Write The Book: Conversations on Craft

David Budbill - Recalling the Poet's Life - Archive Interview #419 (9/26/16)

Vermont Poet David Budbill died on September 25, 2016, following a long illness. I will miss him. Thankfully, his poetry stands as a tribute to a life well lived, and helps us to appreciate our world and our good fortune. This week's interview comes from the archives; I interviewed David in 2011 about his collection, Happy Life.

Vermont also lost the poet Leland Kinsey in September. Although I never had the pleasure of interviewing Leland Kinsey, I encourage you to read this article from VT Digger, and this one from Seven Days about his life and work. 

This week's Write the Book Prompt is to write a poem of gratitude. Consider your good fortune, even if it’s just that first cup of coffee that helped you face your day, or the comfortable shoes you wear to walk to work, or the poetry of others, which makes you feel like you are part of a larger whole. Write about gratitude.

Good luck with this prompt, and please listen next week for another.

Music credits: 1) "Dreaming 1″ - John Fink; 2) "Filter" - Dorset Greens (a Vermont band featuring several former South Burlington High School students).

Zoe Zolbrod - Interview #418 (9/19/16)

Author Zoe Zolbrod, author of The Telling: A Memoir (Curbside Splendor). 

This week's Write the Book Prompt, generously suggested by my guest, Zoe Zolbrod, is to write about telling a secret. Perhaps the first time you told an important secret of your own.

Good luck with this prompt, and please listen next week for another!

Music credits: 1) "Dreaming 1″ - John Fink; 2) "Filter" - Dorset Greens (a Vermont band featuring several former South Burlington High School students).

Christine Sneed - Interview #417 (9/12/16)

A new interview with Christine Sneed, whose new story collection is The Virginity of Famous Men (Bloomsbury USA), just out this week.

This week’s Write the Book Prompt comes from our generous guest, Christine Sneed. Choose one of the following characters and write ten interview questions for him/her:

• Someone who works on the housekeeping staff in a Las Vegas hotel.

• Someone who owns 30 pairs of blue jeans.

• Someone who runs a tow truck.

• Someone who wants a famous face.

Now answer those ten questions in the voice of the character.

Good luck with this prompt, and please listen next week for another!

Music credits: 1) "Dreaming 1″ - John Fink; 2) "Filter" - Dorset Greens (a Vermont band featuring several former South Burlington High School students).

Fomite Press - Interview #416 (9/5/16)

Marc Estrin and Donna Bister, founders of Vermont's Fomite Press, "a literary press whose authors and artists explore the human condition -- political, cultural, personal and historical -- in poetry and prose."

This week's Write the Book Prompt was generously suggested by my guest, Donna Bister. Write about your first pair of shoes. Or, if you can't remember them, write about your favorite shoes. 

Good luck with this prompt, and please listen next week for another!

Music credits: 1) "Dreaming 1″ - John Fink; 2) "Filter" - Dorset Greens (a Vermont band featuring several former South Burlington High School students).