Musings of the Artist: (Honest) Conversations with Montse Andrée

Lidia Yuknavitch is the nationally bestselling author of the novels The Book of Joan, The Small Backs of Children, and Dora: A Headcase, and the memoir The Chronology of Water. Her newest book Verge is a collection of short stories. She also has a TED Talk “The Beauty of Being a Misfit” that has been viewed by millions. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Lidia and I had a wide-ranging conversation about being a misfit, the in-between spaces of life, the blurry lines between fiction and nonfiction and the ways in which art can save us.

This episode was audio produced by Aaron Moring. Music is by Madisen Ward.

For episodes and more, visit MusingsoftheArtist.com

Andrew Duhon is a singer-songwriter from New Orleans.

In this episode, we chat about the search for belonging, self-acceptance, and finding the profound in the minutia. Andrew also talks about songwriting and art making in a way that is mesmerizing and inspiring. As he says, “No one else is you, no one else can tell your story. It is your human tale to tell.”

This episode was audio produced by Aaron Moring. Theme music is by Madisen Ward.

Nadia Owusu is an author and urbanist who grew up between Africa and Europe and now lives in Brooklyn. 

In the episode Nadia talks about her memoir Aftershocks and the ways growing up between cultures shaped her life. We also chat about claiming, naming, and accepting mental illness as a part of one’s identity, code-switching, and the gifts of memoir.

This episode was audio produced by Aaron Moring. Theme music is by Madisen Ward.

Pam Houston is the author of many books including the memoir, "Deep Creek: Finding Hope In The High Country", "Cowboys are my Weakness" and most recently "Air Mail: Letters of Politics, Pandemics, and Place" (with Amy Irvine). Pam is also a fantastic teacher and the co-founder and creative director of the literary nonprofit Writing By Writers.

In this episode we talk all about place, writing, non-traditional parenting, and living an authentic life. She also tells us about her incredible experience running into the narwhal migration!

This episode was audio produced by Aaron Moring. Theme music is by Madisen Ward.

Episode webpage here.

Rachel Eliza Griffiths is a poet, visual artist, and novelist.

We chat about her stunning collection of poetry and photography, "Seeing the Body". Some of the topics we speak on include monumental loss and the grief that follows, memory, languages of sadness, taking action against despair, and pushing away the useless pressure of likability. Rachel Eliza also tells us about her many selves as an artist. 

This episode was audio produced by Aaron Moring. Theme music is by Madisen Ward.

Josh Telles is a Celebrity and Food Photographer based in LA. He has photographed artists like Nicole Kidman, David Lynch, Mary J. Blige, and so many others. 

In this episode, Josh tells us about his path to becoming the photographer he is today. We chat about vulnerability in photo making, chronic anxiety, telling other people’s stories through photography, “post-creative depression” and much more!  

This episode was audio produced by Aaron Moring. Theme music is by Madisen Ward.

Cig Harvey is a photographer and writer based in Maine. She is the author of three sold-out books, and Blue Violet, her new book of photographs, drawings, and writing will be out in May. 

In this episode, we talk all about books, intuition, her photography process (hooray for “date nights” with photos!), and the importance of noticing in art making.

This episode was audio produced by Aaron Moring. Music is by Madisen Ward.

Mickey Guyton is a powerhouse vocalist and songwriter. 

In this conversation, we talked about being an introvert in the public eye, preparing for motherhood, mentorship, and The Bachelorette. 

We also talk about the urgency of leaning into who you are. As a Black woman in Country music —a traditionally white-and male-dominated industry— Mickey tells us about the revelatory moment when she embraced all that makes her unique and how her life has changed since then.

Mickey has been spotlighted in Billboard magazine as one of Country Music’s “female game changers,” and in Entertainment Weekly as one of the “new queens of country music.” Her new EP, Bridges, featuring the songs “What Are You Gonna Tell Her” and "Black Like Me," is available now.

Where to find Mickey:

Website

Instagram

Twitter

This episode was audio produced by Aaron Morning. Theme music is by Ilan Isakov.

Valerie June is a singer, songwriter, poet, and multi-instrumentalist. She also (so wonderfully) describes herself as a “professional dreamer.”

In this episode she speaks on finding home on the road and within oneself, her writing practice, manifestation, and how to be a “light worker.” We also chat about being hermit-like, moving through sadness, the joy of nature and letters, and much more! 

Valerie radiates warmth and you can feel it every moment of this conversation.

Where to find Valerie:

Website

Instagram

Twitter

This episode was audio produced by Aaron Moring. Music is by Ilan Isakov.

Naomi Shihab Nye is a Palestinian-American poet, Young People's Poet Laureate through the Poetry Foundation, and editor of poems for the New York Times Sunday magazine. She has written or edited more than 30 books, most recently Cast Away, The Tiny Journalist, Voices in the Air, and Everything Comes Next.  

Naomi is full of poignant stories and refreshing wisdom. In this episode, she reads my all-time favorite poem “Kindness.”  She touches on loss, how to get yourself back on the path to gratitude when you start to get into a worry cycle, collective suffering and unspoken pain, how attentive listening to oneself and others will give you what you need when you need it, and the ways in which the people we lose, stay. She speaks on all these things, and more with a genuine positivity that is contagious. This is a must-listen episode!

Where to find Naomi:

Instagram

Twitter

Poetry Foundation

This episode was audio produced by Aaron Moring. Theme music is by Ilan Isakov.