Yanyi is a writer and critic. Yanyi’s debut book The Year of Blue Water is part poetry, part essay, part journal, and entirely itself, a document of self-discovery and human connection. In our conversation, we talked about his book, about its form and his process in creating it, and about creating community. Then in the second segment, we discussed Hannah Arendt’s seminal book The Origins of Totalitarianism.

(Conversation recorded July 11, 2019.)

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• Yanyi
• Yanyi - The Year of Blue Water: Yale University Press | IndieBound
• Yanyi - Events
• Maggie Nelson - Bluets
• Maggie Nelson - The Argonauts
• Hannah Arendt - The Origins of Totalitarianism
• Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
• Are You the One?

Ashly Stohl is a photographer based in Los Angeles and New York. In the artist statement for her latest series, The Days & Years, Ashly writes, “In photography, they say that all portraits are really self portraits. So what are portraits of your kids? They are portraits of a parent.” In our conversation, we talked about artistic collaboration, personal photography, and the perception of motherhood in art and society. Then in the second segment we talked about the differences between New York and LA.

(Conversation recorded July 9, 2019.)

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• Ashly Stohl
• Peanut Press
• Ashly Stohl - Charth Vader
• Ashly Stohl - The Days & Years (web gallery)
• Ashly Stohl - The Days & Years (book)
• @ashleyleostohl (Instagram)
• @thedaysandyearsproject (Instagram)
• Six Shooters
• Aline Smithson
• Elizabeth Fleming
• Sally Mann
• Lee Friedlander
• Garry Winogrand
• Stephen Shore
• David Carol
• Red Hook Editions
• Jason Eskenazi
• Carlos Javier Ortiz - We All We Got
• Donna Ferrato
• Ken Schles
• Lenscratch - Ashly Stohl: Days & Years
• Lynn Melnick
• Robert Frank
• Jacob Riis
• Lewis Hine
• Lee Friedlander - Family in the Picture

Sarah Gailey's two recent novellas, River of Teeth and Taste of Marrow, were a huge amount of fun for me as a fan of both Westerns and speculative fiction. Our conversation covered both of those books, their serialized novelette The Fisher of Bones, as well as their Hugo-nominated column at Tor.com about the women of Harry Potter. In the second segment, Sarah talked to me about Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg.

(Episode originally released on November 8, 2017. Conversation recorded September 22, 2017.)

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• Sarah Gailey
• @gaileyfrey
• Sarah Gailey - Magic for Liars: IndieBound | B&N
• Sarah Gailey - Upright Women Wanted
• Sarah Gailey - When We Were Magic
• Magic for Liars tour event - Writers With Drinks
• Sarah Gailey - River of Teeth
• Sarah Gailey - Taste of Marrow
• Sarah Gailey - The Fisher of Bones
• Alien: Ripley’s Well-Earned Nap
• The Green Stuff thread
• Sarah Gailey at Tor.com
• Sarah Gailey at B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog
• Sarah Gailey - Women of Harry Potter
• Sarah Gailey - Storytelling Through Costume
• Sarah Gailey - Bargain
• Sarah Gailey - Rescue
• Elizabeth Bear - Karen Memory
• Sarah Gailey - Facing Facts: American Itentity is Based on Alternate History
• Sarah Hollowell
• Lucius Beebe
• Charles Clegg
• King James and George Villiers (Twitter)
• Evalyn Walsh McLean
• Fonda Lee - Jade City

Michelle Brittan Rosado is a poet based in Long Beach, CA. In her book Why Can’t It Be Tenderness, Michelle writes about California, Malaysia, and the space between, about divorce, and life transition, and new love. In our conversation we talked about her book, about her creative process and how she thinks about poetic form, and about mixed-race identity. Then in the second section we talked about the history of the pantoum, and our experiences with English-language versions of Asian poetic forms.

(Conversation recorded May 30, 2019.)

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• Michelle Brittan Rosado
• Michelle Brittan Rosado - Why Can’t It Be Tenderness: University of Wisconsin Press | IndieBound
• Michelle Brittan Rosado - “Poem to My Unborn Son the Morning after the Election”
• The Southeast Review - “In Search of Evanescence: A Conversation with Michelle Brittan Rosado”
• Susan Rothenberg - “Double Masked Heads”
• Pantoum
• Natasha Trethewey - “Incident”
• Natasha Trethewey - Native Guard
• Pantun
• Shirley Geok-lin Lim
• Shirley Geok-lin Lim - “Pantoun for Chinese Women”
• Natalie Diaz - “My Brother At 3 AM”
• Nicole Homer - “The Dead Line”
• Gary Soto - The Elements of San Joaquin
• Arthur Sze - Sight Lines

Chaya Bhuvaneswar is a physician and writer. I read Chaya’s short story collection White Dancing Elephants this spring and really enjoyed it, both because of the way it centered South Asian and women’s stories, and for the complex, complicated relationships at the heart of each story. In our conversation, Chaya and I talked about White Dancing Elephants; about Seamus Heaney, punishment, and complicity; and about whose stories get called “dark.” Then for the second segment, we talked about some of Chaya’s favorite poets, and why poetry is important to her.

(Conversation recorded May 25, 2019.)

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• Chaya Bhuvaneswar
• Chaya Bhuvaneswar - White Dancing Elephants: Dzanc Books | IndieBound
• ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition - Meet the Authors: Chaya Bhuvaneswar
• Seamus Heaney - “Punishment”
• Bog body
• Keep the Channel Open - Episode 87: David Bowles
• Gloria Anzaldúa
• A. K. Ramanujan
• Cherrie Moraga & Gloria Anzaldúa - This Bridge Called My Back
• Danez Smith
• Kahlil Gibran - “On Children”
• Between the Covers - Chaya Bhuvaneswar: White Dancing Elephants
• Ashis Nandy - The Intimate Enemy
• Jallianwala Bagh massacre
• Diana Abu-Jaber
• Jhumpa Lahiri
• Angie Thomas
• Naben Ruthnum - Curry: Eating, Reading, and Race
• Gina Apostol
• Kiese Laymon
• Seamus Heaney - North
• Derek Walcott
• Marianne Moore
• Native American History and Culture: Boarding Schools
• Chaya Bhuvaneswar - “On Eliot”
• Eavan Boland
• Rabindranath Tagore
• Octavio Paz
• Rainer Maria Rilke
• Kaveh Akbar
• Fatimah Asghar
• Adrienne Rich
• Rupi Kaur
• Maggie Smith
• Chelsea Dingman
• Patricia Spears Jones
• Danez Smith - “summer, somewhere”
• Nicole Sealey
• Tiana Clark
• Terrance Hayes
• Terrance Hayes - American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin
• Melissa Febos
• Melissa Febos - “Thesmophoria”

Julia Dixon Evans is a writer based in San Diego, CA. I read Julia’s novel How to Set Yourself on Fire recently and was quite taken with her use of voice and the strong characterization of the story’s narrator, Sheila. In our conversation, Julia and I talked about her book, about experimenting with form as a writer, and about the question of likability. Then for the second segment we talked about trail running, and pushing yourself both physically and creatively.

(Conversation recorded April 22, 2019.)

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• Julia Dixon Evans
• Julia Dixon Evans - How to Set Yourself on Fire: Dzanc Books | IndieBound | B&N
• Last Exit
• Last Exit (Twitter)
• Last Exit (Facebook)
• Jennifer Egan - A Visit From the Goon Squad
• Franny Choi
• Fatimah Asghar
• Joyce Carol Oates - “To Invigorate Literary Mind, Start Moving Literary Feet”
• Kristen Arnett
• Voice of San Diego - Culture Report
• Sarah Rose Etter - The Book of X: Two Dollar Radio | IndieBound | B&N

Jennifer Greenburg is a photographer based in Chicago, IL. In her series Revising History, Jennifer alters vintage found photographs by inserting herself into the image, creating something new that comments on the ways that the style and glamor of the post-war era glosses over the very real discrimination and gender inequality of the time. We talked about Revising History, the ways that photographs lie, and the need for visual literacy in our society. Then in the second segment, Jennifer chose vintage clothing as her topic.

(Conversation recorded March 21, 2019.)

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• Jennifer Greenburg
• Jennifer Greenburg - Revising History
• jdc Fine Art
• jdc Fine Art - Cultural Grooming | New Work by Jennifer Greenburg
• Head On Photo Festival - Revising History
• Wired - “Woman Perfectly Adds Herself to Other People’s Old Photos”
• Jacob Riis
• Lewis Hine
• photo-eye - “Interview: Jennifer Greenburg on Revising History”
• Zelda Fitzgerald
• Martha Gellhorn
• Bruce Davidson
• Georges Seurat - A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
• Penelope Umbrico
• Eric William Carroll
• Bob Mackie - Barbie Collection
• Greer Lankton
• Nan Goldin
• Center for Creative Photography
• Andre Williams
• Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
• Bob Baker Marionette Theater
• Angelyne
• Mystic Kidder

David Bowles is a writer based in south Texas. David’s latest book of poems, They Call Me Güero, is a middle-grade novel-in-verse about a light-skinned Mexican-American boy who is just entering the seventh grade. In the book, David portrays the life of a border kid with all its joys and challenges. In our conversation we talked about that book, as well as about David’s collection of the myths and legends of pre-Colombian Mexico, Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky. We discussed the importance of representation, especially for young people of color. Then for the second segment, David and I talked about finding our way to a softer masculinity, and seeking out pop culture that makes us cry.

(Conversation recorded March 12, 2019.)

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• David Bowles
• David Bowles - They Call Me Güero: Cinco Puntos Press | IndieBound
• David Bowles - Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Cinco Puntos Press | IndieBound
• David Bowles - A Kingdom Beneath the Waves
• David Bowles - “Border Kid”
• Sylvia Vardell & Janet Wong - Here We Go
• Gloria Anzaldúa
• Nepantla
• Sandra Cisneros - The House on Mango Street
• Keep the Channel Open - Episode 84: Matika Wilbur
• Dr. Debbie Reese - American Indians in Children’s Literature
• Corinne Duyvis - #ownvoices
• Savannah Smiles
• The Good Doctor
• Steven Universe
• Hamilton
• Captain Marvel
• Elizabeth Acevedo - The Poet X
• Jason Reynolds - Long Way Down

Lydia Kiesling is a writer based in San Francisco, CA. Lydia’s debut novel, The Golden State, is a lot of things: a road trip story, an intimate portrayal of young parenthood, a portrait of a far-Northern California community, and more. In our conversation, Lydia and I talked about The Golden State, her nonfiction writing, and the relationship between the two forms. We also discussed the ephemerality of parenting experiences, the power of nostalgia, and what rural California is like. Then in the second segment, Lydia chose as her topic the lives of Marshall and Phyllis Hodgson.

(Conversation recorded February 12, 2019.)

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• Lydia Kiesling
• Lydia Kiesling - The Golden State: Publisher | IndieBound | B&N
• Lydia Kiesling - Other Writing
• Lydia Kiesling - “Becoming a Woman Who Yells at Her Children”
• Lydia Kiesling - “What I Want to Hand Down to My Daughters, and What I Don’t”
• Lydia Kiesling - “What Does Being Pregnant Feel Like? Part I”
• Electric Literature - “Lydia Kiesling’s ‘The Golden State’ Tackles the Hardships of Motherhood and Immigration”
• State of Jefferson
• Marshall Hodgson
• Lydia Kiesling - “Letter of Recommendation: The Life of Marshall Hodgson”
• Lorenzo’s Oil
• Rachel Syme
• Rachel Syme - Adventuress
• Joyce Johnson - Minor Characters
• Keep the Channel Open - Episode 38: Brandon Taylor
• WAVES
• Anne Morrison Welsh - Held in the Light
• Isabella Hammad - The Parisian

Mariela Sancari is an Argentinian-born photographer based in Mexico City. Mariela’s series Moisés—a typology of portraits of men the age her late father would have been if he were still alive—is, in a way, a searching as well as an exploration of grief. In our conversation, Mariela and I talked about the how collaboration shapes her projects, how she uses iteration to create something new from existing work, and what the photobook form is and isn’t good for. Then in the second segment we talked about the unconscious references that inform our photographic work.

(Conversation recorded February 5, 2019.)

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• Mariela Sancari
• Mariela Sancari - Moisés
• Mariela Sancari - Moisés (Book)
• Mariela Sancari - Moisés/Landscape
• Mariela Sancari - Moisés Is Not Dead
• Mariela Sancari and Adolfo Córdova - Mr. & Dr.
• Mariela Sancari - The two headed horse. Reenactment in ten acts
• FOLIO
• #ChannelOpenPhoto
• Louise Bourgeois
• Louise Bourgeois - I Do, I Undo, I Redo
• Asunción Casa Editora
• Cecilia Reynoso
• Luchino Visconti
• Cecila Reynoso - acaso las flores
• Alex Prager
• Emiliano Monge - No contar todo