The Loft Podcast

In this episode, Podcast regular Kathryn Savage interviews acclaimed author Melissa Febos about healing trauma, gate-keeping, and secrets as they relate to memoir. Melissa Febos will be at the Loft at Thursday, March 9 for Writers in Conversation at 7 p.m., in addition to leading a personal essay workshop on Friday, March 10. The regular round-table contributors (Britt Udesen, Kathryn Savage, Bao Phi, and Tanner Curl) further discuss memoir after listening to the interview. What makes memoir so compelling as a genre, and what are common tropes that the genre can fall into? Bonus: the team lists some nonfiction and memoir books to add to your reading list!

In this event episode, Loft Podcast regular Britt Udesen introduces a recent event at the Loft, which was the second in the series More Than a Single Story, curated by Carolyn Holbrook. This event's name and topic was Reclaiming the Body. Personal history and the history of our ancestors are stored in the body. Though many artists live the life of the mind, we cannot access the full truth without accessing the body. Participating in this discussion were Anh-Hoa Nguyen, Rachmi Diyah Larasati, Naima Petigny, Junauda Petrus, Chris Stark, and Alicia Steele. Disclosure: This episode contains explicit language and also talks about traumatic events to the female body. 

In this episode, Loft Podcast regulars Bao Phi and Kathryn Savage talk about diversity (or lack thereof) in children's and young adult literature. To talk about this topic with Bao & Kathryn are two fantastic guests: YA author Shannon Gibney and professor and scholar of children's literature Sarah Park Dahlen. The group discussed everything from lack of representation to indie bookstores that support diverse books to the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign.

In this Valentine's Day episode, Loft Podcast regulars Britt Udesen, Kathryn Savage, Bao Phi, and Tanner Curl talk about love stories in literature. Before some of you groan and move to press the stop button: wait! There is something for everyone in this episode. The regulars discuss their favorite love stories in literature (including romantic, platonic, familial, and unhappy endings), their least favorite love stories (cough, Twilight, cough), and the types of love stories they want to see more of (including more LGBTQ love stories). 

In this episode, Loft Podcast regular Britt Udesen and Loft program manager Sherrie Fernandez-Williams introduce audio from a powerful we hosted in January called More than a Single Story: Ambiguous Loss. Moderated by Carolyn Holbrook, this panel discussion featured Ayaan Dahir, Gabriella Anais Deal-Marquez, Marcie Rendon, Erin Sharkey and Sun Yung Shin. Taylor Seaberg performed. Ambiguous Loss is the psychological or physical loss that "defies closure" (Dr. Pauline Boss). Ayaan Dahir, Gabriella Anais Deal-Marquez, Marcie Rendon, Erin Sharkey and Sun Yung Shin discussed ambiguous loss as it relates to loss of homeland, culture, language, family ties, and history.

In this episode, Bao Phi kicks off a recording from an event we hosted earlier in January, called The Loft Celebrates Voices of Our Nation Artists. The event featured readings from talented writers Chris Abani, Natalie Diaz, Elmaz Abinader, and Faith Adiele, hosted by David Mura. The reading was part of a partnership between the Loft and Voices of our Nation, in conjunction with a conference at the Loft. We were so grateful to partner with VONA and to give our listeners the chance to hear from these amazing writers.

In this episode, regulars Bao & Kathryn introduce an event recording from the launch of Into: Minneapolis. Four featured writers read poems and prose dedicated to the complexities of the city they live in, followed by a panel discussion with visual artists and writers about how a city's identity is influenced by its artists (and vice versa).

Featured readers were Kao Kalia Yang, Matt Rasmussen, E.G. Bailey, and Ed Bok Lee. Panelists were Hieu Minh Nguyen, Michael Cina, Jovan C. Speller, Dyani White Hawk, and Shannon Gibney, moderated by Shá Cage.

In this small batch episode, Loft Podcast regulars Britt Udesen and Tanner Curl sit down with Loft Marketing & Communications Director Chris Jones to talk about the new look, logo, feel, and direction of the Loft. The new look & feel was revealed on January 12 to members via a member happy hour event; these three talk more about what this means for the organization's new programs, initiatives, and logo. 

In this episode, Britt & Tanner introduce a recording from an event that the Loft hosted in December, called Big Ideas: Words for Change. At this first Big Ideas conversation, we asked the question: "Can words really change the world?" Our panelists explored how and when words provoke someone to act, change their mind, or find common understanding. This conversation was led by writers and community leaders Sun Yung Shin, Alexs D. Pate, and Tea Rozman Clark. All three of these leaders use language and storytelling to build bridges of understanding and effect change in the world.

In this first episode of 2017, Loft regulars Britt Udesen, Tanner Curl, Bao Phi, and Kathryn Savage take on the subject of literary resolutions and intentions for the New Year. The team discusses the struggle for balance between the outcome-focus of resolutions versus the focus on practice and process of intentions. Reoccurring resolutions are to make more intentional choices to read long-form articles and books that widen perspectives, and to balance self-discipline with flexibility with writing goals. Happy New Year to all of our listeners!