In this episode of Words on a Wire, host Will Rose speaks with award-winning author and translator Anton Hur, celebrated for bringing contemporary Korean literature to English-speaking readers through works like Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny.

What began as a practical skill evolved into a creative calling that now connects readers to voices from Korea’s vibrant literary scene. He also explains how his interest in coding and AI influenced the philosophical ideas in his novel, Toward Eternity, a story exploring consciousness and identity in a technological age.

The conversation also delves into Hur’s collaboration with Bora Chung, whose Cursed Bunny became an international sensation and Booker Prize finalist. Hur reflects on their trust-based process and on the growing recognition of Korean fiction worldwide. From Han Kang’s Nobel Prize win to the work of rising authors, Hur describes this moment as both exciting and transformative for global literature.

On this episode of Words on a Wire, host Daniel Chacón speaks with Jessica Powers—publisher at Catalyst Press, author, and editor—about the hard truths and hopeful possibilities of a writing life. Jessica, who also writes under the name J.L. Powers, reflects on why so few books sell beyond a hundred copies, what creative writing students need to thrive, and how authors must learn to think like entrepreneurs as much as artists. She also discusses the evolution of publishing models, including hybrid approaches, and shares why she remains committed to championing human-driven stories at Catalyst Press. Together, Daniel and Jessica explore the shifting landscape of literature, creativity, and business in an era of AI, self-publishing, and new definitions of success for writers.

On this episode of Words on a Wire, host Daniel Chacón welcomes award-winning author Stephanie Elizondo Griest, whose adventurous spirit has carried her from the Texas/Mexico borderlands to 50 countries and 49 states. A celebrated writer of six books—including Around the Bloc, Mexican Enough, All the Agents and Saints, and her latest, Art Above Everything: One Woman’s Global Exploration of the Joys and Torments of a Creative Life—Griest brings a lifetime of stories that bridge cultures, geographies, and personal journeys.

Her work, featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, VQR, The Believer, and Oxford American, explores identity, creativity, and resilience. In this conversation, she and Daniel reflect on the joys and challenges of a writer’s life, the power of storytelling across borders, and what it means to turn even life’s hardest journeys—such as her fight with cancer—into art.

Tune in for an inspiring and deeply personal exchange with one of today’s most dynamic voices in creative nonfiction.

On this episode of The Storykeeper on Words on a Wire, host Tim Z. Hernandez speaks with poet and journalist Adolfo Guzman-Lopez about his collection, California Southern: Writing from the Road, 1992–2025. Together they reflect on three decades of poetry, journalism, and cultural activism—spanning the San Diego–Tijuana border, Los Angeles, and beyond. Guzmán-López shares the stories behind his work, his journey from performance-poetry with the Taco Shop Poets to award-winning reporting at NPR affiliates, and how history, migration, and community shape his art.

Antena es la primera novela de misterio extraterrestre ubicada en las entrañas de la Argentina agroexportadora de los últimos años. Francisco Marzioni retrata la interioridad y la subjetividad de los entornos rurales agropecuarios de un país que ha sabido usar la Ciencia Ficción como una poderosa metáfora de sus tensiones y contradicciones políticas ¿Quienes son los extraterrestres en un país saqueado por el oportunismo extractivista? El viaje de los visionarios cósmicos no parece haber acabado para un país que apunta al Sur como respuesta.

Antena is the first extraterrestrial mystery novel set in the bowels of agro-exporting Argentina in recent years. Francisco Marzioni portrays the interiority and subjectivity of the rural agricultural environments of a country that has been able to use Science Fiction as a powerful metaphor for its political tensions and contradictions. Who are the aliens in a country plundered by extractivist opportunism? The journey of the cosmic visionaries does not seem to be over for a country that points to the South as an answer.

La Cuarta Raya Del Tigre y Casa Barullo son la manera en que la escritura se hace comunidad, juego, amistad y consigue sobrevivir al aislamiento y la desfinanciación cultural de este nuevo milenio en Colombia y el mundo. En esta charla aprendemos sobre el arte del encuentro, el contagio y la identidad en los extremos donde la literatura y la autoría devienen colectivos ¿Cómo podemos madurar y crecer en la creación literaria, y de un nuevo mundo?

La Cuarta Raya Del Tigre and Casa Barullo is the way in which writing becomes community, play, friendship and manages to survive the isolation and cultural defunding of this new millennium in Colombia and the world. In this talk we learn about the art of encounter, contagion and identity in the extremes where literature and authorship become collective. How can we mature and grow in literary creation, and of a new world?

Una joven operaria de una fábrica, ¿puede aspirar a convertirse en escritora, ganar premios, publicar y ayudar a otras escritores-operarios a publicar? En el paisaje de la frontera estas historias resultan posibles invocando y subvirtiendo a personajes fantásticos como los superhéroes que ahora hacen justicia donde históricamente ha reinado el abuso y la explotación. Elpidia García Delgado nos cuenta su maravillosa historia con una alegría y un orgullo revolucionario.

Can a young factory worker aspire to become a writer, win awards, publish and help other writer-workers publish? In the frontier landscape these stories are made possible by invoking and subverting fantastical characters such as superheroes who now bring justice where historically abuse and exploitation have reigned. Elpidia García Delgado tells her wonderful story with revolutionary joy and pride.

In this episode of Words on a Wire, host Daniel Chacón speaks with Javier Sagarna, a Spanish writer and director of Escuela de Escritores in Madrid. Sagarna shares his journey from pharmaceuticals to fiction, reflecting on how literature and workshops can create community and foster imagination. He discusses the role of utopias in storytelling, arguing that writers should move beyond dystopian visions to imagine better futures. The conversation also touches on a major blackout in Madrid, where instead of chaos, neighbors gathered, talked, and supported one another—an experience Sagarna likens to the potential of creative writing communities. With insights on craft, teaching, and the transformative power of desire over talent, Sagarna emphasizes writing as both an art and a way of life. This episode explores imagination, resilience, and the courage to live—and write—your own story.

In this wide-ranging conversation, host Daniel Chacón speaks with poet Matt Sedillo— called “America’s greatest political poet”—about his poetic mission, international travels, and deep commitment to social justice. Sedillo reflects on the legacy of revolutionary poets like Roque Dalton and Pablo Neruda, and shares his experiences participating in international poetry festivals, including a recent trip to Cuba where he read a poem to Olympic gold medalist Mijaín López.

The episode explores Sedillo’s literary and political inspirations, his role in building bridges between Chicano poetry and audiences across Latin America, and his passion for promoting working-class voices through El Martillo Press, which he co-founded. He also speaks candidly about the importance of mentorship, cultural reciprocity, and networking for emerging writers.

In this episode of Words on a Wire, host Daniel Chacón speaks with UTEP math professor Lawrence Lesser and digital humanities scholar Elisabet Takehana about the surprising connections between poetry, mathematics, and data. What starts as a discussion about a poem on the number π unfolds into a wide-ranging conversation about creativity, meaning, and the human role in interpreting both language and numbers. Together, they explore how algorithms, literature, and mathematics all reflect a deeply human impulse to find patterns—and beauty—in the world around us.