Leni Zumas on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM, with Nicole Nelson

Novelist Leni Zumas, author of Red Clocks, talks to guest host Nicole Nelson about how attention to language can help foster authenticity, how she learned to put more pressure on story threads and "stick with the trouble," and how she developed a style that insists that readers "keep up."

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(Broadcast date: March 07, 2018)

Authors Teddy Wayne and Shawn Wong with Nicole Nelson

In the first half hour, novelist Teddy Wayne, author of Loner, talks with Nicole Nelson about leveraging spare use of the second person to add menace, building dread gradually through multiple drafts, and managing his writing time to balance work on fiction as well as being a regular contributions to The New Yorker and The New York Times.

In the second half, novelist Shawn Wong, author of American Knees, talks about his pioneering work in the field of Asian American Studies, how watching and listening closely to women helps him write rounded female characters, and how working with returning soldiers through the Red Badge Project taught him to think on his feet.

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(Broadcast date: November 30, 2016)

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.

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(Broadcast date: November 9, 2016)

Jade Chang and Janice Y. K. Lee with Co-Host Nicole Nelson

Debut novelist Jade Chang, author of The Wangs vs. the World, talks with co-host Nicole Nelson about playing with point of view, her experience putting an earlier novel in a drawer, and how she found her agent.

In the second half, novelist Janice Y. K. Lee, author of The Expatriates, talks about balancing three different POV characters, not taking the easy way out, and the importance of trusting yourself and your voice when you struggle to write through to the end.

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(Broadcast date: October 5, 2016)

Novelists Swan Huntley and Affinity Konar with Co-Host Nicole Nelson

Debut novelist Swan Huntley, author of We Could Be Beautiful talks with co-host Nicole Nelson about how writing in the first person allows her to explore the space between what a character is telling us and what we know to be true, how she came to the realization that her original ending wasn't right for the story, and how she discovered her process as an outliner.

In the second half, novelist Affinity Konar, author of Mischling, talks about how her story grew from hearing dialogue in her head between twins, about going "sound-first" into words, and thus being drawn to the word "Mischling" in spite of its ugly meaning and history, and her writing advice to honor your obsessions.

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[Note: Swan Huntley's reading selection was cut down due to audio issues; therefore, her reading starts in the middle of her first chapter, not the beginning.]

(Broadcast date: September 14, 2016)

Dana Johnson and Anna Solomon with co-host Nicole Nelson

Dana Johnson, author of the short story collection In the Not Quite Dark talks with co-host Nicole Nelson about how her journalism background informs her documentarian approach to writing about place, the value of reversal in constructing tension, and her affection for the short story form.

In the second half, novelist Anna Solomon, author of Leaving Lucy Pear, talks about her process of having a good idea of the story but not overthinking it in the first draft, the various kinds of research that went into writing a story that takes place in the Prohibition Era, the art of motivating coincidence in a story when a lot is at stake, and how a Post-it note that says, "You will fail," is her key to writing freely.

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(Broadcast date: August 31, 2016)

Authors Natashia Deón and Judith D. Schwartz with Nicole Nelson

Debut novelist Natashia Deón, author of Grace, talks to co-host Nicole Nelson about writing complex characters, letting readers laugh in tense situations, taking her story from a screenplay to a novel, and getting to a place of honesty.

In the second half, environmental journalist Judith D. Schwartz, author of Water in Plain Sight: Hope for a Thirsty World talks about how highlighting hope is important when writing about climate change, how her career in journalism evolved, how technology has affected her reading life, and more.

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(Broadcast date: August 17, 2016)

Rebecca Schiff and Molly Prentiss with Nicole Nelson

Rebecca Schiff, author of The Bed Moved, talks to co-host Nicole Nelson about finding her voice, revision being the place where much of her characteristic sparseness and humor get sharpened, and her advice to write from a place of being excited rather than to be attached to what you have written.

In the second half, Molly Prentiss, author of Tuesday Nights in 1980, talks about the feelings of doubt that artists face, the conflicts in her story and how they evolved over time, and the value of coincidence in drama.

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(Broadcast date: June 22, 2016)

Asali Solomon and Tracy Barone with Nicole Nelson

Asali Solomon, author of Disgruntled, talks to co-host Nicole Nelson about writing a young protagonist, developing characters from plot, taking an episodic approach to novel writing, and more.

In the second half, debut novelist Tracy Barone, author of Happy Family, talks about pacing the novel, drawing from her experience as a screenwriter and playwright, and writing toward an end that she envisioned early on.

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(Broadcast date: June 8, 2016)

Arna Bontemps Hemenway and Patricia Engel with Nicole Nelson

Arna Bontemps Hemenway, author of the short story collection Elegy on Kinderklavier, joins co-host Nicole Nelson to discuss writing about loss, inhabiting his characters emotionally, overcoming a challenging period in his own writing life post-MFA, and how the most important thing you can make a story isn't clever or topical, or anything else besides making it meaningful to you.

In the second half, Patricia Engel, author of The Veins of the Ocean, talks about the origins of this novel as a short story, her strategy for handling plot, doing research as needed, using dialogue sparingly, letting her life by the ocean influence the story, and more.

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[Note: Audio begins immediately with the interview with Arna, without a show introduction, due to technical difficulties.]

(Broadcast date: May 18, 2016)

Jarett Kobek and John D'Agata with Nicole Nelson

Jarett Kobek, author of I Hate the Internet, joins Nicole Nelson to talk about developing a POV that was influenced by Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions, his attempt to try to mirror the jagged way information comes at you on the internet, and his advice to writers: learn to enjoy suffering.

Then John D'Agata, editor of The Making of the American Essay talks about his twenty years working on this three-volume series of anthologies on essays that concludes with this work. He also shares thoughts on what makes an essay a challenging form to write, but one that when done right has the potential to capture and share a piece of humanity.

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(Broadcast date: April 20, 2016)

Maya Lang and Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney with co-host Nicole Nelson

Maya Lang, author of The Sixteenth of June, talks with co-host Nicole Nelson about the challenges of writing a story that takes place all in one day, her experience searching for an agent, and basing her novel on Ulysses.

In the second half, Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, author of The Nest, talks about how the story came to her beginning with a scene that captured her imagination, how voice for the book came naturally (but structure presented a challenge), and how time pressures can work to one's advantage.

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(Broadcast date: March 23, 2016)

Amy Gottlieb and Anna Winger with Nicole Nelson

Debut novelist Amy Gottlieb, author of The Beautiful Possible, talks with co-host Nicole Nelson about finding inspiration from a childhood of listening to her mother's friends, using poetry to sustain her when she felt bogged down by the novel, and working with characters who wouldn't let go.

In the second half, Anna Winger, author of the novel This Must be the Place and co-creator and writer of the Sundance drama series Deutschland 83, talks about pushing the limits of credibility in the name of creating suspense, combining the visual with narrative in telling a story for television, and how writers can find common experiences with various types of characters, even those with lives very different from their own.

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(Broadcast date: March 16, 2016)

Rachel Cantor and Tracy Robert with Nicole

Novelist Rachel Cantor, author of Good on Paper, talks to co-host Nicole Nelson about the finer points of the art of translation, her approach to writing complex child characters, and the benefits of taking advantage of artists' colony residency opportunities. Then Tracy Robert, author of the novel Flashcards and The Curse of Ambrosia, talks about the role of setting in her work, her experience following her story into a dystopian world, and her advice to embrace messiness, recognizing it as a prerequisite for creating art.

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(Broadcast date: February 3, 2016)

Ryan Gattis and Jen Beagin

Ryan Gattis, author of All Involved, talks to Nicole Nelson about the energy in his work discovered by writing in first person, the challenge of authenticity, and the way talking to people -- and really listening -- can be as useful as getting an MFA. Then debut novelist Jen Beagin, author of Pretend I'm Dead, talks about her preference for third person (even when journaling), how she uses dialogue as a point of entry to a story, and the importance of knowing your inner critic's sleeping habits, so that you can build your writing practice around those hours.

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Ryan's TedX talk "Pain and Art: Write What you Honestly Know."

(Broadcast date: January 20, 2016)

Bruce Bauman and Sanderia Faye with Nicole Nelson

Novelist Bruce Bauman, author of Broken Sleep joins Nicole Nelson to talk about writing dialogue, balancing tragedy with humor, and the good that can come of letting your characters take control.

In the second half, debut novelist Sanderia Faye, author of Mourner's Bench talks about finding the voice for her story in the form of eight-year-old Sarah, the surprises she found when researching the Civil Rights era history of her home town in Arkansas, and the importance of having confidence and especially to, as her teachers advised her along the way, "keep writing."


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(Broadcast date: December 16, 2015)

Lauren Groff and Garth Risk Hallberg on Writers on Writing

Lauren Groff, author of the National Book Award-nominated novel, Fates and Furies, talks to Nicole Nelson about how she came to realize she was writing one book, and not two, about the tale of a marriage. She also discusses her approach to tackling plot, and the importance of staying with your work. In the second half, debut novelist Garth Risk Hallberg, author of City on Fire, talks about being drawn to the Victorian novel, the art of bringing chapters to a close, and how when something isn't working it means that either you shouldn't do it, or you should do more of it.

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(Broadcast date: November 4, 2015)

Barry Yourgrau and Sasha Abramsky

Barry Yourgrau, author of Mess: One Man’s Struggle to Clean Up His House and His Act with Nicole Nelson about "writing short"in the distractible age of the Internet, grinding your mind until you get to the place where things flow, and how even as a confessional writer of fiction, when that mask is removed and he is telling his own story, he found writing a memoir scary.

Then Sasha Abramsky, author of The House of Twenty Thousand Books talks about how telling this personal story was different from his other journalistic projects, how he came upon the structure for the book, and  the importance of letting your guard down, having confidence to take chances with the language and ultimately working to put your personal stamp on your writing.

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(Broadcast date: October 14 2015)

Lidia Yuknavitch and Louisa Hall

Co-host Nicole Nelson talks to Lidia Yuknavitch, author of The Small Backs of Children, about exploring the fluidity of identity, the challenge and necessity of awareness of scripts in art and in life, and how she is influenced by photography and film. Then Louisa Hall, author of Speak, talks about creating a novel with the innovative structure combining court transcripts, a diary, letters, and a memoir, about finding the voice of Mary, the 17th-century young woman at the heart of the novel, and about postponing her poet's habit of cutting and perfecting when writing fiction.

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(Broadcast date: August 5, 2015)

Lisa Lutz and Emily Gould

Lisa Lutz, author of How to Start a Fire, joins co-host Nicole Nelson to talk about writing in multiple points of view, moving from screenplay writing to novel-writing, and also about being labeled with the category of "Women's Fiction." Her book was used as an example of how the label unacceptably labels fiction by and about women as a subcategory of the real thing in a column by the Chicago Tribune's John Warner. Then Emily Gould, author of Friendship, enters the conversation to discuss how exploring her own interiority as a blogger and essayist helped her develop compassion for her characters, how time is a luxury when revising, and also how finding a title (as well as naming a baby) is hard.

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(Broadcast date: July 22, 2015)