creative nonfiction – Page 23 – Home of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast

Episode 212: Kevin Guilfoile on Uncovering the Chaos and ‘A Drive into the Gap’

By Brendan O’Meara

Kevin Guilfoile (@kevinguilfoile) is the author of the memoir A Drive into the Gap (Field Notes, 2012).

It’s a wonderful story about memory, fathers and sons, and the hunt for the identity of Roberto Clemente’s bat, the one that struck his 3,000th and final hit.

Kevin shares stories about his time growing up in Cooperstown, home of the baseball Hall of Fame and dealing with a young Barry Bonds while an intern for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He’s written two novels and one movie and I loved it when he said, “You become a writer by writing.”

It’s the same sentiment that Austin Kleon espouses: In order to be the noun, you have to do the verb.

Keep the conversation going on on social media @CNFPod and consider leaving a kind a review on Apple Podcasts.

And sign up for my monthly newsletter where I raffle off books, share reading recommendations, writing tips, and what you might have missed from the world of the podcast.

Episode 210: Stephanie Gorton Looks to the Past with ‘Citizen Reporters’

This episode is sponsored by Scrivener, by writers for writers.

“But there was a sense that I had let down my younger self and ought to find a way to make writing at least in some way, a part of my part life.” — Stephanie Gorton.

By Brendan O’Meara

Stephanie Gorton (@sdgortonwords) is the author of Citizen Reporters: S.S. McClure, Ida Tarbell, and the Magazine that Rewrote America. It’s a ripping-good yarn.

In this conversation we talk about her Page Turner piece for New Yorker dot com about an H.P. Lovecraft conference in Providence, her home city. We riff on what it was like for her to go from publishing to writing. We talk about the social media and why anyone with platform would trust a journalist with their stories. It’s good, clean fun.

Keep the conversation going on social media by linking up the show and tagging it @CNFPod.

This podcast was sponsored in part by Scrivener, made by writers for writers! It’s also sponsored by Casualty of Words, a writing podcast for people in a hurry.

Be sure you’re subscribed to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to my monthly newsletter for book recommendations, writing tips, and what you might’ve missed from the world of the podcast. You’re also entered to win books. What’s not to like?! Sign up below.

Episode 207: Every Story is a Workshop with Roy Peter Clark

This episode is sponsored by Scrivener, created by writers for writers.

By Brendan O’Meara

In this conversation, Roy Peter Clark, author of Murder Your Darlings: And Other Gentle Writing Advice from Aristotle to Zinsser (Little, Brown), he says, “Every story is a workshop.”

What a great way to approach reading and writing. I love it.

Roy is the author of several books on writing including Writing Tools, The Glamour of Grammar, Writing Short, Help! for Writers, and The Art of X-Ray Reading.

In this episode we talk about a deep dive he took on a 19-year-old college freshman’s brilliant story of a man washing the stain of blood from the sidewalk after a killing.

There’s lots of great stuff I know you’ll dig in this episode, so I’ll leave you to it.

Be sure to keep the conversation going on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, @CNFPod.

If you dig the show, consider leaving a nice review on Apple Podcasts. I make it a point to review shows I like, so I’m not just asking for reviews and not dishing it out!

Also subscribe to my monthly newsletter to be entered in book raffles, and to receive reading recommendations, and podcast news.

Episode 203: Emma Copley Eisenberg — A Window into Journalism World

“I often talk to my students and I feel like I’m looking at the story through a dirty window. And I just want you to take the pane of glass out so I can see the story,” says Emma Copley Eisenberg, @frumpenberg.

By Brendan O’Meara

Happy #CNFriday, CNFers!

Emma Copley Eisenberg is here to talk about The Third Rainbow Girl. It’s been highly touted as one of the better debut works of nonfiction. It’s great for its blending of genres and pushing the boundaries of what it means to write “true crime.”

If you’re looking for a whodunnit, this is not your book, which should pique your interest even more.

A few things we riff on:

A window in journalism world
Structure
Her book’s many false starts
And pushing the boundaries of creative nonfiction

Be sure you’re subscribed to the podcast wherever you get them (search Creative Nonfiction Podcast) and keep the conversation going on social media: @CNFPod here, here, and here.

If you dig the show, consider leaving a kind review on Apple Podcasts.

And, of course, subscribe to the monthly newsletter to receive reading recommendations and to be entered in a monthly raffle for books!

Episode 202: Ruby McConnell — … And Nothing but The ‘Ground Truth’

By Brendan O’Meara

Ruby McConnell is here.

She’s @rubygonewild across the socials. She and I jam a bit on Twitter, so I’ll link up to that. Here.

Ruby’s got a new book out: Ground Truth: A Geological Survey of a Life (Overcup Press, 2020).

It’s a damn good book and I’ll take you to the woodshed if you think otherwise.

Sorry.

Feeling aggressive.

Ruby is also the author of A Woman’s Guide to the Wild.

We had a pretty rad conversation where we talk about how dance taught her the discipline it takes to be a writer and how geology is a, perhaps, the most writerly science. She’s a native Oregonian and a fellow Eugenian and, I don’t know, I had about as good a time as I’ve ever had on this show with Ruby.

Be sure you’re subscribed to the show wherever you get your pods and if you’re feeling kind, leave a nice review on Apple Podcasts. They’ve stalled and it’d be nice to crest that 100-rating threshold.

Keep the conversation going on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, all @CNFPod. And if you sign up for the newsletter, you’re automatically — and perpetually — entered in a raffle to win books. I give out reading recommendations and news you might have missed from the world of the podcast. It’s fun. You’ll dig it.

Episode 199: Keith Law’s ‘Inside Game’

By Brendan O’Meara

I had the pleasure of hosting the great Keith Law (@keithlaw) on the show for Episode 199. He’s the author of Inside Game: Bad Calls, Strange Moves, and What Baseball Behavior Teaches Us About Ourselves (William Morrow, 2020).

In our conversation, he says, “One of the big takeaways throughout the book is get more data.”

Keith is also the author of Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats That Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones That Are Running It, and the Right Way to Think about Baseball (William Morrow, 2017).

I loved Inside Game and had a nice time speaking with Keith about his voracious reading habit, his penchant for board games, where analytics are heading, and lots, lots more.

This isn’t a conversation deep on baseball, believe it or not. Though he did tell me why it’s best to bat your best hitter No. 2 in the lineup and why RBIs are a misleading statistic.

Be sure to subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to sign up for monthly newsletter below. Lots of reading recommendations and what you might have missed from the world of the podcast. Keep the conversation going on Twitter, IG, and Facebook.

As always, I hope I made something worth sharing, so if you dig the show, pass it along to the others.

Episode 198: Rani Shah — Blue High Heels, Dude Hats, and Wisdom from a Humble Jellyfish

By Brendan O’Meara

Rani Shah is the mastermind behind the beautiful, fun, and quirky book Wisdom from a Humble Jellyfish: And Other Self-Care Rituals from Nature (Dey St., 2020).

Lots of fun speaking to Rani about how her parents nurtured her creative side, but were worried about she’d make a career out of creative work.

We talk about day jobs, imposter syndrome, growth/fixed mindsets, power heels, and dude hats.

She’s the founder of Fuss Class, a south Asian satire site. Very Onion-esque. Rani hangs out on Instagram @raanstermonster. She came to play ball.

I think you’ll have fun with this one and I’d love to hear from you if you did. Email the show and ping us on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

We need more submissions to our first ever audio magazine. The theme is Social Distancing: Essays from Isolation. 2,000 words/15-minute read. Deadline is MAY 1. Email your essay with SUBMISSION in the subject line to creativenonfictionpodcast at gmail dot com. I can’t wait to hear what you come up with.

Questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out. This a community. We’re in this mess together. Share this episode with your people and encourage them to share it to. If you don’t feel the need to share it, then I’ve failed at making something remarkable. And I’ll keep working harder and harder so that it continues to earn your endorsement and, more importantly, your valuable time.

Episode 196: How to Be Fine with Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer

By Brendan O’Meara

Man, this was fun, CNFers. We’ve got Jolenta Greenberg (@JolentaG) and Kristen Meinzer (@kristenmeinzer) in the CNFin’ house.

They are the co-hosts of By the Book, a podcast where they read a self-help book, follow its “recipes,” and report back. It’s a great show and the inspiration for their book, How to Be Fine: What We Learned from Living by the Rules of 50 Self-Help Books (Willam Morrow, 2020).

I think this episode pairs well with Austin Kleon, Jeff Goins, Chase Jarvis, and maybe a little Allison Fallon.

So many great insights about negative self-talk, what they feel is fundamentally lacking in most self-help books, and how to ultimately be kinder to yourself.

This book comes at a good time because things are rough. Things are topsy-turvy. We need people like Jolenta and Kristen doing their thing and thankfully their work is out there for us.

As you know, you can keep in touch on social media by following the show @CNFPod wherever. Also, if you’re feeling kind, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Share this show if it means something to you. We’d be honored if you did.

[Again, no art because my website host hasn’t fixed the issue yet.]

Episode 194: Michael Schulman — Driven by Joy, New Yorker Profiles, and the ‘Secret Word’

By Brendan O’Meara

“Selection is as creative as generation,” says Michael Schulman on the podcast.

Michael Schulman is a staff writer for The New Yorker and author of Her Again, a biography of the early life of Meryl Streep. Go check it out. I haven’t read it yet, as I came to Michael’s work through his profiles in The New Yorker.

As coincidence would have it, once I had lined up Michael to be on the show, he appeared on This American Life during the introduction to the Everyone’s a Critic show.

In any case, it was Michael’s profile on James Cordon that prompted me to reach out, but I also loved his work on Adam Driver and Bo Burnham as well.

In this show we talk about how his work is driven by joy, how he boils down each story down to a single, secret word, and how his background in theater led to his break at the magazine. Some great stuff here.

This episode is sponsored in part by Bay Path University’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing.

Follow the podcast on social media @CNFPod across all the various platforms and sign up for that newsletter.

And did you listen to the long introduction to this episode yet? I’m publishing the first CNF Pod audio magazine with the theme Social Distancing: Essays from/of Isolation. Word limit is 2,000 as we want the reading to be 15 minutes or less. Email submissions to creativenonfictionpodcast at gmail dot com. DEADLINE IS MAY 1, 2020.

In this time of social distancing and isolation, hearing essays from this challenging time can bring us together. I hope you’ll submit your best work. I’d be honored to publish it three or four of however many submissions I receive.

OK, readyyyyyy, break!

PS: I’m having technical difficulties uploading photographs, so that’s why you haven’t seen author photos for the past few episodes. Hoping the host I pay money to will figure it out.

Episode 193: Allison Fallon — Find Your Voice

By Brendan O’Meara

Hey, CNFers, citizens of CNF Nation! We’ve got Allison Fallon here for you. She offers brilliant insights into following your calling and finding your voice.

She’s the author of several books, most recently Indestructible.

Allison has taken control of her writing journey and I think you’ll find some juicy nuggets to apply to your life. Good stuff.

This episode is brought to you by Bay Path University’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing, as well as HippoCamp2020. Use that CNFPOD2020 coupon code to receive $40 off your tuition.

Also, be sure to follow the show’s social channels as a way to keep the conversation going and to keep in touch. @CNFPod on IG, Twitter, and Facebook.

First of the month. No spam. Can’t beat it!

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER!: Once a Month. No Spam. Can’t Beat It.

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER!: Once a Month. No Spam. Can’t Beat It.

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER!: Once a Month. No Spam. Can’t Beat It.

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER!: Once a Month. No Spam. Can’t Beat It.

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER!: Once a Month. No Spam. Can’t Beat It.

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER!: Once a Month. No Spam. Can’t Beat It.

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER!: Once a Month. No Spam. Can’t Beat It.

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER!: Once a Month. No Spam. Can’t Beat It.