In the Margins

Hi listeners!

We hope you’ve enjoyed the first 6 months of podcasts with us “In the Margins.” We’ve had some inspiring conversations with editors like Jeff Shotts from Graywolf Press, Crystal Simone Smith of Backbone Press, and Kevin Larimer, editor in chief of Poets & Writers Magazine. We’ve learned what it takes to get into a prestigious program like NC State’s...

In this episode we speak with Melissa Hassard, partner and Director of Marketing of Sable Books, a publishing, design and consulting company that assists writers with publishing and marketing their work. She established Women Writers of the Triad in 2012, with the goal of building a gathering of women writers who support all writers. Throug...

In this episode we speak with Kevin Larimer, Editor in Chief of Poets & Writers. A crucial source of information and guidance for creative writers, Poets & Writers is the nation's largest nonprofit literary organization...

In this episode we speak with Elizabeth Burke-Dain, Marketing and Media Director for the Poetry Foundation. With a $200M endowment and its prestigious Poetry Magazine dating to 1912, The Poetry Foundation is the largest organization promoting poetry in the United States. Join us as we learn how the Poetry Foundation works to ensure poetry has a "vigorous presence... in our culture".

Graywolf Press is a leading independent publisher of contemporary American and international literature. In this episode we talk with Executive Editor Jeff Shotts to learn how they discover and work with leading writers such as Eula Biss and Claudia Rankine. We also learn how their non-profit status allows them freedom to work at the leading edge of the art and what he means when he suggests writers "...

Managing Editor, Crystal Simone Smith has “a small press with a big vision.”  Smith describes her transition from graphic designer to press editor and the importance of publishers who support ethnic minority writers.

Podcast Notes:

Crystal Simone Smith was raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland and educated in North Ca...

How does a writer improve? In this episode, two prominent writers and writing professors from North Carolina State University’s graduate program in creative writing share their insight into the creative process. With over 50 years of teaching experience between them, poet Dorianne Laux and fiction writer John Kessel offer advice to all levels of writers, reminding us to always try “once more, with fee...

The Association of Writers and Writing Programs is a premier annual event with over 12,000 attendees. This year's conference will include over 2,000 presenters and over 550 readings, panels and craft lectures. The accompanying bookfair hosts over 700 exhibitors consisting of presses, journals and literary organizations from all over the world.

Join our regular hos...

Poet Ross White reads from his new chapbook, “How We Came Upon the Colony” (Unicorn Press, 2014). The conversation travels from White’s imagined 14th colony of the New World to his foundation in imporv comedy.

Podcast Notes:

Ross White, Poet, Executive Director of Bull City Press: http://www.rosswhite.com/

Author Therese Anne Fowler shares exciting news about her latest book, Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, which follows the wild lives of roaring twenties literary icons Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Podcast Notes:

Therese Anne Fowler is the author of the New York Times best seller Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald and three pr...

There are many ways to learn the craft of writing. In the Margins, we take a close look at North Carolina State University’s graduate program specializing in the art of poetry and fiction. Program Director and poet, Dorianne Laux and John Kessell, a member of the fiction faculty, pull back the curtain to the admissions process for the MFA program at NC State and give us insight into the landscape of e...

Crystal Simone Smith, poet and Managing Editor of Backbone Press,  discusses her new chapbook, “Running Music” (Longleaf Press, 2014) which explores her experiences as a  runner, family, and grief. As one who began writing professionally as an adult, Smith says, “It’s never too late to find poetry.”

Podcast Notes:

Crystal Simo...

Executive Director, Ross White gives insight to the origins of Bull City Press, the micro-jo...