Page Count

Season 4 Trailer

Page Count’s fourth season kicks off on April 8, 2025! Listen to snippets from just a few of our upcoming episodes featuring the following guests:
 
Matt Weinkam and Michelle Smith of Literary Cleveland discuss the film American Fiction, Percival Everett, and the economic realities of being a writer.
Lisa Ampleman, Managing Editor of The Cincinnati Review, discusses the art of editing by sharing a behind-the-scenes look at the editing process for a poem and short story recently published in the journal.
Melissa Carr, Archivist at Cleveland Public Library, brings history to life when discussing pioneering librarian Linda Anne Eastman.
Dr. Kim Kiehl, Executive Director of the Ohioana Library Association, discusses The Twilight Zone and creator Rod Serling’s Ohio connection.
Karen Henry Clark discusses her picture book, Library Girl, which illuminates librarian Nancy Pearl’s childhood and library origin story.
Dr. Taylor Byas discusses her latest and forthcoming poetry collections, her journey as a poet, and working as an editor of The Rumpus.
RW Franklin discusses the film The Tender Bar, Lit Youngstown, and her own writing journey.
 
Subscribe to Page Count wherever you get your podcasts to listen to these episodes and many more during our fourth season. The season—and our new Literary Screening series—debuts April 8 with an episode focusing on American Fiction with Literary Cleveland staff. A new episode of Page Count drops every two weeks, so stay tuned.
 
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Page Count Turns Three!

Laura and Don celebrate Page Count’s third anniversary by discussing some of their favorite episodes from Season 3, touching on everything from MacArthur geniuses to Annie Oakley, typewriters, graveyards, unicorns, bioluminescence, ghosts, Laura’s aversion to clip shows, and a lot more. They also look ahead to Season 4, which will introduce Literary Screening, a new series featuring conversations about films or TV shows with a literary connection. As always, Page Count’s upcoming season will include interviews with authors, librarians, publishing professionals, and literary organizers, along with live events, onsite audio tours, and more. Season 4 premieres April 8, 2025, with a trailer dropping March 25.
 
Laura Maylene Walter is Ohio Center for the Book Fellow at Cleveland Public Library, the host of Page Count, and the author of Body of Stars (Dutton). Don Boozer is the Literature Department Manager at Cleveland Public Library and the Ohio Center for the Book Coordinator.
 
Episodes Mentioned:
Page Count Live with Hanif Abdurraqib & Jacqueline Woodson
Page Count Live: Writing Toward Peace with Loung Ung
The Center for the Book Is a State of Mind
Rediscovering Dawn Powell
Exploring the Myth of Annie Oakley with Sara Moore Wagner
Carving a Story with Chiquita Mullins Lee & Carmella Van Vleet
100 Years of Writer’s Digest
Among the Graves in Ohio’s Cemeteries
Touring the Thurber House
New Year’s Resolutions for Writers
Be a Cockroach at the Columbus Book Festival
The Art of Audiobook Narration
Making Light with Julia Kuo
 
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Experimental Fiction with Mary Grimm

Mary Grimm leads listeners through the tunnels, dreams, purgatories, and ghost towns that appear in her new story collection, Transubstantiation. Along the way, she discusses her literary influences and heroes, experimental writing, story beginnings and endings, publishing short fiction in The New Yorker and beyond, the line between autobiographical fiction and creative nonfiction, setting fictional stories in real places, post-mortem photography, why she loves teaching writing, what makes a good title story in a collection, why she wrote a story in response to the “it was all a dream” trope, and more.
 
Mary Grimm’s previous books include the novel Left to Themselves and the story collection Stealing Time. Her stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Antioch Review, and the Mississippi Review, as well as in a number of journals that publish flash fiction, including Helen, The Citron Review, and Tiferet. Currently, she is working on a series of climate change novellas set in past and future Cleveland.
 
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Celebrating James Baldwin with Quartez Harris

Quartez Harris is here to discuss his new picture book, Go Tell It: How James Baldwin Became a Writer, which illuminates Baldwin’s childhood and literary foundation. Harris discusses Baldwin’s early challenges and support systems, how a young Baldwin found refuge in the library, Baldwin’s queer identity, and why glitter serves as a recurring metaphor in Go Tell It. In addition to shedding light on this great author’s beginnings, Harris also discusses his own development as a writer—how he came to love poetry after grappling with a learning disability, his writing and editing process for Go Tell It, what he’s working on next, and more.
 
Quartez Harris is a poet, teacher, and author. He was a Baldwin House fellow and named Ohio Poet of the Year for his book We Made It to School Alive, and his poetry has garnered numerous accolades. He spent many years as a second-grade teacher in the Cleveland public school system, and he currently spends his time writing and teaching poetry workshops. He lives in Ohio with his wife and son.
 
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Defending Goals & Breaking Barriers with Kelcey Ervick

Kelcey Ervick, author of the graphic memoir The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law that Changed Women’s Lives, is here to discuss soccer, women’s sports, Title IX, connections between goalkeeping and writing, rereading your teenage diaries, research for memoirists, her own evolution from athlete to writer to graphic memoirist, Viking names, and a lot more.
 
Kelcey Ervick is the author of four award-winning books, including The Keeper (Avery Books/Penguin), a 2025 Choose to Read Ohio selection and winner of a 2023 Ohioana Book Award. Her three previous award-winning books of fiction and nonfiction are The Bitter Life of Božena Němcová, Liliane's Balcony, and For Sale By Owner. She is co-editor, with Tom Hart, of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Graphic Literature. Ervick has a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati and is a professor of English and creative writing at Indiana University South Bend. She writes and draws stories of the creative life at her illustrated newsletter, The Habit of Art.
 
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Page Count Live: Writing Toward Peace with Loung Ung

In a special episode recorded before a live audience at the Inkubator writing conference, Laura interviews Loung Ung, whose bestselling memoirs detailing her experiences under the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia have moved readers worldwide. Ung discussed the genesis of her writing life, writing in a child’s voice for an adult audience, writing and publishing in English as a nonnative English speaker, overcoming anxiety about sharing her family’s story, how she met Angelia Jolie and came to co-write the screenplay adaptation of First They Killed My Father, her experiences with the filming process in Cambodia, how others can start on the activist’s path, what it means to write toward peace, and more.  
 
This conversation was recorded on September 20, 2024 at Cleveland Public Library as part of Literary Cleveland’s free Inkubator writing conference.
Loung Ung is an author, lecturer, and activist who has devoted her life to advancing human rights and equality in Cambodia and around the world. She is the author of the memoir First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (HarperCollins 2000), which tells the story of her survival under the Khmer Rouge regime, as well as Lucky Child and Lulu in the Sky, additional memoirs published by HarperCollins. She is currently working on a novel. In 2013, Ung expanded her activism as a writer for Girl Rising, a documentary film about girls’ education around the world. First They Killed My Father was adapted into a Netflix movie in 2017 by director by Angelina Jolie from a screenplay co-written by Jolie and Ung.
 
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

New Year’s Resolutions for Writers

We’re wrapping up 2024 by offering New Year’s resolutions for writers inspired by advice offered this year by some of Page Count’s guest authors: Ross Gay, Claire McMillan, Alison Stine, Jacqueline Woodson, Hanif Abdurraqib, Brian Broome, Sara Moore Wagner, Chiquita Mullins Lee, Leah Stewart, Rob Harvilla, Libby Kay, David Hassler, and Alex Rowland. From writing in new places to finding inspiration, letting go of perfection, making new writing friends, and beyond, these twelve resolutions can help writers start 2025 on a positive and productive note.
 
12 Resolutions for Writers:
Let go of perfection. (Page Count Live: Trash & Delight with Ross Gay & Alison Stine)
Protect your in-progress writing as necessary. (Alchemy of Writing with Claire McMillan)
Don’t be precious about where you write—and make good use of the available time you have to work, no matter how limited. (Page Count Live: Trash & Delight with Ross Gay & Alison Stine)
Don’t let a fixation on awards, publications, or recognition affect your writing process. (Page Count Live with Hanif Abdurraqib & Jacqueline Woodson)
Write outside of yourself and consider other perspectives—as well as the reader’s experience. (Cringe & Controversy with Brian Broome)
Leave your writing desk to go out into the world to research and experience new things. (Exploring the Myth of Annie Oakley with Sara Moore Wagner)
Don’t put pressure on yourself to publish on a certain timeline. (Carving a Story with Chiquita Mullins Lee & Carmella Van Vleet)
When the going gets tough, remember the beneficial parts of the writing life. (At the Sewanee Writers’ Conference with Leah Stewart)
Try not to take yourself so seriously, and don’t beat yourself up if you make a mistake. (Be a Cockroach at the Columbus Book Festival)
Make a new writing friend. (Be a Cockroach at the Columbus Book Festival)
Find inspiration in your daily life. (40 Years of Poetry with David Hassler)
Be resilient in your writing life. Better yet, be unkillable, like a cockroach. (Be a Cockroach at the Columbus Book Festival)
 
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Literary Cleveland Presents: Ruth Awad & Maggie Smith

In a virtual panel hosted by Literary Cleveland during the 2024 Inkubator writing conference, Ohio poets Ruth Awad and Maggie Smith consider how poetry can awaken us to new possibilities of being. Throughout their wide-ranging conversation, Awad and Smith discuss inspiration, hyphenated identities, poems as time capsules, poetic supervillain origin stories, and finding language for grief and rage as well as peace and liberation. What words keep us moving? How can poetry help us not just survive but find joy?
 
The event, titled “Outside the Joy: Poetry and Possibility,” was held September 18, 2024. Page Count thanks Literary Cleveland for making this episode possible.
 
Ruth Awad is a Lebanese-American poet, a 2021 NEA Poetry fellow, and the author of Outside the Joy (Third Man Books, 2024) and Set to Music a Wildfire (Southern Indiana Review Press, 2017), winner of the 2016 Michael Waters Poetry Prize and the 2018 Ohioana Book Award for Poetry. She is the co-editor of The Familiar Wild: On Dogs and Poetry (Sundress Publications, 2020). She lives and writes in Columbus, Ohio.
 
Maggie Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful; My Thoughts Have Wings, a picture book illustrated by Leanne Hatch; the national bestsellers Goldenrod and Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change; as well as Good Bones, named one of the Best Five Poetry Books of 2017 by the Washington Post; The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison; and Lamp of the Body. Her next book, Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life, is forthcoming in April 2025.
 
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

The Art of Audiobook Narration

If you’ve ever wondered about the process of turning your book into an audiobook, or what it takes to work as an audiobook narrator, then this episode is for you. Danielle Muething and Gary Leo Smith, two professional narrators based in Ohio, share a behind-the-scenes look at the art of audiobook narration. They discuss everything from how to get started as a narrator, how much money narrators can expect to earn, different pricing models, what authors should consider as they seek out a narrator for their books, AI’s impact on the industry, rights considerations, the editing process, and a lot more.
 
Danielle Muething and Gary Leo Smith are members of Ohio Audiobook Narrators, a support group for professional and aspiring audiobook narrators.
 
Danielle Muething has been an actor, singer, dancer, and teacher. She is currently an audiobook narrator, voice over artist, and writer. This year she released her first book with a second coming soon - both of which she will narrate. When she isn't narrating or writing, she is reading, playing video games, watching movies, and hanging out with her husband and two dogs.
 
Gary Leo Smith has narrated over 30 audiobooks and stories on many subjects, from real estate and self-improvement to military thrillers and children’s books. After a career in marketing and art direction, he turned his curiosity about audiobooks into a second career. He records in a home studio he designed and does his own audio production. Gary is an avid reader, and his other pursuits are aviation, scuba diving, and the occasional round of golf, played somewhat poorly. He is a founding member of Ohio Audiobook Narrators (OAN).
 
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Holiday Gift Recommendations from Gathering Volumes

Denise Phillips, the owner of Gathering Volumes, an independent bookstore in Perrysburg, Ohio, offers holiday gift recommendations for readers of all ages and interests. From eels to dragons, baked goods, murderbots, Toni Morrison/Buffy the Vampire Slayer mashups, and a lot more, listen to get some holiday shopping ideas for the book lover in your life.
 
Books Denise recommends:
Once You Go This Far by Kristen Lepionka (part of the Roxane Weary series)
Titanshade by Dan Stout (part of the Carter Archives series)
You Should Smile More and Not Bad for a Girl by Anastasia Ryan
Barnaby Unboxed! by Terry Fan, Eric Fan, and Devin Fan
The Bakery Dragon by Devin Elle Kurtz
Pardon My Frenchie by Farrah Rochon
Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce
Heroine by Mindy McGinnis
Don’t Get Caught by Kurt Dinan
All Systems Red by Martha Wells (part of the Murderbot Diaries series)
On Tyranny (graphic edition) by Timothy Snyder and illustrated by Nora Krug
Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko
Stay Awake by Megan Goldin
The Book of Eels by Patrik Svensson
Ornithography: An Illustrated Guide to Bird Lore & Symbolism by Jessica Roux
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
The Scholomance series by Naomi Novik
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Pew by Catherine Lacey
Ring Shout by P Djèlí Clark
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.