Shows
The Inner Loop RadioInspiration Takeover: Art is What We Turn To with Chet'la SebreeChet'la Sebree, author of "Field Study" and "Mistress," discusses how to feel inspired when the world unfolds in surprising or disappointing ways. She speaks of her students at George Washington University, and how she's focused on reminding them that art matters especially in a time of tumult. To keep creating, she makes room for free writing, processing, and most of all, community. Her prompt asks you to see a different community through the lens of "we."2024-11-1810 min
The Inner Loop Radio: A Creative Writing PodcastSmall Press Contests with Luke SutherlandOf the many paths to publication, small press contests hold some fascinating opportunities. Co-hosts Rachel Coonce and Abi Newhouse talk with November Author’s Corner spotlight Luke Sutherland about his memoir winning the 2023 OutWrite Chapbook Competition. They discuss unexpected opportunities small press contests present, how they differ from traditional publishing, and how to maintain your agency in deciding which contest best fits your work. Luke reads from his memoir, Distance Sequence, and then they all pitch a pretend contest with experimental manuscript ideas that break the traditional book mold.2024-11-0838 minThe Inner Loop RadioSmall Press Contests with Luke SutherlandOf the many paths to publication, small press contests hold some fascinating opportunities. Co-hosts Rachel Coonce and Abi Newhouse talk with November Author’s Corner spotlight Luke Sutherland about his memoir winning the 2023 OutWrite Chapbook Competition. They discuss unexpected opportunities small press contests present, how they differ from traditional publishing, and how to maintain your agency in deciding which contest best fits your work. Luke reads from his memoir, Distance Sequence, and then they all pitch a pretend contest with experimental manuscript ideas that break the traditional book mold.2024-11-0838 minThe Inner Loop RadioJust Checking in with Rashmi SadanaWelcome to the Inner Loop Radio in our latest segment of Just Checking where we bring you our sub-series by Leeya Mehta: Writers with Pets in Solariums. In this fifth and last edition for the year, Leeya Mehta talks with her friend, non-fiction writer Rashmi Sadana. We are calling this episode: Maybe We Can All be a Little Like Luna: a Conversation with Rashmi Sadana. Dr. Rashmi Sadana is an urban ethnographer and Berkeley-trained cultural anthropologist who has been writing about the city of Delhi for the last twenty years. Her most recent book is called “The Moving City” and tell...2024-10-2820 minThe Inner Loop RadioReframing Literary Success with Gwydion SuilebhanWriters are nothing if not ambitious, but what does success really look like for a writer? Gwydion Suilebhan, cultural critic, essayist, playwright, and Executive Director of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation, joins us to discuss the journey, the destination, and the aftermath of what some consider literary success, and he proposes a different way to achieve writerly fulfillment. Plus, writers like to think of themselves as different in kind from other professions, but how different are we? We play a little game called Who Said It? to find out.2024-10-1748 minThe Inner Loop RadioInspiration Takeover: Speculating with Tyrese ColemanTyrese Coleman, author of "How to Sit," discusses ways to feel inspired, including going on walks, getting outside, and using if-then writing prompts to tap into your creativity. She's working on creating routine to keep up writing habits, echoing Toni Morrison's routine of getting up early in the haunted hours to write. When is best for you to write? Coleman challenges you to take the time to find out.2024-10-0908 minThe Inner Loop Radio: A Creative Writing PodcastThe Highs and Lows of Writing with Nick GardnerWe've all ridden the rollercoaster of emotions as writers--the joy when you actually *like* your work, and the despair when you overthink all of it. Co-hosts Rachel Coonce and Abi Newhouse talk with October Author's Corner spotlight, Nick Gardner, about feeling proud, feeling terrified, and how tapping into our childlike selves can actually help us breakthrough emotional turmoil. Nick reads us a part of his new book, Delinquents and Other Escape Attempts, which gave him particular grief while writing, and then they all play a game where they determine whether a piece of writing was written by a novice writer...2024-10-0741 minThe Inner Loop RadioThe Highs and Lows of Writing with Nick GardnerWe've all ridden the rollercoaster of emotions as writers--the joy when you actually *like* your work, and the despair when you overthink all of it. Co-hosts Rachel Coonce and Abi Newhouse talk with October Author's Corner spotlight, Nick Gardner, about feeling proud, feeling terrified, and how tapping into our childlike selves can actually help us breakthrough emotional turmoil. Nick reads us a part of his new book, Delinquents and Other Escape Attempts, which gave him particular grief while writing, and then they all play a game where they determine whether a piece of writing was written by a novice writer...2024-10-0741 minThe Inner Loop RadioJust Checking In with Amanda NewellWelcome to the Inner Loop Radio in our latest segment of Just Checking where we bring you our sub-series by Leeya Mehta: Writers with Pets in Solariums. Amanda Newell lives on a farm in southern Maryland with a cat named Kit Kat and two horses, Eko and Ed. She's close enough to the Chesapeake to hear the waves breaking against the shore. She grew up riding and showing horses and still finds mucking stalls therapeutic. She also loves the other animals on the farm, including the foxes and deer, who sometimes dine together. Newell is the author of Postmortem Say...2024-09-3018 min
The Inner Loop RadioInspiration Takeover: Writing is a Radical Act of Self Love with Okezie NwokaOkezie Nwoka, author of “God of Mercy,” discusses the difference between love and care, and how self love plays a role in creating art. Nwoka takes us through a writing prompt that invokes the wisdom of aphorisms—short expressions that, here, will capture ideas of loving oneself and others. He talks about writing strategies and routines, and how he surrenders himself to the moment of free expression.2024-09-2308 minThe Inner Loop RadioIs Feedback Really Useful? With Dan Knowlton and David PfefermanMost writers have experienced feedback from a writer's workshop, a writing group, or from friends and family, and we're told it's a necessary part of writing. But what's the key to figuring out what level of feedback works for you? What qualifies as a "good" workshop? And most of all, what type of feedback will help us actually keep writing? Plus, you can help decide whether the feedback Courtney, Rachel, Dan, and David give each other in realtime is actually beneficial.2024-09-1631 minThe Inner Loop RadioInspiration Takeover: Searching for Language for Another Lost Generation with Leeya MehtaToday, TIL board member Leeya Mehta focuses on writing a personal essay, inspired by reading James Baldwin’s essay "The New Lost Generation." She talks about the way she is approaching this essay, which she’s calling “The Day After: Searching for Language for Another Lost Generation.” Leeya suggests exploring exploring the politics of language as an essay prompt, and asks what you notice about language, and how it is being used in popular culture. How you would like to question that language and soften it? You may disagree, and think language is too soft, that we need to turn up the v...2024-09-0915 min
The Inner Loop RadioSummer Nostalgia with J.M. TyreeThe heaviness of summer can bring up those heavy feelings of nostalgia, but when is it time to stop musing and put those feelings on the page? First released in August 2019, J.M. Tyree, author, film critic, and nonfiction editor of the New England Review, joins Rachel and Courtney to discuss just that, as well as how we weave the past and the present into a narrative. Rachel and Courtney delve into their own pasts, Samantha de Trinidad, Stephanie Bento, and LaCole Foots get nostalgic, and Amy Woolard, Paul Fauteux, Whitney Pipkin, Matthew Moniz, and Max Meltzer help us feel...2024-09-031h 04The Inner Loop RadioJust Checking In with Linda ChavesThe Inner Loop board member Leeya Mehta catches up with author Linda Chaves for her new sub-series of Just Checking In: Writers in Solariums with Pets. The pair discuss Linda's dogs and bird, talk about Linda's newest writing project involving her recently discovered past, and discuss some mischievous pet stories.2024-08-2614 min
The Inner Loop Radio: A Creative Writing PodcastPolitics and Fiction with Paul JaskunasIs all writing inherently political? Co-hosts Rachel Coonce and Abi Newhouse talk with August Author's Corner spotlight Paul Jaskunas about balancing political topics in writing with their own political opinions, feeling trepidation about addressing hot button topics, and some examples of heavy-handed and subtle books involving political topics. Plus, they put their high school government and college rhetoric knowledge to the test in a game where they determine whether a political headline is fact or fiction.2024-08-1939 minThe Inner Loop RadioPolitics and Fiction with Paul JaskunasIs all writing inherently political? Co-hosts Rachel Coonce and Abi Newhouse talk with August Author's Corner spotlight Paul Jaskunas about balancing political topics in writing with their own political opinions, feeling trepidation about addressing hot button topics, and some examples of heavy-handed and subtle books involving political topics. Plus, they put their high school government and college rhetoric knowledge to the test in a game where they determine whether a political headline is fact or fiction.2024-08-1939 minThe Inner Loop RadioWorld-building Real-Life Cultures with Diana RojasReal-world cultures come up all the time in any genre of writing, but it can be difficult to world-build with something so nuanced. Host Abi Newhouse speaks with The Inner Loop's July Author's Corner spotlight, Diana Rojas, about creating stories from our own cultures. They cover how time affects culture, how to use specific cultural details to world-build, and they try to untangle ideas about working around cultural generalizations. Plus, they bring a few cultural misconceptions to the table--Abi with Mormonism, and Diana with first-generation Latinos--and discuss how to use those misconceptions to their advantage in their writing. You can...2024-07-0140 minThe Inner Loop RadioJust Checking in with Serena ZetsAbi catches up with freelance journalist and writer for the 730DC newsletter, Serena Zets. They discuss the DC journalism scene, stories Serena's been working on lately, and how writing creative nonfiction can be a great starting point for journalistic stories.2024-06-2412 minThe Inner Loop RadioInspiration Takeover: Let the Ideas Carry You with Andrew BertainaAndrew Bertaina, author of “One Person Away From You” and the new essay collection “The Body is a Temporary Gathering Place,” suggests inspiration comes from reading. Andrew takes us through a writing prompt that leads him to fictionalize a meeting with his late grandfather in the afterlife. Try negotiating the speculative realm in your own writing, and if you’re stuck, you know what to do: pick up a book and find a line that reminds you why you started writing in the first place.2024-06-1709 minThe Inner Loop RadioA New Point of View with Danielle ArianoFinding the right point of view can make or break a story, and in nonfiction, the line of experimentation can be blurry. Hosts Abi Newhouse and Courtney Sexton speak with The Inner Loop’s June Author’s Corner spotlight, Danielle Ariano, about innovative points of view in memoir. They cover the empathy, challenges, and breakthroughs a new point of view can inspire, and Danielle reads from her new memoir, The Requirement of Grief. Plus, they all write a memory from someone else’s point of view, and the outcome is full of unexpected nuance.2024-06-1034 minThe Inner Loop RadioThe Value of Independent Presses with Michael B. TagerWith the sudden shutdown of Small Press Distribution, let’s dig into the value of independent presses and how their downturn might affect us as both writers and readers. Michael B. Tager, Managing Editor of Mason Jar Press and author of Pop Culture Poetry: The Definitive Edition from Akinoga Press, talks about independent presses from both sides of the publishing experience. Plus, we play a little game called indie press or indie rock band... can you tell the difference?2024-06-0334 minThe Inner Loop RadioJust Checking In with Joe McGinnissThe Inner Loop board member Leeya Mehta catches up with “Carousel Court” author Joe McGinniss for her new sub-series of Just Checking In: Writers in Solariums with Pets. The pair check in with the dogs and another secret pet (!), talk about the difference between the creative process of fiction and nonfiction, and discuss how writing nonfiction can offer a specific sort of peace. Joe says that “the reality is there is no reality,” especially in the thrilling, immersive, and terrifying experience of writing.2024-05-2716 min
The Inner Loop RadioThe Nuts and Bolts of Poetry with Amanda ShawWe talk about major writing tenets like plot, character, and setting all the time in fiction and nonfiction, but how do these ideas come up in poetry? Hosts Abi Newhouse and Aeriel Merillat speak with The Inner Loop's May Author's Corner spotlight, Amanda Shaw, about rooting the readers inside a poem, crafting a story's arc through a poetry collection, and the many levels of time throughout it all. Plus, try your hand at our trivia game, in which we guess which story matches each specific setting.2024-05-2038 minThe Inner Loop RadioInspiration Takeover: Using Your Dreams with Cameron MacKenzieLooking for inspiration in all your usual places but coming up empty? Cameron MacKenzie, author of "The Beginning of His Excellent and Eventful Career" and "River Weather," suggests using your dreams to get you started on a new writing project. He takes us through his process of using one line to create a story, and how your unconscious brain can give you the best ideas. Take yourself seriously, he argues, even when you're not aware of what your self is up to.2024-05-1309 minThe Inner Loop RadioClosure with Jo Ann BeardIn preparation for our upcoming Author’s Corner panel on knowing when the writing is done, let’s talk about writing endings! First released in December 2019, essayist and creative nonfiction icon, Jo Ann Beard joins us to discuss how to pack an ending with a punch! Plus, Courtney and Rachel rewrite the Christmas classic: T'was The Night Before Christmas. Join us for our Author's Corner Panel May 15th at 7pm at Kramers bookstore: Completing the Arc - Knowing when the Writing is Done. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/completing-the-arc-local-authors-panel-tickets-8728016321772024-05-0732 minThe Inner Loop RadioJust Checking In with Kris O'SheeThe Inner Loop board member Leeya Mehta catches up with Kris O'Shee, a professional counselor, choreographer, and writer. The pair talk about ideal times and locations for writing, O'Shee's new writing projects about family and dance, and the joys of her dancing dogs. They ask: what needs to be destroyed so something new can be created? All the metaphors are here to get your creativity going.2024-04-2915 minThe Inner Loop RadioVenture Out of the Box with Rumi RyanWe've all heard the old writing adage: "learn the rules so you can break the rules." But experimental writing can be tricky--how do we know when we've created something truly interesting vs. something just a little bit kitschy? Hosts Abi Newhouse and Aeriel Merillat speak with The Inner Loop's Author's Corner spotlight for April, Rumi Ryan, about mixing forms, messing with modalities, and ultimately holding true to what makes your work feel different.2024-04-2232 minThe Inner Loop RadioInspiration Takeover: Asking the Right Questions with Rhaina CohenIf you're having trouble putting your story together, it might be because you don't have the right information. Rhaina Cohen, author of "The Other Significant Others," discusses journalistic methods and solutions that apply to all writing conundrums. She takes us through one of her favorite writing exercises involving a series of questions that nail down the details of our stories, and she shares how to get in the right headspace to find the answers.2024-04-1510 minThe Inner Loop RadioThe Conference Chronicles with Jennifer YacovissiWriters conferences. What are they? What are they good for? And are they worth the time and money? President of the Washington Independent Review of Books, Jennifer Yacovissi, joins us to discuss the merits of writers conferences, how to choose the right conference for you, and the upcoming Washington Writers Conference. Plus, Courtney and Jennifer choose their own adventures in a writer’s odyssey!2024-04-0838 minThe Inner Loop RadioJust Checking In with Darcy GagnonAbi catches up with writer and Senior Nonfiction Features Editor for the Rumpus, Darcy Gagnon. They discuss a new take on approaching the work of your younger self, reading three books at a time, and a detective-like character Darcy really feels he embodies.2024-04-0113 minThe Inner Loop RadioPractical Magic with Len KrugerFrom the mystical to the fantastical, there's a spectrum of magic within writing. Courtney Sexton and Abi Newhouse sit down with local author, Len Kruger, to discuss the ways adding magic to your writing can create different opportunities for storytelling. Plus, we let tarot cards guide our next writing exercise...2024-03-2532 min
The Inner Loop Radio: A Creative Writing PodcastInspiration Takeover: The Rhythm of Writing with Rachel CoonceEvery writer experiences the ebb and flow of creativity, but sometimes we need a little push to get into the flow. Nonfiction writer and cofounder of The Inner Loop, Rachel Coonce finds rhythm in her writing routine through the rhythm of her words. She revisits familiar concepts of poetry as they appear in prose, and offers a prompt inspired by Raymond Carver in this Inspiration Takeover, a series of mini-episodes with different writers who offer us a little dose of inspiration.2024-03-1805 min
The Inner Loop RadioInspiration Takeover: The Rhythm of Writing with Rachel CoonceEvery writer experiences the ebb and flow of creativity, but sometimes we need a little push to get into the flow. Nonfiction writer and cofounder of The Inner Loop, Rachel Coonce finds rhythm in her writing routine through the rhythm of her words. She revisits familiar concepts of poetry as they appear in prose, and offers a prompt inspired by Raymond Carver in this Inspiration Takeover, a series of mini-episodes with different writers who offer us a little dose of inspiration.2024-03-1805 minThe Inner Loop RadioWhy Retreat to Write? with Abi Newhouse and Aeriel MerillatWhat’s the value in a writing retreat? From concentrated time to write to communing with other writers, writing retreats can serve to jumpstart your writing when you’re stuck in a rut. Abi Newhouse and Aeriel Merillat join Rachel and Courtney to talk about how their latest retreat helped their writing and their writing lives. Plus, the four revisit one of our favorite games… the exquisite corpse!2024-03-1126 min
The Inner Loop RadioReady for Syndication: Celebrating 100 Episodes!Strap in for the silliest installment yet of The Inner Loop Radio in celebration of our 100th episode! From hot pockets to small batch murders, there are even more laughs than usual, as Rachel and Courtney remember their favorite episodes, get sentimental with community memories of the past 10 years of TIL, and laugh all the way through our best “off-camera” moments in a beyond-funny bloopers reel.2023-12-1131 min
The Inner Loop RadioInspiration Takeover: Remembering Your Voice with Abi NewhouseIf you find it easy to forget your strengths as a writer, you’re not alone. There are so many voices around us all the time—in our podcasts, our reading, even our music—that can make us wonder what we might be missing in comparison. Nonfiction writer and The Inner Loop’s Author’s Corner program manager Abi Newhouse takes us through the ways she works to remember her own voice when, as an editor and podcast producer, others’ voices rule her working world. Plus, ‘tis the season: she offers us a prompt on twisting a traditional dish or dessert to tel...2023-12-0408 minThe Inner Loop RadioJust Checking In with Timothy DeneviCourtney catches up with nonfiction writer Timothy Denevi, who does his best Bob Dylan impression as they talk about Joan Didion, the dilation and expansion of narrow worlds, and how life can get complicated quickly, whether in an Atlas of Remote Islands or in MILF Island.2023-11-2012 min
The Inner Loop Radio: A Creative Writing PodcastWriting in a Second Language with Pantea Amin TofangchiWriting in a Second Language with Pantea Amin Tofangchi by Rachel Coonce and Courtney Sexton2023-11-1339 minThe Inner Loop RadioWriting in a Second Language with Pantea Amin TofangchiWriting in a Second Language with Pantea Amin Tofangchi by Rachel Coonce and Courtney Sexton2023-11-1339 minThe Inner Loop RadioFood Writing with Susan Lutz and Laura HayesFood is what we all have in common, and often it’s what brings us together around the holidays. First released in November 2019, former Washington City Paper food editor Laura Hayes and food journalist Susan Lutz, tell us how writing about food can be a vehicle for staging a scene, accessing difficult topics, or exploring the world around us, and how food writing as a genre has taken on new meaning. Plus, we hear food-related writing from local authors Sherrie Flick and Eric Kozlik.2023-11-0632 minThe Inner Loop RadioInspiration Takeover: The Writer’s Journey with Joanne Leedom-AckermanIs ten years long or short in the life of a writer? Fiction writer and journalist Joanne Leedom-Ackerman shows us how her perspective on this has shifted. She offers us a prompt via Rainer Maria Rilke to get us thinking about our own writing lives and to get us to build narrative with what she describes as concentric circles in this Inspiration Takeover, a series of mini-episodes with different writers who offer us a little dose of inspiration. Joanne Leedom-Ackerman is a novelist, short story writer, and journalist. Her works of fiction include upcoming novel The Far Side of the...2023-10-3008 min
The Inner Loop RadioJust Checking In with Lena CrownCourtney catches up with writer, former TIL Author's Corner program coordinator, and current Olive B. O'Connor Fellow at Colgate University, Lena Crown. They talk about writing in a fellowship capacity (and in a small town), how poetry and nonfiction inform each other, and bringing the world into the classroom all on this month's episode of Just Checking In, a series of informal chats with some of our favorite writers.2023-10-2315 min
The Inner Loop RadioThe Healing Power of Writing with Bernardine WatsonAccording to the NIH, writing lowers blood pressure and boosts immunity, but what are the other healing effects of writing? Poet and nonfiction writer Bernardine Watson joins Rachel and Courtney to discuss how the writing process changed her experience of living with an incurable disease, and reads from her book, Transplant: A Memoir from Day Eight Press and The Inner Loop Author’s Corner October spotlight. Plus, from renting a hotel room to balancing on their heads, writers have always found creative ways to combine self-care and writing, and we get the details with some trivia!2023-10-1635 minThe Inner Loop RadioInspiration Takeover: Listen to the Stillness with Rachel Louise SnyderWriting comes in waves, and sometimes even the most disciplined of approaches needs a little refresh. Author Rachel Louise Snyder takes us through her writing process: what it used to look like, what it looks like now, and how she gets inspiration from unexpected places. Rachel Louise Snyder is the author of "Fugitive Denim: A Moving Story of People and Pants in the Borderless World of Global Trade," the novels "What We’ve Lost is Nothing," "No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us" and the memoir "Women We Buried, Women We Burned." Her work...2023-10-0912 minThe Inner Loop RadioGhosts and Goblins with Elizabeth Evitts DickinsonWith Halloween coming up, we discuss ghosts and goblins in writing, how they present themselves in fiction, and how they can be used to process our mortality. First released in October 2018, Journalist Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson tells us about The Woman Who Invented Forensic Training with Dollhouses and reads from her New Yorker article. No tricks this episode, but we have a special treat with Dan Knowlton and Kate Heller!2023-10-0227 minThe Inner Loop RadioJust Checking In with Anna QuRachel catches up with writer, Anna Qu, and they talk about getting back to writing after the whirlwind of book publication, the brain teaser of switching from nonfiction to fiction, and tomatoes versus zucchini, all on this month’s episode of Just Checking In, a series of informal chats with some of our favorite writers.2023-09-2511 minThe Inner Loop RadioCrossing Genres with Alyson Gold WeinbergCrossing genres can be fun, invigorating, and a new source of inspiration, so why does it sometimes feel like eating our vegetables? Poet, playwright, and ghost writer Alyson Gold Weinberg explains how all her outlets inform one another and reads from her latest collection of poetry, Bellow & Hiss from Finishing Line Press and The Inner Loop Author’s Corner September spotlight. Plus, Rachel, Courtney, and Alyson demonstrate just how fun it can be to switch genres!2023-09-1839 minThe Inner Loop RadioInspiration Takeover: The Heart of the Matter with Jung YunOften stories come to us in fragments: as a vivid image or a perfect sentence, but how do we turn those fragments into stories? Fiction writer, Jung Yun, shows how to create linear stories from nonlinear fragments and what happens when patience runs thin in this Inspiration Takeover, a series of mini-episodes with different writers who offer us a little dose of inspiration. Jung Yun was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Fargo, North Dakota. She studied at Vassar College, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she received her M.F...2023-09-1109 minThe Inner Loop RadioBack to School with Emily MitchellIt’s back to school season and it’s time to get back to work, writers! First released in October 2019, Emily Mitchell joins Rachel and Courtney to discuss how teaching can inspire our creative writing, and we get to hear Emily read from her short story collection, Viral: Stories. Plus, Rachel and Courtney demonstrate the power of writing prompts for upcoming Inktober!2023-09-0430 minThe Inner Loop RadioJust Checking In with Kyoko MoriCourtney catches up with writer and professor, Kyoko Mori, and they talk about their mutual love of animals, Jo Ann Beard’s Festival Days, and how writing is more like birds than cats, all on this month’s episode of Just Checking In, a series of informal chats with some of our favorite writers.2023-08-2813 minThe Inner Loop RadioWhy Writers Publish with Austin RossAs writers, why do we publish at all? Is it for the accolades or for something more pure? If you write to publish, can it still be called art? Author and senior editor at HarperCollins Austin Ross joins us to discuss the balancing act between art and commerce, he tells us his agent horror story, and why he finally decided to publish with an independent press. Plus, we hear from his novel Gloria Patri from Malarkey Books and The Inner Loop Author’s Corner August spotlight. Then, Austin teaches us the importance of eating the frog.2023-08-2139 minThe Inner Loop RadioInspiration Takeover: No Exercises with Michael CollierDo you hate writing exercises? Do you feel they are contrived and a waste of time? So did Robert Frost and Poet Michael Collier, who believed a writer’s whole nature must be in everything he writes. But Michael shows us how writing exercises can build community via a Three Goat Story in this Inspiration Takeover, a series of mini-episodes with different writers who offer us a little dose of inspiration. Michael Robert Collier is an American poet, teacher, creative writing program administrator and editor. He has published five books of original poetry, a translation of Euripides' Medea, a book of...2023-08-1415 minThe Inner Loop RadioFunding Your Writing Career with Abdul AliHow do you write and make a living? Do you maintain a parallel career or find ways to make money through your writing? Poet, writer, and cultural worker, Abdul Ali, gives us insider tips on how to make money through writing, whether it be applying for grants, consulting, starting a business, or teaching, and how your work can feed your creative practice. Plus, Abdul, Rachel, and Courtney write a love poem… to money?2023-08-0736 minThe Inner Loop RadioJust Checking In with Jose PaduaCourtney catches up with poet, Jose Padua, and they talk about gaining perspective through travel, connecting the absurd to the everyday, and Barry Manilow, all on this month’s episode of Just Checking In, a series of informal chats with some of our favorite writers.2023-07-3112 minThe Inner Loop RadioSelf-Promotion with Dominic “Nerd” McDonaldLove it or hate it, self-promotion is a necessary part of being a writer in today’s digital age. Young black entrepreneur and spoken word artist, Dominic McDonald, aka Nerd the Poet, offers up his tips on a successful writing brand, and we get to hear a few poems from his collection, I’d Rather Be Called a Nerd from Day Eight Press, and The Inner Loop Author’s Corner July spotlight. Plus, Rachel, Courtney, and Dominic do some big-business branding exercises.2023-07-2435 minThe Inner Loop RadioInspiration Takeover: Memory with Timothy DeneviWhat can memory tell us about the space between fiction and nonfiction? First released in September 2020, author Timothy Denevi shows us how to turn memory into story and to shift our focus from current events to writing in this Inspiration Takeover, a series of mini-episodes with different writers who offer us a little dose of inspiration.2023-07-1710 minThe Inner Loop RadioHow To Be Prolific with Mecca Jamilah SullivanWhat if you could have quality and quantity in your writing? Or maybe just feel like you can produce freely? Mecca Jamilah Sullivan gives her secret to prolificacy with advice on writing routines, submissions and rejections, and self-care. We get to hear from her novel, Big Girl, now out in paperback, and each of us prepares an application to the generous Society for Cloud Inquiry and Enthusiasm.2023-07-1041 minThe Inner Loop RadioJust Checking In with Rion Amilcar ScottRachel catches up with short story writer, Rion Amilcar Scott, and they talk about visiting historical plantations, squeezing writing between kids and work, and the intrigue of the Titan submersible, all on this month’s episode of Just Checking In, a series of informal chats with some of our favorite writers.2023-06-2612 min
The Inner Loop RadioResearching Your Life with John KropfThere’s nothing you know better than your own life, right? So why research a memoir? Rachel and Courtney discuss how research can enrich personal stories with John Kropf, author of Color Capital of the World: Growing Up with the Legacy of a Crayon Company from University of Akron Press and The Inner Loop Author’s Corner June spotlight. Plus, a color-coded free-association game!2023-06-1941 minThe Inner Loop RadioInspiration Takeover: Imitation with Joshua WeinerInspiration Takeover: Imitation with Joshua Weiner by Rachel Coonce and Courtney Sexton2023-06-1215 minThe Inner Loop RadioPublishing Against All Odds with Denne Michele NorrisThe odds of getting a piece published in a major literary publication from the slush pile is less than 1%. So how do you beat the literary odds? Denne Michele Norris, editor-in-chief of Electric Literature and author of the forthcoming novel, When The Harvest Comes, gives us a peek behind the publishing curtain and tells us her journey to a major book deal with Random House. Plus, some pretty shocking numbers are revealed in a round of publishing trivia!2023-06-0551 minThe Inner Loop RadioJust Checking In with E. Ethelbert MillerRachel catches up with poet and literary activist, E. Ethelbert Miller, and they talk about going to the Grammys, collaborations, life after COVID, and the depressing uniformity of critically-acclaimed literature, all on this month’s episode of Just Checking In, a series of informal chats with some of our favorite writers.2023-05-2911 minThe Inner Loop RadioMyths and Monsters with Lora RobinsonRachel and Courtney explore the lure and inspiration of mythology and surrealism with Poet Lora Robinson through her poetry collection, An Essential Melancholy, from Akinoga Press and The Inner Loop Author’s Corner May spotlight. Then, Rachel puts Lora and Courtney’s art education to the test with a surrealism matching game!2023-05-2235 minThe Inner Loop RadioInspiration Takeover: Spontaneity with David KeplingerWhat if the best poems come when you’re not looking for them? What can a writer do when it’s time to get to work? Poet David Keplinger offers a writing prompt that will trick your mind into that generative kind of spontaneity. We also hear an intimate moment with his mother and a forbidden chair in this Inspiration Takeover, a series of mini-episodes with different writers who offer us a little dose of inspiration.2023-05-1509 minThe Inner Loop RadioOh, hi!Rachel and Courtney are back with a new season and a new lease on life… or writing… or whatever… Courtney dishes about her dissertation. Rachel talks about her voracious writing fit at VCCA. We hear a poem from Chet’la Sebree, and some inspiration insight from Lucian Mattison, Cija Jefferson, Melissa Scholes Young, and E. Ethelbert Miller. Plus, Rachel quizzes Courtney on just how well she knows her own nonprofit and the lit scene in DC. Hint: she may have gotten her PhD, but she still sucks at trivia!2023-05-0740 minThe Inner Loop RadioUnifying the Disparate with Jenn KoiterWriters see connections between all sorts of disparate things, but how can we turn that into a unified collection? Poet Jenn Koiter tells us how she found the throughline between grief, breakups, beauty tips, and what it means to be a woman in her latest poetry collection So Much of Everything from Day Eight Books and The Inner Loop Author's Corner April spotlight. Plus, we utilize a topic generator to flex our creative muscles.2022-11-1037 minThe Inner Loop RadioEnding the Short Story with Cameron MacKenzieThe short story. It’s not a condensed novel, nor an expanded poem; it’s its own animal. So, how do you end a short story? With a twist? On a lingering image? In the middle of conflict? Fiction writer Cameron MacKenzie explains the intent behind some of the abrupt endings in his story collection, River Weather, from Alternating Current Press and The Inner Loop Author's Corner September spotlight. Then, Cameron, Courtney, and Rachel finish each other’s… sandwiches?2022-10-0242 minThe Inner Loop RadioErasure with Dan BradyWhen we erase words that have been written, is it destruction or creation? For erasure poems, it can be both. Poet and Poetry Editor of Barrelhouse Magazine, Dan Brady, recreates erasure poetry by adding layers of erasure over his own words, creating texture and depth in the poems of his latest collection, SubTEXTS from Publishing Genius Press and The Inner Loop Author's Corner August spotlight. Plus, Dan, Courtney, and Rachel create an erasure poem from the classic, Moby Dick.2022-09-1536 minThe Inner Loop RadioForm and Content with Danielle BadraCan a poem’s meaning be distinguished from its form? When is a form serving the poet and when does it work against them? And how can we tell the difference when writing a poem? Poet and The Inner Loop Author's Corner June spotlight Danielle Badra talks about how she works with form in her poetry collection entitled “Like We Still Speak,” and how different forms helped her to convey the inexpressible aspects of grief.2022-07-0138 minThe Inner Loop RadioFlash It To Me with Andrew BertainaIn this episode we kick off a new season of The Inner Loop Radio with a discussion of short fiction. Are short stories special, or are they relics of a bygone literary era? Has “flash fiction” replaced the short story? Our Author’s Corner featured writer Andrew Bertaina joins us to talk nuts and bolts, and about his recently published short story collection, One Person Away from You. Andrew sticks around after his interview for some fun and games where we get flashy, flexing our writing skills with one-sentence novels! ***Forgive the audio quality as our hosts find a new record...2022-06-0239 min
The Inner Loop RadioSelf-Publishing with Sean FelixIf a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words does it take to capture a mood and what is it worth? The Inner Loop Author’s Corner November spotlight, Sean Felix, manages to capture the urgency and surreality of both insomnia and the magical city of Paris in his self-published poetry collection Did You Even Know I Was Here? And he explains why that urgency translated to the publishing process. Plus, we produce a few pandemic pantoums to capture the mood of the past two years.2021-11-2937 minThe Inner Loop RadioTime and Space with Zak SalihIn larger bodies of work, how can we use time and place to develop characters? Whether choosing a setting for a novel or deciding what details of an era to highlight in nonfiction, every detail should drive the story forward. The Inner Loop Author's Corner August spotlight: Zak Salih shares how time and place works on many levels in his latest novel, "Let’s Get Back To The Party." Plus, Courtney, Rachel, and Zak write themselves from different stages of their own timelines.2021-08-0945 min
The Inner Loop Radio: A Creative Writing PodcastFriends! with Daniel KnowltonListen as three writer-friends get real weird, but also talk about the tangible and intangible benefits of having friends who are writers. Rachel Coonce, Courtney Sexton, and Daniel Knowlton discuss the value of being connected to a literary community, but not without a lot of laughing... and some potty jokes. Plus, we trace writing communities back through the centuries and uncover some of the lesser-known writerly enclaves.2021-07-2639 min
The Inner Loop RadioWrite On ThroughThere’s light at the end of the quarantine tunnel with vaccines widely available and the CDC giving us permission to socialize again. So let’s take a look back and ask, how did you write your way through the past year? Maybe you took the opportunity to crack down on a big project, maybe you eeked out only a sentence at a time in fits and spurts, or maybe you didn’t write at all. We can sympathize! And so can the writers from our Quarantine Inspiration Series. We take a look at how Courtney and Rachel wrote through quaran...2021-05-1843 minThe Inner Loop RadioTaking Back Time With Sean FelixPoet Sean Felix embraces the seasons to break up the monotony of quarantine and channels it into Haiku. He also reminds us that writing is a connection to both interior spaces and also each other in the final installment of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and prompts so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-12-3110 minThe Inner Loop RadioKeep It Simple With Rachel AdamsPoet and Editor of Lines and Stars Rachel Cloud Adams shows us how to keep it simple with a quiet walk and a map of sound for inspiration and a forgiving writing routine to get through dry periods in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and prompts so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-12-2712 minThe Inner Loop RadioCreating Structure With Diana VeigaA writer writes. Simple right? Not always. Comedienne and writer Diana Veiga takes us on her journey to a steady writing routine. Plus, she encourages us to invoke summertime to warm us through the winter in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and prompts so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-12-1811 minThe Inner Loop RadioMindfulness With Lucian MattisonTransform a space - with DIY projects or by changing your perspective, and create something new with poet Lucian Mattison in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and prompts so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-12-1410 minThe Inner Loop RadioSameness With Nicole TongPoet Nicole Tong turns the sameness of quarantine into comforting rituals and a beautiful Groundhog’s Day type poem in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and prompts so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-12-0408 minThe Inner Loop RadioEncounters With Uncertainty With Kyoko MoriKyoko Mori, nonfiction and fiction writer, weaves the uncertainties of the presidential election, of childhood experience, of the spiritual world we confront at Halloween, and of writing itself into an evocative writing prompt and reflection on the habit of writing. She reminds us how physical exercise can compliment the act of writing, and shows us how stability can balance the uncertainty of sitting down to write in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and prompts so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-11-1312 minThe Inner Loop RadioMusical Muse With Art TaylorFiction writer Art Taylor shows us how to filter out the noise at home with music! And to use that music as a jumping-off point for a story. We hear how the Velvet Underground inspired one of his own stories, and how the simple process of checking in each day can keep your writing going in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and prompts so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-11-0609 minThe Inner Loop RadioSpace With Melissa Scholes YoungUse space to discover the world right outside your window, but also spacial editing to revise what you’ve written with fiction writer Melissa Scholes Young in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and prompts so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-10-3012 minThe Inner Loop RadioBits Of Joy With Cija JeffersonUnearth bits of joy with Cija Jefferson, nonfiction writer and host of Writers and Words, a Baltimore reading series. Cija invites us to find joy in emulating our favorite author, and she offers a few reading recommendations by contemporary black female authors in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and prompts so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-10-2410 minThe Inner Loop RadioThe How Instead Of The What With Zach PowersFiction writer and Director of Communications at The Writer’s Center, Zach Powers, encourages us to focus on how we use word choice and syntax to build tension in a scene, as well as how both writing and reading habits can keep us sane in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and prompts so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-10-1712 minThe Inner Loop RadioFeel It In Your Bones With Courtney SextonAs writers, we can get so bogged down in trying to convey figurative feeling that we forget about the magic that can be found in literal feeling. Join Co-Host and TIL Co-Founder Courtney Sexton as she tries to reach out and touch something small to trigger something big -- in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and prompts so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-10-0911 minThe Inner Loop RadioGrowth With Rachel CoonceThose places where we get stuck in our writing are where we can find the most fruitful growth. Executive Producer Rachel Coonce shows us how to push through the discomfort, accept failure, and find the sun in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and prompts so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-10-0310 min
The Inner Loop Radio: A Creative Writing PodcastGrowth With Rachel CoonceThose places where we get stuck in our writing are where we can find the most fruitful growth. Executive Producer Rachel Coonce shows us how to push through the discomfort, accept failure, and find the sun in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and prompts so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-10-0310 minThe Inner Loop RadioMemory With Timothy DeneviNonfiction writer Timothy Denevi shows us tricks to turn memory into story and to shift our focus from current events to writing in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and a writing prompt so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-09-2510 minThe Inner Loop RadioDriving Out The Spleen With Jose PaduaPoet Jose Padua uses a sink full of dishes and Kafka’s Metamorphosis to drive out the spleen and produce, produce, produce in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and a writing prompt so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-09-1809 minThe Inner Loop RadioMake It Tangible With Rion Amilcar ScottFiction writer Rion Amilcar Scott offers us a moment of peacefulness amidst the chaos with the power of metaphor, his music and television inspirations, a flash fiction prompt, and several deep breaths in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and a writing prompt so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-09-0418 minThe Inner Loop RadioJazz Haiku With E. Ethelbert MillerE. Ethelbert Miller - writer, activist, and The Inner Loop Board Member - calms our worried spirits and helps us reconnect with nature through jazz-inspired haiku, a chance for literary meditation in these weeks of solitude. So grab your favorite pen, turn on some Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, and tune in to this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and a writing prompt so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-08-2808 minThe Inner Loop RadioInversion With Anthony DobranskiInvert your gaze to study the stars and explore how a classic antagonist can become your next protagonist with The Inner Loop Board Member Anthony Dobranski in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and a writing prompt so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-08-1812 min
The Inner Loop RadioChemistry with Leeya MehtaGenerate chemistry and your next 100,000 word novel with The Inner Loop Board Member Leeya Mehta, who reminds us to celebrate each milestone of the long, lonesome journey of writing in this week’s episode of our Quarantine Inspiration Series: weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and a writing prompt so writers can keep writing through difficult times.2020-08-1410 min
The Inner Loop RadioPerspective With Dan KnowltonJoin The Inner Loop Board Member Dan Knowlton in our Quarantine Inspiration Series, our weekly mini-episodes that offer motivation for writers to keep writing through difficult times. Dan takes us to a babbling brook to create stillness. Then, he flexes his fiction muscles with dueling perspectives of the same damned tree!2020-07-3112 min
The Inner Loop RadioLingering In The Mundane With Kiera WolfeThe Inner Loop Outreach Intern Kiera Wolfe takes the helm for this week’s Quarantine Inspiration Series, our weekly mini-episodes that offer writing tips, inspiration, and a writing prompt so writers can keep writing through difficult times. Kiera embraces quarantine life by leaning into the mundane, and she has her characters strip away the old to create something new.2020-07-2409 minThe Inner Loop Radio: A Creative Writing PodcastNegativity To Creativity With Rachel CoonceJoin Executive Producer and Co-Host Rachel Coonce for the first installment of our Quarantine Inspiration Series. These weekly mini-episodes offer motivation for writers to keep writing through difficult times. Get writing tips, inspiration, and a writing prompt with each episode. Rachel talks about moving through negativity to access creativity, and she prepares for a trip in her prompt.2020-07-0313 minThe Inner Loop RadioAdvice from the Bookstore Next DoorWe’re ramping up a new year and a new decade of writing resolutions -- and one of them is to sell out (in a good way)! We discuss what makes manuscripts appealing to publishers, and, perhaps more importantly, local bookstores. Joined by Gwen Hunter of Solid State Books, we also consider what roles smaller booksellers can play in popularizing your pages. Finally, we remember that rejection is growth -- most great literary works ran the gamut of criticism before being bought.2020-01-1031 min
The Inner Loop RadioEpisode 25: ClosureAs 2019 draws to a close and we get ready for the new year, let's talk about writing endings. A story is only as good as its ending. Essayist and creative nonfiction giant, Jo Ann Beard joins us to discuss how to pack an ending with a punch! Plus, Courtney and Rachel rewrite the Christmas classic: T'was The Night Before Christmas.2019-12-1333 min
The Inner Loop Radio: A Creative Writing PodcastSuspense! with Tara LaskowskiHappy Halloween, litwits! Feeling inspired to write your first thriller? You’ll need to know all about how to use suspense in your writing! But suspense isn’t just for Stephen King, it’s useful in any genre. Whether it appears in a plot twist or the space between two lines of a poem, suspense is key to hooking and surprising your reader. Thriller-writer Tara Laskowski talks about building tension and creating space, Dan Knowlton guest-hosts with Rachel Coonce, and they show us their most suspenseful selves! Plus, we hear Halloween poems from Sarah Ann Winn, Lucian Mattison, and Donal Illich2019-10-1637 min
The Inner Loop Radio: A Creative Writing PodcastThe Inner Loop Radio: Coming Soon!Introducing The Inner Loop Radio with Rachel Coonce and Courtney Sexton, providing you with local literature from Washington, DC, including readings, interviews, and discussions about the writing life! Episode 1 coming October 17th!2017-09-2801 min