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OUR LATEST SHOWS:
erik larson
Bestselling
author Erik Larson discusses two of his nonfiction books: Devil in the White City (which
juxtaposes the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition and the
nation's first serial killing) and Thunderstruck! (that
deals with the invention of radio and England's second-most
famous murder). In this conversation with New
Letters' Dennis Conrow, Larson reveals how he uses
historical facts to create a novelistic approach to writing
nonfiction.
Growing up in small-town Missouri with
a single mother, Mia Leonin always thought she was part
Filipino, until she discovered her birth father later in
life, after her mother had led her to believe he was dead.
This is the background for her first book, a coming-of-age
story in poetry called Braid.
Leonin now lives in Miami where she continues to explore her
Cuban roots. She discusses the sound and aural qualities of
poetry, and her collaboration with her musician husband,
Carlos Ochoa on the CD that is included in her 2008 book,
Unraveling the
Bed.
Hear more on the website extra:
Real Audio
Windows Media
Former poet
laureate of Iowa, Robert Dana, reminisces about attending
the Iowa Writers Workshop after World War II, and being in a
class with poets Donald Justice and Henri Coulette.He reads poems in memoriam to
those writers from his 2008 collection
The Other, and talks
about the influences of languages he heard growing up in
immigrant and working-class areas of Boston and small towns
in New England.
Hear more on the website extra:
Real Audio
Windows Media
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ABOUT NEW LETTERS ON THE AIR:
New Letters on the Air,
hosted by Angela Elam, is the half-hour radio companion
to the literary quarterly magazine New Letters. Past guests include U.S. Poet Laureates Ted Kooser, Rita Dove, Billy Collins; Pulitzer Prize winning
playwrights August Wilson, Suzan-Lori
Parks, Tony
Kushner and novelists Jim Harrison, Jane Smiley, Richard
Russo. The program, which also features emerging
writers of poetry, fiction, drama and creative
non-fiction, is produced by the University of
Missouri-Kansas City and distributed via Public Radio’s
Content Depot.
Angela Elam,
Host of New Letters on the Air
THE STORY OF NEW LETTERS ON THE AIR
New Letterson the Air celebrates its 30th
year as one of the nation's leading audio-literature
collectors and broadcasters. David and Judy Ray
began New Letterson the Air in 1977 as the radio companion to the
distinguished literary quarterly New Letters.
Rebekah Presson Mosby worked as a producer and then host
from 1982 until 1995. Now, producer/host Angela
Elam continues the tradition with New Letters
editor Robert Stewart
and other members of the New
Letters staff. New Letters on the Air
is not only a weekly program broadcast over many public
radio stations, but is also one of the largest and best
collections of recordings of contemporary authors, both
from the United States and around the world.
Many of these important
writers—Allen Ginsberg, Jane Kenyon, Howard Nemerov,
Michael Dorris, James Dickey, John Gardner, Gwendolyn
Brooks—have now passed from the literary scene. Many
are Nobel laureates, winners of Pulitzer Prizes or
National Book Awards. Most programs from our
extensive archives are offered for sale on audiocassette
or CD.
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You may use the left-side search parameters in any
combination. You can search by author name, ID,
Genre or Interview Year. For example, to find all
authors who have a last name beginning with "A" simply
put an "a" in the text box field, on the drop down box
select On The Air and press the enter key.
