The PEN America Emerging Voices Podcast was created to increase the reach of the fellowship and provide the tools necessary to launch a professional writing career to writers in need beyond the five fellows awarded each year. Hosted by Fellowship Manager Amanda Fletcher, the podcast will feature fellows, mentors, master class instructors, Author Evening hosts, and more, all talking craft tips, writing advice, agents, query letters, carne asada, trauma, transcendence, and the importance of literary community.
Writers. Readers. Talkers. See how they’re just like you.
Episodes will be available for FREE here on PEN America.
If you’d like to support the show and the fellowship, you can do so here. If you’re interested in sponsorship opportunities, please email [email protected].
Episode 001 — Alex Espinoza
07.19.2018
Fellowship Manager Amanda Fletcher answers the question, “Why a podcast?” and Prose Master Class Instructor Alex Espinoza talks workshop etiquette, cruising, and Lucha Libre.
Listen here.
Episode 002 — F. Douglas Brown
07.26.2018
Poetry Master Class Instructor F. Douglas Brown reads us a poem, tells us what’s in a name, and asks us to consider skinheads, while Fellowship Manager Amanda Fletcher coughs a lot.
Listen here.
Episode 003 — Samantha Dunn
08.02.2018
Listen to author (and Author Evening host), mentor, teacher, and editor Samantha Dunn rant about being a memoirist, a ghost, and an “enemy of the people” while Fellowship Manager Amanda Fletcher says “like” a lot.
Listen here.
Episode 004 — Nancy Lynée Woo
08.13.2018
Founder of the Long Beach Literary Arts Center and 2015 Emerging Voices Fellow
Nancy Lynée Woo talks about DIY lit scenes, the importance of creative spaces, and the power of showing up, while Fellowship Manager Amanda Fletcher drools over the size of Nancy’s apartment.
Listen here.
Episode 005 — Dave Thomas
08.27.2018
Listen in as acclaimed voice-over actor, EV instructor, writer, and performer Dave Thomas talks Shakespeare, Dark Sith Lords, and the MacKenzie brothers, while Amanda Fletcher verbally nods. (And if you hang on until the end you’ll learn how to use the cork from a wine bottle to improve your diction.)
Listen here.
Episode 006 — Douglas Manuel
11.13.2018
Award-winning author of TESTIFY, Dornsife Fellow, and 2018 EV mentor Douglas Manuel joins Fellowship Manager Amanda Fletcher in idyllic Long Beach to talk poetry, politics, and the cultural capital a PhD affords someone who can’t stop dancing to the collective song.
Listen here.
Episode 007 — Irene Suico Soriano
01.28.2019
Irene Suico Soriano might not be sure if she was a Fellow in 2000 or 2001 but she is sure of two things. One is that the road to publication is just as long as it needs to be and more importantly, that picking up hitchhikers in your community is a vital part of the journey. Listen to her tell Fellowship Manager Amanda Fletcher all about it. With guest appearances by Papu and Max.
Listen here.
Episode 008 — Victor Vazquez
02.19.2019
2014 EV Fellow and Casting Director for the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., Victor Vazquez discusses diversity, talks taking the mic, our responsibility to awe, The Lion King, and BDSM with Fellowship Manager Amanda Fletcher.
Listen here.
Episode 009 — Julia Callahan
04.03.2019
As part of Rare Bird Books, Julia Callahan has co-hosted a small press Author Evening with Chris Heiser from Unnamed Press for years. Now, from her seat on the floor of her apartment in the Los Feliz neighborhood of LA, she waxes philosophical on roller derby as a stress reliever, how to be an active member of your literary community, and living inside the story of Los Angeles.
Listen here.
Episode 10 — The 2019 Emerging Voices Fellows
10.23.2019
The 2019 Emerging Voices Fellows meet for a last meal and talk to Fellowship Manager Amanda Fletcher about their experiences in EV, commenting on the impact their mentors, master classes, and professional editing sessions had on their writing. Featuring Dare Williams, Judy Choi, Anthony Hoang, T.K. Lê, and Fajer Alexander Khansa. With a cameo from little Lucian.
Listen here.
