Keep the Channel Open

David Adjmi is a writer and playwright based in Los Angeles, CA. In his new memoir Lot Six , David tells the story of how he found himself through art and the theater, growing up feeling like an outsider as a gay, atheist, artistic youth in a small and insular Syrian Sephardic Jewish community in Brooklyn. In our conversation, David and I discussed the craft of memoir, the process of constructing...

Jessica Eaton is a photographer based in Montreal, Quebec. At first glance, the minimalist compositions in Jessica's images might seem simple, but the process behind their creation is anything but. Using a series of color filters and a painstaking multiple exposure technique, she is able to use light to construct color. In our conversation, we discussed her photographic technique, her impulse towa...

Matthew Salesses is a writer based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Matthew's new novel, Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear , is darkly funny, unsettling in the best way, and wholly original, the story of a Korean American man struggling simply to exist as he feels himself literally disappearing. In our conversation, Matthew and I discussed his book, the trap of the first-person perspective, and what it means...

Ross Sutherland is a writer and podcaster based in Peterborough, UK. Ross's podcast Imaginary Advice is one of my favorites in any genre. Blending poetry, essay, and audio fiction with a wonderfully experimental approach to sound design, Imaginary Advice sounds like nothing else. In our conversation, Ross and I talked about what it's like to make a podcast without a format, why starting with form...

Richard Georges is a writer, editor, and lecturer in the British Virgin Islands. In his second collection of poems, Giant , Richard gives us a portrait of the BVI through landscape, through its history and its present. In our conversation, Richard and I talked about his book, the aftermath of empire in the BVI, and the relationship between poetry and myth. For the second segment, Richard talked ab...

Alanna Airitam is a portrait photographer based in San Diego, CA. In her series "The Golden Age," Alanna makes portraits of African Americans in the style of the Dutch Realism Golden Age of painting, images full of grace and beauty representing black people in a fine art context, a context from which they are all too often excluded. In our conversation we talked about that series, as well as her "...

Leah Huizar is a poet originally from Southern California. Leah's collection Inland Empire juxtaposes personal history with California history, excavating different layers of colonialism and centering Mexican-American women. In our conversation, we talked about what it means to own or be of a place, the stories behind California history, and what parts of history we carry forward to the next gener...

In solidarity with the ongoing protests against police violence, Keep the Channel Open is postponing our regular episode this week and participating in the #PodcastBlackout . Resources: National Bail Fund Network Campaign Zero Showing Up for Racial Justice Scene on Radio - Seeing White Robin DiAngelo - White Fragility Ijeoma Oluo - So You Want to Talk About Race Erika Lee - The Making of Asian Ame...

Maggie Tokuda-Hall is a writer and podcaster based in San Francisco, CA. Maggie's debut YA novel, The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea , is a swashbuckling pirate fantasy, and it's also a nuanced and subversive story about colonialism, the power of storytelling, and the cost of violence. In our conversation, Maggie and I talked about her love of working in multiple forms and genres, the presentatio...

Sarah Gailey is a writer based in Los Angeles, CA. Sarah's latest novel, the YA fantasy When We Were Magic , is a wonderful story about teen friendship, magic, and queer love. In our conversation, we talked about the importance of representation and sensitivity edits, writing YA that respects teens, and how it's okay to take up space in one's relationships. Then for the second segment, we talked a...

Celeste Ng is a writer based in Cambridge, MA. Celeste's first novel, 2014's Everything I Never Told You , is, without exaggeration, one of the most important books of my life. When I read it in 2016, it gave me my first real glimpse at what representation in fiction could mean, and it was revelatory. Celeste's newest novel, which was just released this week, is called Little Fires Everywhere , an...

Last month, I was scheduled to moderate a panel at the annual AWP Conference called "The Craft of the Literary Podcast Interview," featuring Rachel Zucker of Commonplace , Dujie Tahat of The Poet Salon , and David Naimon of Between the Covers , three of my favorite literary podcasts. Due to the coronavirus, we ended up having to cancel our appearance at the conference, which makes it all the sweet...

Julian K. Jarboe is a writer based in Massachusetts. Julian's debut story collection, Everyone on the Moon Is Essential Personnel , is a mix of body-horror fairy tales, mid-apocalyptic science fabulism, and blue-collar queer resistance. The stories grapple with body dysmorphia and transformation, and the realities of laboring under late capitalism. In our conversation we talked about different com...

Jon Sands is a poet based in Brooklyn, NY. I first became acquainted with Jon as one of the co-hosts of the podcast The Poetry Gods , one of my all-time favorites, and the poems in his latest collection, It's Not Magic , are both exuberant and profound. In our conversation we talked about being braver on the page, about balancing self-love and accountability, and about writing toward growth. Then...

Brandon Taylor's debut novel, Real Life , is one of the best books I've read in years. Real Life is the story of Wallace, an introverted, black, gay graduate student studying biochemistry. Over the course of a summer weekend, a series of confrontations with his friends and labmates and a confusing encounter with a straight classmate bring all of the unspoken tensions in the group to the surface. I...

Lilliam Rivera is a writer based in Los Angeles, CA. In her young adult novels The Education of Margot Sanchez and Dealing In Dreams , Lilliam tells familiar stories in new ways—instead of a typical teen drama or dystopian science fiction, she centers Latina characters in stories that take on topics like colorism and gentrification. In our conversation, we talked about why she's drawn to write sto...

Philipp Scholz Rittermann is a photographer based in the San Diego, CA area. In his photographic work, Philipp has long been interested in trying to see the impossible, and in his latest series sight • time • memory , he tries to imagine what it would look like if his gaze could encompass more than just the present moment—using a large-scale projector, he projects a landscape image from a previous...

Paula Riff is a photographic artist based in Los Angeles, CA. Combining the cyanotype and gum bichromate processes, Paula Riff creates bold, colorful images that push the boundaries of the photographic medium. In our conversation, Paula and I talked about what photography is to her, why she's attracted to alternative processes, and how her work is ultimately autobiographical. Then for the second s...

Rakesh Satyal is a writer and editor. Rakesh's novel No One Can Pronounce My Name was an utterly delightful read, subverting the stereotypical tropes of the immigrant story with humor and empathy to create something wonderfully unexpected. In our conversation, Rakesh and I talked about expanding the notion of what kinds of immigrant stories can be told, using humor to create connection, and writin...

Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet from Columbus, Ohio. For today's episode I was pleased to talk to Hanif about his 2016 book The Crown Ain't Worth Much , one of my favorite reads of 2016. The poems in this book are an intensely personal account of his experiences growing up in Columbus, and in our conversation we talked about Hanif's approach to writing from experience, and how art can engender empathy....

Photographer Jess T. Dugan is one of my favorite contemporary portrait artists, whose work explores issues of gender, sexuality, identity, and community. Jess's 2015 book Every Breath We Drew is a favorite of mine, and I was pleased to be able to discuss that book with her, as well as her recent series To Survive On This Shore , photographs and interviews with transgender and gender non-conforming...

Ada Limón's latest book of poems, The Carrying , was just released this month by Milkweed Editions, and it's just beautiful. In this episode, Ada and I discuss the book, the power of naming, connection with the Earth, and her collaboration with poet Natalie Diaz. Then in the second segment, we talked about travel and artistic pilgrimages. (Conversation recorded August 17, 2018.) Bonus Reading: Sub...

Keah Brown is a journalist and essayist. Keah's debut essay collection The Pretty One is an honest and thoughtful look at what it means to be black and disabled in a culture that doesn't make space for marginalized bodies. In our conversation we talked about the importance of representation, the insidious nature of ableism, and compared notes on how each of us approaches an interview. Then for the...

Marisa Crane is a writer based in San Diego, CA. What I love about Marisa's chapbook Our Debatable Bodies is how it moves from one emotion to another and another, both within a poem and throughout the collection—the poems juxtapose our society's casual misogyny and homophobia with the tenderness and intimacy of a moment between lovers. In our conversation, Marisa and I talked about her book, our "...

Introducing LikeWise Fiction! I'm thrilled to announce the launch of my new diverse fiction podcast, LikeWise Fiction! I'm sharing the first episode as a bonus for KTCO listeners—enjoy! Whale Fall , by Alvin Park. A whale washes ashore, a village loses its memories, and a relationship falls apart. (This story first appeared in issue 60 of SmokeLong Quarterly.) Bonus Interview: Subscribers to the L...