The Write Question

The Colorado River is an essential resource for a surprisingly large part of the United States, and every gallon that flows down it is owned or claimed by someone. David Owen traces all that water from the Colorado’s headwaters to its parched terminus, once a verdant wetland but now a million-acre desert. He takes readers on an adventure downriver, along a labyrinth of waterways, reservoirs, power plants, farms, fracking sites, ghost towns, and RV parks, to the spot near the U.S.–Mexico border where the river runs dry. Learn more from David Owen on this episode of The Write Question.

The Colorado River is an essential resource for a surprisingly large part of the United States, and every gallon that flows down it is owned or claimed by someone. David Owen traces all that water from the Colorado’s headwaters to its parched terminus, once a verdant wetland but now a million-acre desert. He takes readers on an adventure downriver, along a labyrinth of waterways, reservoirs, power plants, farms, fracking sites, ghost towns, and RV parks, to the spot near the U.S.–Mexico border where the river runs dry. Learn more from David Owen on this episode of The Write Question.

Clocking in at 600 pages, Maggie Shipstead’s Great Circle is the epic story of the fictional Marian Graves, a Missoula, Montana-born pilot, whose North-South around-the-world adventure is told painstakingly, achingly, and gracefully. This immense book, which spans multiple centuries and countries, is an enormously pleasurable read. Its generous narratives, pulsing with emotion and wonder, beg the question, “What will you do with your one life?”

Clocking in at 600 pages, Maggie Shipstead’s Great Circle is the epic story of the fictional Marian Graves, a Missoula, Montana-born pilot, whose North-South around-the-world adventure is told painstakingly, achingly, and gracefully. This immense book, which spans multiple centuries and countries, is an enormously pleasurable read. Its generous narratives, pulsing with emotion and wonder, beg the question, “What will you do with your one life?”

What is Claire Boyles’ American West? Lauren and the Colorado-based writer cover a vast landscape of topics—each as wide and far-reaching as the region itself. From the shame and sadness of a lively, sustainable farm gone to seed to caregiving as a radical act, this is a conversation everyone must listen to, Site Fidelity a book everyone must read.

This week on The Write Question, Lauren chats with Missoula-based writer Deirdre “Dee” McNamer about Aviary, a novel based in an unnamed mountain town a lot like Missoula. The novel, which is McNamer’s first since 2007’s Red Rover, centers a neglected retirement community, Pheasant Run, and the aging residents who live there. This is a conversation with one of Montana’s most beloved novelists and writing teachers, and it’s one you won’t want to miss!

This week on The Write Question, Lauren chats with Missoula-based writer Deirdre “Dee” McNamer about Aviary, a novel based in an unnamed mountain town a lot like Missoula. The novel, which is McNamer’s first since 2007’s Red Rover, centers a neglected retirement community, Pheasant Run, and the aging residents who live there. This is a conversation with one of Montana’s most beloved novelists and writing teachers, and it’s one you won’t want to miss!

This week on The Write Question, Lauren chats with J. Robert Lennon about peculiarity—in his new novel, Subdivision, his new collection of short stories, Let Me Think, and in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks—and encouraging student writers to find the peculiarities in their own experiences, to mine their inner freak.

This week on The Write Question, Lauren chats with J. Robert Lennon about peculiarity—in his new novel, Subdivision, his new collection of short stories, Let Me Think, and in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks—and encouraging student writers to find the peculiarities in their own experiences, to mine their inner freak.

This week on The Write Question, Lauren speaks with Canadian poet, editor, and community organizer Rebecca Salazar, author of sulphurtongue. The two tackle a number of questions: How is synesthesia an organizing principle of poetry? How can poets care for themselves in public spaces? What’s so funny about survival? What Canadian city closely resembles a moonscape? And just what is it about mouths?