Alexander Weinstein on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Alexander Weinstein, author of the 2016 dystopian short story collection Children of the New World, returns to talk with Marrie Stone about his latest collection, Universal Love.

In the near-distant future—one where technology has taken the next predictable steps—characters reckon with what it means to love, to kill, to be intimate, and to be human in an age when they're wholly invested in inhabiting a digital world. Fans of Black Mirror will love this collection.

In addition to sharing the inspiration and backstories behind many of the pieces, Alexander shares mounds of writing wisdom and advice.

Download audio.

(Broadcast date: January 29, 2020)

Julie Zuckerman and Annalee Newitz on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Short story author Julie Zuckerman, author of The Book of Jeremiah, joins Marrie Stone to share her novel in stories. Julie talks about drawing inspiration and structure from Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kittridge, how she structured the collection and the stories within, working with a small press (Press 53), and how a simple writing prompt unlocked Jeremiah Gerstler's complex character.

In the second half, Annalee Newitz joins to talk about their latest novel, The Future of Another Timeline. They talk about how their science background feeds their fiction, what fiction can accomplish that nonfiction cannot, dealing with the complexities of time travel, and much more.

Download audio. 

(Broadcast date: January 22, 2020)

Alix Kates Shulman on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Nearly 50 years after it first shocked readers nationwide, Alix Kates Shulman's, Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen is still being hailed as a feminist classic. Inspired by the iconic protest of the 1968 Miss America Pageant, and called by the Oxford Companion to Women's Writing "the first important novel to emerge from the Women's Liberation Movement," the 1972 book continues to hit home with its comic portrayal of growing up female in a man's world in white middle-class pre-feminist America. The book was re-released last year. At 87, Alix is still writing, speaking, and taking her message to the streets.

Alix talks about writing those daring sex scenes, her own terrifying illegal abortion, how fiction can change minds, and the slow but effective changes brought about by wave after wave of the women's movement.

Download audio.

(Broadcast date: January 8, 2020)

Poet Michael Miller on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Poet Michael Miller joins Marrie Stone for an hour of poetry and reflection on New Year's morning. He talks about his retrospective collection, Tea and Subtitles: Selected Poems 1999-2019, many addressing beginnings, endings, and New Year's Day itself.

Michael discusses his life-long love of the form, how journalism aids his poetry, assembling the writer's toolbox, and the many poets who he recommends as accessible and necessary reads.

Michael will appear at the LA Times Festival of Books on the poetry stage in April.

Download audio. 

 (Broadcast date: January 1, 2020)