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Episode 134—Harrison Scott Key on Finding the Nature of His Talent, Humor, and the Pull to Create

Harrison Scott Key (right) returns to the podcast.

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By Brendan O’Meara

“I always felt this indescribable pull to create something I’m proud of. ‘Look. I made this.'” —Harrison Scott Key (@HarrisonKey)

“A memoir is just a slice.” —Harrison Scott Key

Harrison Scott Key came back to the show to talk about his amazing work. Since that day way back in 2013, Harrison has published his first memoir The World’s Largest Man about his father, which also won the Thurber Prize for the funniest book in the country. And his latest book, Congratulations, Who Are You Again?, Was my single favorite book from 2018.

This one was so funny, inspiring, and entertaining that I took it with me on walks and when I found a crack in my schedule I’d pick this thing up and read a few pages if I could while my boss wasn’t looking.

But we’ll get to that. I guess I forgot to mention that this is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories. I also unpack their origins and how they approach the work in the face of day jobs and crippling self-doubt. Am I projecting. Perhaps.

Do you subscribe this here podcast? You can find it just about anywhere and if you dig this show and others, link up to it on your social media platforms. You are the social network, CNFers. Rage Against the Algorithm. And if you have a minute or two, please give the show a rating over on Apple Podcasts. Follow the show @CNFPod on Twitter and @BrendanOMeara on Twitter.

What else, oh, yes, subscribe to my monthly newsletter. It’s chock full of my reading recommendations and what you might have missed from the world of the podcast. Once a month. No spam. Can’t beat it.

So Harrison came back to the show and as always I try and cut down these interviews by about 10-15% and I simply couldn’t do that with this one. Couldn’t do it, so I hope you enjoy the big man himself, Harrison Scott Key.

Don’t forget to Rage Against the Algorithm with my monthly up-to-11 newsletter. First of the month. No spam. Can’t beat it.

Consider supporting the show via Patreon patreon.com/cnfpod. Shop around if you want to support the community. I just paid out the writers from the last audio magazine. You make that possible. The show is free but it ain’t cheap.

Free ways to support the show?

Subscribe and download and share across your socials. And don’t forget to consider leaving a kind review on Apple Podcasts. Those go a LONG way.

Stay wild, CNFers!

Episode 133—Vanya Erickson Speaks Fluent ‘Boot Language’

By Brendan O’Meara

“We all need little successes.” —Vanya Erickson (@vanyaerickson.author on Facebook.

Today’s episode is also brought to you by the noun despair, “Driven to despair, he threw himself under a train.” despair: the complete absence of hope.

I don’t know what to say, man. Happy New Year, that’s a start. How are YOU? What’s going on with YOU? It’s just you and me here, man. I’m Brendan O’Meara and this is my podcast, The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories.

Episode 111—The Empowering and Exciting Nature of Film with Emer Reynolds

Emer Reynolds wrote and directed “The Farthest,” the documentary about the Voyager Mission.

By Brendan O’Meara (@BrendanOMeara or @CNFPod)

“You’re really finding the film in editing the documentary.” —Emer Reynolds (@emerpreynolds on Twitter).

Ever catch yourself staring at the sky at night and being categorically floored, hair blown back by the scope of it all?

This happens to me almost nightly and there’s two distinct approaches you can take and I’ve taken both of them, believe you me.

Episode 110—Scott Neumyer on Podcasting, Writing, and Anxiety

Scott Neumyer is a writer and hosts the wildly popular Anxiety Diaries Podcast.

By Brendan O’Meara

Tweetables from Scott Neumyer (@scottneumyer):

“The more you do, the more apt you are to get an assignment.”

“I want to make something happen and I just work really hard to do it.”

Today’s guest has a voice as smooth as velvet. It’s a voice you want to listen to over and over again and you know what? You can!

Today I welcome Scott Neumyer to the show. Scott is a writer who has been published by The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, GQ, Esquire, Wired, Men’s Fitness, and many more publications. He is a contributor to the anthology Life Inside My Mind: 31 Authors Share Their Personal Struggles, which Simon Pulse published in 2018. He is also the creator and host of the popular Anxiety Diaries Podcast. He lives in central New Jersey with his wife, two daughters, and two cats.

This is the show where I speak to the best creators about telling true stories, how they’re told, and why it matters so you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work.

Scott has been working hard on his new podcast, Anxiety Diaries, and it’s raw, it’s honest, and it showcases interesting people across the mental health-sphere.

In this episode we dig into his origin as a writer, influential writers, lots about the craft of interviewing, and how to launch a successful podcast.

If you dig the show, please subscribe and leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Joe Rogan (love you Joe!) doesn’t need anymore. I need them. Me. Okay, CNFers, thanks for listening, let’s get right into it.

Thanks for listening CNFers. Thanks again to Hippocamp 2018 for the support. Be sure to use that CNFPOD coupon code to save $50 on your registration fee.

Again, if you’d leave a review on Apple Podcasts, I’ll edit a piece of your writing of up to 2,000 words. Just send me a screenshot and I’ll coach up your writing. That’s only fair.

Stories by Scott

I Am Royce White
Anxiety Makes the Holidays Harder

The Creative Nonfiction Podcast is sponsored by Hippocamp 2018. Now in its fourth year, Hippocamp is a three-day creative nonfiction writing conference that features 50+ speakers, engaging sessions in four tracks, interactive all-conference panels, author and attendee readings, social activities, networking opps, and optional, intimate pre-conference workshops. The conference takes place in lovely Lancaster, Pennsylvania from Aug. 24 through the 26th.

Visit hippocampusmagazine.com and click the “Conference” tab in the toolbar and if you enter the keyword CNFPOD at checkout you will receive a $50 discount. This offer is only good until Aug. 10 or until all those tickets are sold. There are a limited number so act now!

Hippocamp 2018: Create. Share. Live.

Episode 109—Jean Guerrero Tries to Solve the Mystery of Her Father

Jean Guerrero, an award-winning journalist, came by to talk about her memoir Crux. Photo credit Stacey Keck

By Brendan O’Meara

“I could leave my father as a mystery because he was the mystery I was trying to solve,” says Jean Guerrero, @jeanguerre on Twitter.

I’ve often wonder how to not just make the podcast better but different. What would that entail?

Could writing an extensive blog post about the guest instead of just show notes be seen as different yet adding value? I’m not sure.

Episode 108—Katie Baker on Working Outside of Journalism and Cultivating Enthusiasms

Katie Baker is a staff writer for The Ringer and damn good writer.

By Brendan O’Meara

“Working outside of journalism before working in journalism can be a useful thing in terms of seeing how the world works.” —Katie Baker (@katiebakes)

Hey there, CNFers, it’s The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories, whether that’s narrative journalists, documentary filmmakers, essay and memoir writers and radio producers, I try unpack their lives and their work so you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work.

Continue reading “Episode 108—Katie Baker on Working Outside of Journalism and Cultivating Enthusiasms”

Episode 106—Rebecca Fish Ewan and ‘The Forces of Gravity’

Photo credit Charissa Lucille

By Brendan O’Meara

Tweetable by Rebecca Fish Ewan (@rfishewan on Instagram):

“I couldn’t, as an adult, get past the story of how her life ended. And I wanted to tell the story of she lived.”

It’s The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories.

For Episode 106, I welcome Rebecca Fish Ewan, author of By the Forces of Gravity (Books by Hippocampus 2018), a love story between friends that ends in tragedy told through free-verse poetry and cartoons. It’s a great reading experience and a wonderfully told story of adolescence in the 1970s Berkley. You can buy the book by visiting books.hippocampusmagazine.com or via Amazon.

In this episode we dig into:

How Rebecca chose to write the story in the way she did
The power of community
Writing from the POV of her 12-year-old-self
And dealing with self doubt

Rebecca is @rfishewan on Instagram, her preferred social network and is @rfishewan on Facebook. Go check her out.

If you’re not subscribed, be sure to hit up Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, and Stitcher so you get a fresh delivery every Friday. Share this with people you think will dig it. Ad let me know what you think of it, what you got out of it. I’m @BrendanOMeara and @CNFPod on Twitter and @CNFPodcast on Facebook. Pick a network, any network and let’s connect.

If you dig the show and you have a minute, please leave a review over on Apple Podcasts. If you show me evidence of your review, I will edit a piece of your writing of up to 2,000 word.

Sign up for my monthly reading list newsletter. Four books and what you might have missed from the world of the podcast. Once a month. No spam. You can’t beat that.

The Creative Nonfiction Podcast is sponsored by Hippocamp 2018. Now in its fourth year, Hippocamp is a three-day Pennsylvania writing conference that features 50+ speakers, engaging sessions in four tracks, interactive all-conference panels, author and attendee readings, social activities, networking opps, and optional, intimate pre-conference workshops. The conference takes place in lovely Lancaster, from Aug. 24 through the 26th.

Past keynotes have been Lee Gutkind, Mary Karr, Dinty W. Moore, and Jane Friedman (all have been past guests on the podcast. Whaaaat?) This year Abigail Thomas will be the featured speaker.

The registration is $429 ($379 with the discount) through Aug. 10 then goes up to $449 on site. If you sign up through this portal before the conference starts, you’re actually saving $70!

Hippocamp 2018: Create. Share. Live.

Episode 105—From Factories to the Front Pages with Jonathan Green

Jonathan Greens “Sex Money Murder” is out now.

By Brendan O’Meara

Tweetables by Jonathan Green (@JonathanJAGreen):

“It was always the story behind the headlines I found more intriguing.”

This is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories where we dig into origins, work habits and process so you can be a better a better storyteller. Continue reading “Episode 105—From Factories to the Front Pages with Jonathan Green”

Episode 104—Elizabeth Rush Talks “Rising” and What It Means to Be a Woman in the Field

Elizabeth Rush, Brendan O'Meara — Elizabeth Rush returns!

By Brendan O’Meara

Here we are again, welcome to The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories. I’m Brendan O’Meara.

I gotta say right up top that there’s been some serious issues with my hosting, Podomatic for those in the know, with the RSS Feeds. Shows are coming up unavailable in Apple Podcasts and it disappeared from Google Play and Stitcher. They say they’re on it, but it’s been three days with no improvement.

You can still stream the episodes from the embedded player on my website, brendanomeara.com, but in the meantime, downloading through the most popular and widely used platform—Apple Podcasts—is impossible until Podomatic gets it fixed. You might say I’ve been shopping around for other options.

Episode 104 brings back Elizabeth Rush to the podcast. Her new book Rising: Dispataches from the New American Shore (Milkweed Editions) is out. She could be coming to a city near you so check the show notes for the Rising Tour. I think that’s what Bruce Springsteen called his tour when his Rising came out. In this episode we talk about:

Rising sea levels
How to turn bleak material into something beautiful
How Elizabeth finds teaching energizing
And sexual harassment while doing fieldwork, something she’s never been asked about and was happy to get to talk about.

So that’s where we’re at. Please bear with me on the RSS nonsense. If you follow the social feeds, that links you up to my website so go find @CNFPod and @BrendanOMeara on Twitter and @CNFPodcast on Facebook. Follow Elizabeth @ElizabethaRush on Twitter for all things Rising.

Here she is: Episode 104.

Promotional support is provided by Hippocampus Magazine. Its 2018 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction is open for submissions until July 15th! This annual contest has a grand prize of $1,000 and publication for all finalists. That’s awesome. Visit hippocampusmagazine.com for details. Hippocampus Magazine: Memorable Creative Nonfiction.

If you made it this far I suspect you might like the show and want to help it out. Would you mind leaving an honest review on Apple Podcasts? That helps with validation and visibility. Let’s try and get to 100. We’re 57 ratings away at the moment. If a small fraction of you take out your phones, click on the star you deem appropriate, hit submit, that’s all you gotta do and you will have helped out the show in a major way. That takes like 10 seconds, if you want to leave a review, I will still edit a piece of writing up to 2,000 words for your kindness and time. Just send me a screenshot of the review with the date and we’ll get started.

I also have a great monthly reading list newsletter where I send out four book recommendations and what you might have missed from the world of the podcast. I don’t get any kickbacks or anything, so it’s just things I dig and endorse for your pleasure. First of the month. No Spam. Can’t beat that.

That’s it CNFers. See right back here next week.

Episode 100—Mary Karr Talks ‘Tropic of Squalor,’ Grinding Through Early Drafts, and Cellos

By Brendan O’Meara

Tweetables by Mary Karr (@marykarrlit):

“If I can get through the horribleness of the first draft, I have a chance.”

“I literally do fifty drafts of a poem.”

“Reading was socially sanctioned disassociation.”

Whoa, boy, CNFers, it’s Episode 100 of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast. 100? Here for the first time? This is my jam, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories: leaders in narrative journalism, memoir, doc film, radio, and personal essay to tease out tactics, habits, origins, and routines so you can improve your own work. I’m your host Brendan O’Meara. Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your pods and share with a fellow CNF Buddy.

Man…Are you serious? 100 episodes and for this special occasion we here at CNF Pod HQ bring you Mary Karr. I’m sure 99.9% of you know who she is, but if you don’t here’s the rundown:

She’s the best-selling author of The Liar’s Club, Cherry, Lit, The Art of Memoir, and five books of poetry, including her latest, Tropic of Squalor published by Harper.

Mary is a professor at Syracuse University and is best known and most responsible for the boom in memoir when The Liar’s Club kicked all our asses and showed us what a personal story could be.

We talked a lot about:

The importance of patience
Working through dozens of drafts,
The nature of talent
And cellos, yes, cellos.

She’s @marykarrlit on Twitter and Facebook and her website is marykarr.com. Be sure to stick through the end of the show where Mary reads two amazing poems from Tropic of Squalor. You don’t want to miss out on that tasty goodness.

If you head over to brendanomeara.com you’ll find show notes as well as a chance to subscribe to my monthly reading list newsletter. And, no, if you click through and buy books I don’t get any kickbacks so you can rest assured that I’m selecting books that I enjoyed and get no compensation for. Once a month. No spam. Can’t beat that.

You can also support the podcast by leaving a review on iTunes as that helps our little corner of the internet get a little bit bigger. If you leave an honest review and send me a screenshot, I’ll coach up a piece of your work of up to 2,000 words. No diggity.

That’s gonna do it, CNFers. Here’s to the next 100 CNFin’ shows up in your ears.

Today’s podcast is brought to you by the 2018 Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Conference. Now in its 6th year, the CNF Writers’ Conference is three days celebrating the art, craft, and business of writing true stories. May 24th through 26th in downtown Pittsburgh. Details at creative nonfiction.org/conference. Listeners of this podcast receive 20% off the registration price by entering coupon code CNFPODCAST during checkout.

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