Episode 29: I see a swimming poll in your future with return guest Liz Blood! Also we take a moment to honor the beautiful life and tragic loss of poet Jane Hoogestraat. A brief discussion of recent poetic activity and then a wonderful talk with Tatiana Ryckman and Liz Blood as they discuss how to go about finding the necessary information and insp…

Episode 28: Endlessly Endless Attempting. In this episode we offer a great talk by Richard Farrell from the cool waters and mysterious babble of River Pretty in the heart of the Ozarks. Rich talks about hair cuts, being worthy of life’s wonder, simply the process, the right words rightly arranged, words prone to spats and fits, keeping the faith in…

Check out Episode 27: Written in Small Objects with the Return of Andrew Marshall. In this episode Tatiana and I get together and begin to determine the conversation going forward, the audience we can reach, the kind of small space we want to cultivate, and then Tatiana sits down with A.W. “Andrew” Marshall who recently published his first collecti…

Episode 26: A Grand Movement of the Mind and #SaveUAkronPressStaff On this episode we begin with a call to friend of the show, Poet Emilia Phillips, where fills us in on some unfortunate events that have taken place with University of Akron Press and the University’s President Scott Scarborough. Then in the regular show we turn the podcast over to …

Episode 25: The Act of Making and Unmaking. So we’re back it would seem for reals this time. For those just joining us welcome, for those returning thanks for coming back! For the next few months we’ll be giving an insight into dearly kept Ozark secret, The River Pretty Writers Retreat! And in this episode we hit the ground running with a wonderful…

Episode 24 And who shall wear the starry crown? This is the beginning of a special series of episodes with readings and talks recorded at the River Pretty Writers Retreat. The first of these was recorded last spring during River Pretty 6, and then recently when I was able to attend during River Pretty 7. They are unruly, they are bucolic, they are …

Back like your monthly paycheck, check out Episode 23: The Effects of a Tandem Kayak with the indomitable poet and editor extraordinaire Caitlyn Paley. We discuss Misty, the art of knuckling, confronting the zeitgeist, women in small press publishing, submission as art as process, the needs of the magazine when the work has its own suspense, lookin…

Holy Hiatus Batman! We’re back! Come check out Episode 22: a universe in every heart with Sarah Certa! We discuss the impression of the image on the page, poetry, hip hop dance inspiration, writing through the noise, workings of the human body, objectification, and making brash statements that will hopefully turn out to be untrue, maybe. So welcome…

Check out Episode 21: Where Have You Been? we got some announcements, predictions for the future with the amazing Rimas Blekaitis, we talk about the Second Generation, establishing roots, finding a home, the beauty of art in words and film, if nothing else Rimas just takes us on a wonderful ride. In What’s On my Desk this week, I briefly discuss th…

“In an infinite number of universes there are some just like our own…save for one or two significant differences” so someone once said. In this week’s episode we go all Earth 2 with our amazing host Tatiana Ryckman as she sits down with the poet Ian Bodkin to discuss his debut collection, Every Word was Once Drunk, from ELJ publications. They talk …

Join us for Episode 19: Of Poetry & Pinball Machines with our guest the fantastic and incredibly talented poet, Emilia Phillips. We discuss writing away from the self, the art of pinball, the ins & outs of using tilt in competitive pinball, knowing how to accept the poem, experiencing the process of writing both from pen to page to the key beneath …

Finally a legal citizen, check out Episode 18: On the Non-Livable Place of the Road with our guest the incredibly talented and inspiring Barbara Siegel Carlson. She discusses culling the poem together from the moment she wakes up with works of philosophy to poetry to what’s in the news to a hidden copy of the Brothers Karamazov. From there she take…

We’re here again with Episode 17: When Truth Goes Snikt with writer and generally awesome human being, Steve Rucker. We discuss the characteristics of Wolverine, the art of truthiness, streamlining the story, writing as punishment, making the discoveries, being a Dad and knowing when the work is second. Finally, in what’s on my desk this week I tak…

Welcome to Episode 16: The Hunk of Stone with our lovely guest the poet, Pamela L. Taylor. She discusses writing between Willy and Wally, living the double life of a poet, in her own words a data guru by day and a poet by night. She describes her process of carving down “The Hunk of Stone,” picking publications, and really knowing when the poem is …

Give a listen to Episode 15: Making the Choices with our guest the essayist John Proctor, we talk about revising being true to the work and to the family we might find ourselves writing about. In “Preparing the Space,” I discuss John Berryman’s poem “On Suicide,” which of course allows me to share some happy news. Then in “What’s On My Desk” I take…

Welcome to 2014 with Episode 14 Leaving Knives in the Garage with our guest, playwright, author and poet, Andrew Marshall. We discuss managing the expectations of the audience, determining the self-monitoring spigot, and learning how to enjoy the world with a dog. In “Preparing the space,” I discuss getting older and returning my writing to Saturn …

Welcome to Episode 13: Characters Kicking in my Door with our guest the writer/film maker Richard Hartshorn in a Haptic Cold. We discuss the mythos of the Tolkien universe adapting epics into film and the resolve of the character, who often is much more prepared for action than the author. In “Preparing the Space,” I discuss two quotes from e.e. cu…

It’s Episode 12: Merry Christmas Charlie Geoghegan-Celements with our guest Charlie Geoghegan-Celements we get into the holiday spirit with a discussion on writing, the process of being together in the electric boogaloo while writing to Drake and Black Metal, and of course the art of comics and Batman. With Holiday classics from Charlie Brown to Ne…

Give a listen to Episode 11: The Performance of Existing in a Place with our guest, the lovely, Tatiana Ryckman. We discuss drive-bys, Salinger, writing on the road, and are taken from the Ukraine across the country and behind the gates of Yaddo. In What’s On My Desk this week, we discuss the chapbook Bestiary of Gall by Emilia Phillips. So crack o…

Episode 10: After Inspiration With a Club with our guest the artist Chad Coffman. In this week’s episode we get to talk about Virginian Chickens, Gary Larson, satirical sculpture and the process of keeping action movies on in the background. Also in “What’s On My Desk This Week,” I discuss an old favorite, Boris By The Sea by Matvei Yankelevich fro…

Episode 09: Feeding the Unprecedented History of the World with Liz Blood. In this week’s episode we arrive late but give homage and honor to our poetic companion, the Orion. Also with the wonderful writer Liz Blood we discuss beginnings, struggles, and the rivers of writing and creation we all traverse. I know things get dark but it’s a hell of a …

We begin with a discussion of ekphrastic writing and the war photography of Robert Capa, then from The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly or Utah we have the poet Adam Love to discuss spoken word, page work, and his work as both poet, and an editor for the magazine Borderline. Then in “What’s on my Desk” this week…

We express these most unexpected blasts of light, followed by laughter and a good deal of fun with the artist Elizabeth Evans. Please check out some of her artwork posted below as well as her website elizabethevansart.com. Also we go all Batman Black and White. Enjoy. https://writteninsmallspaces.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/episode-07-elizabeth-eva…

In this episode kick back and contemplate. We have a wonderful discussion on the awareness of the writer’s vestibular space within physical, mental, and even spiritual engagement. By a similar fashion, I offer a brief talk on how I came across The Common Man by Maurice Manning. And in What’s on My Desk This Week, Adam Love’s chapbook Another Small …

Here be the people all River Pretty. Enjoy an Epic Reading from the following: https://writteninsmallspaces.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/river-pretty-special-03.mp3 Ed Henegar Andrew Marshall Sophfronia Scott Michael Brasier Denise Rector Bill Oakley Kitty Carpenter Chris Crabtree Derek Cowsert John Robertson Tim Leyrson Natalie Byers Kate Murr Ramo…

Do traditions carry us across a fallible passage? We read the sentence as is, the subject confronts the verb like a ship waiting to ferry or affect the object that we must admit remains out of reach; the edge of the possible. The poet Richard Jackson offers a talk “Out of Reach: Some Notes On How It All Began and Where It Is Headed and The Need To …

So a little more secret sauce mid-week. Again we offer you another Special Episode from River Pretty with readings from Jen Murvin, Lee Busby, Danielle Frandina, and the Richard Jackson. Break out the wine, pour some more vodka, or if you’re not in to the whole imbibing thing, have some tea, get some coffee going ’cause this is a sit back and just …

We come to you live from the River Pretty Writers Retreat with a wonderful panel discussion joined by Robert Vivian, Richard Jackson, Danielle Frandina, Steve Rucker, and Jen Murvin. Many things are covered. Enjoy! https://writteninsmallspaces.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/episode-04-a-delicious-plum.mp3 http://riverpretty.com Robert Vivian is the au…

What’s this all in the middle of the week? Well, I’ll tell ya, we’re given you some cool words. Please enjoy readings from Rich Farrell, Robert Vivan, and myself https://writteninsmallspaces.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/river-pretty-special-1.mp3 Rich Farrell: (fiction) Rich is a recent graduate from the MFA in Writing Program at Vermont College of …

Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen, we’re back! We have a wonderful episode for you this week with poet Lee Busby. Author of the chapbook, Wild Strawberries from Finishing Line Press, founding member of the River Pretty writer’s Retreat in Tecumseh, MO. He has published numerous poems and won an award for best poem in the 2008 issue of Moon City Review. …

This week we have the wonderful poet, J.S. Lee, author of the poetry collection somersaults I did as I fell. She takes us down to the river, the Mighty James river in the heart of Richmond, VA. We talk about the meaning of place, building a poetic community, and collaborative writing. In the second half, I discuss experiencing death and loss, and b…

In our first official episode we discuss accepting rejection and sit at the desk with Cheryl Pallant, poet, writer, dancer, all around amazing human being. Cheryl Pallant is the author of nine books, most recently Continental Drifts from BlazeVOX [Books] and a book on dance, Contact Improvisation: An Introduction to a Vitalizing Dance Form. We get …

In what I’m calling Episode Zero, Written in Small Spaces is unleashed on the world. I talk about friendship and being an artist, birthdays and Facebook, with some brief discussion of Joshua Edwards’s Imperial Nostalgias and Sasha Steensen’s The Method. So kick back and have a listen because this is only the beginning friends… https://writteninsmal…