Chicago Writers Podcast

Jen Coffeen drops by the podcast to discuss the prologue and chapter 1 of BUSMAN'S HONEYMOON by Dorothy Sayers and all the complex romance hidden in this classic detective series.  https://www.storystudiochicago.org/ https://chireviewofbooks.com/  

Rachel's Recommendations Favorite 2024: What's Not Mine by Nora Decter Non-2024 book: Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez 2024 book no one read: Dead in Long Beach, California by Venita Blackburn Most anticipated 2025 by a Chicago author: Original Sins by Eve L. Ewing Most anticipated by an author with a long gap since last book: Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Small press titles: The Gloomy Girl Variety Show by Freda Epum Leave: A Postpartum Account by Shayne Terry No Offense: A Memoir in Essays by Jackie Domenus Friends might think you're nuts but sorry not sorry: The Harder I Fight the More I Love You by Neko Case   Greg's Recommendations Favorite 2024: There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, by Hanif Abdurraqib Non-2024 Book: Bunny, by Mona Awad 2024 Book No One Read: Familiaris, by David Wroblewski Most Anticipated Chicago: All the Water in the World, by Eiren Caffall Most Anticipated after long gap: Dream Count, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Most Anticipated Small Press: A Forty-Year Kiss, by Nickolas Butler Friends Might Think I'm Nuts: Great Big Beautiful Life, by Emily Henry ... Mark Twain, by Ron Chernow   Mike's Recommendations Street Fight by Anne Morrissy The Overstory by Richard Powers Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism by Eve L. Ewing People of Means by Nancy Johnson Vanishing Daughters by Cynthia Pelayo True Failure by Alex Higley All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall The El by Theodore C. Van Alst Jr The Antidote by Karen Russell Stag Dance by Torrey Peters Sour Cherry by Natalia Theodoridou The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity by Sarah Schulman Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins A Danger to the Minds of Young Girls: Margaret C. Anderson, Book Bans, and the Fight to Modernize Literature by Adam Morgan Waterline by Aram Mrjoian

Sara Cutaia joins us to discuss a story from A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan.  https://www.storystudiochicago.org/ https://chireviewofbooks.com/  https://arcturus.chireviewofbooks.com/ 

YA author James Klise joins the first episode of season two to discuss the first chapter of THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE.  https://www.storystudiochicago.org/ https://chireviewofbooks.com/ 

It's a mid-year check in with the Chicago Review of Books!  Rachel: Shayla Lawson's How To Live Free in a Dangerous World: A Decolonial Memoir Lindsay Hunter's Hot Springs Drive Nora Decter's What's Not Mine Ananda Lima's Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil Kaveh Akbar's Martyr! Gianni Washington's Flowers From the Void   Greg: Martyr!, by Kaveh Akbar Hello, Beautiful, by Ann Napolitano Perris, California, by Rachel Stark Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil, by Ananda Lima There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, by Hanif Abdurraqib The Rich People Have Gone Away, by Regina Porter The City and Its Uncertain Walls, by Haruki Murakami The Forty-Year Kiss, by Nickolas Butler   Mike: You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue Termush by Sven Holm Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward Blood and Lightning: Becoming a Tattooer by Dustin Kiskaddon Street Fight: The Chicago Taxi Wars of the 1920s by Anne Morrissy Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima The Divorcees by Rowan Beaird The Material by Camille Bordas Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer  

In this episode, author Claire Lombardo discusses throughlines, visualizing a story, outlining after drafting, pacing, working on multiple projects, and how the second book is the hardest you'll write.   https://www.clairelombardo.com/   https://www.storystudiochicago.org/ 

In this episode, Ian Endsley talks writing for video games, player choice, dialogue, constraints, examples of great writing in games, and the feeling of space.   Turnfollow's Games  https://www.turnfollow.site/   Stories Matter Foundation https://www.storystudiochicago.org/

In this episode Ananda Lima joins us to discuss poetry, framing short stories, what is horror, great editors, the texture of magical elements, finding a project that fits, and having fun.   https://www.anandalima.com/   https://www.storystudiochicago.org/ 

In this episode, author Cyn Vargas discusses emotion, the novella, discovering the length of a story, trusting the process, family dynamics in fiction, young perspective, providing for the reader, residencies, finishing your story, and finding what is not being said between characters.   https://www.cynvargas.com/   https://www.storystudiochicago.org/

In this episode, Rowan Beaird discusses having two agents at once, the debut novel, revision, reducing character count, copyedits, timelines, a scene's purpose, elements of great short stories, and the importance of community.   https://www.rowanbeaird.com/   https://www.storystudiochicago.org/ 

In this episode, YA and middle grade author Kat Falls discusses worldbuilding, reading aloud, what first person POV can do for your story, how screenplay writing connects to middle grade, loving your genre, and the power of awe.   https://www.katfalls.net/

In this episode, Dionna Griffin-Irons discusses improv, curiosity, how we're all characters, being comfortable with the unknown, and finding truth.   Dionna Griffin-Irons http://dionnagriffinirons.com/   Stories Matter Foundation https://www.storystudiochicago.org/

Rachel I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times by Taylor Byas (and here's the interview I mentioned: https://chireviewofbooks.com/2023/08/24/navigating-form-and-structure-in-i-done-clicked-my-heels-three-times/) Brother & Sister Enter the Forest by Richard Mirabella (and here's the essay I mentioned: https://chireviewofbooks.com/2023/03/29/writing-my-novel-wasnt-therapy/) Solito by Javier Zamora A Country You Can Leave by Asale Angel-Ajani The In-Betweens by Davon Loeb Company by Shannon Sanders I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai (and here's the interview I mentioned: https://chireviewofbooks.com/2023/03/02/getting-into-the-gray-area-in-i-have-some-questions-for-you/)   Michael Who is the City For? By Blair Kamin I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times by Taylor Byas Open Throat by Henry Hoke The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty Enough to Lose by R.S. Deeren The Quail Who Wears the Shirt by Jeremy T. Wilson Veniss Underground by Jeff VanderMeer I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai And then a few I didn't get to talk about but want to throw out there: Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward Dr. No By Percival Everett The New Naturals by Gabriel Bump   Greg Wellness, by Nathan Hill I Could Live Here Forever, by Hannah Halperin Bliss Montage, by Ling Ma Sun House, by David James Duncan From Dust To Stardust, by Kathleen Rooney Here are two more Chicago novels I loved this year: Good Night, Irene, by Luis Alberto Urrea Hot Springs Drive, by Lindsay Hunter

Signups are open for the Novelist's Toolkit online class with Rebecca Makkai! Check it out at https://www.storystudiochicago.org/classes/classes/the-novelists-toolkit-six-lessons-on-craft-structure-and-tenacity-with-rebecca-makkai/   Rebecca Makkai https://rebeccamakkai.com/   Stories Matter Foundation https://www.storystudiochicago.org/

In this episode, author Idra Novey discusses inspiration through imagery, asking what you don't know, translation, deciding what becomes a novel, subtext, taking risks, and allowing for monstrosity.   Idra Novey https://www.idranovey.com/   Stories Matter Foundation https://www.storystudiochicago.org/