GrottoPod

Roberto Lovato, Doug Henderson and T. K. Rex discuss scarlet macaws, breaking down structural inequality in publishing, and Rooted & Written—the first tuition-free professional conference for Writers of Color in the United States.

Stuff we talked about in the episode:

• Applying to Rooted & Written
• Cristina Rivera Garza
• Malcolm Harris Palo Alto 
• Roberto’s book Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas 
• The Prince of Evolution (book about Peter Kropotkin) by Lee Alan Dugatkin
• Mutual Aid, A Factor of Evolution by Pëtr Kropotkin
• Viet Nguyen
• Ta-Nahisi Coates
• Chaco Canyon
• Susan Ito
• Jesus Sierra
• Aditi Malhotra
• UNLV MFA 

Jonathan Escoffery, Celeste Chan, and T. K. Rex discuss education without a safety net, the intersection of racism, capitalism and belonging, ticking clocks and how to break them, finding Jamaican patties in the Bay Area, the intimacy of the second person, and needing the fear.

Stuff we talked about in the episode:

• If I Survive You - novel by Jonathan Escoffery
• Apex snap judgment panels
• Paul Beatty 
• Percival Everett
• Mat Johnson
• Nicole Dennis-Benn
• Marlon James
• Jennine Capó Crucet
• Toni Morrison
• Nella Larsen
• Langston Hughes
• Zora Neal Hurston
• Frederick Douglass
• The Wallace Stegner Fellowship
• A Lucky Man - novel by Jamel Brinkley
• Boston Writers of Color
• The Loft - Minneapolis-based org for writers
• The Booker Prizes

Jonathan's recommendations for Jamaican patties in the Bay Area:

• Calabash
• Minto’s Jamaican Juice Bar
• Level 13

Hugh Ryan, Mark Wallace and T. K. Rex discuss MFAs, finding out what kind of writer you are, queer history, pitching niche topics, tarantulas, finding the right peers and instructors for your writing, and the punkest thing ever.

Stuff we talked about in the episode:

• The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison
• Bennington workshop
• C. L. Polk's Patreon
• New York Public Library research fellowship
• Pop-Up Museum of Queer History 
• Hide/Seek: Difference in Desire in American Portraiture
• Yaddo residency
• Watermill residency
• New York Foundation for the Arts
• Hugh’s Patreon

Lori Ostlund, Doug Henderson, and T. K. Rex discuss hopeful fiction, metaphor, the Midwest, balancing humor and darkness, crafting characters who feel like real people, the Flannery O’Connor award, and a third addition to the pantser/plotter dichotomy: poet.

Stuff we mentioned in the episode:

• Lori’s novella Just Another Family
• flannery o’connor award
• Flannery winner Iheoma Nwachukwu
• Rainbow Railroad

Sam J. Miller, Doug Henderson and T. K. Rex discuss tapping into who you really are, going too far first, the Clarion writers workshop, writing stories with a structural conceit, filing off the serial numbers, writing from a marginalized point of view, loneliness, climate anxiety, hope, inhale and exhale phases, video games, writing as programming, AI, writing to a specific audience, and writing the gayest sh*t imaginable.

Stuff we mentioned in the episode:

• Boys, Beasts and Men (novel by Sam J. Miller)
• The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-Fi and Fantasy Role Playing Club (novel by Doug Henderson)
• Smokefall (game by Sam J. Miller, playable demo on itch.io)
• The Art of Starving (novel by Sam J. Miller)
• Samuel R. Delaney (author)
• Clarion writers workshop
• Clarkesworld magazine
• Cassandra Clare (author)
• "Liking What You See: A Documentary" (novelet by Ted Chiang)
• "There’s a Hole in the City" (short story by Richard Bowes)
• "Inventory" (short story by Carmen Maria Machado)
• Graham Greene (author)
• Pale Fire (novel by Vladimir Nabokov)
• The Pogues (band)
• What Did You Eat Yesterday (manga)
• Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction (nonfiction book)
• The Perfect Nine: The Epic of Gĩkũyũ and Mũmbi (novel by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o)
• Shingai Njeri Kagunda (author)
• L. P. Kindred (author)
• Baldur’s Gate III

The GrottoPod is back! In this kickoff episode for the new season, writers T. K. Rex and Doug Henderson discuss upcoming guests, their favorite writing craft tips, the importance of finding local writing community, and writing weird.

Stuff we mentioned in the episode:

• Classes and Events at the Writers Grotto
• Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses
• Clarion Writers Workshop at UCSD
• Club Chicxulub
• Litquake

T. K. Rex

• Website
• Instagram
• Mastodon

Doug Henderson

• Website
• Twitter/X

Novelist Dallas Woodburn joins us on the GrottoPod this week to read from her recent book, The Best Week that Never Happened, described as a “captivating, poignant story is perfect for teens on the brink of discovering who they are and what really matters.” Woodburn is a former Steinbeck fellow in creative writing and the author of two earlier books of short fiction, Woman, Running Late, in a Dress and 3 a.m. She is also the host of the popular book-lovers podcast “Overflowing Bookshelves,” and founder of the organization Write On! Books.

We hope that this message finds you as well as can be. 2020 has contained a great deal of change for the GrottoPod, and for our production team. To fill you in: the Writers Grotto recently moved out of its physical offices in San Francisco, and we at GrottoPod consequently moved out of the podcast studio where we recorded so many of the interviews that we’ve broadcast on this show. Given these changes, we’ve decided to take an indefinite break from our regular release schedule; however, we will likely be bringing you the occasional reading from a Grotto member, so please stay subscribed. We’ll be looking forward to reconvening with all of you down the line. Be well.

Preeti Vangani joins the GrottoPod this week to talk with producer Brad Balukjian about her evocative essay, “A Meditation on Bitterness,” published in Bending Genres. Vangani is a brand manager turned poet and personal essayist who authored Mother Tongue Apologize (RLFPA Editions), and won the RL India Poetry Prize. Her work has appeared in  BOAAT, Juked, Gulf Coast and Threepenny Review, among other journals. She is the Poetry Editor for Glass Journal.

Poet Tess Taylor, who published two collections this year, Last West: Roadsongs for Dorothea Lange and Rift Zone, joins us on the GrottoPod this week to read some of her poetry. Taylor is the author of three other books of poetry, including The Misremembered World, selected by Eavan Boland for the Poetry Society of America’s inaugural chapbook fellowship, and The Forage House, called “stunning” by The San Francisco Chronicle. Work & Days was named one of The New York Times best books of poetry of 2016. She’s also currently on the faculty of Ashland University’s Low-Res MFA Creative Writing Program.