I'm a Writer But
140 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★★ - 91 ratingsA podcast about writers with, you know, LIVES. Hosted by Lindsay Hunter.
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Episodes
V. V. Ganeshananthan
January 24, 2023 08:00 - 59 minutesToday, V. V. Ganeshananthan talks to us about writing a novel set in the Sri Lankan civil war, the role that medicine played in the life of her character, building tension, writing non-chronologically to start and then switching to chronological, and more! V. V. Ganeshananthan is the author of the novels Brotherless Night and Love Marriage, which was longlisted for the Women's Prize and named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post. Her work has appeared in Granta, The New Y...
Alia Trabucco Zerán
January 17, 2023 14:00 - 54 minutesToday, Alia Trabucco Zerán talks to us about the unique structure of her new book, the discomfort of writing about these women and their crimes, the backlash against the book, the decision to include graphic images in the book, making a place for fiction in academic work, her new novel (out on Riverhead in 2024), and more! Alia Trabucco Zerán was born in Chile in 1983. She was awarded a Fulbright scholarship for a master’s in creative writing in Spanish at New York University, where she wrot...
Christine Sneed
January 10, 2023 14:00 - 1 hourToday, Christine Sneed talks to us about leaning on the absurdity of working in an office for her new satirical novel, her long career, almost giving up, deciding to place her latest books herself, figuring out how to hype her work, teaching part-time, and more! Christine Sneed is the author of the novels Please Be Advised: A Novel in Memos, Little Known Facts, and Paris, He Said, and the story collections Portraits of a Few of the People I've Made Cry and The Virginity of Famous Men(Bloomsbu...
Coco Picard
November 22, 2022 14:00 - 1 hourCoco Picard talks to us about the decade she spent working on her new book, using constraints, locating the reader, opening her book with a "magical transformation," writing a funny book about dying, and more! Coco Picard is a writer, cartoonist, and curator. She is the author of The Healing Circle (August, 2022; Red Hen Press), which is the winner of the Red Hen Press Women's Prose Prize, and of two graphic novels, Meowsers (2022) and The Chronicles of Fortune (2017), which was nominated for...
Elisa Gabbert
November 15, 2022 14:00 - 1 hourToday, Elisa Gabbert talks to us about conceptualizing her audience(s), the difference for her between writing prose and poetry, “borrowing greatness” from other authors as well as Reddit and Wikipedia, “pseudo-sequiturs,” titles, and more! Elisa Gabbert is the author of six collections of poetry, essays, and criticism: Normal Distance (Soft Skull); The Unreality of Memory & Other Essays, out now from FSG Originals and Atlantic UK; The Word Pretty (Black Ocean, 2018); L’Heure Bleue, or the J...
Christina Cooke
November 08, 2022 14:00 - 1 hourToday, Christina Cooke (BROUGHTUPSY, Jan. 2024) talks to us about spending 11 years writing her debut novel, working on it at the Iowa Writers Workshop and MacDowell, the stamina of being a writer, all the “life stuff,” the ego death of going on submission, and more! Christina Cooke’s writing has previously appeared in PRISM international, The Caribbean Writer, Prairie Schooner, Epiphany: A Literary Journal, and elsewhere. A MacDowell Fellow and 2022 Journey Prize winner, she holds a Master ...
Steve Almond
November 01, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourToday Steve Almond (All the Secrets of the World) talks to us about scorpions, taking three decades to finish his first novel, how he came to write a “social novel,” writing from the perspective of a teenaged Latina, Nancy Reagan, and a man who lusts after teenaged girls while maintaining the book’s authenticity, and more! Steve Almond is the author of eleven books of fiction and nonfiction, including the New York Times bestsellers Candyfreak and Against Football. His essays and reviews have...
Andrew Bomback
October 25, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourToday, Andrew Bomback talks to us about using his experience as a formerly angry father to write a cultural history on modern parenting, moving from writing fiction to nonfiction, the pressure cooker of parenthood today, looking for answers in parenting books, and more! Andrew Bomback is Associate Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the author of DOCTOR (2018) and LONG DAYS, SHORT YEARS (2022). His essays have appeared in the Atlantic, Los Angeles Review of...
Deborah Shapiro
October 18, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourToday Deborah Shapiro (CONSOLATION) talks to us about her new novel, writing about grief, the journey to her decision to self-publish this amazing, gorgeous, “quiet” book, working with Bookmobile, the power of simple covers, and more! Deborah Shapiro is the author of the novels The Sun in Your Eyes (a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice), The Summer Demands, and Consolation. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, Sight Unseen, Chicago Magazine, Li...
Sara Flemington
October 11, 2022 13:00 - 41 minutesToday, Sara Flemington (EGG ISLAND) talks to us about her debut novel, moving it from short story to longer narrative, its path to publication, the lit scene in Toronto, writing mantras, and more! Sara Flemington is the author of the novel, Egg Island. Her work has previously appeared in publications such as subTerrain, The Humber Literary Review, The Feathertale Review, and Paper Darts, among others. Sara lives in Toronto, Canada. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Luke Geddes
October 04, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourToday, Luke Geddes (Heart of Junk) talks to us about his ideal relationship with his fans, how readings can go wrong, the unique way his book found a publisher, kitsch and pop culture, his record company, and more! Luke Geddes holds a PhD in comparative literature and creative writing from the University of Cincinnati. He lives in Milwaukee, WI. He is the author of the novel Heart of Junk, the short story collection I Am a Magical Teenage Princess, and his writing has appeared in Conjunction...
Simon Jacobs
September 27, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourToday, Simon Jacobs (String Follow) joins us to talk about nailing the tone of his new novel, starting with a very tight draft and “blowing it out from the middle,” finding an agent, being the son of a successful writer, revising the book to make space for the reader, childhood haunted houses, and more! Simon Jacobs is from Dayton, Ohio, and lives in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of the novels String Follow (MCD/FSG, 2022) and Palaces (Two Dollar Radio, 2018), and of two collections of ...
Tim Jones-Yelvington
September 20, 2022 13:00 - 59 minutesToday, Tim Jones-Yelvington (Don't Make Me Do Something We'll Both Regret) talks to us about their new book, writing about sex, using existing language or text to create friction to rub up against, working toward accessing a more traditional narrative form, their work in social movement contribution, the influence of pop culture, their favorite camp authors, and more! Tim Jones-Yelvington is the author of the fiction volumes Don't Make Me Do Something We'll Both Regret (Texas Review Press), ...
Chantal V. Johnson
September 13, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourToday, Chantal V. Johnson talks to us about capturing the traumatized mind of a brilliant woman, her unique writing process, her use of dialogue and argument, going to auction, retiring from the law, and more! Chantal V. Johnson is the author of the debut novel Post-Traumatic, published by Little, Brown in April of 2022. Post-Traumatic has been longlisted for the 2022 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, named a Best Debut Novel of 2022 by Debutiful, and hailed as a "sharp psychological nov...
A.M. Homes
September 06, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourToday, A.M. Homes (The Unfolding) joins us to talk about her new book, the current trash fire that is our democracy, releasing a timely book in such an intense time, writing and revising such a conversational novel, and more! A.M. Homes is the author of thirteen books, among them the bestselling memoir The Mistress’s Daughter; the novels This Book Will Save Your Life, The End of Alice, and Jack; and the short story collections Days of Awe, The Safety of Objects, and Things You Should Know. S...
A. Natasha Joukovsky
August 30, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourToday A. Natasha Joukovsky (The Portrait of a Mirror) joins us to talk about working in the corporate world while writing her novel, funding her own writing retreat to France, her favorite types of books, the world of management consulting, Proust, and more! A. Natasha Joukovsky holds a BA in English from the University of Virginia and an MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business. She spent five years in the art world, working at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and The Metropol...
Shane Kowalski
August 23, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourToday, Shane Kowalski talks to us about being funny, starting his writing career on Tumblr, working with Kevin Sampsell on Future Tense, formerly working for the post office, his favorite writers, and more! Shane Kowalski is the author of Small Moods (Future Tense). He lives in Pennsylvania. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sandra Newman
August 02, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourToday, Sandra Newman talks to us about bringing concept into form, considering how much power women have in the world, thinking deeply about gender, being non-binary, the controversy about her book, and more! Sandra Newman is the author of the novels The Heavens, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and The Country of Ice Cream Star, longlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and named one of the best books of the year by the Washington Post and NPR, as well as several other ...
Leyna Krow
July 26, 2022 13:00 - 59 minutesToday, Leyna Krow joins us to talk about her special blend of historical fiction and magical realism, working with featherproof and Viking, having a short story optioned by Hollywood, doing research about the Spokane fire, Miriam Toews, and more! Leyna Krow is the author of the debut novel, Fire Season, and the story collection I’m Fine but You Appear to Be Sinking, a Believer Book Award finalist. Her next book, Sinkhole and Other Inexplicable Voids is forthcoming on Viking in 2023ish. She l...
Justin Taylor
July 19, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourToday Justin Taylor joins us to talk about recording his own audio book, taking a frank, fair look at his father and himself as a son, finding a narrative in a personal/true story, how writing memoir helped re-teach him how to write a novel, what being a professor gives to him in his own practice, and more! Justin Taylor is the author, most recently, of the memoir Riding with the Ghost, as well as three books of fiction: Flings, The Gospel of Anarchy, and Everything Here Is the Best Thing Eve...
Andrew Lipstein
June 28, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourAndrew Lipstein (Last Resort) talks to us about using a pseudonym to sell his novel, writing in such a close first person headspace, pushing forward after books have failed, learning how to make a plot move, working without an outline, Patrick Somerville’s advice on writing a novel, rewriting the ending, wanting/not wanting to find yourself in someone else’s art, and more! Andrew Lipstein is a writer based in Brooklyn. His debut novel Last Resort is out now from Farrar, Straus & Giroux in th...
Isle McElroy
June 14, 2022 13:00 - 56 minutesToday we talk with Isle McElroy (THE ATMOSPHERIANS) about establishing tone in their debut novel, the close relationship between joy and horror, sculpting sentences, their love of simile and metaphor, finding shape and focus as they wrote this novel, finding the right first readers, being a child of divorce, and more! Isle McElroy is a nonbinary writer based in Brooklyn. Their debut novel, THE ATMOSPHERIANS, was published in May by Atria and was named a NY Times Editors' Choice. Other writin...
Sasha Fletcher
June 07, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourToday we talk with Sasha Fletcher (Be Here To Love Me at the End of the World) about finding inspiration in the structure of other forms of art, staying surprised as a writer, writing a novel that is actually a poem, writing the books he wants to read, and more! Sasha Fletcher is the author of the novel Be Here to Love Me at the End of the World, a book of poems, several chapbooks of poetry, and a novella. His work can be found both online and in print. Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...
Farah Jasmine Griffin
June 01, 2022 13:00 - 56 minutesToday we talk with Farah Jasmine Griffin (Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature) about telling her family's story alongside Black history and literature, bearing witness, her favorite contemporary works, her new book(s), and more! Farah Jasmine Griffin is the William B. Ransford Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University where she also served as the inaugural Chair of the African American and African Diaspora Studies Department...
Christian J. Collier
May 24, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourToday we're joined by poet Christian J. Collier (The Gleaming of the Blade)! Christian talks with us about the influence of art and horror films on his writing, moving away from overwriting, the shapes of his poems, using race as a way of looking at intimacy and society and humanity as a whole, monsters, ghosts, and more! Christian J. Collier is a Black, Southern writer, arts organizer, and teaching artist who resides in Chattanooga, TN. He is the author of the chapbook The Gleaming of the Bl...
Erika Krouse
May 19, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourToday we talk with Erika Krouse (Tell Me Everything) about her debut true crime/searching/memoir, putting plot into nonfiction, her brilliant use of anecdote and metaphor, writing fast, the supportive response to the book, studying with Lucia Berlin, and more! Erika Krouse is the author of Come Up and See Me Sometime, a New York Times Notable Book, and Contenders, a finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Erika’s fiction has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Ploughshar...
Linda LeGarde Grover
May 10, 2022 13:00 - 56 minutesAlex and Lindsay talk with Linda LeGarde Grover (Gichigami Hearts: Stories and Histories from Misaabekong) about making a book that is fiction, memoir, myth, truth, and poetry; the many wonders of Duluth and Lake Superior; the “ghost presence” in her book; showing a sense of time and change in her work; and more! Linda LeGarde Grover is professor of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth and a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. Her novel The Road Back to Sweetgras...
Rachel Krantz
April 26, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourAlex and Lindsay talk with Rachel Krantz (OPEN: An Uncensored Memoir of Love, Liberation, and Non-Monogamy) about immersion journalism, being funny, going from shorter form to longer form, her new podcast, and more! Rachel Krantz is the namer of Bustle, and one of its three founding editors. At Bustle, she served as Senior Features Editor for three years, and Senior News Editor before that. She also worked at The Daily Beast as Homepage Editor, and at the nonprofit Mercy For Animals as Lead W...
Rachel Signer
April 14, 2022 13:00 - 49 minutesToday we talk with Rachel Signer (You Had Me at Pét-Nat) about writing so honestly about her personal life, plumbing her diaries for inspiration, deciding what kind of book she wanted to write, publishing her own magazine, her current inspirations, the drudgery of crafting with children, and more! Rachel is a writer originally from the U.S., now based in South Australia. She is the author of the memoir, You Had Me At Pét-Nat, and publisher and founder of Pipette Magazine. As well, Rachel is ...
Jessamine Chan
April 05, 2022 08:00 - 57 minutesAlex and Lindsay talk with Jessamine Chan (The School for Good Mothers) about writing and rewriting her novel, her love of experimental fiction, Lydia Kiesling as our fave parent influencer, the silent scream inside gentle parenting, being an instant bestseller, and more! Jessamine Chan’s short stories have appeared in Tin House and Epoch. A former reviews editor at Publishers Weekly, she holds an MFA from Columbia University and a BA from Brown University. Her work has received support from ...
Suzanne Cope
March 29, 2022 12:49 - 52 minutesAlex and Lindsay talk with Suzanne Cope (POWER HUNGRY: Women of the Black Panther Movement and Freedom Summer and Their Fight to Feed a Movement) about deep research, using her voice to amplify others, how the pandemic changed everything, and more! Suzanne Cope, PhD is a narrative journalist and food studies scholar with a focus on food as a tool for social and political change. In addition to her book POWER HUNGRY, she has written about food, activism, and culture for the New York Times, The...
Isaac Butler
March 24, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourToday we talk with Isaac Butler (THE METHOD: HOW THE TWENTIETH CENTURY LEARNED TO ACT) about how Jared Leto is not a Method actor!, something called "ekphrasis" that we pretended to understand, cutting his massive draft down, reading drafts out loud, the impulse to go into free indirect, tons of juicy details about Method and non-Method actors, the crossover between the Method and writing, the allure of research-heavy projects, and mooooooooore. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho...
Christian Tebordo
March 17, 2022 13:00 - 1 hourAlex and Lindsay talk with Christian Tebordo (THE APOLOGY) about our mutual love of Gabe Habash’s STEPHEN FLORIDA; Nabokov always perched on his shoulder; Adam Levin’s theory of “optimal tension”; loving books without hooks; women as avenging angels as inspired by Knight Rider, yes, that Knight Rider; writing books that are unpublishable by the mainstream; feeling liberated by bad reviews; talking with his students about the possibilities of publishing; Chicago’s unique literary scene; and if...
Sara Lippmann
March 08, 2022 14:00 - 58 minutesToday we talk with Sara Lippmann (JERKS) about her great new collection, the annoying persistence of the Madonna/whore complex, rage, hope, motherhood, mosaic-y fiction (shoutout Kathy Fish), forgetting how to write a novel while writing stories and vice versa, her favorite story collections (Rebecca Schiff’s The Bed Moved; Nina McConigley’s Cowboys and East Indians; Danielle Lazarin’s Back Talk; Margaret Malone’s People Like You), taking breaks, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...
Mike Meginnis
March 01, 2022 14:00 - 1 hourToday we talk with Mike Meginnis (DROWNING PRACTICE) about writing apocalyptic fiction without including the whole world, choosing the dumbest ideas, YMCA memories, writing about what scares you, writing from the perspectives of a 13-year-old girl and her mother, elf names, his great author photo holy shit did Alex and Lindsay start hitting on him??, his imaginary-gift-giving podcast he runs with his partner, Tracy Rae Bowling, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...
Joy Lanzendorfer
February 22, 2022 14:00 - 1 hourToday we talk with Joy Lanzendorfer (RIGHT BACK WHERE WE STARTED FROM) about her wonderful, very fun debut novel, big, complicated, bells 'n whistles books, unlikeable characters, ambition, women trying to make it, using a Ouija board as muse, and more. Most importantly, Joy tells us the insane, unbelievable story of how this book made it to publication. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Leigh Stein
February 15, 2022 14:00 - 58 minutesAlex and Lindsay talk with Leigh Stein (What to Miss When) about her new poetry collection, writing fast and furiously in the early months of the pandemic, the joy in editing at the sentence level, Summer House and other reality television, is it okay to write fiction about the pandemic yet? and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Liv Stratman
February 08, 2022 14:00 - 1 hourToday we talk with Liv Stratman (CHEAT DAY) about writing about a subject that is so universal and also so personal, the expectations readers have for a book based on packaging, grappling with your intentions when writing versus what readers take from it, studying with Lorrie Moore! and Lynda Barry!, working on her second novel, messy books, working in the service industry, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Cara Blue Adams
February 01, 2022 14:00 - 1 hourToday we talk with Cara Blue Adams (You Never Get it Back) about her debut story collection, how she came to linking the stories, what it's like to put out a book that is so well received, workshops, submitting, terrible advice, good advice, impatient dogs, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
JoAnna Novak
January 25, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourToday we chat with JoAnna Novak (MEANINGFUL WORK; NEW LIFE) about putting out both a story collection AND a poetry collection in the same year, getting two (2!) MFAs, working every sort of job you can imagine, staying in the fight, and lots more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mallory Smart
January 18, 2022 06:00 - 56 minutesToday we talk with Mallory Smart (The Only Living Girl in Chicago) about her publishing house, Maudlin House, looking for authors that make her want to write, horror movies, Dmitry Samarov, free writing, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ben H. Winters
January 11, 2022 14:00 - 59 minutesToday we talk with Ben H. Winters (THE QUIET BOY) about teaching himself to write a novel by adding sea monsters to a classic, embracing the randomness that builds a career, learning about power dynamics and dialogue by watching celebrity press junkets, working on multiple projects at once, lists/tasks versus word count, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ted Flanagan
December 07, 2021 14:00 - 58 minutesAlex and Lindsay talk with Ted Flanagan (Every Hidden Thing) about finally deciding to take writing seriously, writing literary crime (or “tweener”) fiction, the long-ish journey to publication, rejection, writing a Worcester novel, his new historical fiction project, and somehow hockey sneaks in at the end there, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Brendan Mathews
November 23, 2021 14:00 - 1 hourAlex and Lindsay talk with Brendan Mathews (The World of Tomorrow; This is Not a Love Song) about being a late bloomer, returning to the work after long stretches of life butting in, research, working with Deborah Eisenberg, what it's like to receive a blurb from John Irving, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Hilary Leichter
November 18, 2021 14:00 - 56 minutesAlex and Lindsay talk with Hilary Leichter (Temporary) about turning a short story into a novel, transmuting the emotions the writer feels while writing into what the reader will read, the submission process, working with Emily Books, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Alice Kaltman
November 09, 2021 14:00 - 57 minutesToday we talk with Alice Kaltman (DAWG TOWNE) about her new book, the fun of drafting and the torture of revision, working with a smaller press, trying something new, and so much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chris Stuck
October 19, 2021 13:00 - 55 minutesToday we talk with Chris Stuck (GIVE MY LOVE TO THE SAVAGES) about publishing 20 years after his MFA, sticking around, letting work go, trying to figure out, and re-figure out, and re-re-re-figure out the publishing industry, his favorite recent collections, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Frances Badalamenti
October 12, 2021 13:00 - 51 minutesToday we talk with Frances Badalamenti (SALAD DAYS) about her new novel, autofiction, her work in creativity counseling, publishing with an indie press, and more! Plus: ALEX IS GETTING A PELOTON Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tyler Barton
October 05, 2021 13:00 - 59 minutesToday we talk with Tyler Barton (ETERNAL NIGHT AT THE NATURE MUSEUM) about his new book, the evolution of his writing, submitting a story collection, his literary visual art, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dana Norris
September 21, 2021 13:00 - 1 hourToday we're joined by Dana Norris (THE STORYTELLING CODE), founder of the Story Club franchise! We talk what the pandemic hath wrought upon our families and writing, living with anxiety while also loving to perform, writing a book very fast, how to start telling your own stories, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices