Page Count

Prose and Protest with Prince Shakur

Prince Shakur discusses his debut memoir, When They Tell You to Be Good, a political and personal exploration of his coming of age as a writer and activist. Shakur shares how race and identity shaped his formative years, how journaling providing him with a creative outlet, his experience with activism and protest, his approach to writing about family, how he incorporated research into the memoir, the challenges he faced in the publishing industry, working with Hanif Abdurraqib as his editor at Tin House Books, and more.
 
Learn more about Prince Shakur at his website and YouTube channel.
 
Mentioned in this episode:
When They Tell You to Be Good by Prince Shakur
Black Lives Matter
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Anne Frank’s revised diaries
The Bat Rally
Standing Rock
Black Queer & Intersectional Collective
bell hooks
Jesmyn Ward
Saidiya Hartman
Boy Erased by Garrard Conley
The Green Book
Sangam House
Michael Brown
Hanif Abdurraqib
Tin House Books
Outside essay: “A Black Traveler Confronts Racism at a Montana Resort”
Catapult essay: “In an America on Fire, Baldwin’s Legacy Led Me to Paris”
#PublishingPaidMe
Kenyon Review Yong Writers Workshop
 
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a 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 Twitter or on Facebook.

Anatomy of a Love Poem with Teri Ellen Cross Davis

In honor of Valentine’s Day, poet Teri Ellen Cross Davis discusses the challenges and joys of writing love poems while sharing the creative process behind “The Goddess of Interracial Dating,” which appears in her collection A MORE PERFECT UNION. She also discusses the value of writing groups and residencies, literary magazine submission strategies, the art of persona poems, making her own superheroes, returning to her writing self after having children, and more.
 
Teri Ellen Cross Davis is the author of A MORE PERFECT UNION, winner of the 2019 Journal/Charles B. Wheeler Poetry Prize (Mad Creek Books, 2021) and HAINT (Gival Press, 2016), winner of the 2017 Ohioana Book Award for Poetry. She is the poetry coordinator for the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. Learn more by visiting poetsandparents.com.
 
Mentioned in this episode:
“My Beloved” by Charles Simic
Emily Dickinson
The Uncanny X-Men
Study: “The Protective Role of Melanin Against UV Damage in Human Skin”
Walt Whitman
Wanda Coleman
Terrance Hays
O.B. Hardison Poetry Series
Tyre Nichols
Tamir Rice
Gordon Square Review
“The Embers of Eve”Ali Black
Cave Canem
Hedgebrook
The Community of Writers
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
Sharon Olds
Brenda Hillman
Gregory Pardlo
Folger Shakespeare Library
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Library of Congress
John Wilmerding Symposium
 
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a 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 Twitter or on Facebook.

The Secret Life of Zane Grey

To celebrate the 150th birthday of Ohio author Zane Grey, Laura is joined by Lucas Fralick from the Wyoming Center for the Book and Don Boozer from Cleveland Public Library to discuss Grey’s novel Wyoming, which was originally published in serial form in 1932. Wyoming surrounds plucky, independent Martha Ann Dixon and abrasive Andrew Bonning, whose paths cross as Martha Ann hitchhikes her way to Wyoming.
 
Lucas, Don, and Laura discuss their favorite (and not-so-favorite) parts of the novel; Grey’s depiction of Wyoming; the myth and the romanticization of the West; Grey as the first millionaire American author who popularized the Western genre; Grey’s secret life and many romantic entanglements; Thomas H. Pauly’s excellent Grey biography; and how this novel was inspired by (and perhaps should be partially credited to?) Grey’s assistant, Berenice Campbell. In the process, Lucas offers his insights as a Wyoming resident, and Laura gets a bit too worked up over Andrew Bonning, whom she considers a poster child for toxic masculinity.
 
Lucas Fralick is the program coordinator at Wyoming Humanities, which houses the Wyoming Center for the Book. Don Boozer is the manager of the Literature Department at Cleveland Public Library and coordinator for the Ohio Center for the Book. Both the Wyoming and the Ohio Center for the Book are designated affiliates of The Center for the Book at the Library of Congress. For more context surrounding Zane Grey's life and work that we couldn't fit in this discussion, see this blog post of the OCFB website.
 
Corrections: At several points in this episode, Laura mistakenly refers to Andrew Bonning as “Andrew Bonner.” (If he wanted people to get his name right, maybe he should have treated Martha Ann with a bit more respect. Just saying.) Laura also likely pronounced Berenice Campbell’s first name incorrectly, which she deeply regrets. 
 
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a 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 Twitter or on Facebook.

The Great Environmental Awakening with Douglas Brinkley

Don Boozer, the Literature Department Manager and Ohio Center for the Book Coordinator at Cleveland Public Library, steps in as Page Count’s guest host to interview author and historian Douglas Brinkley. During a discussion that covers the burning Cuyahoga River, the conservation policies of past American presidents, environmental activism, and his latest book, Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening, Brinkley sheds light on the history of U.S. environmentalism while offering hope for the future.
 
Mentioned in this episode:
Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America (2009)
Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America (2016)
Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening (2022)
The Quiet World: Saving Alaska's Wilderness Kingdom, 1879–1960 (2011)
1969 Cuyahoga River Fire Coverage from the National Park Service and Cleveland Historical
Lake Erie information from the Environmental Protection Agency
Seuss, The Lorax, and Lake Erie
National Park Service: Ohio
Douglas Brinkley’s Official Website
1969 Time article about the Cuyahoga River
1960s Plain Dealer photograph of pollution in Cuyahoga River
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
Photo credit: Moore Huffman
 
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a 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 Twitter or on Facebook.

Cleveland Reads Kickoff

In this bonus episode, join us behind the scenes at the kickoff event for Cleveland Reads, the citywide reading challenge that tasks Clevelanders with reading a million books and/or minutes in 2023!
 
Featured in this episode:
Justin Bibb, Mayor of Cleveland
John Marshall High School Marching Band
Jen Jumba, Cleveland Public Library
Felton Thomas, Jr., Cleveland Public Library Executive Director and CEO
Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers President
Tracy Martin, Cleveland Public Library
Matt Weinkam, Literary Cleveland Director
Nancy Mocsiran, Cleveland Public Library
Marcus Reid, Cleveland Public Library
Margo Hudson, Seeds of Literacy
 
The kickoff event was held Saturday, December 17, 2022, in the Public Auditorium in downtown Cleveland. Additional Cleveland Reads events and programs will be held through 2023. Visit ClevelandReads.com to register and participate.
 
With special thanks to all Cleveland Reads partner organizations, especially the City of Cleveland, Cleveland Metropolitan School District, American Federation of Teachers, and the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.

Query Critiques with Erin Hosier

Literary agent, author, and podcaster Erin Hosier discusses the current publishing landscape, challenges and opportunities in the industry, the author-agent relationship, and what aspiring writers can do to develop their writing. Finally, she and Laura critique three query letters submitted by Ohio writers.
 
Erin Hosier is a literary agent with Dunow Carlson & Lerner in NYC, specializing in narrative nonfiction (music biography, memoirs by artists, history, science and untold true stories of all kinds) and select literary fiction. She is the author of the memoir DON'T LET ME DOWN (Atria, 2019), and the coauthor of HIT SO HARD by Patty Schemel (Da Capo, 2017). She is the co-creator and host of the podcast Tell Me About Your Father, now in its third year. In general, novels with happy endings put her in a bad mood. She lives in Cleveland.
 
Mentioned in this episode:
Edan Lepucki
Leigh Stein
Betsy Lerner
Molly Shannon’s 2022 Cleveland appearance (Tell Me About Your Father episode)
Daddy Issues royal family episode (Tell Me About Your Father)
FOREST FOR THE TREES: An Editor’s Advice to Writers by Betsy Lerner
Youngmi Mayer
Feeling Asian podcast
Hairy Butthole podcast
HYSTERICAL by Elissa Bassist
Poets & Writers online resources
Publishers Marketplace
Belt Magazine
The William N. Skirball Writers’ Center
 
Publishing News & Info
Publishing, Under Pressure (New York Times)
The Great Publishing Resignation (Book Riot)
Is the Publishing Industry Broken? (Publishers Weekly)
HarperCollins strike (NPR)
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library and hosted by Laura Maylene Walter. For full show notes and a 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 Twitter or on Facebook.

Writing Advice from Page Count Authors

We’re wrapping up 2022 with a compilation of writing advice from some of the authors who appeared on the pod this year. From writing routines to persistence, motivation, research, rejection, and more, these authors have you covered. Be sure to listen to their full Page Count interviews for more in-depth discussion of these topics and others.
 
In this episode:
Negesti Kaudo on why writers shouldn’t worry about time
Liz Breazeale on taking writing seriously
Matt Bell on recordkeeping while drafting a novel
Will Hillenbrand on research
Jill Grunenwald on following your passion as a writer
Jyotsna Sreenivasan on not having an MFA
Derf Backderf on rejection
Christopher Gonzalez on his new perspective on rejection
Negesti Kaudo on writing residencies
Thrity Umrigar on avoiding industry distraction
Matt Bell on literary community
Rachel Elizabeth Cargle on the importance of reading
Tracy Subisak on having fun
Finally, at the end of this episode, we share a preview of our first conversation scheduled to air in 2023: an interview and query letter critique with literary agent Erin Hosier. That episode airs January 3, 2023, so be sure to subscribe to Page Count and stay tuned.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For a 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 Twitter or on Facebook.

Podcasting for Writers with Jill Grunenwald

We’re taking a meta dive into the world of podcasting with Jill Grunenwald, an author, librarian, and the cohost of OverDrive’s Professional Book Nerds podcast. Grunenwald shares how Professional Book Nerds got its start, how she and her cohosts produce the show, the challenges and benefits of hosting a podcast, tips for authors making their first podcast appearance, and why podcasting is such a popular medium for discussing books. On the writing front, Grunenwald discusses her work as a memoirist, including her latest title READING BEHIND BARS, which chronicles her time as a prison librarian.
Books mentioned in this episode:
Running with a Police Escort by Jill Grunenwald
Reading Behind Bars by Jill Grunenwald
Matrix by Lauren Groff
NPR's Podcast Start Up Guide: Create, Launch, and Grow a Podcast on Any Budget by Glen Weldon
Podcasts mentioned in this episode:
Professional Book Nerds
Reading Glasses
Maintenance Phase
Westworld
Love to See It with Claire and Emma
The Always Sunny Podcast
How to Start a Podcast
 
Additional podcasts Laura recommends for writers:
Missing Pages
Print Run
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
First Draft with Sarah Enni (archives)
Between the Covers
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For a 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 Twitter or on Facebook.

10 Tips for Drafting a Novel

This mini episode offers 10 tips for writers working on their first novels. Host Laura Maylene Walter draws on her experience as a novelist to discuss idea generation, outlines, structure, word-count goals, persistence, the constant battle against self-doubt, and more.
 
The advice Walter shares in this episode was originally recorded during a workshop she led at the Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. This episode may be especially helpful for writers participating in NaNoWriMo, the annual challenge to write 50,000 words of a novel in the month of November.
 
The cold open is an outtake “Escaping the Drawer with Sammy and Annisha.” And for another episode related to the novel-writing process, listen to “Novel Revision with Matt Bell.”
 
Finally, as Thanksgiving approaches, learn about National Native American Heritage Month by accessing resources from the National Park Service, the National Archives, the Smithsonian, and more.
 
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For a 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 Twitter or on Facebook.

First Pages with Kirsten Reach

Kirsten Reach, founder of Jonquil Editorial and former Kenyon Review fiction editor and Melville House book editor, critiques opening pages from Ohio prose writers. Her feedback surrounds the importance of starting in the right place, writing dialogue that moves the story forward, and creating a clear and immediate sense of the world from the very first page. This episode also covers literary magazine submission tips, the best time to hire a freelance editor, the joys of cake and gossip, and more. With special thanks to the three writers who shared their work: S. Elizabeth Sigler, Suzanne Ondrus, and JB Bergin.
 
To learn more about Kirsten Reach and her editorial work, visit Jonquil Editorial or connect with her on Twitter @KirstenReach.
 
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a 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 Twitter or on Facebook.