From debut authors to Pulitzer Prize winners, Writers on Writing tackles a little of everything — novels, short stories, memoir, poetry, and more, as well as interviews with agents and publishers.
Unlike other shows dedicated to discussing books, we focus on the art, craft, and business of writing. Writers appreciate the opportunity to talk about the artistic elements of their job — the thousands of decisions that must be made to produce a manuscript. There’s no aspect of craft, creativity, and publishing we don’t explore.
We’ve hosted well over 1,500 authors on the show including Elizabeth Strout, S.A. Cosby, Ann Patchett, Amor Towles, and George Saunders. Expert advice from some of the industry’s top writers allows us to offer a show that’s been called “your own personal MFA program” (with no financial strain).
Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
Host: Marrie Stone
Music and sound editing by Travis Barrett
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Spotify, Stitcher, Google, or your favorite podcast app.
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EPISODES
(2001 - present)
Memoirists Liz Scott and Sands Hall on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM
Memoirist Liz Scott, author of This Never Happened, and Sands Hall, author of Flunk. Start.: Reclaiming My Decade Lost in Scientology, talk with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about their memoirs.
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(Broadcast date: August 7, 2019)
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(Broadcast date: August 7, 2019)
Rick Moody & Elissa Altman on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM
In a show dedicated to memoir, Rick Moody joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest book, The Long Accomplishment: A Memoir of Hope and Struggle in Matrimony. He shares how he wrote through a difficult life experience, feeding his creative energy, and more.
In the second half, Elissa Altman joins to talk about Motherland: A Memoir of Love, Loathing and Longing. She discusses the intricate connection between food and mothering, writing critically about a loved one who is still alive, and what the writing—and reading aloud—of the book taught her about her own story.
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(Broadcast date: August 14, 2019)
In the second half, Elissa Altman joins to talk about Motherland: A Memoir of Love, Loathing and Longing. She discusses the intricate connection between food and mothering, writing critically about a loved one who is still alive, and what the writing—and reading aloud—of the book taught her about her own story.
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(Broadcast date: August 14, 2019)
Janet Fitch talks about Chimes of a Lost Cathedral
Novelist Janet Fitch, author of Chimes of a Lost Cathedral, joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about her new novel published by Little Brown.
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(Broadcast date: July 31, 2019)
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(Broadcast date: July 31, 2019)
Taffy Brodesser-Akner and Kathleen Alcott on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM
Taffy Brodesser-Akner joins Marrie Stone to talk about her novel, Fleishman is in Trouble. In the second half, Kathleen Alcott joins to talk about her latest, America Was Hard to Find.
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(Broadcast date: July 24, 2019)
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(Broadcast date: July 24, 2019)
Literary agent Mark Gottlieb on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM
New York City literary agent Mark Gottlieb joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett for the entire hour to talk about what he looks for in a client, the attraction--and danger--of trends, self-publishing, and so much else about publishing.
Here's his bio: Mark Gottlieb is a literary agent at Trident Media Group in New York City. He ranks highly among literary agents in overall deals and other categories. With that insight and initiative, Mark Gottlieb is actively building his client list of new authors. He manages and grows author careers at publishing's leading agency. One of his core values is helping writers realize their book publishing dreams. Since his time at Trident Media Group, he has represented New York Times bestselling, as well as award-winning authors. He has also optioned and sold books to film and TV companies. He previously ran Trident Media Group's Audiobook Department and before that worked in Foreign Rights. Prior to that he served as Executive Assistant to the literary agency's Chairman. Agent Mark Gottlieb is actively seeking submissions in all categories. He is looking forward to bringing new authors to the curious minds of their future readers.
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(Broadcast date: July 17, 2019)
Here's his bio: Mark Gottlieb is a literary agent at Trident Media Group in New York City. He ranks highly among literary agents in overall deals and other categories. With that insight and initiative, Mark Gottlieb is actively building his client list of new authors. He manages and grows author careers at publishing's leading agency. One of his core values is helping writers realize their book publishing dreams. Since his time at Trident Media Group, he has represented New York Times bestselling, as well as award-winning authors. He has also optioned and sold books to film and TV companies. He previously ran Trident Media Group's Audiobook Department and before that worked in Foreign Rights. Prior to that he served as Executive Assistant to the literary agency's Chairman. Agent Mark Gottlieb is actively seeking submissions in all categories. He is looking forward to bringing new authors to the curious minds of their future readers.
(Broadcast date: July 17, 2019)
Caite Dolan-Leach on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM
Caite Dolan-Leach joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest novel, We Went to the Woods. She shares her draw to her childhood home as setting, her research methods, the myriad blind paths her narrator led her down, and her methods for unlocking character.
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(Broadcast date: July 10, 2019)
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(Broadcast date: July 10, 2019)
Shawn Levy, The Castle on Sunset, joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
Shawn Levy, author of The Castle on Sunset:Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont, joins Barbara to talk about his new nonfiction book. The only guest for the entire hour, they discuss "gathering string," doing research, writing and revising.
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(Broadcast date: July 3, 2019)
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(Broadcast date: July 3, 2019)
Gary Shteyngart on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM
Novelist Gary Shteyngart joins Marrie Stone for the full hour to talk about his latest book, Lake Success, now available in paperback.
Gary talks about creating effective satire, his pull toward the immigrant story, research, the novel's biggest challenge, and much more.
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(Broadcast date: June 26, 2019)
Gary talks about creating effective satire, his pull toward the immigrant story, research, the novel's biggest challenge, and much more.
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(Broadcast date: June 26, 2019)
Karen Russell and Jessica Francis Kane on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM
Novelist and short story writer Karen Russell joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest collection, Orange World. She discusses how she approaches stories versus novels, the Venn Diagram of character, how copying out sentences of other writers helps her rhythm and more.
In the second half, Jessica Francis Kane joins to talk about her novel, Rules for Visiting. She shares insights into how to deal with an interior main character, how the novel can be structured like a series of stories, what motivated the novel and more.
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(Broadcast date: June 19, 2019)
In the second half, Jessica Francis Kane joins to talk about her novel, Rules for Visiting. She shares insights into how to deal with an interior main character, how the novel can be structured like a series of stories, what motivated the novel and more.
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(Broadcast date: June 19, 2019)
Deborah Eisenberg on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM, Irvine
Short story writer Deborah Eisenberg, author of Your Duck is My Duck, joins Marrie for the hour to talk about writing, aging, smoking, and life.
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(Broadcast date: June 12, 2019)
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(Broadcast date: June 12, 2019)
Stewart O'Nan and Tara Conklin on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM
Stewart O'Nan joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest novel, Henry, Himself. He gives a mini-MFA lecture on character development, the creation of conflict by creating character clusters, and taking your character out into the world with you each day to understand their POV.
Tara Conklin joins in the second half to discuss her novel, The Last Romantics. Among many things, she discusses playing with first person omniscient point of view, moving a narrative across space and time, and how reader feedback led the novel in a new direction.
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(Broadcast date: June 5, 2019)
Tara Conklin joins in the second half to discuss her novel, The Last Romantics. Among many things, she discusses playing with first person omniscient point of view, moving a narrative across space and time, and how reader feedback led the novel in a new direction.
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(Broadcast date: June 5, 2019)
Patty Seyburn on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM
Poet and professor Patty Seyburn joins Marrie Stone for the full hour to talk about her latest collection, Threshold Delivery. She discusses ways to make poetry more accessible and her favorite contemporary poets. She talks about the ways a poem can gather momentum, how rhythm and language can lead a poem in new directions, how reading across disciplines and mining those disciplines for their own peculiar language feeds her work, and much more.
The interview references a promise to include some of Patty's writing exercises for poets and writers. For a link to those exercises, click here.
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(Broadcast date: May 29, 2019)
The interview references a promise to include some of Patty's writing exercises for poets and writers. For a link to those exercises, click here.
Download audio.
(Broadcast date: May 29, 2019)
Novelist Leland de la Durantaye with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
Leland de la Durantaye, author of Hannah versus the Tree talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about writing his debut novel (though not the first one he wrote), about patience, and language. Not to be missed.
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(Broadcast date: May 22, 2019)
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(Broadcast date: May 22, 2019)
Literary agent Claire Roberts with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
New York City literary agent Claire Roberts talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about books, publishing, trends, self-published books, and more, on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM, broadcast from the University of California, Irvine campus.
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(Broadcast date: May 15, 2019)
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(Broadcast date: May 15, 2019)
Sigrid Nunez and Amanda Marbais on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM
Sigrid Nunez, author of the 2018 National Book Award winning novel The Friend, joins Marrie Stone to talk about enduring themes across her work, her trepidation about writing about a writer, and her general wisdom about the writing process, learning the craft, the role of talent, teaching, and the importance of reading wide and deep.
In the second half, Amanda Marbais discusses her debut short story collection, Claiming a Body. She shares her arduous revision process (confessing that stories often undergo between 25 and 40 revisions), and assembling a collection versus publishing individual stories. Amanda dissects one of her pieces—from original kernel of inspiration to the final revision. She discusses dialogue, the importance of reading your work aloud, and her propensity towards gallows humor.
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(Broadcast date: May 8, 2019)
In the second half, Amanda Marbais discusses her debut short story collection, Claiming a Body. She shares her arduous revision process (confessing that stories often undergo between 25 and 40 revisions), and assembling a collection versus publishing individual stories. Amanda dissects one of her pieces—from original kernel of inspiration to the final revision. She discusses dialogue, the importance of reading your work aloud, and her propensity towards gallows humor.
Download audio.
(Broadcast date: May 8, 2019)
Amy Hempel and Katya Apekina on KUCI-FM
Katya Apekina, author of The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish, and Amy Hempel, author of Sing to It talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the art, craft, and business of writing.
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(Broadcast date: May 1, 2019)
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(Broadcast date: May 1, 2019)
Lydia Fitzpatrick & Kim Magowan on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM
Novelist Lydia Fitzpatrick joins Marrie Stone to talk about her debut novel, Lights All Night Long. Lydia shares her connection to Russia, how she approached the ominous task of research, the importance of photographs and Google Maps in her work, and her thoughts about structure and narrative tension. She also shares her writing advice about "the wall of shame" and how deconstructing other people's novels helped her own work.
In the second half, Kim Magowan joins to talk about her short story collection, Undoing. Kim discusses the usefulness of putting constraints around her work, her thoughts about linked stories, and the elegant way she assembled her collection. She also talks about overcoming her fears to send work out, the role of contests for flash and short story writers, and the importance of independent presses.
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(Broadcast date: April 24, 2019)
In the second half, Kim Magowan joins to talk about her short story collection, Undoing. Kim discusses the usefulness of putting constraints around her work, her thoughts about linked stories, and the elegant way she assembled her collection. She also talks about overcoming her fears to send work out, the role of contests for flash and short story writers, and the importance of independent presses.
Download audio.
(Broadcast date: April 24, 2019)
Benjamin Dreyer, Dreyer's English, on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM
Benjamin Dreyer, author of Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style, talks with host Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about exclamation points, comma splices, and an assortment of matters concerning grammar and punctuation.
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(Broadcast date: April 17, 2019)
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(Broadcast date: April 17, 2019)
Melissa Duclos and Kim Dower on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM
Debut novelist Melissa Duclos joins Marrie Stone to talk about her novel, Besotted. Melissa shares her nearly 15 year journey with her novel, her decision to break up with it, and her discovery of small, independent presses. She also talks about the novel's unique point of view, first person omniscient. You can learn more about Melissa and her newsletter at her website.
In the second half, Kim Dower joins to discuss her fourth collection, Sunbathing on Tyrone Power's Grave. In honor of National Poetry Month, Kim reads a few poems about her late father, talks about their origin, recurring themes throughout her collections, the accessibility of her work, and the subconscious influences at play. She also shares helpful advice for aspiring poets.
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(Broadcast date: April 10, 2019)
In the second half, Kim Dower joins to discuss her fourth collection, Sunbathing on Tyrone Power's Grave. In honor of National Poetry Month, Kim reads a few poems about her late father, talks about their origin, recurring themes throughout her collections, the accessibility of her work, and the subconscious influences at play. She also shares helpful advice for aspiring poets.
Download audio.
(Broadcast date: April 10, 2019)
Memoirist Meredith May, The Honey Bus, on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM
Memoirist Meredith May, author of The Honey Bus: A memoir of Loss, Courage, and a Girl Saved by Bees (Park Row Books/Harper Collins) talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the art, craft, and business of writing.
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(Broadcast date: April 3, 2019)
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(Broadcast date: April 3, 2019)