F***ing Shakespeare

Catherine Baab-Muguira, freelancer Bloomsday Literary Get ready for some perfect hot takes on today’s episode of F***ing Shakepeare with freelancer Catherine Baab-Muguira. She looks behind the curtain at the self-appointed guardians of the world of culture, celebrates indulging a rabbit hole of eccentric ideas as a freelancer, and we all have a laugh about how her outstanding personal essay on her...

Special LIVE edition — AWP2019, Day 2 Bloomsday Literary Erika Thorkelson 3:57 Erika Thorkelson holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia and is currently a sessional instructor at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. She is a regular contributor of arts and culture writing to the Vancouver Sun and Edmonton Journal as well as a host and operator on The Storytelling...

Special LIVE edition - AWP2019, Day 1 Bloomsday Literary James Charlesworth 3:56 James Charlesworth is the recipient of a Martin Dibner Fellowship from the Maine Community Foundation. He attended Penn State University and Emerson College in Boston and his debut novel, The Patricide of George Benjamin Hill (published by Arcade) was released January 15th, 2019. He joins us at AWP to talk about his p...

Special LIVE edition — Texas Book Fest, Day 2 Bloomsday Literary Lowell Mick White 1:16 White is the author of three novels and two story collections   and is also editor at  Alamo Bay Press . His work has been featured in  Callaloo ,  Iron Horse Literary Review , and  Short Story , and I've won the Dobie-Paisano Fellowship, awarded by the University of Texas at Austi...

FS Special - Mark Pryor and the Texas Book Fest 2018 Day 1 Bloomsday Literary Mark Pryor 01:50 Mark Pryor, novelist Amber Elby, YA novelist Dylan Powell, mystery writer George Vance McGee, author Daniel Peña, novelist Leza Cantoral, author and panda Cat with book Phuc with dog Mark Pryor is the author of ten novels, including The Hollow Man , which introduced everyone’s favorite misanthrope*, Domi...

Bobby Byrd, poet and publisher Bloomsday Literary published by Cinco Puntos Press We were lucky enough to speak with Bobby Byrd, who along with Lee Byrd, founded Cinco Puntos Press in 1985 in El Paso, Texas. Cinco Puntos’ distinguished list of authors includes Joe Hayes, Christine Engla Eber, Daniel Bowles, and Beto O’Rourke. Since those early years, Cinco Puntos has gone on to win several distinc...

Chris Cander, novelist Bloomsday Literary Chris Cander opens our all-female Season 3 of F***ing Shakespeare with a lovely conversation about witnessing magic in the every day, and how learning to really notice is the only rule she knows how to follow in crafting stories. We talk about adverbs and bull riding. And we discuss her publishing journey which sounds more like the world’s meanest conceive...

Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, Poet Laureate of Houston Bloomsday Literary Houston’s Poet Laureate Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton closes our season 2 with a bang. We clink glasses as we talk about the intersection of poetry and community, and she explains how limiting her allotment of news to her once-a-week date with Trevor Noah keeps her sane, and we petition Hollywood to make more movies about breastfeeding...

Ches Smith, novelist Bloomsday Literary Novelist Ches Smith talks about being depressed and vulnerable while being male, the inherent difficulties of writing characters who act suspiciously like a lot of the people you work with — but WHO ARE NOT THEM — and how writing metafiction offers a way to take the undesireable parts of yourself to their logical and worst conclusions, so you can (and should...

Leslie Contreras Schwartz, poet Bloomsday Literary On today’s podcast, we talk with Leslie Contreras Schwartz about how poetry may not be therapy but it is, thankfully, a form of connection in a sometimes lonely world. And even though you won’t hear Jess’s voice on today’s show, you will feel her influence as we discuss the fear and uncertainty implicit in engaging in art in the age of Trump. And...

Ayokunle Falomo, poet Bloomsday Literary Today we talk (and laugh a lot) with poet Ayokunle Falomo, known to his Slam poetry friends and fans as Ayo. We chat about the inspiration for his urgent and iconic poem “Blk Boy Joy.” Ayo schools us on the question of how we as writers should appeal to young readers. *Answer: start by listening to them. And all your questions about cultural appropriation a...

Jason E. Carmichael, actor and playwright Bloomsday Literary Actor and playwright, Jason E. Carmichael, comes on the podcast to chat about August Wilson and his Pittsburgh cycle of plays. We get into the burning forest that is scene-writing and he answers the age-old question that has plagued racist Hollywood producers for centuries: exactly which tattoos are gang-enough? More pressingly, we discu...

Cameron Dezen Hammon, essayist and memoirist Bloomsday Literary On today’s show, Cameron Dezen Hammon tells us how to trick yourself into writing a good book. (Spoiler alert: it helps if you’re already really talented. Tin House workshops don’t hurt.)  We get down to the reals about spiritual writing in the age of Trump, why we can still afford to be hopeful, and why Cameron advocates for wri...

Daniel Peña, Novelist Bloomsday Literary In this episode, we talk to novelist Daniel Peña about how to be a cheery human despite being in the business of immersing one’s self in the violent reality of the drug war at the border. Peña talks about advice he got from Rodrigo Hasbún, how once you let go of selling thousands of copies, you’re free to junk what you learned in the MFA program, & why...

Nick Flynn, poet and memoirist Bloomsday Literary In this episode, Nick Flynn dishes about donuts, the Thesaurussaurus Rex, and how making your students perform your poetry for you as you write it is the only way to pen award-winning/money-making poetry. No one says anything about Hamlet, Nick does not say the podcast is a shit show, & there is absolutely no cussing in this episode....

FS 008 F***ing Shakespeare field trips to Boston to talk to the women behind The Village Works. Bloomsday Literary We talk with Melissa Goldman and Daphne Strassmann, two members of a four-person team responsible for the amazing co-working community that is The Village Works. (It is an actual physical space, but so much more.) We chat about locating the mythical work-life balance, Marie-kondo...

007 Karen Walrond talks about what word drops the mic harder on NPR. Bloomsday Literary Woman-of-all-trades, Karen Walrond, lit up the F***ing Shakespeare studio. She's a master storyteller, envy-inducing photographer and writer, and self-avowed twinkle-light-hangin', candle-lighting, biscuit-eating junkie. And we all fell in love with her. You will too. Plus, she knows a thing or two about h...

006 Novelist Katherine Center talks about how writing stories is like building a rollercoster. Bloomsday Literary You know how Adam Rippon named himself America's Figure Skating Sweetheart at the Olympics? Well, I'm dubbing Katherine Center America's Author Sweetheart. Because I can. On the show, she talks spotting the Neighborhood Novelist and Why You Should Approach with Reckless Abandon, and wh...

005 Jennifer Mathieu shares the three secrets of writing. Bloomsday Literary YA novelist Jennifer Mathieu and co-host Jessica Cole work out once and for all what happened with the election. Turns out “We’re fine!” Plus, she reveals the three rules of writing. Your writing life will never be the same. Suggested readings: Photo credit: Pablo Gamez Houston: It's Worth It (the coffee table book &...

FS 004 Kristin Rae talks baby zombies. Bloomsday Literary Young Adult novelist Kristin Rae explains the similarities between zombies and toddlers and their completely backed-up-by-neuroscientists impact on the mind of a writer. The agent of an author friend of hers once told her, “Life is hard enough, reading should be a joy.” And that’s why our guest, young adult novelist Kristin Rae writes....

FS 002 D.F. Brown compares and contrasts Ozarks nursery rhymes with Disney fairy tales. Bloomsday Literary Poet D.F. Brown tells us how nursery rhymes in the 1950s Ozarks are just like Disney movies and not scary at all. And Jessica goes for a walk in the wide, wide world and shares a very special PSA about poetry.    Recommended reading & suggested links from David Brown: Willi...

FS 001 Mark Dostert Talks Color Schemes for Juvenile jails Bloomsday Literary We talk to Mark Dostert about his memoir recounting his time as a juvenile attendant in Up in Here: Jailing Kids on Chicago’s Other Side, choosing the right color white for your juvenile detention center, and the merits of jailing kids with outmoded and punitive drug laws. Photo credit: Chris Wineinger Suggested readings...

Mark Haber gets really worked up about LCD Soundsystem. Bloomsday Literary Novelist and Brazos bookstore manager Mark Haber gets real worked up about LCD Soundsystem and why nothing else will do for writing inspiration. And then gets real meta about the truth and Mario Belletin. Dear listeners, we’ll let you decide.   Photo credit: Houston Creative Space Photo credit: Argonáutica Be on the lo...

Writers talk. For Real. Promo about F***ing Shakespeare Kate Martin William and Jessica Cole