Poet and Essayist Sebastian Matthews on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

In 2011, Sebastian Matthews and his family were in a devastating car accident. When Sebastian emerged from his recovery, several years later, the world had changed around him. Not only was he navigating the trauma of his accident, but the trauma his nation was now suffering. 

Beyond Repair: Living in a Fractured State is a series of essays that attempt to make sense of Sebastian's experience living in the south as a white, liberal, middle-aged, middle income man in Trump's America. Sebastian confronts race, class, privilege, fatherhood, and his personal struggles with trauma and terror.

Sebastian's recommended writing exercise: Take a walk in a new neighborhood in your town/city. Take it slow, engage people, stop in a shop (even in these pandemic days). Then, when you get back to your own home, sit down and write about the experience. Try to capture what you saw, what you felt, and how your encounters played out. 

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(Recording Date: August 21, 2020)

Novelist Scott Spencer

Scott Spencer, author of An Ocean Without a Shore, discusses his new book, and the art, craft, and business of writing, with host Barbara DeMarco-Barrett.

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(Broadcast date: Aug. 19, 2020)

Musical intro/outro by Travis Barrett. Find him on Spotify.

A Panel Discussion of "Alone Together: Love, Grief, & Comfort in the Time of Covid-19" on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

When the pandemic hit last March, Jennifer Haupt asked herself what she could do in its face to help her literary community. She put out a call to artists—essayists, poets, and authors—asking them to contribute their impressions. Seventy-six people answered her call and Alone Together: Love, Grief, & Comfort in the Time of Covid-19 was born. The artists contributed their work, and all proceeds of the book sales go to benefit BINC (Book Industry Charitable Foundation).

Editor and contributor Jennifer Haupt joins Marrie Stone, along with contributors Amber Flame, Robin Black, and Roberto Lovato, to talk about the collection. They discuss not only their own struggles to make artistic sense of this time, but their struggles with being artists of color and how their various backgrounds contributed to their work.

What emerges is a frank and sensitive discussion of race, class, and privilege in the time of Covid. 

As a bonus, we're asking writers to contribute their favorite writing prompts and exercises. The following were recommended by this panel:

Robin Black: I like to ask students who their characters are when they aren't in the story being written, when they aren't doing the things the author needs them to do. I'll ask them to write a few pages of some other event in the character's life, incorporating "out of character" facts about them; a couple of neurotic habits the character has; unusual hobbies they might have, and so on  - characteristics that expand the humanity of the character beyond the most stringent needs of the story. I am big these days into going beyond the idea of "necessity" in fiction - especially short fiction - and going for generosity instead. 

Flame:  I’ve been guiding groups with ekphrastic writing - looking or watching another piece of art and then using reaction/responses as a prompt. It’s a good way to get out of your head and personal experience while being in communion with other art forms.

Roberto Lovato: My main prompt is the conscious, daily reminder of my commitment to what I'm writing, its integrity, my need to sing and whatever virtuosity I can bring.

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 (Broadcast date: August 26, 2020)

Margot Livesey on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Novelist Margot Livesey joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest, The Boy in the Field. She discusses the draw of writing a coming-of-age novel at this point in her career, her play with police procedurals, her personal connection to her character's quest to find his family of origin, and how she tackled those various points of view. She also talks about how characters off stage, and other minor characters, can motivate action and accelerate plot. This, and so much more, in the conversation.

Margot also contributes this writing prompt to spark your creativity:

One of my jobs, during my brief career as a deputy supermarket manager, was to apprehend shoplifters. I was hopeless at this, in part because most shoplifters were teenagers or senior citizens, and they often stole trivial items.  

So your character, not necessarily an employee of the shop, notices someone—a friend? a stranger?—shoplifting something: a wedge of cheese, a pack of Kleenex.  Write what happens next.

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 (Broadcast date: August 12, 2020)

Novelist Ottessa Moshfegh, Death in Her Hands

Ottessa Moshfegh, author of the new novel, Death in Her Hands, joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to discuss the art, craft, and business of writing.

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(Broadcast date: August 5, 2020)

The intro and outro music is by Travis Barrett. Find more of his work on Spotify!

Lucie Britsch, author of the novel SAD JANET

British novelist Lucie Britsch, author of Sad Janet, talks about writing her debut novel with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett. 

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(Recorded in July 2020)

Megha Majumdar on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Megha Mejumdar joins Marrie Stone to talk about her debut novel, A Burning. Set in modern day India and told from three distinct points of view, the novel tackles complicated issues of class, justice, the power of social media, and so much more.

Megha talks about her childhood, growing up in India. She also shares her experiences as both writer and editor (she's an associate editor at Catapult). She stresses the importance of keeping creative work private, how to render whole lives with small suggestions and telling scenes, and how these characters' explicit desires made it easier to know them.

As an added bonus, we're asking writers to offer up their favorite writing prompt or exercise. Megha suggests: Write a short story (or poem, or essay, or.....) which includes both something that makes you angry and something that brings you joy. 

Follow Megha on Twitter @MeghaMaj / Instagram @megha.maj.

 

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(Broadcast date: July 29, 2020)

Poet Kim Dower on KUCI-FM

Poet and former West Hollywood Poet Laureate Kim Dower, author Sleeping on Tyrone Power's Grave, and three other books of poetry, returns to the show to talk with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the art, craft, and business of writing poetry.
 
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 (Broadcast date: July 21, 2020)

Crossing Borders with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, Lisa Brackman, Kathy Krevat

This is our first straight-to-podcast show. Crossing Borders, published by Down and Out books and sponsored by Sisters in Crime, San Diego Chapter, includes my story, "Pool Fishing," and a story by guest Kathy Krevat. Joining us is one of the anthology's editors, Lisa Brackman. We'll discuss the anthology, read from our stories, and talk about the art, craft, and business of crime writing.

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(Recording date: July 17, 2020)

Debra Jo Immergut on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Novelist and short story writer Debra Jo Immergut joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest book, You Again. Debra shares her path in and out of writing, the advantages of age, and what life experiences brought to bear on her fiction. She also has wonderful advice for writers, including the importance of a strong premise, how to plot, research, the long art of revision, and much more.

As an added bonus, authors are now asked to provide a favorite writing prompt or exercise. Debra suggests, without thinking too much, quickly jot a list of 10 memories. Ten sentences should begin with "I remember . . . ." Choose one, write the story, but allow it to take a turn into the supernatural. Good luck!

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(Broadcast date: July 15, 2020)

Heather Young on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Heather Young, author of The Distant Dead, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the art, craft, and business of writing a crime novel.

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 (Broadcast date: July 8, 2020)

Poet Jane Hirshfield on Writers on Writing

Jane Hirshfield talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about her new volume of poetry, Ledger.

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(Broadcast date: June 24, 2020)

Intro and outro music by Travis Barrett. Find more of his work on Spotify and YouTube.

David James Poissant on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Short story author and novelist David James Poissant joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest book, Lake Life, which will be released on July 7, 2020.


Jamie shares how a story from his collection, The Heaven of Animals, evolved into this novel; how chapter 11 eventually became chapter 1; tackling challenging points of view (and those characters he feels unqualified to tackle); the importance of place and setting; and so much more.

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(Broadcast date: July 1, 2020)

Comedy TV Writer & Essayist Kari Lizer on "Writers on Writing," KUCI-FM

Actor, writer, and producer Kari Lizer joins Marrie Stone to talk about her hilarious collection, Aren't You Forgetting Someone: Essays From My Mid-Life Revenge. Kari was the co-executive producer of Will & Grace, and the creator of the CBS sitcom, The New Adventures of Old Christine. She talks about how writing for television and screenplays helped her in this essay collection, her path into writing, the importance of the revision process, the use of humor during dark days, the difference between an anecdote and an essay, and so much more.

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(Broadcast date: June 17, 2020)

Lydia Millet on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Lydia Millet joins Marrie Stone for the hour to talk about her latest novel, A Children's Bible. She talks about how she conquered her plot problems, managing a big cast of characters, how the novel spoke to the quarantine into which it was released, and much more.

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(Broadcast date: June 3, 2020)

Courtney Maum on Writers on Writing

Courtney Maum, author of Before and After the Book Deal: A Writer's Guide to Finishing, Publishing, Promoting, and Surviving Your First Book (Catapult), talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the art, craft, and business of writing.

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Intro and outro music by Travis Barrett. Find him on Spotify and YouTube.

(Broadcast date: May 27, 2020)

Gish Jen on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Gish Jen, author of The Resisters, joins Marrie Stone for the hour to talk baseball, knitting, artificial intelligence, and the role of the fiction writer in today's world. She shares her wit, her wisdom, and writing advice.

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(Broadcast date: May 20, 2020)

Novelist S.M. Hulse, Eden Mine

Novelist S.M. Hulse, author of Eden Mine, joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about the art, craft, and business of writing--and why she uses initials instead of her first name.

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(Broadcast date: May 11, 2020)

Intro and outdo created by Travis Barrett. Find his music on Spotify and his videos on YouTube.

Carolyn Forché on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Poet, teacher, and activist Carolyn Forché has witnessed, thought about, and put into poetry some of the most devastating events of 20^th-century world history. An articulate defender of her own aims as well as the larger goals of poetry, Forché is perhaps best known for coining the term “poetry of witness.” Her memoir about her time in El Salvador, What You Have Heard Is True, was a finalist for the 2019 National Book Award in nonfiction.

Carolyn joins Marrie Stone to talk about In the Lateness of the World, her fifth collection of poetry, and the first collection in nearly two decades. She discusses the importance of poetry during times of political and social strife, the role of the witness, as well as many other important insights into poetry’s role and the process by which she creates work.
 
Download audio.  (Broadcast date: May 6, 2020)

Elizabeth Wetmore on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Debut novelist Elizabeth Wetmore joins Marrie Stone for the hour to talk about her novel, Valentine. On the morning after Valentine's Day, 1976, a 14-year old Hispanic girl turns up on the doorstep of a ranch house outside Odessa, Texas after being brutally raped in the oilfields. What follows is the portrait of a Texas oil town—with all its complexity, racism, and heartbreak—as told by seven of the town's women.

Elizabeth talks about the book's origins, bringing this town to life, and the fully realized and complicated women who won't leave your mind well after the book is done. She also shares writing wisdom she accumulated both from life, working a long series of various jobs, as well as from her professors at the Iowa Writers Workshop. She talks about the big questions—writing from the POV of other cultures and the importance of asking for help. She also discusses the smaller stylistic decisions: not using quotations marks, choosing tense and POV, and keeping notebooks. There's so much wisdom and inspiration in this hour.

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 (Broadcast date: April 29, 2020)