Tune in today to hear Christine Hume talk about poems from “Shot” published by Counterpath Press, “Musca Domestica” from Beacon Press and also new projects on deck. We’ll talk about her poems in translation, global residencies, hoaxes, collages, and having both MFA & PhD. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-12-15-163001-EST.mp3 Download Audio
Hear Michael Byers read from his latest novel “Percival’s Planet” published this fall by Henry Holt. We’ll talk about Pluto, creating characters from historical contexts, and the snows of Ann Arbor. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-12-08-163001-EST.mp3 Download Audio *Special thanks to Maggie
From the archive: 2010 ZZ Packer reads from Buffalo Soldiers, her novel-in-progress. We talk about Drinking Coffee Elsewhere (Riverhead Books 2003) and about sending stories out into the world–and how much work it actually takes to have someone say that your prose is “effortless.” We also talk about politics, revision, and what “Sometimes You Get… Read more: ZZ Packer
Hear Robert Boswell read from his short story collection “The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards” published by Graywolf Press in 2009. We’ll talk about the long haul when writing one story, characters and humor and truth, a ghost town, and managing multiple writingprojects at once. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-11-17-163001-EST.mp3 Download Audio *Special thanks to Erin Kottke at Graywolf Press.*This program was… Read more: Robert Boswell
Paul Auster reads from his novel Sunset Park published by Henry Holt. We talk about writing from multiple character perspectives. We also talk about poems and coincidence and New York City. Tune in today to hear Paul Auster read from his latest novel “Sunset Park” published this month by Henry Holt. We’ll talk about writing from multiple character… Read more: Paul Auster
Hear Kathe Koja read from her novel “Under the Poppy” published this year by Small Beer Press. We’ll talk about historical fiction, young adult fiction, puppets, and Detroit. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-11-03-163001-EDT.mp3 Download Audio *Special thanks to Molly Mikolowski of A Literary Light.
From the archives: 2010 Yusef Komunyakaa reads poems from Pleasure Dome:New and Collected Poems (Wesleyan 2001), Warhorses (FSG 2008) and Chameleon Couch (Macmillan 2011). We talk about the leaps of lyrical narrative, the particular perfection of the brain, and the cassowary. We also talk about Neruda and Borges, and celebration and confrontation. Art endures. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-10-27-163001-EDT.mp3 Download… Read more: Yusef Komunyakaa
From the archive: 2010 Kazim Ali reads from Bright Felon: Autobiography and Cities (Wesleyan University Press 2009). We talk about gender theory, Yoko Ono, and blurring genre. We also talk about the geography of emotion and the past. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-10-13-163001-EDT.mp3 Download Audio Original airdate: October 13, 2010 Recording date: October 7, 2010 Photo credit: press kit
Hear Danielle Evans read from “Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self” published this September with Riverhead Books. We will talk about putting together your first short story collection, music and memory, and creating diverse characters–from a smart high school senior living in the poor part of town to an army vet just back home from the… Read more: Danielle Evans
Tune in today to hear editor David Stephen Calonne read from and discuss “Absence of the Hero: Charles Bukowski’s Uncollected Stories and Essays, Volume 2, 1946-1992” published this April by City Lights Books. We’ll talk about Bukowski’s “boisterous, energetic, autobiographical voice” and his place in and recording of the Sixties counterculture. We’ll also talk about… Read more: David Stephen Calonne
Hear Michigan’s own Sharon Pomerantz read from her novel “Rich Boy” published this August by Twelve. We’ll talk about the 70s and 80s as historical fiction and about loving your characters even when they are acting unloveable. We’ll also talk about the working class, the middle class and the wealthy, Oxford Circle and Tuxedo Park.… Read more: Sharon Pomerantz
Hear a conversation with Michigan’s own Jeremiah Chamberlin, editor of Fiction Writers Review. We’ll talk about his work as one of the founders of the review as well as his work as a bookseller in Madison, Wisconsin, his “Inside Indie Bookstore Series” for “Poets & Writers” magazine, and his own fiction writing. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-08-11-163001-EDT.mp3 Download Audio If you are curious… Read more: Jeremiah Chamberlin
Hear Rafe Esquith talk about his book “Lighting Their Fires: How Parents and Teachers Can Raise Extraordinary Kids in a Mixed-Up, Muddled-Up, Shook-Up World” now out in paperback this summer with Penguin Books. We’ll talk about his 5th grade class at Hobart Elementary School in Los Angeles and how he found time to write this… Read more: Rafe Esquith
From the archive: 2010 Ken Mikolowski reads poems from Big Enigmas (Past Tents Press). We talk about humor, art, and Detroit. We also talk about Ann Mikolowski‘s pocket portraits, reading with MC5 and Iggy and the Stooges, Ken’s most recent event in New York City and a pork barrel prize. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-06-23-161501-EDT.mp3 Download Audio Original airdate: June… Read more: Ken Mikolowski
From the archive: 2010 Twesigye Jackson Kaguri reads from his book The Price of Stones: Building A School For My Village (Penguin Group USA 2010). We talk about how he founded a school in rural Uganda for children who had been orphaned by AIDS. We talk about his calling and his reasons for making this inspiring… Read more: Twesigye Jackson Kaguri
Tune in today to hear Hannah Tinti read from “The Good Thief” published by Dial Press in 2009. We’ll talk about why it was Hannah’s goal to write an old-fashion type of book and her interest in resurrection men, mousetraps and wishing stones. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-05-26-161501-EDT.mp3 Download Audio *this program was taped April 5th.
Tune in today to hear Louis Sachar read from his latest “The Cardturner: A Novel About a King, a Queen and a Joker” published this May by Delacorte Press. We will talk about how he was advised not to write a book about Bridge for the youth market–and how people who read his bestselling “Holes”… Read more: Louis Sachar
Hear Nathaniel Philbrick read from “The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn” published this May by Viking. We will talk about considering audience and finding your voice within historical nonfiction. We’ll also talk about Moby-Dick, riding a horse during research, and “what makes us American.” http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-05-12-161501-EDT.mp3 Download Audio *this… Read more: Nathaniel Philbrick
Tune in today to hear Yiyun Li read from her novel “The Vagrants” published by Random House Trade Paperback Edition in 2010. We will talk about heroism, China in the 1970s, and William Trevor. Yiyun started with the sciences at Iowa. What changed her mind? http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-04-21-161501-EDT.mp3 Download Audio *this program was taped March 18th
Hear Scottish poet John Burnside read new poems. We will talk about his memoir “A Lie About My Father” published by Graywolf Press. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-04-14-161501-EDT.mp3 Download Audio
Hear Deborah Eisenberg read from “The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg” published this April by Picador. We will talk about the intensity of the short story form. We’ll also talk about dialogue and character–ex-pats and superheroes. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-04-07-161501-EDT.mp3 Download Audio
Hear Tung-Hui Hu read from “Mine” published by Ausable Press in 2007 and from “The Book of Motion” published by University of Georgia Press (2003). We will talk about his current project Last Time You Cried. We’ll also talk about film, “time-based art” and palinodes. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-03-31-161501-EDT.mp3 Download Audio
V.V. “Sugi” Ganeshananthan reads from her novel Love Marriage (Random House 2008). We talk about marriage, politics, and religion. We also talk about writing your first novel. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-03-24-161502-EDT.mp3 Download Audio
From the archive: 2010 Andre Williams reads from his book Sweets and Other Stories (Kicks Books 2009). You may know Andre, as many do, as “Mr. Rhythm” from his time at Fortune Records and Chess Records and in Motown with hits such as “Bacon Fat,” “Greasy Chicken,” Jail Bait,” and many others. A true legend.… Read more: Andre Williams
John Freeman reads from his book “The Tyranny of E-mail: The Four-Thousand-Year Journey to Your Inbox” published by Scribner in 2009. We’ll talk about the genesis of this project, his passion for writers and reading, and his work at the helm of Granta. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-03-10-161501-EST.mp3 Download Audio March 10, 2010 4:15-5:15
Cole Swensen reads from Try and The Book of One Hundred Hands published by University of Iowa Press. We talk about her work in translation. We also talk about why Cole calls Paris her writing place and why Iowa and Washington DC are also home. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-03-03-161501-EST.mp3 Download Audio photo credit: Matt Gold
Hear Ron Carlson read from his novel “The Signal” published by Viking in 2009. We’ll talk about solitude and the computer, Niagara Falls, honesty in fiction, and Hemingway. Also, Ron Carlson will read a new prose poem written at his Utah cabin. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-02-24-161501-EST.mp3 Download Audio **Thanks to Gabrielle Gantz at Viking/Penguin.
Abraham Verghese reads from his novel Cutting for Stone published by Vintage Books. We talk about writing fiction that spans continents and history. We also talk about memoir, his life in medicine, Ethiopia, and the song, Tizita. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-02-17-161501-EST.mp3 Download Audio For more about the author, click here! **Thanks to Kate Runde at Vintage and Anchor Books for… Read more: Abraham Verghese
Hear Joshua Ferris read from his new novel “The Unnamed” published in January by Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown. We’ll talk about writing the second novel, Emily Dickinson, Key West, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-02-10-161501-EST.mp3 Download Audio **Thanks to Sabrina Callahan and Marlena Bittner at Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown for sending copies of “The Unnamed” and “Then… Read more: Joshua Ferris
Elizabeth Kostova reads from her second novel The Swan Thieves published by Little, Brown. We talk about research and the imagination–and the past making itself felt on the present. We also talk about Bulgaria, French Impressionism, and obsession http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-02-03-161501-EST.mp3 Download Audio For more about the author, click here!
hear Michigan’s own Thomas Lynch read from his short story collection “Apparition & Late Fictions” published this January by W.W.Norton & Company. We’ll talk about how working with fiction and the short story framework differs from his nonfiction essays and articles. We’ll also talk about his new poems, novellas, donkeys and County Clare. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-01-27-161501-EST.mp3 Download… Read more: Thomas Lynch
Joshua Ferris reads from his new novel The Unnamed published by Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown. We talk about writing the second novel, Emily Dickinson, Key West, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-02-10-161501-EST.mp3 Download Audio For more about the author, click here!
From the archive: 2010 ZZ Packer reads from Buffalo Soldiers, her novel-in-progress. We talk about Drinking Coffee Elsewhere (Riverhead Books 2003) and about sending stories out into the world–and how much work it actually takes to have someone say that your prose is “effortless.” We also talk about politics, revision, and what “Sometimes You Get… Read more: ZZ Packer
Paul Auster reads from his novel Sunset Park published by Henry Holt. We talk about writing from multiple character perspectives. We also talk about poems and coincidence and New York City. Tune in today to hear Paul Auster read from his latest novel “Sunset Park” published this month by Henry Holt. We’ll talk about writing from multiple character… Read more: Paul Auster
From the archives: 2010 Yusef Komunyakaa reads poems from Pleasure Dome:New and Collected Poems (Wesleyan 2001), Warhorses (FSG 2008) and Chameleon Couch (Macmillan 2011). We talk about the leaps of lyrical narrative, the particular perfection of the brain, and the cassowary. We also talk about Neruda and Borges, and celebration and confrontation. Art endures. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-10-27-163001-EDT.mp3 Download… Read more: Yusef Komunyakaa
From the archive: 2010 Kazim Ali reads from Bright Felon: Autobiography and Cities (Wesleyan University Press 2009). We talk about gender theory, Yoko Ono, and blurring genre. We also talk about the geography of emotion and the past. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-10-13-163001-EDT.mp3 Download Audio Original airdate: October 13, 2010 Recording date: October 7, 2010 Photo credit: press kit
From the archive: 2010 Ken Mikolowski reads poems from Big Enigmas (Past Tents Press). We talk about humor, art, and Detroit. We also talk about Ann Mikolowski‘s pocket portraits, reading with MC5 and Iggy and the Stooges, Ken’s most recent event in New York City and a pork barrel prize. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-06-23-161501-EDT.mp3 Download Audio Original airdate: June… Read more: Ken Mikolowski
From the archive: 2010 Twesigye Jackson Kaguri reads from his book The Price of Stones: Building A School For My Village (Penguin Group USA 2010). We talk about how he founded a school in rural Uganda for children who had been orphaned by AIDS. We talk about his calling and his reasons for making this inspiring… Read more: Twesigye Jackson Kaguri
From the archive: 2010 Andre Williams reads from his book Sweets and Other Stories (Kicks Books 2009). You may know Andre, as many do, as “Mr. Rhythm” from his time at Fortune Records and Chess Records and in Motown with hits such as “Bacon Fat,” “Greasy Chicken,” Jail Bait,” and many others. A true legend.… Read more: Andre Williams
Cole Swensen reads from Try and The Book of One Hundred Hands published by University of Iowa Press. We talk about her work in translation. We also talk about why Cole calls Paris her writing place and why Iowa and Washington DC are also home. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-03-03-161501-EST.mp3 Download Audio photo credit: Matt Gold
Abraham Verghese reads from his novel Cutting for Stone published by Vintage Books. We talk about writing fiction that spans continents and history. We also talk about memoir, his life in medicine, Ethiopia, and the song, Tizita. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-02-17-161501-EST.mp3 Download Audio For more about the author, click here! **Thanks to Kate Runde at Vintage and Anchor Books for… Read more: Abraham Verghese
Elizabeth Kostova reads from her second novel The Swan Thieves published by Little, Brown. We talk about research and the imagination–and the past making itself felt on the present. We also talk about Bulgaria, French Impressionism, and obsession http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-02-03-161501-EST.mp3 Download Audio For more about the author, click here!
Joshua Ferris reads from his new novel The Unnamed published by Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown. We talk about writing the second novel, Emily Dickinson, Key West, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2010-02-10-161501-EST.mp3 Download Audio For more about the author, click here!
