The Lives of Writers

Michael talks with Todd Dillard about his every day, his family, video games, comic books, coming to poetry, his first collection WAYS WE VANISH, writing the personal surreally, short books, process,…

Michael talks with Lyd Havens about moving back to Boise, their recent book of poetry CHOKECHERRY, losing family to suicide, growing up too early, grief, writers in the family, finding the right word…

Michael talks with Rob Fromberg about his childhood in a family of alcohol, art, & autism, moving out to New York City alone as a teen, his new scene-driven fragmented memoir about it all, the role o…

Michael talks with David Kirby about his parents, the impact of early rock n roll on him, the course of his life in poetry, his new collection, the use of information in his poetry, the length and fo…

Michael talks with Shawn Berman about sharing 350 square feet, starting The Daily Drunk, writing humor poems and essays about his life in pop culture, coming up with titles, writing in direct address…

Michael talks with Taylor Byas about the release of BLOODWARM, Twitter feeds becoming too much, saving yourself, writing about race and patriarchy through the personal, revising while drafting, findi…

Michael talks with D.T. Robbins about taking a break from drinking, his childhood, his divorce, his remarriage, publishing his first book of "poems," starting Rejection Letters, the persona at play o…

Michael talks with Lucas Mann about becoming a father after his third book, Reality TV, the different modes of his nonfiction work, the importance of friction in writing, his newest and upcoming work…

Michael talks with Matt Mitchell about moving to Columbus, getting into poetry after high school, Hanif Abdurraqib, writing The Neon Hollywood Cowboy & Grown Ocean & his next book, rock memoirs, list…

Michael talks to Courtney Cook about borderline personality disorder in her life and the media, her path to publishing her first graphic memoir with Tin House, dealing with the vulnerability and secr…

Michael talks with Danielle Rose about her family of readers, coming to poetry from punk rock, competitive virtual racing, writing personal work at a distance, recent chapbooks, coming back to writin…

Michael talks with Bud Smith about heavy construction, making time to write, a new revision process involving a typewriter, his upcoming "major label debut," the social aspect of being a writer, Kurt…

Michael talks with Amorak Huey about growing up in Alabama, his mother's house burning down, his father's writing, his path to poetry, his fourth book of poems Dad Jokes from Late in the Patriarchy (…

Michael talks with Amy Fusselman about life before her first book, feeling more vulnerable now writing fiction, the embryo of her novel-in-progress, the option of hippos, video games, the dilemma of …

Michael talks with Aaron Burch about starting Hobart in the early 2000's, the phenomenon of HAD on Twitter, his forthcoming novel Year of the Buffalo, divorce, (lack of) ambition, and more.

Aaron Burc…

Michael talks with Marie Conlan about anti-memoir, intergenerational trauma, contextualizing yourself in a lineage, expecting a child, building a house on a mountain, and more.

Marie Conlan's first bo…

Michael talks with Heather Sweeney about finding oneself as a writer/artist, wading through the muck of social media, and all sorts of things in between.

Heather Sweeney is a writer, teacher, and visu…

Michael & Ryan talk with Tyler Gillespie about Florida, interviewing the kind of people who wrestle alligators, writing essay vs. poetry, balancing it all, and Gay Days at Disney.

Tyler’s new book, Th…

Michael & Ryan talk with Jennifer Calkins about her novel Fugitive Assemblage (The 3rd Thing, 2020), evolutionary biology, environmental law, aliens, viruses, personal hauntedness, and more.

This is o…

Michael and Ryan talk with Erin Slaughter and Lena Ziegler, editors of The Hunger, about collaboration and confession in their ongoing co-authored memoir project and in their individual work as PhD c…