Josan Janis Cooke Newman is the author of the memoir, The Russian Word for Snow, and two novels: Mary; Mrs. A. Lincoln and A Master Plan for Rescue. Janis also teaches creative writing, offering courses like Writing and Mindfulness: Cultivating a Daily Practice through the San Francisco Zen Center, and founded Lit Camp, a writer's conference that takes place at the Esalen Institute. Janis also founded Creative Caffeine Daily, an online writing community.

We talk about memoir writing and Zen, being a ‘baby Buddhist,’ the joyful experience of sewing a rakusu, the impact of taking lay ordination precepts, viewing mornings as a creative, liminal space, and approaching haikus as a Zen writing practice.