The Artist's Statement

Kathy Fish reads her flash fiction story, "Tenderoni." 

(Contains explicit language.)

In this bonus episode of The Artist’s Statement, we speak to Jenny Boully about the ancient art of Sak Yant and the role of the Thai language and Buddhism in her writing life.

Boully reads her essay “On the Eve of My Eternal Marking,” which first appeared in The Paris Review on July 10, 2019.

Host: Davin Malasarn

The Artist's Statement is brought to you by The Granum Foundation. Learn more at granumfoundation.org...

Irish author Colm Toibin joins us for the inaugural episode of The Artist's Statement. He discusses his early writing career and his evolution from poet to journalist to novelist, and his return to poetry.  We examine Toibin's novella, A Long Winter, and short story "One Minus One" from his collection, The Empty Family. He reads from his latest novel, The Magician, which tells the story of writer Thomas Mann and is scheduled for publication by Viking Press in September, 2021...

Kathy Fish joins us for this episode of The Artist's Statement focused on flash fiction, defined as stories under 1,000 words. She discusses the genre, its origins, and how it can be distinguished from short stories and prose poetry. She also elaborates on techniques she uses to create her flash pieces, including juxtaposition, contradiction, and repetition, and how she finds titles for her work...

In this episode of The Artist's Statement, we feature short fiction writer Kuzhali Manickavel, whose work has been described as surreal, sci-fi, absurdist, and weird. Manickavel, who calls in from Bangalore, India, discusses how she characterizes her own work and how international perspectives can lead to alternative definitions...

Craig Cotter, the author of four collections of poetry, including After Lunch with Frank O’Hara, joins us from Pasadena, CA for Episode 4 of The Artist's Statement. He talks about his early writing career as a student at Michigan State University and the poetry editor of Red Cedar Review. He discusses his poems “The Drayton Plains Nature Center” and “For Alex,” which include a major recurring character in his work...

The Artist's Statement Episode 5 features legendary poet Nikki Giovanni. She discusses the importance of spirituals as inspiration for her work and how artist's from poets to novelists to dancers inhabit truth. Giovanni recounts her early days as an activist and writer along her path to success, including her time at Fisk University...

Jenny Boully, 2020 Guggenheim Fellow and author of Betwixt and Between: Essays on the Writing Life, The Book of Beginnings and Endings, The Body, not merely because of the unknown that was stalking toward them, and other works joins us from Bennington, Vermont, for Episode 6 of The Artist's Statement Podcast.

Boully discusses the origins of her recent books and how her work bridges genres...

In Episode 7 of The Artist's Statement, we're joined by Donika Kelly, poet and author of The Renunciations (2021) and Bestiary (2016), both published by Graywolf Press.

Kelly discusses the The Renunciations and the journey of self-exploration and therapy that led to its creation. She talks about the importance of having and nurturing a speaker and a safe space from which to create, along with the value of being protective of information, both for the writer and the reader...

What happens during the translation process of a literary work from Japanese to English? In Episode 8 of The Artist's Statement, we speak with Michael Emmerich, author of more than a dozen literary works in translation, including those by authors such as Nobel Laureate Yasunari Kawabata, Banana Yoshimoto, Genichiro Takahashi, and Hiromi Kawakami...