The Lives of Writers

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Erin Slaughter and Lena Ziegler interview each other about literary friendship, navigating disclosure, dignity, and responsibility in memoirs about trauma, writing with compassion about your previous self and real-life people who have harmed you, the emotional realities and real-life risks of publishing memoir, and more.Erin Slaughter is the author of The Dead Dad Diaries (Autofocus Books, 2025). She is also the author of the short story collection A Manual for How to Love Us (Harper Perennial, 2023), and two books of poetry: The Sorrow Festival (CLASH Books, 2022) and I Will Tell This Story to the Sun Until You Remember That You Are the Sun (New Rivers Press, 2019). Her writing has appeared in Lit Hub, Electric Literature, CRAFT, The Georgia Review, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere. Originally from Texas, she holds an MFA from Western Kentucky University and a PhD from Florida State University. She is currently Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Coastal Carolina University.Lena Ziegler is the author of A Revisionist History of Loving Men (Autofocus Books, 2025). Her writing has appeared in Split Lip Magazine, Indiana Review, Literary Orphans, Miracle Monocle, Duende, Dream Pop Press, Anti-Heroin Chic, Gambling the Aisle, and others, and she has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She is a co-founder of the literary journal and press The Hunger. She holds an MFA from Western Kentucky University and a PhD from Bowling Green State University. She is the host of the music and literature podcast Reading Michael Jackson, available on all major podcast platforms. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband. She believes in magic, the transformative power of language, and the resilience of the human heart. Both these books are available together as part of the Autofocus Fall 2025 box.____________Conversation topics include:-- Becoming best friends and ideal readers a decade ago-- Starting The Hunger journal and press after MFAs and going into PhDs-- Their memoirs with Autofocus coming out a week apart-- Non-judgement and trust as readers, audiences, and friends-- Lena’s A Revisionist History of Loving Men, which deals with understanding sexual abuse in a context of normalized sexual violence-- Erin’s The Dead Dad Diaries, which deals with the murder of her father by her stepmom when Erin was 16 (and its effects as she came of age in her twenties)-- The dangers of memoir in creating a fixed narrative for the self-- Navigating disclosure, dignity, and responsibility in memoirs about trauma-- Memoir as the willingness to take up space -- The value in writing from personal experience-- Capturing the messiness of your coming of age with compassion-- The terminology victim and survivor and the complexity of human experience-- Accepted or expected narratives of trauma / self-determining justice-- Bringing compassion and humanity in writing to people who have harmed you-- The emotional reality about publishing a personal book about family or that family may read-- Bending form to tell these stories in memoir-- Questioning the story you’re telling in memoir-- The shifting nature of truth-- More about the emotional reality about publishing a personal book about family or that family may read-- Shame and healing (and not healing)_______________Podcast theme music  by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex and Culdesac. Here's his music project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.

This episode of The Lives of Writers is a recast of another podcast, Reading around the Margins. Normally, in each episode of Reading Around the Margins, host Naomi Washer talks with writers, readers, translators, publishers, and booksellers about how they interact with their books as objects; how their own marginalia consciously or unconsciously informs the books they come to write; and how the experience of reading brings a book into existence. In episode 9 of Reading around the Margins, LoW host and Autofocus Books publisher Michael Wheaton interviews Naomi Washer about her new book MARGINALIA: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY, which inspired her podcast (and is out now from Autofocus Books). You can also listen to this episode, of course, straight from the source in the Reading around the Margins feed.

Autofocus Books publisher Michael Wheaton presents brief readings and various interview clips with the authors of the three Autofocus  spring 2025 new releases: Erin Dorney (Yes I Am Human I Know You Were Wondering), Shayne Terry (Leave: A Postpartum Account), and Teresa Carmody (A Healthy Interest in the Lives of Others).Brief readings: "Day 27" by Erin Dorney, "Stitched Part II" by Shayne Terry, and "A New Writing Friend" (excerpt) by Teresa Carmody.Interview clips include answers to questions about life before and after writing their books, insights gained about their subjects through the process of writing their books, and thoughts on the craft and forms of artful autobiographical writing.Support Autofocus Books by purchasing The Spring 2025 Box and/or The Autofocus Digital Pass.Podcast theme: "Low Life" (instrumental) by Yeah Yeah Cool Cool (the musical project of Mike Nagel, author of Duplex and Culdesac, from Autofocus Books). Find Nagel's books at autofocusbooks.com.

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Andrew Bertaina interviews Nick Rees Gardner.Andrew Bertaina is the author of the essay collection The Body Is A Temporary Gathering Place, out now from Autofocus Books, and the short story collection One Person Away From You (2021), which won the Moon City Short Fiction Award. Nick Rees Gardner is the author of the story collection Delinquents and Other Escape Attempts (Madrona Books, 2024).  He's also the author of the novella Hurricane Trinity, a book of poetry, So Marvelously Far (2019), and a chapbook Decomposed (2017). ____________Full conversation topics include:-- buying a beer & wine store-- morning vs evening writing-- wanting to write-- running-- grandma as childhood poetry teacher-- emo poetry in high school-- drugs in college--short stories-- dropping out for rehab-- the short story collection DELINQUENTS-- from novel to story collection-- time-- knowing when a story is done-- rewriting drafts-- slowing down-- process-- reviewing books-- influence-- rhythm-- subverting the narrative of rehab____________Podcast theme music also provided by Mike Nagel. Here's more of his project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Jason McCall interviews Tasha Coryell.Tasha Coryell is the author of the debut novel Love Letters to A Serial Killer. Her forthcoming novel, Matchmaking for Psychopaths, is now available for preorder.Jason McCall is the author of the essay collection Razed by TV Sets (Autofocus, 2024) and the poetry collections What Shot Did You Ever Take (co-written with Brian Oliu); A Man Ain’t Nothin’; Two-Face God; Mother, Less Child ; Dear Hero; I Can Explain; and Silver. He and P.J. Williams are the editors of It Was Written: Poetry Inspired by Hip-Hop. ____________Conversation topics include:--seasons / the cold-- ambience videos-- wanting to be a writer at eight-- re-shifting priorities-- moving into the thriller genre-- learning to write novels-- relaxing about publishing-- running-- unpublished novels-- writing while succeeding-- the debut novel Love Letters to a Serial Killer-- the journey of the manuscript to publication-- a very millennial character-- academia-- reading about serial killers / true crime-- enjoying writing the character-- writing an entertaining book-- the forthcoming Matchmaking for Psychopaths_______________Podcast theme music  by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex and Culdesac. Here's his music project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Jason McCall interviews Juan Carlos Reyes.Juan Carlos Reyes is the author of the story collection, Three Alarm Fire, which is out on October 22, and the novella  A Summer's Lynching. His stories, poems and essays have appeared in Florida Review, Waccamaw Journal, and Hawai’i Review, and more. He has been the recipient of the Gar LaSalle Artist Trust Storyteller Award, a PEN USA Emerging Voices Fellowship, and a Jack Straw Writers Fellowship, among others. Jason McCall is the author of the essay collection Razed by TV Sets (Autofocus, 2024) and the poetry collections What Shot Did You Ever Take (co-written with Brian Oliu); A Man Ain’t Nothin’; Two-Face God; Mother, Less Child ; Dear Hero; I Can Explain; and Silver. He and P.J. Williams are the editors of It Was Written: Poetry Inspired by Hip-Hop. He holds an MFA from the University of Miami. He is a native of Montgomery, Alabama, and he currently teaches at the University of North Alabama.____________Conversation topics include:-- pre-pub ramp-up-- reading as gateway to writing-- the influence of children on reading habits-- being born in Ecuador in the 1980's-- moving to New Jersey as a kid-- wanting to become a writer-- owning it and changes majors-- vicarious creativity-- trying to get writing work-- entering the world of writers-- working temp jobs-- from getting an MFA to tenure-track teaching-- doing stuff in Seattle-- working with Hinton Publishing-- the new story collection Three Alarm Fire-- overlapping voice-- triptychs-- (re)organizing the collection-- fun in the nuances of craft-- narrators as people-- finishing a new draft_______________Podcast theme music  by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex and Culdesac. Here's his music project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Drew Hawkins interviews Jami Attenberg.Jami Attenberg is a New York Times bestselling author of  now eight books of fiction, including The Middlesteins and All Grown Up; a memoir, I Came All This Way to Meet You; and 1000 Words: A Writer's Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round. She is the founder of the annual #1000WordsofSummer project, and maintains the popular Craft Talk newsletter year-round. Jami's new novel is A Reason to See You Again.Drew Hawkins is a writer and journalist in New Orleans. He's the producer and host of Micro, a podcast for short but powerful writing. You can find his work on NPR, The Guardian, Scalawag Magazine, HAD, and elsewhere. His essay, "Bottom of the X," came out recently in the summer 2024 issue of Autofocus.____________Full conversation topics include:--Jami's 10th book, A Reason to See You Again-- ground rules for the new book-- first lines-- family games-- loss-- time in the novel-- phones and social -- perspective and interiority-- "screen time" for characters-- New Orleans-- a perfect writing day-- 1,000 words-- readings______________Podcast theme music  by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex and Culdesac. Here's his music project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Drew Hawkins interviews Kirsten Reneau.Kirsten Reneau is the author the debut full-length essay collection, Sensitive Creatures, which is out now with Belle Point Press.  of two chapbooks, and her work has been published in The Threepenny Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Reed Magazine, and others. Drew Hawkins is a writer and journalist in New Orleans. He's the producer and host of Micro, a podcast for short but powerful writing. You can find his work on NPR, The Guardian, Scalawag Magazine, HAD, and elsewhere. His essay, "Bottom of the X," came out recently in the summer 2024 issue of Autofocus.____________Full conversation topics include:-- Kirsten's debut book Sensitive Creatures-- three different selves in three different stages-- sexual assault and gendered violence-- writing the very personal-- infusing nature in the writing-- images and animals-- younger self as ideal reader-- ideal writing situations-- post-writing situations-- stages of the manuscript into final book-- editing literary mags and writing-- organizing a collection-- cicada season -- turning the page with CNF-- the thing that scares you-- implicating others-- reading magical realism-- care______________Podcast theme music  by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex and Culdesac. Here's his music project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Kristine Langley Mahler interviews Dennis James Sweeney.Kristine Langley Mahler is the author of three nonfiction books: A Calendar Is a Snakeskin  (Autofocus Books, 2023), Curing Season: Artifacts (West Virginia University Press, 2022), and the erasure essay collection Teen Queen Training (forthcoming with Autofocus Books in 2026). Kristine is the director and publisher of Split/Lip Press.Dennis James Sweeney is a cross-genre writer. His first book, In the Antarctic Circle, won the Autumn House Rising Writer Prize and was a Debut Poetry Book of 2021 in Poets & Writers. You’re the Woods Too, his second book, was a Small Press Distribution bestseller and a finalist for the Deborah Tall Lyric Essay Prize. Most recently, The Rolodex Happenings won the Stillhouse Press Novella Prize.____________Full conversation topics include:-- slowing production-- reading before bed-- Dennis's forthcoming book How to Submit-- small presses-- hybridity-- Dennis's first books-- Dennis's essay Ghost/Home-- photographs-- Crohn's-- Dennis's new novella, The Rolodex Happenings-- imaginings and inventions and experiments-- performance art-- the gaps in our writing-- artmaking-- the gong moment-- meaning-making-- the real in the fiction____________Podcast theme music  by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex and Culdesac. Here's his music project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Kaycie Hall interviews Puloma Ghosh.Kaycie Hall is the lead editor of our online journal Autofocus. She's also a writer and literary translator, whose work has appeared in Peach Mag, Neutral Spaces, Triangle House Review, and other journals. Puloma Ghosh is the author of the debut short story collection Mouth (Astra House, 2024). Her work has appeared previously in One Story, CRAFT Literary, Cutleaf, and other publications. ____________Full conversation topics include:-- starting a new job after a layoff-- balancing writing and illustration-- elementary school notebooks-- the short story collection MOUTH-- putting together a collection after an MFA-- being generous to a past self-- Puloma's story "The Fig Tree"-- story changes through drafts-- elements of horror and supernatural-- Puloma's stories "Anomaly" and "Natalia"-- ordering the stories-- working on novels-- green M&M fanfic____________Podcast theme music  by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex and Culdesac. Here's his music project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.