Episode 60: Language of a Common Dream: Books and Podcasts that Inspire Us and Our Writing

In this episode we get into the books we loved in college. Ecstasy ensues as we revisit Audre Lorde, Gloria Anzaldua, Jeanette Winterson, June Jordan, Adrienne Rich, Nikki Giovani and others who changed us, stretched us, challenged us, enraptured us. We suggest several writing exercises that have inspired us, touch on Shakespeare’s writing process, investigate revision, logistical constraints, types of focus, humanity’s resistance to losing rights we’ve gained as compared to our willingness to fight for rights we’ve never had, and finding a cohort of readers in middle age. It is #TryPod month–a time to explore new and unusual podcasts, and we recommend several, as well as discussing how we use podcasts to survive domesticity and overcome the limitations of our world. Other topics include: interiority, mystery, intuition v. planning, ambiguous endings and the uses of resonance in story.

Links Discussed:

Jeanette Winterson’s The passion

Nikki Giovanni, Poet

Adrienne Rich, Dream of a Common Language

Audrey Lorde

June Jordan

Gloria Anzaldùa

Class:A Guide Through the American Status System

Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture

Meliza Beñales on StoryMakersShow

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Story Makers is a podcast that features in-depth conversations with accomplished writers, filmmakers and industry experts about story craft, technique, habit and survival–everything you need to know to stay inspired, connect to your creativity, find others’ wonderful stories and your own success.

The hosts:

Elizabeth Stark is a published, agented novelist and distributed filmmaker who teaches and mentors writers at BookWritingWorld.com.

Angie Powers is a distributed filmmaker and published short story writer with an MFA in creative writing and a certificate in screenwriting from UCLA who teaches story structure at BookWritingWorld.com.