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Episode 328 [RERUN]: My #HippoCamp21 Talk — In Their Words: Lessons Learned from the Best of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast

By Brendan O’Meara

This year has been a tough year to book guests. Thankfully some, like Ruby McConnell and Donna Talarico swoop in at the last moment and bail me out.

Sometimes, as was the case earlier this month when I was dealing a family emergency, I couldn’t face the mic and we missed our first week in YEARS.

I’m not a fan of “reruns,” especially when all the episodes are in the feed, but the feed is long and overwhelming. This week, to celebrate HippoCamp22, I figured why not re-surface my HippoCamp21 talk (which garnered such feedback as, “would not see him speak again.” Can’t win ’em all.).

Episode 327: Donna Talarico

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By Brendan O’Meara

It’s that time of year…it’s HippoCamp Season! Over the Aug. 12-14 weekend, Donna Talarico and her cohort of devoted volunteers will host the seventh conference devoted solely to creative nonfiction writing.

Carmen Maria Machado will be the keynote speaker and there will be dozens of breakout sessions to choose from, be it Allison K. Williams, Jeannine Oullette, or Athena Dixon.

Episode 325: Kerri Sullivan

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By Brendan O’Meara

Are you a New Jersey hater? We’ve heard all the jokes, but if you want to know what Jersey is REALLY about, you need to check out Kerri Sullivan‘s (@ksulphoto) New Jersey Fan Club: Artists and Writers Celebrate the Garden State (Rutgers University Press).

It features essays by Jen A. Miller, Scott Neumyer, and Chris Gethard. There are comics, photos, interviews, it’s pretty damn great.

Episode 324: Chris Solomon

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By Brendan O’Meara

Chris Solomon is here!

He is a contributing editor to Outside Magazine, and his latest piece “I’ll take the high road” is what prompted me to reach out to him. We also talk about his GQ essay about his mother and father.

He’s @chrisasolomon on Twitter and you can find more about him and his work at chrissolomon.net.

Had a nice time around the CNFin’ campfire talking shop, freelancing, reporting on personal stories, and finding ways to make the “I” implicit vs. IN YOUR FACE.

Episode 321: Ruby McConnell

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By Brendan O’Meara

Well, well, well, look who came back to the podcast for her third time: It’s Ruby McConnell (@rubygonewild)!

She’s the author of the wonderful collection Ground Truth: A Geological Survey of a Life, as well as the author of A Woman’s Guide to the Wild. Past episodes with Ruby can be found here and here.

We had a nice conversation about juggling projects, when writing becomes a slog, style, ambition, and patience. If you’re a little frustrated, you’re going to enjoy this conversation.

Episode 317: Brad Listi

Photo credit: Dove Shore

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By Brendan O’Meara

Brad Listi (@otherppl) is the author of my favorite book of the year to date, Be Brief and Tell Them Everything.

Brad also is the longtime host and producer of Otherppl, a podcast with in depth conversations with today’s leading writers. It’s one of my favorite podcasts. He’s been producing it since 2011, so even longer than us here at CNF Pod HQ.

Brad’s book is written in these chunklets and touches on being a creative person, the messiness of life and a creative life, reading, books, social media, fatherhood, and more.

We talk about a lot of themes in the book and the incredible prep it takes to bring one podcast into the world.

Episode 315: Tad Friend

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By Brendan O’Meara

Tad Friend (@tadfriend) needs little introduction, but here it goes: He’s a staff writer for The New Yorker and has written some of my favorite pieces. There’s the profile on Bryan Cranston, Master Class, and Impossible Foods.

Most recently, he’s the author of the memoir In the Early Times: A Life Reframed (Crown). In it, Tad tries to better understand his father, but comes to grips with his own role as a father and husband, a writer and … squash player. It’s a wonderful book, but, then again, did you expect anything less?

Tad also is the author of Cheerful Monday: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor as well as the collection Lost in Mongolia: Travels in Hollywood and other Foreign Lands.

In this episode we talk about structure, tension, reporting and running toward the doom. Lots of great stuff to unpack and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Episode 314: How ‘Top Chef’ Can Help Your Writing

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Sponsor: Athletic Greens, athleticgreens.com/EMERGING

By Brendan O’Meara

Listen … just discovered “Top Chef” (don’t judge) on account of Peacock.

I’ve always been inspired by chefs and how they go about the work. When I was watching “Chopped” several years ago, I remember one chef talking about how he was on onion duty in the kitchen. And instead of lamenting it, he vowed to be the best damn cutter of onions. It’s a great attitude, something we can all heed.

The parallels between high-level cooking and writing are similar. We started with Season 18, Top Chef: Portland. Why? Well, we live in Oregon so we jumped into that, spoilers of past winners be damned.

And in the first episode, Richard Blais, restaurateur and one of the judges told the chefs to have “authorship” of their dishes. Another, Melissa King, said you have to “edit” your plates and choose what to leave on the plate and what to leave off.

Sound familiar?

Episode 312: Meredith May

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By Brendan O’Meara

Ever have a dog that fundamentally changed the course of your life? One who disrupted just about everything you knew about dogs and about yourself and about your marriage?

Meredith May has the book for you in Loving Edie: How a Dog Afraid of Everything Taught Me to be Brave (Park Row Books).

Meredith thought she knew just about all there was to know about raising a golden retriever puppy, but Edie came along and showed everyone that dogs are very much individuals and sometimes we have to accommodate them. They don’t always integrate neatly into our lives.

Great book. You might also like The Honey Bus, her 2019 memoir about her grandfather and bees and so much more.

In this conversation, we talk about writing community, lifting people up, opening doors, changing expectations around dogs, the privilege of being able to afford the care some need, and lots more.

Episode 311: Jane Friedman

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Jane Friedman came back, CNFers!

She’s practically running a school for writers with the incredible offerings she has over at janefriedman.com. If you want to be a better writer and, more importantly, have a greater understanding of what it means to marry your art with commerce, Jane’s work is required.

Though we didn’t delve into book proposals, a CNFin’ faux pas if there ever was one (my b), but I had taken a book proposal refresher with her as part of Creative Nonfiction Magazine’s offerings. She’s a pro. (@janefriedman)

So we dig into plenty of stuff that’s germane to your journey like author platform, building a newsletter audience, social media (and its trappings) and the tension you can glean from a show like Better Call Saul.