A chat with Kao Kalia Yang

We're launching Season 2 with award-winning poet and essayist Michael Kleber-Diggs (Wordly Things), who talks about inspiration, Coke Zero, and nurturing artists.

For the final episode of Season 1, listen to our conversation with poet and picture book author Bao Phi. And hear how a poem about a cinnamon donut can encompass so much wisdom.

Join us for the long-awaited interview with award-winning superstar author Kao Kalia Yang, recent record-breaking winner of 3 Minnesota Book Awards in 3 categories in 1 year.

Author Diane Wilson (The Seedkeeper,Spirit Car, and other books) chats about bog stewardship, kombucha, and living with the earth. In this delightful and wide-ranging conversation hear about how we can think about our environment and the land in a positive way, the power and wisdom of stories, and finding your way as a writer.

National Book Award winning author Pete Hautman joins us to talk about breakfast, motivation, writing with his wife and co-author Mary Logue, and his latest novel for children: Answers to Dog.

Picture book author and poet Ty Chapman talks about process, rap as poetry, and his cats. He reads his recent poem from Poets.org and shares more about his motivation for writing for children. Learn more: www.gobblefunking.com/guests/ty-chapman

Sheila O'Connor is the author of the genre-bending novel for adult readers, EVIDENCE OF V, as well as several other novels including SPARROW ROAD for middle-grade readers. We chat about process, poetry, silence, and her surrealist professor. https://www.gobblefunking.com/guests/sheila-oconnor

Newberry-winner Kelly Barnhill chats about her books and the honor of writing for children. She also reads from her adult novel, When Women Were Dragons, and talks about her brain injury, which she beautifully documented in a NYT opinion essay. www.gobblefunking.com/guests/kelly-barnhill

Sun Yung Shin, a self-proclaimed poetry evangelist, joins us as our inaugural guest on Gobblefunking with Words. We chat about not only poetry but also her children's books, politics of writing, and even why she used to consume lots of Mountain Dew. “You can use a very few words [in poetry and picture books] to try to get at some very big ideas.” -Sun Yung Shin