Lit Trip with Tim Castano

For decades, Seattle, Washington’s influence has extended far beyond the Pacific Northwest to touch almost every aspect of life. Prominent among the city’s many offerings: literature, thanks to accomplished authors, imaginative institutions and a citywide embrace of storytelling in multiple forms.

More than appreciation, Seattle’s relationship with the written word connects to its identity, so much so UNESCO awarded the designation as a City of Literature, one of only two in the United States.

Jennie Shortridge, Laurie Frankel, Tracy Taylor, Shin Yu Pai, Wes Weddell, Rebecca Hoogs and Robert Dugoni help us explore this curious, creative, open-hearted and open-minded community during an extraordinary Lit Trip.

Founded in 1666, Newark, New Jersey owns a history older than the United States, itself. A history equally as interesting, one with considerable contributions to American culture, from music to visual arts to theater to, of course, literature. The city also has witnessed the ups-and-downs that have beset most urban locales: the industrial revolution, deindustrialization, upheaval and renewal. Along the way, Newark has served as home to American literary giants, urgent voices and one of modern storytelling’s most vital innovations: Audible. Mayor Ras Baraka, William Peniston, Miriam Jaffe and Rigoberto Gonzalez guide listeners through the artists, activism, institutions and inspiration that make Newark such a significant stop on a Lit Trip.

Near the geographic center of the United States, within the Osage Plains, rises Norman, Oklahoma, a city whose significance in literature extends throughout the nation and across the globe. Home to Neustadt International Prize for Literature, World Literature Today and an impressive representation of active writers, Norman has etched itself on every literary map. The city also has witnessed intense, almost unmatched American realities. Such textured source material continues to inspire Norman’s acclaimed and aspiring artists, who carry on storytelling traditions handed down throughout generations. Daniel Simon, Heather Hall, Crag Hill, Todd Fuller, Spontaneous Bob and Rilla Askew take listeners on a powerful Lit Trip through Norman, Oklahoma, a globally renowned, quintessentially American and continuously inventive community. 

In southwestern Montana, at the northern edge of Paradise Valley, along the Yellowstone River, sits the town of Livingston, which lays claim to one of the highest per-capita concentrations of writers in the United States. Jamie Harrison, Scott McMillion, Yetta Stein, Gretel Ehrlich, Marc Beaudin and Tim Cahill lead listeners on a Lit Trip across an authentic community deeply connected to the land and one another.

The oldest capital in the nation, Santa Fe’s blend of Native American, Spanish and Anglo influences appears in its architecture, within the Canyon Road art galleries and, of course, through words, both written and spoken. Garrett Peck, Kelsey Brown, Kamella Cruz, Megan Mulry and David Morrell guide listeners through the poetry and prose of the City Different, an inviting and luminous stop on a Lit Trip.

In Western North Carolina, set among the Blue Ridge Mountains, sits Asheville, a creative center unlike any in the United States. The natural surroundings have shaped generations of local writers, several with strong candidacies for inclusion in the American cannon. Authors from around the globe also have settled in Asheville, drawn by the tranquility, fellowship and truth held within the space. With roots planted deeply in the country’s literary soil and with branches reaching out into the present day, Asheville, North Carolina offers an enriching destination for a Lit Trip.

To the extent America emerged from the written word, those words were written in Philadelphia, as both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution came to life in the City of Brotherly Love. Nathaniel Popkin, Alexander Ames, Taylor Townes, Alison Lewis, Alexander Schneider, Christina Rosso-Schneider and Asali Solomon lead a Lit Trip through sites overflowing with history and those brimming with the energy of creation.

Lit Trip pays a visit to Baltimore, home to among most consequential figures in American literature, from Frederick Douglass and Edgar Allan Poe to F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein. Notable authors and leaders – Madison Smartt Bell, Shauntee Daniels, Marion Winik, Enrica Jang, Emma Snyder and D. Watkins – who have strengthened Baltimore’s literary legacy, help guide listeners on a tour through a city that continues to celebrate the written word.