The Lives of Writers

Michael talks to Courtney Cook about borderline personality disorder in her life and the media, her path to publishing her first graphic memoir with Tin House, dealing with the vulnerability and secrets in autobiographical books in real life, and more. Courtney Cooks’s personal essays have been published by outlets such as The Guardian, The Rumpus, Hobart, Lunch Ticket, and Split Lip Magazine. And...

Michael talks with Danielle Rose about her family of readers, coming to poetry from punk rock, competitive virtual racing, writing personal work at a distance, recent chapbooks, coming back to writing after a break, writing that's aware of itself, working with Greek myth, George Mallory, and much more. Danielle Rose lives in Massachusetts. She is the author of  at first & then  from Black Lawrence...

Michael talks with Bud Smith about heavy construction, making time to write, a new revision process involving a typewriter, his upcoming "major label debut," the social aspect of being a writer, Kurt Vonnegut, new projects, and more! Bud Smith works heavy construction and lives in Jersey City, NJ. He is the author of Teenager (forthcoming from Vintage in spring of ’22), Double Bird (Maudlin House,...

Michael talks with Amorak Huey about growing up in Alabama, his mother's house burning down, his father's writing, his path to poetry, his fourth book of poems Dad Jokes from Late in the Patriarchy (Sundress Publications 2021), publishing, sitcoms, other writing projects, the trickiness of giving and receiving feedback on poetry, and more! Amorak Huey is author of four poetry collections: Dad Joke...

Michael talks with Amy Fusselman about life before her first book, feeling more vulnerable now writing fiction, the embryo of her novel-in-progress, the option of hippos, video games, the dilemma of writing about people you know, fear & safety, being a cranky reader of fiction, and more! Amy Fusselman is author of four books: The Pharmacist’s Mate, 8, Savage Park, and Idiophone , which was a final...

Michael talks with Aaron Burch about starting Hobart in the early 2000's, the phenomenon of HAD on Twitter, his forthcoming novel Year of the Buffalo, divorce, (lack of) ambition, and more. Aaron Burch is the author of the memoir/literary analysis Stephen King's The Body; the short story collection, Backswing ; and the novella, How to Predict the Weather . He is the Founding Editor of HOBART and i...

Michael talks with Marie Conlan about anti-memoir, intergenerational trauma, contextualizing yourself in a lineage, expecting a child, building a house on a mountain, and more. Marie Conlan's first book Say Mother, Say Hand is out now from Half Mystic Press. She's a Midwest poet living and writing in Colorado, where she is a co-collaborator with the .OFF collective and Nocturne Lucid Writing Works...

Michael talks with Heather Sweeney about finding oneself as a writer/artist, wading through the muck of social media, and all sorts of things in between. Heather Sweeney is a writer, teacher, and visual artist in San Diego. She's also the author of the collections, Dear Marshall, Language is Our Only Wilderness (Spuyten Duyvil Press) and Call Me California (Finishing Line Press). Her chapbooks inc...

Michael & Ryan talk with Tyler Gillespie about Florida, interviewing the kind of people who wrestle alligators, writing essay vs. poetry, balancing it all, and Gay Days at Disney. Tyler’s new book, The Thing about Florida: Exploring a Misunderstood State (University of Florida Press), is available now. He is a fifth-generation Floridian, a poet, and  an award-winning journalist who has written for...

Michael & Ryan talk with Jennifer Calkins about her novel Fugitive Assemblage (The 3rd Thing, 2020), evolutionary biology, environmental law, aliens, viruses, personal hauntedness, and more. This is our first podcast under our new name, The Lives of Writers. Podcast theme: Dj Garlik and Betholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Michael and Ryan talk with Erin Slaughter and Lena Ziegler, editors of The Hunger, about collaboration and confession in their ongoing co-authored memoir project and in their individual work as PhD candidates. In this episode, we were still using the name, The Autofocus Literary Podcast. Podcast theme: Dj Garlik and Betholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Michael talks to David Shields, Nick Toti, and Rachel Kempf about The Very Last Interview (Shields's forthcoming book), film-adapted by Toti and Kempf and released this month. Shields is the author of over twenty books including Reality Hunger, Other People, How Literature Saved My Life, The Trouble with Men, That Thing You Do With Your Mouth , etc. While The Very Last Interview will not be releas...

Michael and Ryan talk with Ariel Francisco and Alysia Sawchyn, both of whom released books in 2020 with Burrow Press, about autobiographical writing in poem and essay forms, among other things. In this episode, we were still using the name, The Autofocus Literary Podcast. Podcast theme: DJ Garlik and Bertholet's "Favorite Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Michael and Ryan talk with Teresa Carmody about her new book THE RECONCEPTION OF MARIE, autobiographical fiction vs. autofiction vs. Roman à clef, the history of the "novel-essay," and more. Teresa Carmody’s writing includes fiction, creative nonfiction, inter-arts collaborations, and hybrid forms. She is the author of three books and four chapbooks. Her writing was selected for the &NOW Awards: T...

Michael and Ryan discuss their favorite kinds of autobiographical writing, the most recent thing they've read, the term Creative Nonfiction, process based on genre, and more. In this episode, we were still using the name, The Autofocus Literary Podcast.