The Writer's Bio(luminescent) Podcast

Megan Marshall joins me to talk about writing from fragments—letters, objects, and the traces people leave behind—and how those pieces become a life in narrative form. We discuss the intimacy and responsibility of writing about others, and how that work turns us back toward our own lives.Megan is a Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer and the author of five books, including Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast, and  After Lives, out now--a collection of essays that moves between history, memoir, and the enduring question of how we make meaning from the lives around us.

Souvankham Thammavongsa joins me to talk about the discipline of not wasting a reader’s time, the risks of being read as earnest, and the role of wit and irony. We also discuss how time can act as a container for a life on the page—and what it takes to protect one's love of writing.Souvankham is the bestselling author of the novel Pick a Color, the story collection How to Pronounce Knife, and four books of poetry.

Daisy Alpert Florin joins me to talk about looking back to understand the present, the long path to a first novel, and the power of positive feedback. Daisy is the author of My Last Innocent Year, an acclaimed novel that explores the enduring echo of early choices and influences, and the moments that solidify to shape our lives.

José Olivarez joins me to talk about how poetry can hold love, humor, and resistance at once. We discuss audience, voice, and the many truths a poem can carry.José is the author of Promises of Gold and Citizen Illegal, award-winning collections that explore family, migration, and belonging.

Colby Cedar Smith joins me to talk about the long path to publication, the communities (and rejections) that shape us, and the verse novel as a space of compression and expansion.Colby is the author of The Siren and the Star and Call Me Athena, award-winning verse novels that center women’s voices and the enduring presence of the past.

Kevin Young joins me for a deep dive into the writing life. We discuss the intimacy of the archives, writing through grief, and the evolution of our work over time. Kevin is the author of multiple award-winning books of poetry and prose, his most recent being Night Watch (Knopf, 2025), and serves as poetry editor of The New Yorker. 

Ann Napolitano joins me to talk about writing toward connection. We discuss the long arc of a novel, what our characters teach us, and the ways we shape--and are shaped by--the stories we tell.Ann is the author of Hello Beautiful, Oprah’s 100th Book Club pick, and Dear Edward, now an Apple TV series, as well as novels that explore the complexities of family, longing, and repair.