Welcome to Write On! Radio—
In the first half hour, Liz brings novelist and screenwriter Michael Elias on-air to discuss You Can Go Home Now, his new thriller novel discussing domestic violence and the quest for justice for a woman assault victim.
Later, Dave welcomes Becca Klaver, poet and Switchback Books founder, on-air in celebration of her new poetry collection Ready for the World.
First, Liz brings S. C. Gwynne onto the show to discuss Hymns of the Republic: The Story of the Final Year of the Civil War, bringing immediacy and new insight to Civil War history and the people who made it happen.
In the second half of the hour, a legacy interview from Ian makes a reappearance! Enjoy this opportunity to join Ian’s conversation with Hanne Ørstavik about her novel Love, translated into English by Martin Aitken.
First, Dave talks to Cynthia Miller-Idriss about polarization and extremism in the American Right, the topic of both her latest book Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right and her research as a sociologist at American University in Washington DC.
After the break, Annie connects with fellow Duluthian Margi Preus over her Enchantment Lake children’s novels, writing Minnesota as the nuanced experience it is, a healthy love of the outdoors and environment, and character work for kids’ books.
What do 90.3 KFAI and the Jason Bourne thrillers have in common? Minnesota, now that NYT-Bestselling suspense author (and Minnesotan) Brian Freeman is the official successor to Robert Ludlum in penning the Bourne saga. Longtime KFAI host Ian Graham Leask catches up with Freeman live on air, and the pair discuss keeping the Bourne saga going with a spectrum of *thrilling* projects, the trajectory of Freeman’s career, connecting widely with readers over COVID-era virtual events, and more.
In the second half of the hour, Annie and Liz take a guest’s no-show as a serendipitous opportunity to catch up about their creative endeavors, including Liz’s soon-to-launch Broadway history podcast and the beginning of musicals about social issues, Annie’s renewed proliferation of book review drafts (and refusal to write a slam review), how a WO!R show gets made, reading unpublished memoirs, and the value of creating a consistent personal writing schedule.
Dave talks with Leah Naomi Green, author of The More Extravagant Feast, the winner of the 2019 Walt Whitman Award and published by Graywolf Press.
In the last part of the hour, Josh is joined by Sarah Rudell Beach, author of Mindfulness for Children. She is also the author of Mindful Moments for Busy Moms and writes about mindfulness, mindful teaching, and mindful parenting for the Huffington Post.
Liz talks with Lee Gutkind, author of over thirty books, including You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: The Complete Guide to Writing Creative Non-fiction and the award winning Many Sleepless Nights: The World of Organ Transplants. In 1991 he founded the magazine “Creative Non-fiction”. He was instrumental in creating the first MFA program at the University of Pittsburgh. He is known as the “Godfather of Creative non-fiction”and currently is a professor and writer in residence at the school for The Future of Innovation Society at Arizona State University.
Later in the hour, Josh is joined by author Scott Gannis to discuss his new work Very Fine People. It’s Fall 2016 in flyover country and Jude Glick’s mother has just died after a long battle with cancer, leaving behind a house in foreclosure, tens of thousands in medical debt, and compounding psychological trauma. Alternating between raw emotionalism, cutting satire, and wild flights of imagination, Gannis’s brilliant debut novel builds to an unforeseen and shattering climax.
First, Dave Fettig and Adrian S Potter discuss Potter’s new poetry collection, Everything Wrong Feels Right, plus setting in writing, Potter’s scientific background, his writing process, and more.
Next, Annie Harvieux and Tiffany McDaniel use McDaniel’s latest novel, Betty, as a means to look at telling family stories through creative writing, the challenges of bringing true stories of child abuse to light, and how Cherokee versus white Christian traditions of gender dynamics play out in the novel’s multiracial family.
