Anika Fajardo, author of Magical Realism for Nonbelievers, stopped by CNF.
“Part of me thinks nobody should write a memoir.” —Anika Fajardo (@anikawriter on Twitter)
“Writing is about communicating, so that’s why we have to send things out. There needs to be a point where it goes out in the world and we communicate with a reader.” —Anika Fajardo (@anikawriter on IG)
Here we are again friend. I’m in the midst of rebranding so you’re listening to CNF, the show where I talk to badass writers, filmmakers, producers, and podcasters about the art and craft of creative nonfiction.
In any case, I hope decide to subscribe to CNF wherever you get your podcasts. And if you’d be so kind, I’d appreciate a rating or review over on Apple Podcasts. They help validate the show.
Also, keep the conversation going on Twitter by joining me @BrendanOMeara and @CNFPod. Tag the show and I’ll jump in the fire. It’s all good.
I think you’ll get a lot of tasty nuggets out of this episode. I hope you enjoy it and you share it widely with your CNFin’ friends!
Hey, CNFers, I’m Brendan O’Meara and this is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I talk to badass writers, filmmakers, radio producers, and podcasters about the art and craft of telling true stories. I try and chart their journeys through the arts and reveal how they deal self-doubt, anxiety, and still manage to get the work done.
Be sure to go subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.
Oh, and I’m doing the thing again, that thing that where I offer editorial coaching of up to 2,000 words of your writing in exchange for a review on Apple Podcasts. Post your review. They take up to 24 hours and email me creativenonfictionpodcast at gmail dot com with a screenshot of the review and i’ll reach out and help out with a piece you’re working on up to 2,000 words, a $150 value.
Okay, so I’ve got the amazing, incomparable and, jacked Jericho Brown. Here’s a little bit about Jericho, whose new book, The Tradition, published by Copper Canyon Press:
Jericho Brown is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, and the National Endowment for the Arts, and he is the winner of the Whiting Writer’s Award. Brown’s first book, Please (New Issues 2008), won the American Book Award. His second book, TheNew Testament (Copper Canyon 2014), won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. His third collection is The Tradition(Copper Canyon 2019). His poems have appeared in The Bennington Review, Buzzfeed, Fence, jubilat, The New Republic, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, TIME magazine, and several volumes ofThe Best American Poetry. He is an associate professor and the director of the Creative Writing Program at Emory University.
jerichobrown.com
If you want to read poetry that knocks the wind out of you, read Jericho.
This is one of my all-time favorites as we approach 150 of these things. We talk about his exercise routine, how poets are a special kind of nerd, experiences over destinations, his invented poetry form the Duplex, discipline, and so much more.
You’re gonna want a notebook, man.
Go follow Jericho on Twitter @jerichobrown and keep the conversation going with me @BrendanOMeara and @CNFPod on TWitter. IG is @cnfpod and Facebook is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast. Email the show creative nonfiction podcast @ gmail dot com and maybe I’ll read it on the air.
Share this show with a friend. You are the social network. I can tweet out a show all day long, but it comes down to you, friend. Rage against the algorithms.
How are you, CNFers? I’m Brendan O’Meara and this is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to badass writers, filmmakers, producers, and podcasters about the art and craft of telling true stories, chart their journey through this crazy world and offer a few tips along the way to help you get the work done.
Be sure to subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow me and the show on Twitter @BrendanOMeara and @cnfpod. You can follow the show on Instagram too where I post some great quote cards and audiograms from the show’s deep bench.
If you’re feeling friendly, please leave a review or a rating on iTunes. I’d love to see it reach 100, but it’ll take you. It’ll take you going that extra mile for you buddy BO. You know I love you for it.
Okay, so Meredith May is here to talk about her career and her new book. She was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize for a long feature she wrote back around the time of the second Iraq War for the San Francisco Chronicle. We talk about the toxic nature of the competition Olympics, and how writing about someone else in another book cracked open her memoir for her.
“I want to do right by these people. I want to tell a story that honors the stuff they did.”—Blake J. Harris (@blakejharrisNYC)
Ah, yes, it’s The Creative Nonfiction the show where I speak to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories. For episode 143 I have Blake J. Harris, author of Console Wars, and most recently The History of the Future: Oculus, Facebook, and the Revolution That Swept Virtual Reality.
Okay, we here are The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I talk to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories. It’s here we learn how they became the artists they are, the struggles they deal with, and the routines that allow them to get the work done, so you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work.
Dane, in my opinion, is the heir apparent to the most interesting man in the world. Just go to danehuckelbridge.com and check him out. It’s the best author site I’ve ever seen. Anyway.
Connor Ratliff, an improve performer at Upright Citizens Brigade and countless other projects, hopped on the show to talk about improve and his essay in Paste.
By Brendan O’Meara
“You build good habits, but the terrain going forward should be unknown to you.”—Connor Ratliff (@connorratliff on Twitter)
Connor Ratliff can be seen every Friday night performing with The Stepfathers, and every Sunday night performing in UCBT’s longest-running show, ASSSSCAT 3000. He is the creator of The George Lucas Talk Show, where real guests are interviewed by him while he pretends to be George Lucas. He was the warm-up comedian for The Chris Gethard Show on TruTV, as well as a frequent contributor to MNN version, where he launched his 2012 Presidential campaign and for which he co-created a series of experimental and animated shorts with award-winning artist Maelle Doliveux called The Lone Cornmeal Machine. He is also the co-star and co-creator of the web series I’m Too Fragile For This with Cathryn Mudon, and starred in the IFC web series, Bottled, and the current Comedy Central web series, Dollar Store Therapist. TV credits include Orange Is The New Black, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Search Party, The President Show, Debate Wars, The Characters, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Broad City, VEEP and hosting an episode of season 2 of The UCB Show on Starz. Feature films include Mike Birbiglia’s Don’t Think Twice, Netflix teen thriller Coin Heist and The Discovery, as well as the upcoming Standing Up, Falling Down (with Billy Crystal & Ben Schwartz). He has also appeared on This American Life and the Comedy Bang Bang podcast. You can hear Connor as the co-host of the podcast “12 Hour Day with JD & Connor” which is a 12-hour long podcast where every episode consists of an uncut and unedited twelve-hour conversation between himself and JD Amato. The Spirit Of Ratliff, his album of Secular XMAS songs & anti-Summer anthems written with singer/songwriter Mikey Erg is available as a limited edition 12″ Secular Red vinyl LP from State Champion Records. One time he got stuck on a train and Huffington Post and NBC News speculated that he had lost his mind. Google it, it was a real news story.
Bronwen Dickey, author of Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon, came by for the third time.
By Brendan O’Meara
“Clarity is the goal I want to be working toward. The more clear a piece of writing is, the more honest it feels.” —Bronwen Dickey (@BronwenDickey)
Ever feel like a garden gnome without a garden? That’s why I started this racket in 2013. This is the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I talk to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories.
Today’s guest returns for her third time. It’s Bronwen Dickey, author of Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon. She is LITerally, my best friend even though we’ve never met in person. She was so sweet. She asked about my baseball book as soon as she came on the phone and indulged me for almost seven minutes. So naturally I cut it.
J. Hope Stein reads from her work with her daughter.
By Brendan O’Meara
Hey, this is the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I talk to badass writers (like Mary Karr), filmmakers (like Lisa D’Apolito), and producers (like Scott Neumyer) about the art and craft of telling true stories. I try and unpack their origin stories to see how they became the artists they are. You might even learn a thing or two worth applying to your own work.
I’ve got J. Hope Stein for you today. Her latest book of poetry is titled Little Astronaut and it is about early motherhood. I don’t have nor want children. That is a spouse-approved sentence, and I loved this little book about being a parent. That should tell you something right there.
Leanna James Blackwell wrote an essay. It’s good. Real good.
By Brendan O’Meara
Tweetables by Leanna James Blackwell (@baypathmfaCNF)
“Don’t worry if you go through a fallow period. It doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.”
“When that idea comes, don’t wait, grab it, run.”
Okay, this is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I talk to badass writers (like Laura Hillenbrand), filmmakers (like Emer Reynolds), and producers (like Alexandra DiPalma) about the art and craft of telling true stories, how they became who they are, and the habits and routines that make them special, so maybe you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work.
