Welcome to Qwerty, the podcast for writers on how to live the writing life. Host Marion Roach Smith interviews the best writers in all genres to discover their process. Qwerty is by, about and for writers and explores the real challenges of writing and the steps anyone can take to become a better storyteller. Listen in for writing tips, publishing advice and encouragement on how to live the writing life.
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Deborah Paredez is the author of the critical study, Selenidad: Selena, Latinos, and the Performance of Memory (Duke 2009) and the poetry collections, This Side of Skin (Wings Press 2002) and Year of the Dog (BOA 2020). Her poetry, essays, and commentary have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, National Public Radio, Boston…
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Rusty Gear is an Americana recording artist whose work explores the story of the USA and for whom the Qwerty Podcast host, Marion Roach Smith, writes lyrics. In this episode, they explore working together as creatives. What is the nature of good artistic collaboration? How do two writers work together? Listen in as we explore those themes and much …
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Margaret Juhae Lee has been been published in The Nation, Newsday, Elle, ARTnews, The Advocate, The Progressive and most recently in The Rumpus and Ploughshares Blog. She received a Bunting Fellowship from Harvard University and a Korean Studies Fellowship from the Korean Foundation in support of research for her recently published book, book, Star…
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Lissa Soep knows how to reanimate the voices of the dead, and she is here to teach you how to get those voices into your memoir writing. She is a senior editor for audio at Vox Media and special projects producer and senior scholar-in-residence at YR Media. She has a PhD from Stanford, where she studied education, social theory, and linguistic anth…
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Storyteller, actor and award-winning author, Alicia D. Williams is on The Qwerty Podcast to talk about her new book, Mid Air, illustrated by Danica Novgorodoff and just published by Atheneum. Her book, Genesis Begins Again received the Newberry and Kirkus Prize honors, and was a William C. Morris Award finalist and won the Coretta Scott King- John …
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Michael Jamin is an Emmy-nominated screenwriter who has been writing for television since 1996, and whose credits include Just Shoot Me, King of the Hill, Beavis & Butthead, Wilfred, Out of Practice, and Rules of Engagement. He’s also served as Executive Producer/Showrunner on Glenn Martin DDS, Maron, and Rhett & Link’s Buddy System. If you are int…
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Janet Skeslien Charles is a New York Times and international bestselling author whose work has been translated into 37 languages. Her shorter work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, The Sydney Morning Herald, and Montana Noir. Her 2021 novel, The Paris Library, became an instant New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today bestseller upon releas…
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Hal Schrieve is the author of the 2019 book, Out of Salem, selected for the National Book Award Long List for Young People’s Literature. Hal works as a children’s librarian at the New York Public Library. As a librarian, Hal has written educator guides to other queer books for children and teens. Hal has had poetry in Vetch magazine, and is feature…
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Suzette Mullen is the author of the new memoir, The Only Way Through is Out, just out from the University of Wisconsin Press. She is the founder of Your Story Finder, where she provides nonfiction book coaching. In 2021, she published a Tiny Love Story in The New York Times that was the seed that became her new book. Listen as she and host Marion R…
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Author, historian, essayist, bestselling novelist and commentator Kevin Baker has just published part one of his long-awaited two-part look into baseball and the city that formed it and was formed by it. Called The New York Game: Baseball and The Rise of a New City (Knopf, 2024), this was a labor of love from a super fan of both the city and the ga…
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Author, essayist, poet and activist Ani Gjika is an Albanian-born poet, literary translator, writer, and author of Bread on Running Waters (Fenway Press, 2013). A finalist for the 2011 Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize and 2011 May Sarton New Hampshire Book Prize, she moved to the US at age 18 and earned an MA in English at Simmons College and an MFA in p…
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Writer and author Meg Kissinger spent more than two decades traveling across the country to report on America’s mental health system for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. A Pulitzer Prize finalist, she has won two George Polk Awards, the Robert F. Kennedy Award, awards from Investigative Reporters and Editors, and two National Journalism Awards. Kiss…
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Writer, essayist, speaker and activist Taylor Brorby is the author of Boys and Oil, Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land, a NYT Editors’ Choice published in 2022 by Liveright, a division of W.W. Norton. He is also the author of Crude: Poems, Coming Alive: Action and Civil Disobedience, and he is the co-editor of Fracture: Essays, Poems, and Stories o…
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Known nationally and internationally as the woman who lived in one of the world’s smallest apartments, Felice Cohen is the award-winning author of the bestselling books Half In: A Coming-of-Age Memoir of Forbidden Love, 90 Lessons for Living Large in 90 Square Feet (...or More) (inspired by the YouTube video of her tiny NYC studio with over 25 mill…
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Washington Post contributing columnist and author Kate Cohen writes about American culture. Her new book, We of Little Faith: Why I Stopped Pretending to Believe (and Maybe You Should Too), is just out. Listen in as we discuss her book, writing about faith and the loss of it, and so much more. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Me…
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Mega-bestselling author Joanna Penn, whose 40 books span several genres, has now written a memoir after making three separate solo pilgrimage walks. The walks and this new book, Pilgrimage: Lessons Learned from Solo Walking Three Ancient Ways, allowed her to define for herself her personal definition of being a seeker. The QWERTY podcast is brought…
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When writer, author and advocate Kristin Jarvis Adams pitched a potential publisher on her book, she began with a sentence so startling that it made the publisher ask her to breakfast. The book that followed was full of such sentences. This is a conversation about an unlikely book on an nearly impossible topic to sell that worked. Be inspired by he…
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Writer, author and advocate Virginia Sole-Smith knows how to write into other's biases, and she writes right into them, giving us new language while she explores diet culture, anti-fat bias, feminism and health. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-S…
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Allison K. Williams utilized her years as what she calls an "unkind editor" to write and publish her fine book, Seven Drafts: Self-Edit like a Pro from Page to Book, which she discusses here on the Qwerty podcast. This skillfully constructed book breaks down the process of writing and self-editing into seven definitive drafts – the vomit draft, the…
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Kerri Maher knows how to choose topics to write about. The author of the USA Today bestseller, The Paris Bookseller, is back with one of the most compelling topics of our time. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life…
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Matt Mendez is the author of Barely Missing Everything, his debut novel, and the short story collection Twitching Heart. He writes from places that have been traiditonally ignored and brings his perspective to his work. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thorough…
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https://www.spiritual-af.com/ https://www.resourceforwriters.com/By Marion Roach Smith
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Alice Carriere has written a dynamic debut memoir from her unconventional, big downtown New York life. Raised in the art scene, she is practically burdened with great, vivid material, including a supporting cast of celebrity artists, actors and infuencers. How to write a memoir from a vivid, troubled upbringing? Like this. Listen in and learn how t…
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How to write memoir from the middle of the mess? Perhaps the expert on this is author Michele Cushatt, whose books from Zondervan, provide readers with the guidance to read and live through life's complications. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-S…
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Dave Pelzer, bestselling author of A Child Called It and Qwerty podcast host Marion Roach Smith talk about writing from a place of helping others. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own …
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How to write an anonymous memoir with Lamya H, author of Hijab Butch Blues. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own journey to writing what you know.…
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How to write a braided memoir? Author Robin Schepper and host Marion Roach Smith take on the topic of the braided memoir in this episode of The Qwerty podcast. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and be…
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Journalist and essaying Elizabeth Rau speaks with host Marion Roach Smith about the power of the personal essay, how to write from everyday life, and how to publish an essay collection in this episode of The Qwerty Podcast. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thor…
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Ep. 98 Jennifer De Leon: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
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On this episode of The Qwerty podcast, the award-winning Young Adult writer, Jennifer De Leon, discusses how to make a writing career by writing what you know Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and beg…
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How to write dog memoir. Writer and author Rona Maynard talks with Qwerty podcast host Marion Roach Smith about her new book, Starter Dog. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own journey …
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Naturalist, writer, author, illustrator and wildlife rehabilitator, Julie Zickefoose, speaks with Qwerty podcast host Marion Roach Smith about writing from nature. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, an…
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Memoirist Rebecca Fogg speaks with Qwerty opdcast host Marion Roach Smith about writing a first memoir and the lessons learned when writing from trauma. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin you…
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Author, translator and professor Heinz Insu Fenkl and host Marion Roach Smith talk about writing from one's own life story and the writing tools available from being an outsider. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Li…
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Author, essayist and humorist Iris Smyles and host Marion Roach Smith discuss how to write funny in this latest episode of the Qwerty podcast. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own jour…
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Ep. 92 Scott Keyser: A Podcast for Writers on How to Life the Writing Life
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Author Scott Keyser and host Marion Roach Smith discuss the great art of rhetoric on this episode of The Qwerty podcast. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own journey to writing what yo…
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Ep. 91 Shirley Showalter: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
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Author, opinion writer, essayist and speaker Shirley Showalter talks about how to write memoir with host Marion Roach Smith in this episode of the Qwerty podcast, a podcast by, for and about writers. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized …
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Ep. 90 Joanne Tubbs Kelly: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
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First time author Joanne Tubbs Kelly talks with host Marion Roach Smith on how to write the book you want to read. Listen in as they discuss Kelly's memoir, Walking Him Home: Helping my Husband Die with Dignity, just out from She Writes Press. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text fo…
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Ep. 89 Lisa Lucca: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
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In episode 89 of The Qwerty Podcast, author Lisa Lucca and host Marion Roach Smith take on the tricky topic of writing about our past while living in the present. Many decisions go into how to characterize ourselves, our family, the times and more as we look from here back to there, especially when viewed through the lens of changing cultural norms…
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Ep. 88 Amy Biancolli: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
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In this episode of The Qwerty podcast, we discuss how to write memoir about loss and grief with Amy Biancolli, author of two memoirs on that topic. Amy is a staff writer for Mad in America, an online site that takes on global mental health. Qwerty is the podcast by, for and about writers. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERT…
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Ep. 87 Shayla Raquel: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
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How and when should writers and authors promote themselves? Author branding maven Shayla Raquel walks us through everything you need to know about author branding in this episode of The Qwerty podcast. Qwerty is the podcast by, for and about writers. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book…
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Ep. 86 Beth Lapides: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
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Founder of UnCabaret and author of the audiobook So You Need to Decide, Beth and QWERTY podcast host Marion Roach Smith discuss the format of writing and recording an audiobook. Qwerty is the podcast by, for and about writers. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A T…
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Ep. 85 Martha Anne Toll: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
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Novelist, book reviewer and essayist Martha Anne Toll is on episode 85 of The Qwerty podcast to discuss writing fiction from the large themes of life. Qwerty is the podcast by, for and about writers. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. https://marionroach.com/By Marion Roach Smith
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Ep. 84 Zoe Sivak: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
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Debut novelist Zoe Sivak is on episode 84 of The Qwerty podcast with host Marion Roach Smith to discuss restoring diversity to historical narratives. Qwerty is the podcast by, for and about writers. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. https://marionroach.com/By Marion Roach Smith
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Ep. 83 Carolyn Sloan: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
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Writer, composer, musician and performer Carolyn Sloan is on episode 83 of the Qwerty podcast to talk about how to live the creative life with host Marion Roach Smith. Qwerty is the podcast by, for and about writers. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life. https://marionroach.com/By Marion Roach Smith
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Ep. 82 Margaret Roach: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
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New York Times garden columnist and author Margaret Roach talks about the fine art of writing what you know on episode 82 of The Qwerty podcast with host Marion Roach Smith. Qwerty is the podcast by, for and about writers. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life.By Marion Roach Smith
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Ep. 81 Marie Myung-Ok Lee: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
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Author Marie Myung-Ok Lee takes on writing with transparency, confronting bias in America and how to write across genres in this gorgeous conversation on episode 81 of The Qwerty podcast with host Marion Roach Smith. Qwerty is the podcast by, for and about writers. Listen in and learn how to live this writing life.…
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Ep. 80 Zibby Owens: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
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Author, podcaster, publisher, writer and influencer Zibby Owens on writing and publishing memoir The Memoir ProjectBy Marion Roach Smith
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Ep. 79 Melissa Faliveno: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
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Melissa Faliveno, the essayist and author of Tomboyland, talks about writing memoir that takes on gender, sexuality, and the America of now. The Memoir ProjectBy Marion Roach Smith
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Ep. 78 Scott Bane: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
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Essayist and author Scott Bane talks about how to research and write a biography that explores the partnership of two great American artists. The Memoir ProjectBy Marion Roach Smith
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Ep. 77 Anna Quindlen: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life
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Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author Anna Quindlen on how writing improves your life.By Marion Roach Smith
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