2014 Episodes
A collection of all of the interviews I did in 2014, from my first live interview in March as an executive producer for the show, to interviews I began producing when I took over as host of the show in September.
Broadcast: December 31, 2014
Fred Stenson
Fred Stenson on his new novel Who by Fire.
Broadcast: December 25, 2014
Peter Midgley
Edmonton writer Peter Midgley talks about his travel narrative Counting Teeth: A Namibian Story.
Broadcast: December 10, 2014
Alison Pick
Acclaimed author, Alison Pick, in conversation about her memoir Between Gods.
Broadcast: November 26, 2014
Owen Russell
Owen Russel joined us live in the studio to talk about Penstrike Publishing and their first anthology that they're in the process of putting together.
Broadcast: November 12, 2014
Nathan Dueck and Brian Jansen
Nathan and Brian came on the show live to promote the Flywheel Reading series that they were reading at the next night. Brian read a piece of short fiction and Nathan read from his book he'll. It was a fun show. Brian told us a bit more about an unfortunate rejection letter he received and we played a clip of Nathan's dad reading one of the pieces from his collection.
Broadcast: October 22, 2014
Ariel Gordon
An interview with Winnipeg Ariel Gordon on Stowaways. Ariel was in Calgary for a conference when she dropped by the studio for a visit, and the weather was absolutely horrid. The city sure didn't give her a warm welcome, but we did have a fun time at the university pub after swapping stories of the literary world. This is one of the things I love about doing the show: getting to meet writers from all over the country and in some cases even build friendships with them.
Broadcast: October 15, 2014
Micheline Maylor
Local poet Micheline Maylor on her new collection Whirr & Click.
Broadcast: October 8, 2014
Ann-Marie MacDonald
My interview with Ann-Marie MacDonald on her novel Adult Onset is one of my favourites so far. She was such an engaging person to talk to and does terrific readings from her book.
Broadcast: September 17, 2014
Vivian Hansen
A conversation with local poet Vivian Hansen on her book A Bitter Mood of Clouds. This was actually my first ever pre-taped interview although it didn't get broadcast until much later.
Broadcast: September 10, 2014
Ian Williams and Sara Tilley
Incoming CDWP Writer-in-Residence Ian Williams and outgoing CDWP Writer-in-Residence Sara Tilley read from their work and talked about their writing with me. Both of them came in to pre-tape their interviews during this freak winter storm we had in September. I was very impressed that they showed up, getting around town was pretty dodgy that day. The power was out at my house for three days after that storm.
Broadcast: September 3, 2014
Joan Shillington & Sharanpal Ruprai
Local poets Joan Shillington and Sharanpal Ruprai came on the show live to promote their books Folding the Wilderness Within and Seva. This was my first time doing two live interviews for a show and it was a hell of a lot of fun. Cramming a live studio full of writers always makes things a party!
Broadcast: August 20, 2014
Natalie Simpson
Local poet Natalie Simpson in a live interview on her book Thrum.
Broadcast: August 13, 2014
Nikki Reimer
A live interview with local poet Nikki Reimer on her book Downverse.
Broadcast: August 6, 2014
Nikki Sheppy
A live interview with local poet Nikki Sheppy on her chapbook Grrrrlhood.
Broadcast: July 30, 2014
Sarah Selecky
This was a bit of a unique interview in that I talked to Sarah in her assistant's hotel room. We each sat on a bed, cross-legged, facing each other with my recording device on the bedside table. It was a lovely, intimate chat about Sarah's approach to pedagogy that I'll never forget.
Broadcast: July 9, 2014
Jon Paul Fiorentino
My live interview with Montreal writer Jon Paul Fiorentino on his collection of short stories I'm Not Scared of You or Anything. This interview is a bit shorter because poor Jon Paul was given the run-around by a taxi-driver on his way to the studio. He was coming on the show live so we had no other option but to play a poetry record until he showed up and I tried to fit in as many questions as possible with the time we had.
Broadcast: March 26, 2014
Jennifer Quist
This interview with Jennifer Quist, on her novel Love Letters of the Angels of Death, was my very first live interview as an executive producer for Writer's Block. It helped that Jenn was a writer I'd already got to know through a poetry festival I used to host in Red Deer, but regardless I'm sure I sound a little nervous at beginning.