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)

Nicole Nelson Nicole Nelson

Shawn Shiflett and Jim Fusilli


In the first half, Shawn Shiflett, author of Hey, Liberal! talks to co-host Nicole Nelson about the challenges of humanizing evil characters, writing realistic dialogue, and how being a natural mimic helps him create authentic-sounding voices.

In the second half, Barbara DeMarco-Barrett talks to Jim Fusilli, editor of, and contributor to Crime Plus Music about how being a music critic influenced him as a fiction writer, how he finds short stories more challenging to craft than novels, and why noir seems to work better in short fiction and movies as opposed to longer formats.

Download audio.

(Broadcast date: November 9, 2016)

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