Growing Up in Rural Minnesota – Cheryl Strayed

November 1, 2007

Cheryl Strayed experienced a range of living situations in her childhood, from apartment living to camping in rural Minnesota. Her mother told her that these experiences would be “character building,” but she didn’t come to truly appreciate them until adulthood. Now her experiences serve as fodder for her writing. In this podcast, you’ll hear excerpts […]

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Poems For Children – Susan Landgraf

October 26, 2007

Poet Susan Landgraf wrote a collection of children’s poems inspired by the sea for the Jack Straw Writers Program. In her interview with program curator Matt Briggs, she discusses her childhood love for writing and the freedom she felt in writing these poems for children. You’ll also hear selections from her live reading at Jack […]

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Poetic Rants – Anna Maria Hong

October 18, 2007

Poet Anna Maria Hong began her writing career in her 20s and was instinctually drawn to poetry after several years of working in journalism. In this podcast, you’ll hear Maria talk about the apparent anger in her poems, which program curator Matt Briggs characterizes as “mean”, and also her recent manuscript which touches on the […]

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Lit Games – Doug Nufer

October 11, 2007

Doug Nufer is a specialist in literary constraints, a technique that applies certain conditions to or establishes a pattern within writing. In this podcast, you’ll hear excerpts from his interview with 2007 Jack Straw Writers Program curator Matt Briggs and highlights from his live reading at the Jack Straw May Reading Series. Music by Emma […]

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The Bricolage of Kotagaeshi – Howard W. Robertson

September 10, 2007

Howard W. Robertson, rebelling against the expectations of his upbringing in a rural Oregon mill town, became a poet. In this podcast, Robertson talks with Writers Program curator Matt Briggs about teaching himself how to type and discovering a need to write poetry and stories along the way. You’ll also hear an excerpt from his […]

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Beginning with bogus Byron – Charles Potts

September 10, 2007

Poet and publisher Charles Potts was the driving force underneath The Temple Bookstore, The Temple magazine, and The Temple School of Poetry. He received the Distinguished Professional Achievement Award in 1994 from the Alumni Association and the College of Arts and Sciences of Idaho State University. He founded Litmus Inc. in Seattle and Berkeley which […]

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The Gift of Heresy – Corrina Wycoff

August 2, 2007

Plain-spoken and earnest, Corrina Wycoff writes stories about characters who struggle to survive in an alternate America, a place where drug addicts, teenage mothers, and religious cultists live obliviously to the lure of 401k plans and weekends at the cabin. In this podcast, you’ll hear a portion of her interview with Writers Program curator Matt […]

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On Chick-Lit – Kathryn Trueblood

July 19, 2007

Does the term “chick-lit” marginalize legitimate feminist writing? Novelist Kathryn Trueblood addresses this question in her interview with Matt Briggs, Jack Straw Writers Program curator. Also in this podcast, Kathryn reads from her latest book, The Baby Lottery, which examines the personal politics of choice. Five women, friends at college, find their interlocking relationships strained […]

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Poems about ventriloquism – Molly Tenenbaum

June 21, 2007

Molly Tenenbaum‘s newest work is inspired by her father and grandfather’s stints as professional ventriloquists. In this podcast, you’ll hear snippets of her interview with 2007 Jack Straw Writers Program curator Matt Briggs and highlights from her live reading at the Jack Straw May Reading Series. In recognition of Molly’s free-spirited word-smithing and her deep […]

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