Writers on Writing

Crissy Van Meter, author of CREATURES


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Crissy Van Meter’s novel, Creatures (Algonquin Books, 2020), was a Belletrist Book pick, an NPR Book of the Year, a finalist for the WILLA Literary Award, and longlisted for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Her writing appears in Vice, Guernica, Buzzfeed, and Catapult. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School and teaches creative writing at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College. She is the founder of the literary project Five Quarterly and the contributing editor for Nouvella Books. She served on the board of directors for the youth-focused literary nonprofit Novelly. She lives in Los Angeles where she is the Head of Books forTeaTime Pictures.

Crissy joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about writing climate fiction, naming characters, research, fictionalizing real places, setting, and much more.

For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can find hundreds of past interviews on our website. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. It’s perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. Email the show at [email protected]. We love to hear from our listeners!

Order Barbara’s upcoming short story collection, Pool Fishing.

(Recorded on August 15, 2025)

Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
Host: Marrie Stone
Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)

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Writers on WritingBy Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and Marrie Stone

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