Memoir Nation has a touching episode this week with fashion designer Prabal Gurang, who shares about his relationship with his... more

Molly Jong-Fast’s new memoir, How to Lose Your Mother, is celebrity memoir meets real literary merit. As fans of Molly’s... more

This week Grant and Brooke consider images as enhancements to memoir. Historically publishers have tended to regard images in memoir... more

This week’s Memoir Nation show is an exploration of Hawai’i, heritage, and land—part of the story told in guest Sara... more

Victoria Chang has been one of the country’s most prolific poet-writers of the past few years, with a series of... more

All memoirists at some point in the writing process will grapple with what’s theirs to tell. This week's show focuses... more

This week’s show is a fun and fascinating consideration of all the ways we’re shaped by technology and how we... more

This week, Amanda Knox granted us a special interview that delves into the power of memoir to reclaim your own... more

On the heels of Mother’s Day, tune into Memoir Nation this week for a conversation about *mother as character*—among many... more

This week on Memoir Nation, Jill Ciment joins us to talk about what it means to reconsider a previously written... more

We’ve been waiting a long time to make this announcement, and the day is finally here. Write-minded is rebranding as... more

Writers, authors, you do not want to miss these great insights about reading on stage, taking up space, and generally... more

This week we’re featuring longtime agent and publishing pro Betsy Lerner on her debut novel, Shred Sisters. We talk about... more

A few weeks back, Grant suggested Write-minded dedicate a whole episode to All Fours, by Miranda July—and we decided to do... more

Write-minded delves into publishing again in this week’s show, specifically focused on traditional publishing and the feelings that are part... more

This week we invite one of our favorite authors, Lidia Yuknavitch, back to Write-minded to discuss her new book, Reading the... more

This week’s episode tells the story of a dramatic and traumatic story, and how writing played a central role in... more

If part of why you write is because you have some things to share from a life well- or hard-... more

There’s a caveat out the gate here, which is that in this week’s interview, Tom Perrotta stipulates that he writes... more

This week's guest is Jean Kwok, a writer known for writing literary thrillers, which is the blending of literary writing... more

This week, Grant and Brooke talk with Dennis James Sweeney about his new book, How to Submit. If you've ever... more

This week we’re focusing on a little celebrated but much important aspect of storytelling: your story’s scope. How much ground... more

This week we’re looking into the stories that inspire and move us, focusing on those that focus on everyday characters... more

Are you considering doing a writers’ retreat this year? Whether you want to create your own, find something far-flung and... more

On this week’s show, we’re recognizing and honoring how far we’ve come in the world of fiction in the past... more

This week we touch upon the struggle that presents itself for memoirists who can’t or won’t let the past stay... more

We welcome you to 2025 with a show that explores the exploration of form. In this conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning... more

Welcome to Write-minded's 7th New Year's show—where Grant and Brooke always circle around their challenge with resolutions, even as they... more

This week’s show focuses on endings, and beginnings. Guest Zahid Rafiq, who’s written a short story collection whose endings serve... more

This week’s show features guest Faith Adiele, who’s just released two chapbooks that are in conversation with one another. These... more

This week guest Jeannine Ouellette returns to Write-minded to share some specific teachings and practical tips for writers who want... more

This week’s Write-minded delves into our cultural and literary relationship with drugs, examining the role drugs play in creativity and... more

This week’s episode is a deep conversation that covers love, embracing contradiction, and guest Carvell Wallace’s journey to and through... more

This week Write-minded is exploring listening—as a practice, as an experience, as something that interacts with our writing. Guest Elizabeth... more

This week’s episode is inspired by guest Barbara Ridley’s new novel, Unswerving, whose central protagonist is gay and disabled. We explore the... more

It could be said of this week’s guest that she, like the title of this week’s show, is fascinating and... more

As Write-minded is wont to do, we bring you another tell-it-like-it-is reality bites episode about book publishing. And while the... more

This week’s Write-minded is a thoughtful conversation about where writers’ values meet public persona and the writing life. Guest Maggie... more

A rocking ride through punk influence on prose and story, this interview with guest Joshua Mohr is, more than anything,... more

Anne Lamott joins Write-minded this week to talk about so many things—what she writes about; how she kills her darlings;... more

This week, to draw attention to Banned Books Week and to stand in solidarity with publishers, authors, and all industry... more

This week’s episode is inspired by Grant’s recent rejection journey. Yes, listeners, Grant’s book about rejection has been roundly rejected—so... more

This week’s guest, Brontez Purnell, is the kind of writer who’s either hard to pin down, or just won’t be.... more

We kick off a new season with the brilliant Jane Alison and a wide-ranging conversation about form and structure in... more

For our final summer round up of our favorite shows, Write-minded chose Maggie Smith and Shze-Hui Tjoa, highlighting two bright... more

In celebration of the kind of fiction readers love but the industry doesn’t always know what to do with comes... more

In this second week of Write-minded’s August mashups, we bring back the heartfelt interviews with Javier Zamora and Susan Kiyo... more

Every August Grant and Brooke share their summer plans and writing aspirations and hopes and fails, along with some mashups... more

Most writers either have or will have a failed or abandoned book project—or two, or three, or four—over the course... more

This week’s episode airs Brooke in conversation with Naomi Klein at this year’s Bay Area Book Festival. While this interview... more

Secrets come in all forms, big and small. We inherit secrets, carry the secrets of others, and struggle with the... more

This week’s guest, Jayne Anne Phillips, is a Pulitzer prize-winning author for her latest book, Night Watch, which gives Write-minded an opportunity... more

This week’s Write-minded centers questions, and how questions guide writers, drive fiction, and unearth important stories. Guest Rachel Khong shares... more

Write-minded is celebrating memoir as an evolving form this week, tackling the difference between imaginative writing in memoir and writing... more

This week we take on The Big Novel and unpack our thoughts on novel length, the very concept of The... more

It’s Write-minded’s 300th episode! And we’re celebrating by bringing listeners the esteemed Viet Thanh Nguyen, whose novel, The Sympathizer, was adapted for HBO... more

This week’s episode is one for book lovers, book collectors, aspiring authors, and every kind of writer. It’s always helpful... more

In this week’s extra-inspiring show, guest Dhonielle Clayton treats us to a generous conversation about effecting change in the industry... more

What will other people think? What will be the consequences of sharing my truth? These are among some of the... more

We’re living through a golden age of memoir, and guest Jennifer Leigh Selig’s Deep Memoir is a new contribution to... more

This week’s Write-minded takes on grief, and why, as our guest Claire Jiménez says, “it’s where language collapses.” Jiménez’s new book deals... more

This week Write-minded is interviewing an established writer whose star is on the rise. Elwin Cotman’s new story collection blew... more

This week Write-minded reaches broadly into the topic of intimacy to explore its many permutations—not just romantic, but innocuous, violent,... more

This week’s guest is John McMurtrie, the esteemed former editor of the San Francisco Chronicle’s book review section. Join us... more

What does it really mean to consider your own social responsibility as a fiction writer? Guest Naomi Kanakia confronted that... more

Strap on your seatbelts ’cause we’re going for a ride—into the wild world of book publishing. Guest Kathleen Schmidt is... more

An episode about friendship, writing about friendship, and how friendship influences our writing lives. As a community-minded podcast, Write-minded has... more

This week’s Write-minded show examines the nuanced and deep exploration at the heart of guest Lissa Soep’s new book, Other People’s... more

Ready for a reprieve? Join Brooke and Grant and this week’s guest, Neely Tubati-Alexander, for a conversation about whether romance and... more

This week Write-minded wades into the important topic of writing about childhood trauma. Trauma is at the heart of many... more

It's important to learn from the challenges of a failed book rather than allowing it to define your career. The... more

A fun episode about aesthetic, language, and paying attention to style and taste in writing. This week’s guest K-Ming Chang... more

Ghostwriting and work-for-hire are great ways to break into the publishing industry and to make a living as a writer.... more

This week’s Write-minded floats into the magical and surreal world of Ingrid Rojas Contreras, who talks about her new memoir, The... more

In this gorgeous, sensualistic, tactile, provocative episode of Write-minded, we explore the senses with Janet Fitch of White Oleander fame. In this... more

This week's episode moves beyond inspiring and into the territory of important, essential, and recommended listening—and reading. Guest Dr. Brian... more

Hidden stories are at the heart of many a novel and memoir, driving writers, often from very young ages, toward... more

Books were just books for hundreds of years, but in the past 20 years, we've experienced major shifts in how... more

Happy New Year! On this week’s Write-minded, Brooke and Grant take stock of last year’s resolutions and hold their own... more

This week we’re slowing down, inviting listeners to contemplate another world both far and not far away from this one... more

This week on Write-minded we’re coming back to a well-loved topic: Community! Only we’re tackling it from some new angles,... more

Join Grant and Brooke this week for a conversation about truth—emotional truth, essential truth, truth as the core driver of... more

This week's guests are the coeditors (and contributors to) Letters to a Writer of Color. Listen in to hear the profound insights... more

Pep Talk alert! Whether you’re writing a ton or writing a-none, this week’s episode is geared toward writers who are... more

This week Brooke shares an interview she recorded with Allison Gilbert about her new book, Listen World!, a biography of the most... more

Happy Halloween Week and Happy Start of NaNoWriMo. This week’s episode is a twofer because we’re bringing you a little... more

With her new memoir, You Could Make This Place Beautiful, guest Maggie Smith provides an example of how to break conventional... more

Whether you already love fanfiction or don’t really get it, you’ll want to tune into this episode for the sheer... more

This week’s co-authoring duo, Helen Macdonald and Sin Blaché, take us inside their relationship and share authentically and honestly about... more

One month out from National Novel Writing Month, this episode hopes to inspire listeners around the truism that the very... more

This week’s episode considers the intersection between dreaming and writing and how to harness not dreaming per se, but the... more

This week’s episode is an exploration of form, and why some stories are better contained in short story form rather... more

This week Write-minded explores point of view, especially those stories told with less conventional points of view. Uncommon points of... more

Write-minded is kicking off our sixth year this week with an episode focused on the skinny around what agents do,... more

Two of our favorite memoir episodes from last year revisited, with guests whose memoirs showcase exceptional craft—so much so that... more

This week we’re celebrating two of our more accomplished guests of last year. Grant and Brooke talk about the joy... more

This week we’re revisiting our favorite two book biz episodes from last year. Both episodes got more listener feedback than... more

This is the first of our summer favorites series, featuring Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and Ana Reyes. We’re revisiting our favorite... more

This week’s show takes on an age-old topic—that of all the ways family’s feelings, impressions, and reactions play a role... more

This week's guest Ben Purkert, author of the newly released novel, The Men Can’t Be Saved, gives us some insight into the... more

On this community-minded podcast, we love to host a community-focused episode from time to time. Guest Kellye Garrett shares the... more

This week’s episode spotlights one of the most popular types of stories we see in both memoir and fiction—the coming-of-age... more

This week Write-minded is expanding our literary horizons beyond the written word and into the myriad forms of visual creative... more

This week we’re talking about purpose and passion with guest N.D. Jones, a prolific author of fantasy stories and series... more

This week Grant and Brooke return to a topic we love—taking the leap, saying yes to the dare, finding inspiration... more

This is an onstage interview with Brooke Warner and this week’s guest Nicole Chung. Brooke interviewed Nicole at the Bay... more

We bring you a powerful show stemming from a powerhouse of a guest this week. Write-minded examines the intersection of activism... more

This week’s episode covers the importance of investigation and research in works of family and personal histories and memoirs. Guest Gretchen... more

If you’re a longtime listener, you know Write-minded loves a good show on the mystery, on the magic, on the... more

Resist, push back, go your own way! These are themes of today’s show as we talk about book publishing with... more

When it comes to writing about family, in memoir or fiction, writers must consider the ramifications. To write honestly, writers... more

If you’ve been taught never to talk about money, or if the idea of sharing your earnings publicly makes you... more

This episode honors a pioneer of a genre with guest Donna Hill, who pioneered a genre and hasn’t looked back.... more

This week’s episode features a bright new star in the literary universe, Jinwoo Chong, whose debut novel, Flux, was also... more

This week Write-minded rings in National Poetry Month with guest Heather Bourbeau in a conversation about poetry, working with themes, and... more

Longing is a subject, topic, theme, and obsession of countless stories that have shaped our literary landscape. Grant and Brooke... more

Peggy Orenstein joins Brooke and Grant this week to talk about a number of ideas at the center of her... more

Building tension in stories is part of writing good fiction writing, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to do—and it... more

If you write fiction, you already know you’re the master of the world you create on the page. That comes... more

What are some of the memoirs you’ve read and loved that share unspeakable truths? This question is at the center... more