The Lives of Writers

Michael talks with Zac Smith about burning out on linguistics, getting into writing, writing in collaboration, his poetry collection 50 BARN POEMS, poems as jokes/jokes as poems, his story collection EVERYTHING IS TOTALLY FINE, deadpan humor, sentence energy, performing first person, the fine lines of gimmicks, and more. Zac Smith is the author of EVERYTHING IS TOTALLY FINE (Muumuu House, 2021) an...

Michael talks with Francesca Kritikos about refinding an identity in the daily grind, her forthcoming collection Exercise in Desire, the influence of pop music, punctuation, short vs. long poems, writing about the body, and more. Francesca Kritikos is a Greek-American writer and editor based in Chicago. She is the author of the poetry collection  Exercise in Desire (forthcoming from Vegetarian Alc...

Michael talks with Chris Gonzalez about early reading and writing experiences, his story collection I'M NOT HUNGRY BUT I COULD EAT, narrators and characters in the same world, determining POV, ordering a collection, changing forms, therapy as a useful part of the writing process, and more. Chris Gonzalez is a queer Puerto Rican writer living in New York. He is the author of the short story collect...

Michael talks with Sebastian Castillo about having fun writing, impatience as a reader, first person, his books, form as plot, blurring the personal and fictional, modification as a digital writing process, Twitter, a new collection, and more. Sebastian Castillo is the author of Not I (Word West Press) and 49 Venezuelan Novels (Bottlecap Press). Podcast theme: DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Saus...

Michael talks with Sarah Minor about her visual and installation art, her collection of visual essays Bright Archive (Rescue Press), the process of making mixed media literature, her newest book Slim Confessions (Noemi Press), the importance of tension rather than plot in creative non-fiction work, and more. Sarah Minor is a writer, interdisciplinary artist, and the author of the The Persistence o...

Michael talks with Jim Reese about teaching writing at a prison, teaching writing at a college, the midwest, his first collection of essays Bone Chalk,  the ways working in poetry previously helped or didn't help him in prose, and more. Jim Reese is a writer and teacher from the midwest. He’s the author of the essay collection Bone Chalk and three previous collections of poems. A fourth collection...

Michael talks with Brain Oliu about his path to writing, pro wrestling storytelling, the process of writing Body Drop: Notes on Fandom and Pain in Professional Wrestling, confession in creative non-fiction, the strange shame around being an adult pro wrestling fan, the influence of it on our culture, and more. Brian Oliu is a writer and writing instructor at the University of Alabama. He’s the co-...

Michael talks with Meghan Phillips about bringing her first chapbook into the world, crafting a voice at the sentence level, pens & notebooks, the daunting task of novel writing, reading as a comfort, kids TV, filling in gaps of nostalgic pop culture, and more! Meghan Phillips is a writer and editor who was a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow in 2020. Her short fiction has been ant...

Michael talks with Sari Fordham about growing up in Uganda as an Adventist during a human rights crisis, environmental activism and reacting to climate change, getting to know her late mother through writing the memoir WAIT FOR GOD TO NOTICE (Etruscan Press), becoming a mother while working on the book, and more. Sari Fordham is the author of the memoir Wait for God to Notice (Etruscan Press). Her...

Michael talks with Tope Folarin about his first trip back to Salt Lake City in 27 years, decolonizing art, the whiteness of autofiction in the critical sphere, directing The Institute of Policy Studies, his debut novel A Particular Kind of Black Man, the naming of main characters in autofiction, a next book in progress, and more. Tope Folarin is a Nigerian-American writer based in Washington DC. H...

Michael talks with Kara Vernor about animals, coffee, mugs, writing flash, writing from and not from the personal, first vs. third person narrators, drafting and revision based on genre, and more. Kara Vernor is the writer of the short collection Because I Wanted to Write You a Pop Song (Split Lip Press). Her fiction and essays have appeared in  Ninth Letter, The Normal School, Gulf Coast, Vol. 1...

Michael talks with Selah Saterstrom about initiations into the medium of language and the study of creative writing, divinatory poetics and the writing process, her recent book Rancher (Burrow Press), healing and writing in community, and much more. Selah Saterstrom is the author of three novels (all from Coffee House Press), the collection Ideal Suggestions: Essays in Divinatory Poetics (Essay Pr...

Michael talks with Avni Vyas about building an endurance for joy, the path to her first solo poetry collection, the presence of a father who passed, drafting ambidextrously, handwriting, speakers of poems in conversation, a vivid compact style, and more. Avni Vyas is a poet living and writing in Florida. Her new book of poems, Little God , is out now from Burrow Press. She is the essays editor at...

Michael talks with Betsy Bonner about being a poet by default, her memoir The Book of Atlantis Black (Tin House Books), writing about family and the mystery of a missing sister, collaging her sister's voice into her own narrative, mental illness & social media, the process of writing memoir through grief, whether there's closure, and more. Betsy Bonner is the author of the poetry collection Round...

Michael talks with Michael Seidlinger about his path to writing, a love of horror, video games, his former press Civil Coping Mechanisms, his new book RUNAWAYS (Future Tense Books), the bonkers and broken system of publishing, falling back on a love of writing, processes based on the book, and more. Michael Seidlinger is a Filipino American author of  My Pet Serial Killer ,  Dreams of Being ,  The...

Michael talks with Jen Winston about launching their first book of essays, upkeeping a popular social media account, unlearning, bisexuality, writing a book on a tight deadline, incorporating different forms into essay writing, AOL Instant Messenger, the prospect of parenthood, and more. Jen Winston (she/they) is the author of the essay collection Greedy: Notes from a Bisexual Who Wants Too Much ,...

Michael talks with Todd Dillard about his every day, his family, video games, comic books, coming to poetry, his first collection WAYS WE VANISH, writing the personal surreally, short books, process, new work, and more. Todd Dillard’s debut poetry collection Ways We Vanish came out it 2020 with Okay Donkey Press, and he’s had work appear in The Offing, Electric Literature, The Adroit Journal, Fair...

Michael talks with Lyd Havens about moving back to Boise, their recent book of poetry CHOKECHERRY, losing family to suicide, growing up too early, grief, writers in the family, finding the right word, finishing a thesis, writing in other forms, and more. Lyd Havens is the author of the chapbooks  I Gave Birth to All the Ghosts Here  (Nostrovia! Press, 2018) and  Chokecherry  (Game Over Books, 2021...

Michael talks with Rob Fromberg about his childhood in a family of alcohol, art, & autism, moving out to New York City alone as a teen, his new scene-driven fragmented memoir about it all, the role of autobiography across his work, the influence of his brother on his art & life, writing now more than ever, and more. Robert Fromberg is the author of the brand new memoir, How to Walk with Steve , fr...

Michael talks with David Kirby about his parents, the impact of early rock n roll on him, the course of his life in poetry, his new collection, the use of information in his poetry, the length and form of his poems, processes of drafting and revision, the difference between poem and essay, the use of humor in his work, and more. David Kirby's collection  The House on Boulevard St.: New and Selecte...

Michael talks with Shawn Berman about sharing 350 square feet, starting The Daily Drunk, writing humor poems and essays about his life in pop culture, coming up with titles, writing in direct address, the influence of stand-up, his Adam Sandler obsession, 90's film comedies, 90's Nickelodeon, WWF Attitude, watching stuff during the pandemic lockdown, writing a YA novel, and more. Shawn Berman is t...

Michael talks with Taylor Byas about the release of BLOODWARM, Twitter feeds becoming too much, saving yourself, writing about race and patriarchy through the personal, revising while drafting, finding the form for the content, erasure, Mama Byas, her forthcoming full-length with Soft Skull Press, lineated vs. prose poetry, and more. Taylor Byas is a Black poet and essayist. She is a PhD student a...

Michael talks with D.T. Robbins about taking a break from drinking, his childhood, his divorce, his remarriage, publishing his first book of "poems," starting Rejection Letters, the persona at play on Twitter & in the book, the relationship of professional wrestling to it all, and more. D.T. Robbins lives in Southern California with his wife and two kids. He’s founding editor of Rejection Letters...

Michael talks with Lucas Mann about becoming a father after his third book, Reality TV, the different modes of his nonfiction work, the importance of friction in writing, his newest and upcoming work, whether fragmentary autobiographical literature is a gimmick (no), and more. Lucas Mann is the author of three books: Captive Audience: On Love and Reality Television , Lord Fear: A Memoir, and Class...

Michael talks with Matt Mitchell about moving to Columbus, getting into poetry after high school, Hanif Abdurraqib, writing The Neon Hollywood Cowboy & Grown Ocean & his next book, rock memoirs, listening to classics, Westerns, and more. Matt Mitchell is a poet and culture writer from Ohio. His music writing has been featured in Pitchfork, Paste, and Bandcamp, and his first collection of poems The...