Why should you enter a contest? Even if you don’t win, how might it help you? And what are downsides of entering? In this special episode, recorded live at the Telluride Lit Fest just before the announcement of the Fischer and Cantor Prizes, w talk about big juicy tomatoes, how judges make decisions, why the … Continue reading Episode 9: How Should We Think About Awards & Contests? →

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In this bonus episode, Luis Lopez, poet laureate of Colorado’s Western Slope, and Rafael Jesús González, poet laureate of Berkeley, each read a poem and talk about their writing process. And that’s not all! Below, we present a poem Rafael Jesús González wrote about judging the Fischer poetry prize. We think his poem should be prerequisite … Continue reading Episode 9 Bonus: Luis Lopez and Rafael Jesús González on Creative Process →

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Working with a partner on creative projects can be incredible! And incredibly frustrating. In this episode, we will discuss whether collaborations need leaders, why listening is an essential skill for working with other creatives, Chinese food, the Jabberwocky, and how spontaneity can enhance a creative collaboration. And then we’ll wrap up our conversation by talking with musician/songwriter/video … Continue reading Episode 8: Collaboration–Are We In This Together? (with guest Christine Laskowski) →

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What can you do to evolve your creativity? How do your practices fuel or sabotage your muse? In this episode of Emerging Form, we talk about creative habits—frequency, accountability, flexibility and more. We’ll cover Rosemerry’s four promises she makes for her daily practice, Christie’s philosophy on not taking yourself too seriously, a new approach for … Continue reading Episode 7: Creative Habits (with guest Helen Fields) →

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“Quitter” is sometimes an insult, but in this episode we explore how quitting can be underrated. Anyone involved in a creative project has likely wondered at some point if they should suck it up and continue the fight or move on. We’ll also discuss the dangers of the sunk cost fallacy, insights from Clue, the … Continue reading Episode 6: Quitting (with guest Pam Houston) →

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Who needs an editor? Everyone. In this episode, we discuss feedback: who to ask, how to ask them, and how to respond to what they say. Also important: at what point in a project do you ask for feedback? We’ll tackle all these questions, plus we’ll talk about the sinking of the Titanic, how praise … Continue reading Episode 5: Feeback (with guest Andrea Jones-Rooy) →

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What keeps us from getting started on our creative projects? We have great ideas, but then we keep putting them off. In this episode, we explore how to dance with high expectations and paralysis of analysis. We talk about tricks for getting yourself past square one, and we have an outrageously good interview with poet, … Continue reading Episode 4: Getting Started (with guest Judyth Hill) →

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So you’re writing. Or painting. Or dancing. And you’re struck by this horrible feeling: what am I doing? How am I ever going to find the form and create something beautiful out of this tangled mess that I’ve assembled? Or you start to feel that your work doesn’t matter. That in fact, nothing matters. Your … Continue reading Episode 3: Existential Despair (with guest Andrea Bird) →

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If you’re a poet or a painter or a musician or a dancer, you have to have talent, right? Maybe, maybe not. In this episode of Emerging Form, we explore talent. What exactly is it? How do you know if you have it? Is it necessary? Can you make up for it if you don’t … Continue reading Episode 2: Is Talent Necessary? (with guest Jennifer Kahn) →

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Emerging Form is a podcast about the creative process. It’s a discussion between a poet and a science journalist, recorded over wine. Episode 1 introduces hosts Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer and Christie Aschwanden as well as the podcast’s patron saint, poet Jack Mueller. And the hosts wrestle with what it really means to be in service … Continue reading Episode 1: Introducing Emerging Form →

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingform.substack.com/subscribe