In her second novel, BURY WHAT WE CANNOT TAKE, Kirstin Chen depicts a family in China under the tightening rule of Mao. She tells James about her choice to tell the story when and how she did, along with trying to make people happy, learning to craft endings from short stories, dealing with cultural tourism, and, of course, writing in a cave in a museum. Plus, Michael Nye on the AWP conference, selling your book, scheduling your day, and writing longhand.

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Kirstin Chen

Kirstin and James discuss: 

NTU-NAC National Writer in Residence in Singapore

Little A

Matthew Salesses

Emerson College

Columbia University

NYU

Chairman Mao

The Great Famine

The Great Leap Forward

Drum Wave Inlet

Michelle Brower

Jamie Quatro

Zadie Smith

Vanessa Hua

The San Francisco Chronicle

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Michael Nye

Michael and James discuss: 

BOULEVARD MAGAZINE

NATURAL BRIDGE: A JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE

University of Missouri in St. Louis

AWP Conference

Annette Bening

AMERICAN BEAUTY

Maggie Smith

Ohio State University

Ruth Awad

TINY LETTER

RIVER STYX MAGAZINE

Annie Hartnett

DEEP WORK by Cal Newport