Daniel and guest co-host Marcia Hatfield Daudistel talk with screenwriter Anne Heffron, an old college buddy of Daniel's. Anne co-wrote the screenplay for "Phantom Halo" with Antonia Bogdanovich (daughter of director Peter Bogdanovich), and it's based on a short film written & directed by Antonia, "My Left Hand Man." Anne talks about casting actors for the film, her collaborative experience with Antonia, and why her next project may be writing a book about her experience growing up as an adoptee. "Phantom Halo" is currently in production.

For today's Poem of the Week, Marcia keeps it Hollywood by reading "Brad Pitt" by Aaron Smith.

And for today's Poetic License, Benjamin Alire Saenz reads part 2 of his reflections on Words, Language, and Memory. Ben reflects on why we need words as tools of remembrance, and why the process of naming things is so important to poets.

Daniel and guest co-host Marcia Hatfield Daudistel talk with Patricia Engel about her new novel, "It's Not Love, It's Just Paris." Patricia explains why the book is a result of wanting to write a "Paris" novel as well as a love story without being a stereotypical "French romance" book. She also explains why she was lucky to avoid the "chick lit" label on her previous books. http://patriciaengel.com/

In this week's Poetic License, Benjamin Alire Saenz begins a series in which he reflects on Words, Knowledge, and Memory. In this entry, Ben explains how he approaches all three in his life and his work.

And in this week's Poem of the Week, Daniel reads "Be Drunk" by Charles Baudelaire.

Daniel welcomes guest co-host Nancy Lechuga, a local poet, for a conversation with Juan Ochoa, author of the novel "Mariguano," a book set on the South Texas/Mexico border during the Reagan-era War on Drugs. Juan talks about the similarities between his characters and his own experiences observing corruption and the drug trade on the border. Juan also explains why he believes the Reagan-era policies led to the large drug organizations of today.

For today's Poem of the Week, guest co-host Nancy Lechuga reads 3 short poems by the Russian poet, Vera Pavlova: "Am I Lovely? Of Course!", "He Marked the Page with a Match," and "I am in Love, Hence Free to Live." http://verapavlova.us/

For this week's Poetic License, Los Angeles poet and literary event coordinator Jessica Ceballos has a conversation with writer Chiwan Choi about his recent book, "It was Always the Weight of Everything," which is a social experiment in publishing. Chiwan began writing it on Facebook, has published it digitally, and is making it available for free to everyone. Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/theweightofeverything.

Daniel talks with writer Manuel Ramos, whose latest work of crime fiction is "Desperado: A Mile High Noir." Manuel talks about why the gentrification of the north part Denver plays such a strong role in the book and how it affects lead character, Gus Corral. Manuel also tells us whether he's one of those writers who knows how their books are going to end before he ever writes one word. Manuel will also talk about his day job as an attorney working for Colorado Legal Services.

Today's Poem of the Week is by Cesar Abraham Vallejo. Daniel reads "Dregs."

And in today's Poetic License, Patrick Michael Finn talks about his years-long struggle with rejection when it came to publishing his first collection of stories.

Daniel talks with Marcia Hatfield Daudistel, co-author with Bill Wright of "Authentic Texas: People of the Big Bend." Marcia talks about how the idea arose for the book, which profiles just a few of the unique characters who decided to make the Big Bend region of Texas their home. Marcia shares some interesting tidbits about some of the people featured in the book, and how their personalities were captured in Bill Wright's photographs. Marcia & Bill will present a lecture on the book on Friday, Nov. 15, at 6 p.m., at the UTEP Undergraduate Learning Center, Room 116. They will hold a book signing on Saturday, Nov. 16, from 1-5 p.m., at the Westside Barnes & Noble (705 Sunland Park Dr.).

For this week's Poem of the Week, Marcia Hatfield Daudistel reads a poem by her sister Frances Hatfield, from her collection "Rudiments of Flight." The poem is "Nude Descending a Staircase."

Ben & Daniel talk with novelist Steve Yarbrough, whose latest book is "The Real of Last Chances." Yarbrough talks about why his book isn't set in the South or features Southern characters like in his past novel. He also talks about his early start as a writer and when he first discovered Southern writers such as Faulkner. Despite the Southern influence in his writing, many would be surprised at Yarbrough's fondness for Eastern European, Irish, and Latin American authors.

Ben & Daniel talk with journalist and author, Alfredo Corchado. Corchado's newest book is "Midnight in Mexico," and he talks about his often difficult journey back home to Mexico in researching the book. Alfredo talks about his cautious optimism about Mexico, and why Mexico's resilient population hold out hope for the future.

In our Poem of the Week, Daniel reads "Walking Around" by Pablo Neruda.

And in our Poetic License, poet Paisley Rekdal reflects on literary obscurity.

Daniel talks with poet Eduardo C. Corral, author of the collection "Slow Lightning." Corral talks about the notebooks he uses to stitch together his poems - "Slow Lightning" came together from 7 or 8 boxes of notebooks. He also explains why he employs code switching - switching between English & Spanish - in his poems, and why he refuses to italicize the Spanish words. Corral also talks about being accidentally placed in a writing workshop and eventually falling in love with poetry and the works of Jose Montoya.

For our Poem of the Week, Corral reads "Ditat Deus" from his collection "Slow Lightning."

In this week's Poetic License, artist Pat Ochefski-Winston reads a chapter from her new book "The Curious Childhood of Patty O." which explains how she learned to fight back.

Ben & Daniel talk with Sergio Troncoso, author of "From This Wicked Patch of Dust" and "Crossing Borders: Personal Essays." Troncoso is the co-editor (with Sarah Cortez) of "Our Lost Border: Essays on Life amid the Narco-Violence." The collection features essays from writers on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border who share their experiences living amid the escalating violence spawned by the 2008 drug war. Troncoso also talks about why he is choosing to re-write his earlier book "The Nature of Things," and about his return home to El Paso to receive the Literary Legacy Award on November 9, 2013. http://www.sergiotroncoso.com/

For today's Poem of the Week, Daniel Chacon reads Sheryl Luna's "Seven" from the collection of the same name.

And in today's Poetic License, El Pasoan Paul Pedroza reads an excerpt from the essay he contributed to "Our Lost Border." The essay is entitled "The Bridge to an Alien Nation."

Plus...Daniel & Ben talk about the Polish translation of Ben's hit YA novel, "Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe." And...more talk about broccoli.

Ben & Daniel talk with Megan Bohigian, author of the collection "Sightlines." Megan talks about the theatrical term "sightlines" and how she's adapted it to take on a literary meaning in revisiting memories from different perspectives. Bohigian teaches Creative Writing at Fresno City College, and she talks with Daniel (a Fresno native) about why so many writers come out of Fresno.

For this week's Poem of the Week, Megan Bohigian reads "Learning to Dive, Chapman Compound Pool, 1962," from her collection "Sightlines."

In today's Poetic License, JL Powers, author of "This Thing Called the Future," talks about paralyzing fear...from the strange noises at night as a child, or as an adult of being raped or murdered in South Africa.

Plus, Daniel & Ben talk about their love/hate relationship with broccoli (Daniel loves it, Ben hates it).