In The Margins

Hi listeners! We hope you’ve enjoyed the first 6 months of podcasts with us “In the Margins.” We’ve had some inspiring conversations with editors like Jeff Shotts from Graywolf Press, Crystal Simone Smith of Backbone Press, and Kevin Larimer, editor in chief of Poets & Writers Magazine. We’ve learned what it takes to get into a prestigious program like NC State’s Masters of Fine Arts in Creative writing from professors in poetry and fiction, Dorianne Laux and John Kessel. We’ve spoken with several poets and writers about their work, including breaking news about Therese Anne Fowler’s bestseller Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald and its adaptation into an Amazon TV series. We’re so glad you’ve listened along with us, and we hope you will continue to share in our conversations as we forward with the show. In fact, we’d like to bring to you an exciting endeavor that Tate Street has been working on diligently for the past several months. As part of our monthly episodes, we are thrilled to be airing documentarie

In this episode we speak with Melissa Hassard, partner and Director of Marketing of Sable Books, a publishing, design and consulting company that assists writers with publishing and marketing their work. She established Women Writers of the Triad in 2012, with the goal of building a gathering of women writers who support all writers. Through community programs, readings, and workshops, they offer opportunities for writers at all levels to write, create, express and grow in their craft. Podcast Notes: Women Writers of the Triad: wwot.org Audres Lorde's quote: “Your silence will not protect you.” Mission: “to support, encourage, and nurture each other while working to find our voice, and hone our craft.“ UNC Greensboro Communication Studies: admissions.uncg.edu/major-communication-studies.php Writers Group of the Triad: triadwriters.org North Carolina Triad: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piedmont_Triad Tate Street Coffee House: www.tatestreetcoffeehouse.com Second Saturdays Poetry Readings and Open Mic: wwot.or

In this episode we speak with Kevin Larimer, Editor in Chief of Poets & Writers. A crucial source of information and guidance for creative writers, Poets & Writers is the nation's largest nonprofit literary organization serving poets, fiction writers and creative nonfiction writers. Join us as we learn about the magazine, the editorial process, trends in the literary industry and more.   Podcast Notes: Poets & Writers, Inc. was founded in 1970. Mission: "To foster the professional development of poets and writers; to promote communication throughout the literary community; create an environment in which literature can be appreciated by the widest possible public." Poets & Writers, Inc. website: www.pw.org/ Speakeasy forum Directory of writers Events calendar Reading venues Poets & Writers Magazine: www.pw.org/magazine Circulation of 60,000 Readership approximately 100,000 including pass-along Small presses mentioned: Graywolf Press: www.graywolfpress.org milkweed editions: milkweed.or

In this episode we speak with Elizabeth Burke-Dain, Marketing and Media Director for the Poetry Foundation. With a $200M endowment and its prestigious Poetry Magazine dating to 1912, The Poetry Foundation is the largest organization promoting poetry in the United States. Join us as we learn how the Poetry Foundation works to ensure poetry has a "vigorous presence... in our culture".   Podcast Notes:   The Poetry Foundation: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/ Mission: "To bring a more vigorous presence for poetry in our culture" Poetry Magazine: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/ Ruth Lilly: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Lilly Robert Polito, President: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/robert-polito Polly Faust, Media Assistant   Mentioned Poets: Robert Frost: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/robert-frost Sylvia Plath: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/sylvia-plath Lisel Mueller: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/lisel-mueller Henry James: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/henry-james

Graywolf Press is a leading independent publisher of contemporary American and international literature. In this episode we talk with Executive Editor Jeff Shotts to learn how they discover and work with leading writers such as Eula Biss and Claudia Rankine. We also learn how their non-profit status allows them freedom to work at the leading edge of the art and what he means when he suggests writers "Sound Like Yourself".   Podcast Notes:   Partnership with Favorite Poem Project: Favorite Poem Project: http://www.favoritepoem.org/ Robert Pinsky: http://robertpinskypoet.com/ AWP 2015 Conference: https://www.awpwriter.org/awp_conference/ Hayan Charara, Honors Faculty, University of Houston: http://www.uh.edu/honors/about/faculty-staff/hayan-charara.php Out, Out- by Robert Frost: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/238122 Robert Frost: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/robert-frost   Interview with Jeff Shotts, Graywolf Press: Graywolf Press: https://www.graywolfpress.org/ Eula Biss: http://www.eulabiss.net/

Managing Editor, Crystal Simone Smith has “a small press with a big vision.”  Smith describes her transition from graphic designer to press editor and the importance of publishers who support ethnic minority writers.   Podcast Notes:   Crystal Simone Smith was raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland and educated in North Carolina at Bennett College, UNC-Greensboro, and Queens University of Charlotte. She is Managing Editor for Backbone Press and currently lives in Durham, NC, where she teaches Composition and Creative Writing. http://crystalsimonesmith.com   Backbone Press http://backbonepress.orgbackbonepress.org   Backbone Press Annual Lucille Clifton Poetry Prize The Lucille Clifton Annual Poetry Contest, held each spring, honors the prolific work of poet great Lucille Clifton. Widely celebrated for her unpretentious and unapologetic poems, Clifton’s unique free verse was free of punctuation, taut, and always recognizably her. When submitting think: humanness, struggle, adversity, resilience. “Her li

How does a writer improve? In this episode, two prominent writers and writing professors from North Carolina State University’s graduate program in creative writing share their insight into the creative process. With over 50 years of teaching experience between them, poet Dorianne Laux and fiction writer John Kessel offer advice to all levels of writers, reminding us to always try “once more, with feeling.”   Podcast Notes:   Writing allows people to open the mind and the heart. Encourages expression of things that are not encouraged in their social groups. Teaches people how to express themselves. We all have some capacity to write and to respond to it. Fans out in their lives beyond just writing. The teacher’s job… knows things that do and don’t work and why. Try to understand what the writer is trying to say and help them say it. Can’t break the rules until you know how to play the game. Help writer make it interesting to the reader (the “heat”).   North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC) Creative Wr

The Association of Writers and Writing Programs is a premier annual event with over 12,000 attendees. This year's conference will include over 2,000 presenters and over 550 readings, panels and craft lectures. The accompanying bookfair hosts over 700 exhibitors consisting of presses, journals and literary organizations from all over the world. Join our regular host, Abigail Browning, and our Reviews Editor, Greg Brown, to hear what Tate Street has in store for this year's show as well as some hints and tips for new attendees. Most importantly, if you'll be at the AWP conference, come see us at booth #1512.   Podcast Notes:   Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP): https://www.awpwriter.org   AWP Conference: https://www.awpwriter.org/awp_conference/   Elly Bookman's Review of Citizen: An American Lyric, by Claudia Rankine: http://tatestreet.org/2015/02/23/a-script-for-all-citizens-citizen-an-american-lyric-by-claudia-rankine/    Favorite Poem Project: http://www.favoritepoem.org/     Tate Street act

Poet Ross White reads from his new chapbook, “How We Came Upon the Colony” (Unicorn Press, 2014). The conversation travels from White’s imagined 14th colony of the New World to his foundation in imporv comedy.   Podcast Notes:   Ross White, Poet, Executive Director of Bull City Press: http://www.rosswhite.com/ •How We Came Upon the Colony by Ross White http://www.unicorn-press.org/books/White-How-We-Came-Upon-the-Colony.html   Awards from: Bull City Press, Durham, NC: http://bullcitypress.com/ Best New Poets: http://bestnewpoets.org/ Poetry Daily: http://poems.com/ The New England Review: http://www.nereview.com/ Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, Ripton, VT: http://www.middlebury.edu/bread-loaf-conferences/bl_writers   DSI Theater, Improve Comedy, Chapel Hill, NC: http://www.dsicomedytheater.com/   Warren Wilson MFA Program and Faculty Supervisors: Website: http://www.wwcmfa.org/ C. Dale Young: http://www.cdaleyoung.com/ Mary Leader: https://www.graywolfpress.org/author-list/mary-leader Heather McHugh: http://

Author Therese Anne Fowler shares exciting news about her latest book, Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, which follows the wild lives of roaring twenties literary icons Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald.   Podcast Notes:   Therese Anne Fowler is the author of the New York Times best seller Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald and three prior novels. Her essays have been published internationally in newspapers and magazines such as The Week, the London Telegraph and Harper's Bazaar, and her novels are published in seventeen languages worldwide. She now writes fiction full-time, occasionally teaching creative writing workshops, as well as classes at North Carolina State University. http://thereseannefowler.com   Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald: http://www.amazon.com/Z-A-Novel-Zelda-Fitzgerald/dp/1250028663   St. Martin’s Press: http://us.macmillan.com/zanovelofzeldafitzgerald/thereseannefowler   Learning Writing John Kessel: http://english.chass.ncsu.edu/faculty_staff/tenshi NCSU-Sociology: http://socant.chass.ncsu.edu/soci

There are many ways to learn the craft of writing. In the Margins, we take a close look at North Carolina State University’s graduate program specializing in the art of poetry and fiction. Program Director and poet, Dorianne Laux and John Kessell, a member of the fiction faculty, pull back the curtain to the admissions process for the MFA program at NC State and give us insight into the landscape of emerging writers today.   Podcast Notes:   The Master of Fine Arts, or MFA, in Creative Writing at NC State is a is a “two-year program of workshops, literature courses and electives, culminating in a final thesis of literary work worthy of publication.”   To give us more insight into the MFA at NC State, we are joined by two award-winning authors: the program’s current director, poet Dorianne Laux (who has published five collections of poetry including most recently: Facts about the Moon and The Book of Men), and two-time Nebula Award-winning science fiction writer John Kessel (who also helped found the MFA prog

Crystal Simone Smith, poet and Managing Editor of Backbone Press,  discusses her new chapbook, “Running Music” (Longleaf Press, 2014) which explores her experiences as a  runner, family, and grief. As one who began writing professionally as an adult, Smith says, “It’s never too late to find poetry.” Podcast Notes: Crystal Simone Smith was raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland and educated in North Carolina at Bennett College, UNC-Greensboro, and Queens University of Charlotte. She is also Managing Editor for Backbone Press and currently lives in Durham, NC, where she teaches Composition and Creative Writing. http://crystalsimonesmith.com Resources Warren Wilson Low Residency MFA: http://www.wwcmfa.orgThe Sun Magazine: http://thesunmagazine.org Inspirational Poets Lucille Clifton: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/lucille-clifton Sharon Olds: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/sharon-olds Publications Routes Home (Finishing Line Press) by Crystal Simone Smith Finishing Line Press: https://finishingl

Executive Director, Ross White gives insight to the origins of Bull City Press, the micro-journal, Inch, the Frost Place Residency Chapbook Contest, and his fascinating biases for poetry submissions.   Ross says to writers: “Send your stuff. There’s no greater joy as an editor than opening a submission and thinking, ‘oh my god, that’s the one!’”   Ross White, Poet, Executive Director of Bull City Press http://www.rosswhite.com/ •How We Came Upon the Colony by Ross White http://www.unicorn-press.org/books/White-How-We-Came-Upon-the-Colony.html   Bull City Press, Durham, North Carolina http://www.bullcitypress.com/   Inch Magazine by Bull City Press http://bullcitypress.com/inch/ •Luke Hankins – “A Thought That’s Freeing” http://bullcitypress.com/inch/issues/ •Katherine DeBlassie – “Poema de Amor (14)” http://bullcitypress.com/inch/issues/   Frost Place Chapbook Competition Submission deadline: December 31st every year.http://bullcitypress.com/submissions-top/frost-place-chapbook-competition/   The Frost Pla