The Lives of Writers

Guest host Ryan Skaryd talks with Laurie Uttich about running workshops in a maximum-security correctional center for men, reaching for a pen to figure stuff out, loving teaching after not wanting to teach, moving from fiction to non-fiction, the path to her first book of poems, how an idea might lead to non-fiction or poetry, process, a poem landing or not, the point of writing, not rushing into...

Michael talks with Kevin Sampsell about his work at Powell's, the story of Future Tense Books, getting into books at 21, stumbling on a memoir, getting into collage after publishing a novel, I MADE AN ACCIDENT (Clash Books, 2022), the mysterious allure of magazines older than you are, the influence of collage on his poetry, losing a book written off the cloud, and more. Kevin Sampsell is the autho...

Michael talks with Siân Griffiths about her horse (Larry), riding, coming of age as a writer in denial, finishing a novel and grad school as a new mother, starting her essay collection THE SUM OF HER PARTS around 2016, writing layered analysis, the process of structuring longer essays, sharing work with her filmmaker sister, writing across genres, trusting your obsessions, and more. Siân Griffiths...

Michael talks with Keely Shinners about Cape Town, writing about the arts, their path to becoming a novelist, How to Build a Home for the End of the World (Perennial Press), world building, autobiography in the first novel, a question as a through line, theme as guide for structure, and more. Keely Shinners is the editor of ArtThrob and the author of How to Build a Home for the End of the World. T...

Michael talks with Robert Vaughan about the creation of Bending Genres, reading and writing with dyslexia, almost becoming a musician, finding book publishers from public readings, his sixth book ASKEW, creating distance, form, and technique in revision, telling it slant, upcoming work, and more. Robert Vaughan is the author of six books of poetry, fiction, and cross-genre writing, including Addic...

Michael talks to Marisa Siegel about her time as owner/eic of The Rumpus, poetry as a thread through her life, writing and editing FIXED STARS (Burrow Press, 2022), writing the personal in poetry vs essay, writing about the writing, approaching prose vs poetry, and new work. Marisa Siegal is the author of the poetry book Fixed Stars (Burrow Press, 2022). She’s the senior acquiring editor for trade...

Michael talks with Emily Costa about the making of UNTIL IT FEELS RIGHT, turning a diary into a book, OCD, performing in therapy, intensive CBT, reasons to make the private public, timeliness, a novel-in-progress, early influences, and more. Emily Costa is the author of Until It Feels Right (Autofocus Books). Her work can be found in X-R-A-Y, Hobart, Barrelhouse, Wigleaf, and elsewhere. She is cur...

Michael talks with Jennifer Wortman about reading as a disaffected teen, becoming a fiction writer, her story collection THIS. THIS. THIS. IS. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE., self-conscious narrators, theme appearing without seeing it, the question of God, a novel-in-stories-in-progress, where strangeness in a story comes from, and more. Jennifer Wortman is the author of the story collection This. This. This....

Michael talks with Erin Slaughter about her journey to finding community as a writer, figuring out a balance between disclosure and dignity in poetry, THE SORROW FESTIVAL (Clash Books, 2022), writing about emotion from the body, vulnerability, the impulse to write about the self, finding form, and her forthcoming story collection. Erin Slaughter is the author of two books of poetry: The Sorrow Fes...

Michael talks with Sara Lippmann about running, palpable honesty, the reissue of DOLL HOUSE (2014), the new collection JERKS (Mason Jar Press), the gaps in a person and the gaps between people, entrapment and transgression, crafting dynamic narrators with an authentic voice, the long process of writing her novel LECH (Tortoise Books), and more. Sara Lippmann is the author of three books: JERKS, a...

Michael talks with David Shields about THE VERY LAST INTERVIEW, the consequence of choosing art over life, the link between humor and hopelessness, the plots underneath his collage or "plotless" work, books that are about what they're about, a new co-written film I'LL SHOW YOU MINE, the beauty and inevitable failure of an interview, new projects, and more. David Shields is the author of The Very L...

Michael talks with Brad Listi about starting The Nervous Breakdown, developing the Otherppl podcast, his co-authored literary collage BOARD, his new autofiction novel BE BRIEF AND TELL THEM EVERYTHING, how his life got Buddhist and literary, balancing self-expression with the concerns of a reader, podcasts and books as engagements with consciousness, Twitter, psychedelics, confusion, the connectio...

Michael talks with Amy Barnes about her life of writing, the influence of fairy tales, literalizing metaphor, the flash fiction form, her collection AMRBOTYPES (Word West Press), the ways in which the words get on the page, and more. Amy Barnes is the author of the flash fiction collection AMBROTYPES (Word West Press) and the chapbooks Mother Figures and Clean up on Aisle Five. She edits for a var...

Michael talks with Susannah Q. Pratt about convincing her family to attempt not buying new things for a year, feeling overwhelmed by objects in the home, the commerce systems that wrap into our lives, the way the things we own might either define or confine us, writing into ambiguity, the way this all connects to her first book MORE OR LESS, and much more. Susannah Q. Pratt is the author of More o...

Guest host Mike Nagel talks with Graham Irvin about donating sperm, getting into reading and writing in high school, the influence of Burroughs and Brautigan, his first book LIVER MUSH (Back Patio Press), Jack Handey, the thematic glue or arc of a poetry book, books changing as life changes, and more. Graham Irvin is the author of Liver Mush  (Back Patio Press). He grew up in North Carolina and li...

Michael talks with Mike Ingram about co-founding Barrelhouse, co-hosting the Book Fight podcast, attention, the evolution of his creative nonfiction book NOTES FROM THE ROAD, a novel in progress, the constraints of cnf vs the novel, and more. Mike Ingram is the author of Notes from the Road (Awst Press). He's a co-founding editor of the literary magazine Barrelhouse and the co-host of the literary...

Michael talks with Scott Mitchel May about moving back to the midwest, working as political staffer, writing novels as practice to write more novels, The World According to Garp, his first story collection, ads on podcasts, book length, and more. Scott Mitchel May is the author of the story collection Dekalb, Illinois Is a Paradise What Eats Its Own . His stories have appeared in Rejection Letters...

Michael talks with Sara Rauch about the imaginative properties of creative nonfiction, writing into questions without answers, writing about affairs and heartbreak, the making of the second Autofocus book XO, trying to connect everything and make it mean something, dealing with the reality of with putting very personal writing into the world, and more. Sara Rauch is the author XO , the second book...

Michael talks with Shane Kowalski about working at the post office, reading tastes changing, keeping a daily fiction blog for ten years, his collection of fiction SMALL MOODS, writing weird stuff in a traditional program, the daring use of ellipsis, and more. Shane Kowalski is the author of the full-length fiction collection Small Moods  (Future Tense, 2022) and the chapbooks Dog Understander (Fro...

Michael talks with Cynthia Arrieu-King about filling blank books as a kid, quilting, her creative nonfiction book THE BETWEENS, writing about race, taking breaks, collaging anecdotes on a theme, and much more. Cynthia Arrieu-King is the author of four books of poetry, including Futureless Languages (Radiator Press, 2018) and Continuity ( Octopus Books ,  2021 ) , in addition to the literary nonfic...

Michael talks with DeMisty Bellinger about learning to read early, taking the love of a literature to a phD, the development of her forthcoming novel NEW TO LIBERTY, her poetry collection PECULIAR HERITAGE, the degree to which all writing is personal, coming to the page to write a poem, writing from reading, and more. DeMisty Bellinger is the author of the chapbook Rubbing Elbows (Finishing Line P...

Michael talks with Colleen Kinder about living in several different countries, navigating new environments with a toddler, the roots of her love of reading, writing, and travel, the genesis of Off Assignment, editing the anthology LETTER TO A STRANGER, the effect of direct address for a reader and writer, her memoir-in-progress, and more. Colleen Kinder is an essayist whose work has appeared in Th...

Michael talks with Diane Exavier about growing up and living in Flatbush, playwriting and participatory theater, writing through grief and about family, books as events, poems as integers, and why her book cover matches her walls. Diane Exavier is a writer, theatermaker, and educator who creates performances, public programs, and games that invite audiences to participate in a theater that rejects...

Michael talks with Travis Cravey about his foot getting run over and then starting to write, his flash fiction collection MANIFOLD, parachute stories, his first car and his current car, authenticity in writing, and more. Travis Cravey is a mechanic and maintenance main from Southern Pennsylvania. He's the author of the flash fiction collection Manifold  (ELJ, 2021) and an editor for Malarkey Books...

Michael talks with Mike Nagel about getting into literature and writing, acknowledging artifice in an essay, accessing literature's unique qualities, the very first Autofocus book DUPLEX, turning the mundane absurd, pandemic drinking, accidentally writing a book, writing between genres and lengths, the wonderful uselessness of literature, and much more. Mike Nagel is the author of Duplex (Autofocu...