Author Archives: V-Z

Stream or tune in today to hear Jane Wong read from Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City: A Memoir (Tin House 2023). We talk about familial and historical archives, research, and memoir. We also… Read more: Jane Wong

Tune in today to hear Divya Victor read from Curb (Nightboat 2021).  We talk about form/function, art books, comfort and discomfort, questionnaires, creative writing programs and creative communities, and one’s own work space.… Read more: Divya Victor

Today poets Katie Hartsock, J.C. Scharl, and James Matthew Wilson read poems from their latest collections, Wolf Trees (Able Muse Press 2023), Ponds (Cascade Books 2024), and Saint Thomas and the Forbidden Birds (Word on… Read more: Katie Hartsock, J.C. Scharl, and James Matthew Wilson

Wendy S. Walters read from her books Multiply/Divide: On the American Real and Surreal (Sarabande) and Troy, Michigan (Futurepoem).  We talk about the blurring of genre in creative nonfiction, about long poems, lyric essays,… Read more: Wendy S Walters

Elizabeth Wason talks about science writing and her work as managing editor for Resources for the Future, a DC think tank. We talk about getting accessible expert insight and… Read more: Elizabeth Wason

Ryan Walsh reads from his book of poems Reckonings (Baobab 2019). We talk about a poem’s responsibility, connecting across time,  and a spelter zinc plant.

Markus Zusak reads from Bridge of Clay (Knopf 2018). We talk about the lives of boys, long projects, structure and redemption.

Summer host Amanda Uhle talks with historian, author, journalist, essayist, and actress Sarah Vowell. Vowell has written seven nonfiction books on American history and culture, was a contributing editor… Read more: Sarah Vowell

Guest host Amanda Uhle talks with Ocean Vuong author of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (Penguin Press 2019) about poetry, memory, masculinity, language, newcomers to America, and finding a… Read more: Ocean Vuong

Mabel O. Wilson reads from Begin With the Past: Building the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Smithsonian Books 2016). We’ll talk about design, dissertation to book, museums,… Read more: Mabel O. Wilson

Michael Zadoorian reads from his new novel Beautiful Music (Akashic Books 2018).  We talk about his factory-town approach to writing and his strong sense of place; we also talk about his father’s struggle… Read more: Michael Zadoorian

Weike Wang reads from her debut novel Chemistry now out in paperback (Vintage Books 2018). We talk about voice, nontraditional chapters and leaps, writing the second book, dogs and fun facts… Read more: Weike Wang

Robert Yoon is a political journalist, former Knight-Wallace Fellow and former host of “The J Word,” WCBN’s public affairs program about journalism and current events. We talk about the Michigan… Read more: Robert Yoon

Gerald Vizenor  was in town to present the 2018 Robert F. Berkhofer Jr. Lecture in Native American Studies. We talk about haiku, sound and motion, ethical experience, and choosing chance.  http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2018-03-28-1700-EDT.mp3 Download Audio Many… Read more: Gerald Vizenor

Guest host Amanda Uhle speaks with Chris Van Allsburg, author/illustrator of 19 books for children and illustrator of three more. Mr. Van Allsburg came to Ann Arbor recently to promote… Read more: Chris Van Allsburg

Stephen M. Ward talks about his book In Love and Struggle: The Revolutionary Lives of James and Grace Lee Boggs out with University of North Carolina Press in their Justice, Power, and Politics series.  We talk about… Read more: Stephen M. Ward

Alexander Weinstein reads from his debut collection of stories Children of the New World published by Picador.  We talk about writing speculative short fiction.  We also talk about rockets, empathy, teaching, and translation.… Read more: Alexander Weinstein

Claire Vaye Watkins reads from her novel Gold Fame Citrus published by Riverhead Books. We’ll talk about invention, faith, the desert, water. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2015-09-30-170001-EDT.mp3 Download Audio For more about the… Read more: Claire Vaye Watkins

Cat Warren reads from What the Dog Knows: Scent, Science, and the Amazing Ways Dogs Perceive the World published by Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, Inc. We talk about science journalism… Read more: Cat Warren

From the archive: 2015 Poet Jean Valentine reads from Break the Glass and Shirt In Heaven (Copper Canyon Press). We talk about memory, elegy, music and dreaming. Take heart. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2015-04-22-170001-EDT.mp3… Read more: Jean Valentine

Jesse Walker reads from The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory (2013) published by HarperCollins. We talk about things that might make you nervous – and also rebels on… Read more: Jesse Walker

From the archives Alice Walker talks about Zora Neale Hurston, voting, activism, inheritance, offerings,”This Human Journey,” and gardens. http://beanball.wcbn.org/rss/Living_Writers/wcbn-living_writers-2014-11-05-170001-EST.mp3 Download Audio Original air date: November 5, 2014

first show to add later A. Van Jordan reads from his books “M A C N O L I A” and “Quantum Lyrics” (W. W. Norton & Company). We’ll talk about finding poems in… Read more: A. Van Jordan

Anne Waldman reads from The Iovis Trilogy:  Colors in the Mechanism of Concealment–a project that spanned 26 years (Coffee House Press). We talk about collaboration, Ginsberg, manatees, and walking meditation.  We also… Read more: Anne Waldman

Laura Wetherington reads from her debut collection A Map Predetermined and Chance published by Fence Books for The National Poetry Series. We talk about putting together a first book and about editing the audio journal textsound.org.  We also talk… Read more: Laura Wetherington

From the archives: Franz Wright reads poems from Kindertotenwald (Knopf 2013).  We talk about wearing masks, about the difficult twenties, and about seeing the drawbacks of MFA programs (while still loving… Read more: Franz Wright

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… Read more: Andre Williams

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… Read more: Abraham Verghese

Hear David Wevill read poems including work from “Asterisks” published by Exile Editions in 2007. We’ll talk about the self and the non-self as a central force in his… Read more: David Wevill

Tune in today to hear poet Emily Warn read from her latest collection  “Shadow Architect” published by Copper Canyon Press in 2008. We’ll talk about the forest, spiritual studies… Read more: Emily Warn

Hear Crystal Williams read from “Troubled Tongues” chosen for the 2009 Long Madgett Poetry Award. We’ll talk about chants, epistles and ars poeticas. We’ll also talk about writing plays and poems–and… Read more: Crystal Williams

Hear poet Dean Young read new poems–yet to  grace the pages of magazine, web or book.  We’ll also talk about his current manuscript called “The Art of Recklessness” to… Read more: Dean Young

Hear Lawrence Weschler in conversation about his book published by Vintage Books in 1996  “Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder:  Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels… Read more: Lawrence Weschler

Hear Carlos Ruiz Zafon read from his novel “The Angel’s Game” published this summer by Doubleday. We’ll talk about Gothic stylization, Barcelona, and novels in a series. We’ll also… Read more: Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Colson Whitehead reads from his novel Sag Harbor published by Doubleday. We talk about drawing on your own past and using elements of autobiography to frame what ideas you want… Read more: Colson Whitehead

Hear poet Adam Zagajewski read from his latest book “Eternal Enemies” published this year by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. We’ll talk about Lvov, Poland and Milosz, Herbert, essays and… Read more: Adam Zagajewski

From the archives: 2008 C.D. Wright reads from her book of poems Rising, Falling, Hovering (Copper Canyon Press).  We talk about misery and love, “making it up,” and what it… Read more: C.D. Wright