Writers at Work

With me on this episode of Writers at Work is Kristin Hersh, songwriter, musician, and author. You may know Kristin from her band Throwing Muses that released its debut EP in 1986 and its most recent album last year, or from 50 Foot Wave, her trio that's released albums and EPs periodically since 2005.

She's also released about a dozen solo albums, including the new Sugar on Blackstone. It's one of the best recordings I've heard this year, and it serves as a reminder that Kristin writes distinctive songs in a voice unlike any other contemporary composer.

As I mentioned, Kristin is also an author. Her 2010 RAT GIRL is considered one of rock's finest memoirs. Her 2015 book, DON'T SUCK, DON'T DIE: GIVING UP VIC CHESNUTT, explores her friendship with the singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt, who died in 2011. On several occasions, Kristin has written prose pieces to accompany her recordings, and she wrote and illustrated TOBY SNAX, a book for young kids.

Born in Atlanta, raised in Newport, Rhode Island, Kristin formed Throwing Muses in high school. When she was 16, she was struck by a car, suffering a brain injury that altered her relationship with sound and influenced her earliest compositions. She's been frank in discussing in song and prose her mental condition, having been diagnosed with a number of disorders over the years.

Following a Throwing Muses tour this spring, Kristin just began a lengthy tour of the UK, Europe, and Australia in support of Sugar and Blackstone. I'm grateful she could find the time to speak with me.

My guest on this episode of Writers at Work is Neil Selkirk, a photographer and author whose latest book is WHY PHOTOGRAPHS? It's a collection of essays, an occasional poem, and quotes by Neil and some three dozen other artists, including Berenice Abbott, Margaret Atwood, Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, Dorothea Lange, whose essay is 13 words in total, and W.G. Sebald, as well as Philip Larkin, Thomas Hardy, and Francis Bacon. Quite a lineup, isn't it?

A native of London and a longtime New Yorker, Neil studied photography at the London College of Printing. In New York, he worked as an assistant in Richard Avedon's studio, and he studied with Diane Arbus in her master class. He remains the only person authorized to make prints of Diane Arbus's photographs.

Known for his portraiture, Neil's photographs are in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, among other institutions. Books of his photographs include SEE NO EVIL and LOBBYISTS, and he directed the documentary film, WHO IS MARVIN ISRAEL?, about the influential artist, designer, art director, and teacher.

I'd like to tell you about Neil's WHY PHOTOGRAPHS?, but I'm not sure what it is beyond an enjoyable collection of well-crafted, quietly provocative, and persuasive essays. I'll leave it to Neil to explain. And though it was not his intent, I found myself asking whether I could apply his principles for outstanding photography to outstanding writing, which is an added benefit to the readers of WHY PHOTOGRAPHS?.

With me on this episode of Writers at Work is Blake Crouch, whose series DARK MATTER is now in its second season on Apple TV. Blake is a writer, showrunner, and executive producer for the series, which had its origins in his 2016 novel of the same name. Well, prior to DARK MATTER in print and TV, Blake was well-established as an author.

His debut novel, DESERT PLACES, published in 2004, earned a gold ring of blurbs when Pat Conroy called it, “a whacked-out combination of Stephen King and Cormac McCarthy.” Blake moved on from that series to write several standalone novels and The Wayward Pines trilogy, which was the source of the Fox TV series of the same name. Blake wrote three episodes and served as consulting producer and executive producer. More novels followed, including GOOD BEHAVIOR, which in turn served as a springboard for the 2016 TNT series.

In many ways, Blake has had the kind of career many writers of genre fiction dream about: well-published in print, books optioned by Hollywood, opportunities to write scripts, becoming an executive producer of a series based on his work, and now a showrunner. Sounds like an easy-peasy journey to the summit, doesn't it?

Well, was it? Let's find out.

I'm joined on this episode of Writers at Work by Madhushree Ghosh, author of SAFAR: FINDING HOME, HISTORY, AND CULTURE THROUGH PUNJABI FOOD IN THE AMERICAN WEST. Spelled S-A-F-A-R, SAFAR is a fascinating examination of the migration of Punjabi Sikhs to the California Central Valley, where they are dominant players in agriculture and transportation.

But SAFAR also reveals Madhushree's story of coming to America, and it's also a cookbook with many recipes of Punjabi and Punjabi-inspired food. Madhushree Ghosh holds a PhD in biochemistry and a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular biology from John Hopkins University. Based in San Diego, she mentors emerging women leaders in science and works in global oncology diagnostics. Her writings have been Pushcart Nominated and celebrated in the Best American Essays in Food Writing. Her debut food narrative memoir, KHABAAR: AN IMMIGRANT JOURNEY OF FOOD, MEMORY, AND FAMILY, wove together stories of her refugee Bengali parents, her own move from India to America, and tales of innovative South Asian chefs.

With me on this episode of Writers at Work is David Hewson, author of several well-regarded mystery series and standalones largely set across Europe, most notably in Venice, 30 or so novels in all. As a journalist, David was a reporter for the Times of London and features editor for The Independent.

His talent permits him to write thrillers, adaptations of Shakespeare, breaking news, and engaging essays. It's those essays I'd like to discuss with David, who I've known for nearly 25 years. He's an avid blogger. See davidhewson.com for his thoughts and observations. In particular, see a feature David calls Craft Notes. Published every Thursday morning, it's his weekly column on the craft of fiction writing. These posts, he says, cover the practicalities of the writer's life, structure, voice, character, dialogue, point of view, and the daily realities of long-form storytelling in the hopes that some of them are useful. I think they are.

You may too. And for those among us who aren't writers, they give a strong sense of what a writer's life is like. I haven't spoken to David in a while, so I'm eager to begin.

Joining me on this episode of Writers at Work is Dervla McTiernan, the international bestselling mystery writer whose latest, THREE REASONS FOR REVENGE, is available now.

A native of Ireland who now resides in Australia, Dervla has published a variety of mysteries and thrillers, including four audio novellas as part of the Audible Originals franchise. Her novels include the four-book series featuring police detective Cormac Reilly set in Galway. THE RUIN won in 2019 Australia's Ned Kelly Award for Best First Novel by the Crime Writers Association of Australia.

Her first standalone, THE MURDER RULE, was published in 2022, followed by WHAT HAPPENED TO NINA in 2024, and now THREE REASONS FOR REVENGE. Perhaps as befits an author who now resides about ten-thousand miles from her birthplace, Dervla shifts her settings. THE MURDER RULE is set in Virginia, NINA in Vermont, and THREE REASONS FOR REVENGE in Melbourne.

If you've suffered my presence at a writer's conference or some such, you know that setting is my greatest interest in fiction. That Dervla leaps from there to here, here to there, fascinates me, and we'll delve into that, I'm sure.

I was in a bookstore recently when I spotted the title, THE MAN WHO WROTE THE PERFECT NOVEL. And then I was delighted to read the subtitle, JOHN WILLIAMS, STONER & THE WRITING LIFE. Since STONER is one of my favorite novels, I bought the book and read it almost immediately.

Then I contacted the author through his agent, and Charles J. Shields joins me today on Writers at Work. Charles is the author of several books on writers, MOCKINGBIRD: A PORTRAIT OF HARPER LEE, AND SO IT GOES: KURT VONNEGUT, A LIFE, LORRAINE HANSBERRY: THE LIFE BEHIND A RAISIN IN THE SUN, and IMAGINE: THE STORY OF A SONG.

So two novelists, a playwright, and John Lennon represented by his composition Imagine. John also wrote I AM SCOUT, a biography of Harper Lee for young adults, and 20 or so histories and biographies for young readers. He's one of the founders of the Biographers International Organization, a nonprofit that promotes art and craft of biography. THE MAN WHO WROTE THE PERFECT NOVEL was published in 2018 and was rightfully well received. I'd echo this review from Western American Literature. “STONER has in recent decades become the sort of book that people adore, give to their friends, fiercely identify with, and dub the perfect novel.”

And full credit to Charles Shields for going behind the scenes to fill in the picture of Williams' own life.

With me today on Writers at Work is Jennifer DeVere Brody, author of MOVING STONES: ABOUT THE ART OF EDMONIA LEWIS, the 19th century Black and Native American sculptor. Jennifer, who is professor of theater and performance studies and African and African American studies at Stanford University, is the author of several books, including PUNCTUATION: ART, POLITICS, AND PLAY and IMPOSSIBLE PURITIES: BLACKNESS, FEMININITY, AND VICTORIAN CULTURE. In MOVING STONES, Jennifer views Edmonia Lewis through a Black feminist and queer lens.

Born in 1844 in upstate New York, Lewis' early life was marred by the loss of both parents before her ninth birthday. While one of the rare Black students at Oberlin College, she was accused of poisoning two women and then savagely beaten as rumors of the allegations spread. She was cleared of the charges.

She left Ohio, moved to Boston, and began her career as a sculptor, a career that blossomed in Rome and led her to be the first Black American and Native American sculptor to achieve domestic and international acclaim. Today, Lewis' works are on display in major institutions, including the Smithsonian. One of her most characteristic works, "Old Indian Arrow Maker and His Daughter," is in the collection at the North Carolina Museum Art. There's much to discuss with Professor Brody, not only the work of Edmonia Lewis, but also her approach to examining and communicating about that work.

Joining me on this episode of Writers at Work is Wesley Brown, whose latest novel is LOOKING FOR FRANK WILLS. It's part of McSweeney's “Of the Diaspora” series that also included Wesley's debut novel, TRAGIC MAGIC, originally published in 1978 and celebrated by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and others. Wesley Brown is the author of three novels, a novella, a short story collection, and five plays. He also edited several anthologies and wrote the narration for the segment of the PBS documentary W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography in Four Voices. He is a professor emeritus in English at Rutgers University and a former visiting professor at Bard.

For readers and American history buffs, the name Frank Wills may ring a bell. Wills was the security guard who, in 1972, discovered the Watergate burglars mid-break-in. Without Wills' diligence, there may have been no Watergate scandal. And without Watergate, the Nixon administration may not have been held accountable for its criminal behavior that resulted in Nixon's resignation as president. I found Wesley's LOOKING FOR FRANK WILLS an ingenious way to tell a story of a man's life through the eyes of Wills' barber at Wayne's Clip and Trim in North Augusta, South Carolina.

Here today on this episode of Writers at Work is Erica Wright, whose latest novel is THE MUSEUM OF UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE: A PSYCHIC CITY MYSTERY. It's a bit of a departure for Erica, who may be best known for her genre fiction written with a literary flair. Her previous novel, HOLLOW BONES, was inspired by Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure," for example. One reviewer called it an incredible, rich work of literature. In 2020, SNAKE, a collection of her essays, was published as part of Bloomsbury's Object Lessons series. Her 2014 novel, RED CHAMELEON, introduced readers to Cat Stone, a private eye with a nasty past.

Erica is also a poet. For more than a decade, she was poetry editor of Guernica magazine. Her latest collection of poems, A BUYER'S GUIDE TO THE AFTERLIFE, arrives in July. A few years ago, I invited Erica to submit a story to CRIME + MUSIC, an anthology of music-inspired noir, and she and I seem to travel in somewhat similar circles, yet I don't believe we've ever spoken, so I'm looking forward to our chat.