Month: April 2018

Patrick Crerand started off trying to write blue-collar factory stories, but he eventually discovered his voice writing the more surreal and magical stories contained in his new collection, THE PAPER LIFE THEY LEAD. He tells James about how a story about kidnapping Amish people led him to success, learning to write what he loves, and The Boss’s “Glory Days” but with a car. Plus, Arc Pair Press founder Heather Momyer.

Patrick Crerand

Patrick and James discuss: 

Dairy Queen

Bowling Green State University

Lawrence Coates

Anthony Doerr

Wendell Mayo

Flannery O’Connor

Donald Barthelme

University of Louisiana

Ernest J. Gaines

George Saunders

Aimee Bender

Ernest Hemingway

Raymond Carver

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Franz Kafka

“The Enormous Radio” by John Cheever

Bruce Springsteen

Michael Czyzniejewski

MID-AMERICAN REVIEW

Steve Almond

Christopher Grimes

Fc2

Rikki Ducornet

Freytag’s Pyramid

Heather Momyer

“Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen

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Arc Pair Press

Heather and James Discuss:

Bowling Green State University

BALLYHOO STORIES

MASQUE & SPECTACLE

HOTEL AMERIKA

NINTH LETTER

“The Pederson Kid” by William Gass

Angela Carter

Salman Rushdie

PACHINKO by Min Jin Lee

Alban Fischer

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