The Inner Loop Radio

Writers see connections between all sorts of disparate things, but how can we turn that into a unified collection? Poet Jenn Koiter tells us how she found the throughline between grief, breakups, beauty tips, and what it means to be a woman in her latest poetry collection So Much of Everything from Day Eight Books and The Inner Loop Author's Corner April spotlight. Plus, we utilize a topic generator to flex our creative muscles.

The short story. It’s not a condensed novel, nor an expanded poem; it’s its own animal. So, how do you end a short story? With a twist? On a lingering image? In the middle of conflict? Fiction writer Cameron MacKenzie explains the intent behind some of the abrupt endings in his story collection, River Weather, from Alternating Current Press and The Inner Loop Author's Corner September spotlight. Then, Cameron, Courtney, and Rachel finish each other’s… sandwiches?

When we erase words that have been written, is it destruction or creation? For erasure poems, it can be both. Poet and Poetry Editor of Barrelhouse Magazine, Dan Brady, recreates erasure poetry by adding layers of erasure over his own words, creating texture and depth in the poems of his latest collection, SubTEXTS from Publishing Genius Press and The Inner Loop Author's Corner August spotlight. Plus, Dan, Courtney, and Rachel create an erasure poem from the classic, Moby Dick.

Can a poem’s meaning be distinguished from its form? When is a form serving the poet and when does it work against them? And how can we tell the difference when writing a poem? Poet and The Inner Loop Author's Corner June spotlight Danielle Badra talks about how she works with form in her poetry collection entitled “Like We Still Speak,” and how different forms helped her to convey the inexpressible aspects of grief.

In this episode we kick off a new season of The Inner Loop Radio with a discussion of short fiction. Are short stories special, or are they relics of a bygone literary era? Has “flash fiction” replaced the short story? Our Author’s Corner featured writer Andrew Bertaina joins us to talk nuts and bolts, and about his recently published short story collection, One Person Away from You. Andrew sticks around after his interview for some fun and games where we get flashy, flexing our writing skills with one-sentence novels! ***Forgive the audio quality as our hosts find a new recording studio***

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words does it take to capture a mood and what is it worth? The Inner Loop Author’s Corner November spotlight, Sean Felix, manages to capture the urgency and surreality of both insomnia and the magical city of Paris in his self-published poetry collection Did You Even Know I Was Here? And he explains why that urgency translated to the publishing process. Plus, we produce a few pandemic pantoums to capture the mood of the past two years.

In larger bodies of work, how can we use time and place to develop characters? Whether choosing a setting for a novel or deciding what details of an era to highlight in nonfiction, every detail should drive the story forward. The Inner Loop Author's Corner August spotlight: Zak Salih shares how time and place works on many levels in his latest novel, "Let’s Get Back To The Party." Plus, Courtney, Rachel, and Zak write themselves from different stages of their own timelines.

There’s light at the end of the quarantine tunnel with vaccines widely available and the CDC giving us permission to socialize again. So let’s take a look back and ask, how did you write your way through the past year? Maybe you took the opportunity to crack down on a big project, maybe you eeked out only a sentence at a time in fits and spurts, or maybe you didn’t write at all. We can sympathize! And so can the writers from our Quarantine Inspiration Series. We take a look at how Courtney and Rachel wrote through quarantine, as well as poet Jose Padua, nonfiction writer Kyoko Mori, and fiction writer Rion Amilcar Scott.

Poet Sean Felix embraces the seasons to break up the monotony of quarantine and channels it into Haiku. He also reminds us that writing is a connection to both interior spaces and also each other in the final installment of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and prompts so writers can keep writing through difficult times.

Poet and Editor of Lines and Stars Rachel Cloud Adams shows us how to keep it simple with a quiet walk and a map of sound for inspiration and a forgiving writing routine to get through dry periods in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and prompts so writers can keep writing through difficult times.