GrottoPod

On the eve of Litquake, San Francisco's renowned literary arts festival, co-founder Jack Boulware joins the GrottoPod to talk about his life in the literary scene. Boulware is also the co-founder of the legendary comedy magazine The Nose,

This week, Laurie Ann Doyle -- author of the new short-story collection World Gone Missing, founder of the Babylon Salon literary performance series and GrottoPod co-producer -- sits down for a warm, honest and revealing discussion about her writing pr...

This week, the GrottoPod travels to the downtown Oakland office of Grotto alum Mary Roach, the New York Times best-selling author of six titles, including Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Bonk: the Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, and her most recent work, Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal. Join us for a wide-ranging conversation with one of the Bay Area’s favorite writers.

What do you do when a music industry meltdown kills your band’s record sales? If you’re “Dr. Frank” Portman of East Bay pop-punk pioneers The Mr. T Experience, you get to work becoming a successful YA author. Portman,

What are the unique challenges of being a best-selling author? Find out this week as Janelle Brown -- whose latest book, Watch Me Disappear, debuted at #13 on the New York Times bestseller list -- joins the GrottoPod to talk about expectations,

When Christian Winn moved from Seattle to Boise, he didn’t realize that he was also jump-starting his writing career. Twenty years later, he’s Idaho’s writer-in-residence and a central piece of Boise’s literary scene. Winn,

Journalist and writer Roberto Lovato has spent his life running toward -- rather than away from -- conflict. Through it all, he has never stopped seeking the truth and has never wavered from his belief in the spirituality of the written word.

Critically-acclaimed poet, Grotto member and former New York Times poetry editor Matthew Zapruder releases his newest book, Why Poetry?, today. To celebrate, we're revisiting his April interview with GrottoPod hosts Bridget Quinn and Larry Rosen, where he talked about his life in poetry and the reasons this often-misunderstood genre of writing is so important. Zapruder embarks on a book tour this week, including stops in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles. For his complete schedule, check out his calendar of upcoming events.

Laura Fraser is, among other things, a best-selling memoirist; an instinctive muckraking journalist; a celebrated travel writer; the founder of Shebooks, a publishing imprint dedicated to women authors; and a Grotto O.G. (Original Gangsta).

Why do you write? Or, rather, how do you write? This week, hosts Bridget Quinn and Larry Rosen address these issues, landing on questions of motivation, ambition and outcome as they share their respective “state-of-the-writer” stories.