode of Words on a Wire , host Daniel Chacón speaks with Jessica Powers—publisher at Catalyst Press, author, and editor—about the hard truths and hopeful possibilities of a writing life. Jessica, who also writes under the name J.L. Powers, reflects on why so few books sell beyond a hundred copies, what creative writing students need to thrive, and how authors must learn to think like en...

On this episode of Words on a Wire, host Daniel Chacón welcomes award-winning author Stephanie Elizondo Griest, whose adventurous spirit has carried her from the Texas/Mexico borderlands to 50 countries and 49 states. A celebrated writer of six books—including Around the Bloc, Mexican Enough, All the Agents and Saints, and her latest, Art Above Everything: One Woman’s Global Exploration of the Joy...

On this episode of The Storykeeper on Words on a Wire , host Tim Z. Hernandez speaks with poet and journalist Adolfo Guzman-Lopez about his collection, California Southern: Writing from the Road, 1992–2025 . Together they reflect on three decades of poetry, journalism, and cultural activism—spanning the San Diego–Tijuana border, Los Angeles, and beyond. Guzmán-López shares the stories behind his w...

Antena es la primera novela de misterio extraterrestre ubicada en las entrañas de la Argentina agroexportadora de los últimos años. Francisco Marzioni retrata la interioridad y la subjetividad de los entornos rurales agropecuarios de un país que ha sabido usar la Ciencia Ficción como una poderosa metáfora de sus tensiones y contradicciones políticas ¿Quienes son los extraterrestres en un país saqu...

La Cuarta Raya Del Tigre y Casa Barullo son la manera en que la escritura se hace comunidad, juego, amistad y consigue sobrevivir al aislamiento y la desfinanciación cultural de este nuevo milenio en Colombia y el mundo. En esta charla aprendemos sobre el arte del encuentro, el contagio y la identidad en los extremos donde la literatura y la autoría devienen colectivos ¿Cómo podemos madurar y crec...

Una joven operaria de una fábrica, ¿puede aspirar a convertirse en escritora, ganar premios, publicar y ayudar a otras escritores-operarios a publicar? En el paisaje de la frontera estas historias resultan posibles invocando y subvirtiendo a personajes fantásticos como los superhéroes que ahora hacen justicia donde históricamente ha reinado el abuso y la explotación. Elpidia García Delgado nos cue...

In this episode of Words on a Wire , host Daniel Chacón speaks with Javier Sagarna, a Spanish writer and director of Escuela de Escritores in Madrid. Sagarna shares his journey from pharmaceuticals to fiction, reflecting on how literature and workshops can create community and foster imagination. He discusses the role of utopias in storytelling, arguing that writers should move beyond dystopian vi...

In this wide-ranging conversation, host Daniel Chacón speaks with poet Matt Sedillo— called “America’s greatest political poet”—about his poetic mission, international travels, and deep commitment to social justice. Sedillo reflects on the legacy of revolutionary poets like Roque Dalton and Pablo Neruda, and shares his experiences participating in international poetry festivals, including a recent...

In this episode of Words on a Wire , host Daniel Chacón speaks with UTEP math professor Lawrence Lesser and digital humanities scholar Elisabet Takehana about the surprising connections between poetry, mathematics, and data. What starts as a discussion about a poem on the number π unfolds into a wide-ranging conversation about creativity, meaning, and the human role in interpreting both language a...

In this thought-provoking episode of Words on a Wire , host Daniel Chacón welcomes author and theologian Keith Giles for an engaging conversation about his book The Quantum Sayings of Jesus: Decoding the Lost Gospel of Thomas . Giles shares his spiritual journey from being a Southern Baptist pastor immersed in conservative evangelicalism to becoming what he calls “mystic-curious.” The episode dive...

In this episode of Words on a Wire , hosts Daniel Chacón and Tim Z. Hernandez sit down with Felicia Cocotzin Ruiz—award-winning author, respected curandera, and revered herbal educator—whose healing practices are rooted in the traditions of the Sonoran Desert. Known affectionately as the “Kitchen Curandera,” Felicia shares stories from her journey into traditional healing, from her great-grandmoth...

In this episode of Words on a Wire , host Daniel Chacón welcomes back poet Adela Najarro to discuss her powerful new collection, Variations in Blue , published by Red Hen Press. With warmth, candor, and insight, Najarro reflects on how art, memory, and community shape her work. Najarro also pays tribute to her literary influences, including Pablo Neruda, while critically reimagining their legacies...

In this episode of Words on a Wire , host Daniel Chacón sits down with veteran journalist Robert Moore, founder and CEO of El Paso Matters , a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to high-impact local reporting. Together, they trace Moore’s career from writing obituaries at a small-town paper to leading one of the most respected independent news organizations on the U.S.–Mexico border. Moore shares why he...

In this special episode of Words on a Wire , host Daniel Chacón sits down with four graduating creative writing students from his Senior Seminar at the University of Texas at El Paso: Diego Cerda, Cristina Flores, Sophia Ortega-Carlos, and Jesus Morales. What unfolds is a spirited, funny, and deeply personal roundtable conversation about life, art, and what comes after college.

In this episode of Words on a Wire , host William Alfred Rose speaks with journalist and author Kyle Paoletta about his new book, American Oasis: Finding the Future in the Cities of the Southwest . Paoletta takes listeners on a journey through the urban heart of the American Southwest—El Paso, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Tucson, and Las Vegas—exploring how these desert cities reflect the challenges and...

In this special episode of Words on a Wire , host Tim Z. Hernandez brings listeners into a moving panel discussion recorded live at the Tucson Festival of Books. Joined by acclaimed authors Rex Ogle ( Abuela, Don’t Forget Me ) and Melani “Mele” Martinez ( The Molino: A Memoir ), the conversation dives deep into the role of storytelling in shaping identity, healing generational trauma, and reclaimi...

In this episode of Words on a Wire , host Daniel Chacón sits down with acclaimed poet, translator, and world traveler Liliana Valenzuela for a rich and reflective conversation recorded just after her return from a silent meditation retreat. Liliana discusses her journey as a “reverse Chicana”—a Mexican-born writer shaped by both Mexican and Chicano cultural traditions—and the ancestral and creativ...

In this episode of Words on a Wire , host Daniel Chacón talks with debut author Eugenie Montague about her novel Swallow the Ghost , a genre-bending narrative that plays with the conventions of crime fiction, digital life, and storytelling itself. Montague shares how the novel began as a writing experiment that grew into something larger—originating with the character Jane and evolving into a stor...