September 2024 – Home of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast

Episode 431: Sean Enfield, Author of ‘Holy American Burnout’ Hates the Word Burnout

By Brendan O’Meara

Sean Enfield (@seanseanclan) is the author of Holy American Burnout (Split/Lip Press), a fine essay collection that pushes the boundaries of form and is a cross-section of teaching, music, race, and a whole lot more.

Sean is an educator, a bassist, a poet, an essayist, and a whole lot more.

In this conversation, we talk about how Sean hates the word burnout, how he encourages his students to be creative kleptomaniacs, and a whole lot more.

Episode 430: Louisa Thomas Knows How to End a Story

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By Brendan O’Meara

Nice to have Louisa Thomas back on the show to talk about profile writing, teaching, and kickers. Louisa is a staff writer for The New Yorker and one of my “appointment reading” writers: I see her byline, I make a date with it.

In this episode we talk about a profile she wrote on Nikola Jokic, perhaps the best player in the NBA. In talking about kickers, we riff on her column about the ennui of the Oakland Athletics and a smattering of other kickers. She says she’s not good at them and credits her editor more than herself, but I think she’s just being modest.

Louisa also is the author of the brilliantly biography Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams and a co-editor of Losers: Dispatches from the Other Side of the Scoreboard.

Episode 429: What Does It Mean to be a ‘Hungry Author’?

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By Brendan O’Meara

What is a “hungry author”? Setting aside pre-breakfast jokes, what does it mean?

Authors Ariel Curry (@arielkcurry) and Liz Morrow (@liz_morrow), it’s:

A writer who is determined to succeed. They want to and will be published. They take feedback well and don’t shy away from the hard work. You will find their butts in the chairs and fingers on the keyboard. They believe in their ideas and know they will impact others.

And so it is in their book Hungry Authors: The Indispensable Guide to Planning, Writing, and Publishing a Nonfiction Book (Rowman & Littlefield). Lots of great, juicy tidbits in this book that really makes you think your Big Idea through.

Ariel and Liz also co-host the helpful Hungry Authors (@hungryauthors) podcast, another fine resource to lean into.

Episode 428: Brin-Jonathan Butler Remembers Flacco the Owl

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By Brendan O’Meara

Brin-Jonathan Butler is a frequent guest of the podcast, and he returned to talk about Flacco the Owl, among other things.

Brin is the kinda guy I can just listen to for ours. He’s operating on another level, certainly a level far above my Windows 95 operating system.

Brin is the author of a few books, namely The Grandmaster and The Domino Diaries.

Episode 427: Kelsey Rexroat on Dealing with the Monstrosity

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By Brendan O’Meara

Kesley Rexroat brings you a beautiful love story for The Atavist Magazine, this one titled “Love, Interrupted.” The dek reads, “Two women promised they would see the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time once they were together. They had no idea how long that would take.”

It’s a wonderful, redemptive story that proves the power of commitment and following one’s true path.

Kelsey is a “meticulous copy editor and dynamic content writer based in San Francisco, California. She specializes in technology, health, and lifestyle.”