The Story Talks Back

TC Boyle: The storyteller as raconteur extraordinaire

TSTB interviews T. Coraghessan Boyle -- the author of twenty-eight books of fiction, including Descent of Man, Water Music, World’s End (which won the PEN/Faulkner Prize), The Road to Wellville, Drop City, The Women, TC Boyle Stories, and Outside Looking In. His work has been translated into more than two dozen languages, and his fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Atlantic Monthly, The Paris Review, McSweeney’s, and many other publications. Since 1978 he has been a member of the English Department at the University of Southern California, where he is Distinguished Professor of English. He currently lives near Santa Barbara with his wife and three children. #tcboyle #tcoraghessanboyle #story #storyteller #stories #storytelling #fiction #creativewriting #satire #sarcasm #shortstories #novels #comedians #humorists #rocknovelists #franklloydwright #LSD #cannabis #cannabisfiction #marijuananovels #awardwinningfiction #californiawriters #lawriters #HudsonRiverwriters #HudsonRiverfiction #NewYorkState #NewYorkwriters   

Preview: TC Boyle tells how stories help us cope with a "preposterous universe"

T. Coraghessan Boyle -- the author of 28 remarkable and completely distinctive books of fiction -- has a powerful perspective on the need for #stories. In this excerpt from our forthcoming interview with Boyle, he tells how stories have helped him come to terms with life's absurdity -- and turn it into a lifelong dialogue with the process of #storytelling. #tcboyle #tcoraghessanboyle #shortstories #novels #absurdism #existentialism #modernfiction #metafiction #creativewriting #writingmentors #wellville #franklloydwright #environmentalism #cannabis @usc @tcboyle

Bob Minkin: A lensman captures stories of rock transcendence

An interview with Bob Minkin, whose photographs have documented four decades of rock music. His special focus has been on Blues musicians, the Punk scene of the late 1970s, and “Jamband” music typified by the Grateful Dead. He has photographed thousands of concerts, and his work has appeared in countless music publications and books, as well as on CD and record album covers. Minkin has published three elegant collections of his images -- Live Dead, The Music Never Stopped, and Just Jerry. A graduate of New York’s School of Visual Arts, Minkin now lives with his family in Marin County, California, and continues to document the music scene there and across the country. To learn more about his work, go to www.minkinphotographystore.com. #gratefuldead #deadheads #deadphotos #deadandcompany #jerrygarcia #jerrygarciaband #bobweir #phillesh #rockphotos #concertphotos #hottuna #jormakaukonen #barrymitterhoff #phish #terrapincrossroads

Preview: Bob Minkin on photography, storytelling, and his adventures with the Grateful Dead

Bob Minkin has become one of rock music's most respected photgraphers -- documenting thousands of concerts with indelible images seen around the world. His most powerful connection is to the Grateful Dead, the legendary "jam" band he has photographed -- in all of its manifestations -- since the 1970s. In this excerpt from our forthcoming interview, Minkin talks about discovering rock music as a teenager and the growth of his special love for the Dead.

Photo: Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, by Bob Minkin

Ananda Lima: A gifted storyteller shares her vision -- merging genres, languages, and cultures

A revealing interview with Brazilian-born poet and fiction writer Ananda Lima. Her poetry collection Mother/land (Black Lawrence Press, 2021) won the 2020 Hudson Prize. She is also the author of the chapbooks: Translation (Paper Nautilus, 2019, winner of the Vella Chapbook Prize), Amblyopia (Bull City Press – INCH series, 2020), and Tropicália (Newfound, 2021 winner of the Newfound Prose Prize). Her work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, Poets.org, Kenyon Review Online, Gulf Coast, Poet Lore, The Common, and elsewhere. She has an MA in Linguistics from UCLA and an MFA in Creative Writing in Fiction from Rutgers University, Newark. #anandalima #poetrylovers #fictionwriters #shortstories #poems #surrealism #sciencefiction #amblyopia #lazyeye #stories #storytellers #creativewriting #fictionworkshops #tropicalia #cannibalism #latinamericanfiction #brazil #expatriates #brazilianwriters #brazlilianfiction #brazilianpoetry #claricelispector #americanpoetryreview #kenyonreview 

Preview: Ananda Lima -- surreal storyteller meets realist poet

Brazilian-born author Ananda Lima has already established remarkable -- and remarkably different -- styles in her fiction and poetry. New story collections like "Tropicalia" rest on sometimes-surreal premises, such as a hospital orderly who becomes addicted to snacking on tiny humans. But Lima's poems reflect more of her everyday world, including the struggles with amblyopia (a.k.a. "lazy eye") that she and her young son share. This excerpt from our forthcoming full interview explores Lima's view of her approaches to fiction and verse. #anandalima #poetrylovers #fictionwriters #shortstories #poems #surrealism #sciencefiction #amblyopia #lazyeye #stories #storytellers #creativewriting #fictionworkshops #tropicalia #cannibalism #latinamericanfiction #brazilianwriters #brazlilianfiction #brazilianpoetry #claricelispector

Joel Gardner: Seeing a novelist's own story through his son's eyes

Joel Gardner is a filmmaker, photographer, and writer who lives in Vermont. His documentary, "Sunlight Man," tells the story of his late father, the novelist John Gardner, and their complex relationship. Joel lost his father at age 22, after a tumultuous decade in which the elder Gardner shot to fame, mentored many now-famous writers, divorced twice, published a scathing critique of modern fiction, and died in a motorcycle accident at age 49 -- just as he was hoping for a comeback. In this intimate and insightful conversation, Joel talks candidly about his Dad, the making of "Sunlight Man," and his own creative and emotional journey. #sunlightman #johngardner #joelgardner #grendel #creativewriting #fictionwriting #stories #shortstories #storytellers #writingmentors #fictionworkshops #julietaymor #theartoffiction #raymondcarver #johnupdike #williamgass #kurtvonnegut #catch22 #bernardmalamud 

Ruth Lisa Schechter: Celebrating an extraordinary poet & mentor

In an all-new panel discussion, TSTB celebrates the life and work of Ruth Lisa Schechter -- poet, activist, editor, healer, and mentor. Raised in the Bronx during the Great Depression, Schechter discovered a passion for poetry and studied with the legendary Louise Bogan. Schechter admired the freewheeling verse of Ginsberg and the confessional poets -- but she was also meticulous about craft and precise language. This emotional and revealing appreciation features world-renowned poet and visual artist Maria Mazziotti Gillan, award-winning poet and teacher Maureen Seaton, and Schechter's younger son, Bill. The session begins with an extensive account of Schechter's life and creative joruney from her son, followed by reminiscences and readings from Gillan and Seaton. #story #stories #storytelling #storytellers #poet #poetrylovers #writers #mentors #creativewriting #creativewriters #NewYorkwriters #NewYorkpoets #PatersonReview #MariaGillan #MaureenSeaton #RuthLisaSchechter #CrotonReview #CrotonNY #CrotononHudson #Patersonpoets #Bronx #Bronxwriters #Bronxpoets #allenginsberg #annesexton #sylviaplath #louisebogan

 

   

Preview: Maria Gillan tells about her life-changing first visit with poet Ruth Lisa Schechter

Today, Maria Mazziotti Gillan is a world-renowned poet, editor, and visual artist; but when she met the late poet Ruth Lisa Schechter, she was a "typical Italian housewife" who was just beginning her journey as a writer. In this excerpt from our forthcoming TSTB tribute to Schechter -- a panel discussion with Gillan, poet Maureen Seaton, and Schechter's son Bill -- she describes her fateful first visit to Schechter's home in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. #story #stories #storytelling #storytellers #poet #poetrylovers #writers #mentors #creativewriting #creativewriters #NewYorkwriters #NewYorkpoets #PatersonReview #MariaGillan #MaureenSeaton #RuthLisaSchechter #CrotonReview #CrotonNY #CrotononHudson #Patersonpoets

 

Bayo Akomolafe: Reclaiming a post-colonial universe of African storytelling

In this moving interview, philosopher and advocate Bayo Akomolafe reflects on the stories of his Yoruba culture, his Westernized Nigerian childhood, and his present-day "decolonizing journey." Raised in a Christian family, he gave up a promising academic career to pursue a life outside “the highways of the familiar.” Akomolafe is co-editor of “We Will Tell Our Own Stories: The Lions of Africa Speak!” and author of “These Wilds Beyond Our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home.” He lives in India with his “life-force,” Ijeoma (or Ej), and their two children, Alethea Aanya and Kyah Jayden.  #stories #storytelling #africanstories #africanstorytelling #yoruba #nigeria #nigerianculture #alternativehealing #colonialsm #postcolonialculture #bayoakomolafe  #westernculture #folktales #academia #chinua achebe #thingsfallapart