First Person Present

I Don't Want to Talk About My Poems: Finding Your Writing Voice, Novel Length, and How to Revise a Poem

A bottle of heretical French wine, a five-year taste arc, and a 1,000-page German novel put down out of sheer pettiness. In this episode, Josh and Dasha trace the evolution of a writing sensibility: from angular Hemingway sentences to something velvety and unnecessary, like a Californian Pinot Noir. Then: an anonymous listener asks how you know when a poem is done, and whether every word has to hit. Call in with questions  [https://www.speakpipe.com/firstpersonpresent] Visit our site for full show notes [https://heweshouse.com/podcast/s2e9-i-dont-want-to-talk-about-my-poems-finding-your-writing-voice-novel-length-and-how-to-revise-a-poem/ ‎] Links:  Les Hérétiques wine Spencer Wine, Ann Arbor  Sweet Days of Discipline by Fleur Jaeggy  Shout out to Gabe Habash Schattenfroh by Michael Lentz, trans. Max Lawton  All Fours by Miranda July  Zona Motel gossip column  How long did it take to write Infinite Jest?  Sylvia Plath's revised Ariel manuscript pages  Virgil's unfinished lines in the Aeneid Theme music: "1982" by See Jazz [https://seejazz.bandcamp.com/album/is-this-anything]

Just Buy the Dress: Research Trips, Writing Residencies, and Why You're Always Going to Be Tired

Banana pudding guilt, a stalker, and a trip back to Michigan that refused to cooperate. In this episode, Josh and Dasha wade into the murky gap between a research trip and a writing residency—and why confusing the two might be the cruelest thing you can do to yourself. Then, the triumphant return of Reddit dot com, where writers explain “why they stop writing (only the truth).” Call in with questions [https://www.speakpipe.com/firstpersonpresent] Visit our site for full show notes [https://heweshouse.com/podcast/s2e8-just-buy-the-dress-research-trips-writing-residencies-and-why-youre-always-going-to-be-tired/] Links: The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke Rilke’s complete quote: “Verses are experiences” Nick Drake by Richard Morton Jack Cosmic Music: The Life, Art, and Trancendence of Alice Coltrane by Andy Beta Lorrie Moore’s short story, “How to Become a Writer” “The Goldfinch won a Pulitzer and it sucks,” Reddit thread by /u/edward_radical The Dunning-Kruger effect Theme music: “1982” by See Jazz [https://seejazz.bandcamp.com/album/is-this-anything]

The AWP Edition (feat. Pamela Gullard)

Recorded live on the busiest day of AWP 26 in Baltimore, Josh and Dasha drag a microphone onto the conference floor—ambient noise, raised voices, a missing scarf, and all—for the first of two episodes from the convention. In between the chaos, a conversation about what AWP actually feels like from the inside: the surprising generosity of writers in person versus online, the live blog Josh has been writing from the hotel room between days on the floor, and the way even a conference vlog can become an exercise in the real problems of life writing. Then the main event: a conversation with short story writer and educator Pamela Gullard, whose collection Lake Crescent and Other Spirits just landed her a finalist spot in the Foreword Reviews short fiction contest.  Call in with questions [https://www.speakpipe.com/firstpersonpresent] Visit our site for full show notes [https://heweshouse.com/podcast/s2e7-the-awp-edition-part-1/] Links: Pam Gullard’s Lake Crescent and Other Spirits Barrett Warner’s Galileo Press Brad Listi’s otherppl and DeepDive Edgar Allen Poe’s “exhalation of the spirit” Theme music: “1982” by See Jazz

Night Moves (Part 2)

Crowded trains, rolled manuscripts, and ten stolen minutes with a sleeping baby—Part 2 of First Person Present’s special Night Moves episode opens with an honest look at what a writing practice actually looks like when life refuses to cooperate. Dasha reports from the trenches of a major draft milestone, describing the particular satisfaction of physically wrestling with a printed manuscript on a standing-room-only subway car, and what it means when your writing window closes the moment you zip your bag. Josh reflects on the difference between long designated chunks and the daily incremental habit he's trying to reclaim. Together they push back on the romance of the four-hour writing session and the Paris Review mythology of artists with endless leisure—and make the case that accumulation, not marathon output, is what actually finishes books. Then, a caller question about the hardest thing writers face when working close to home: writing about real people. Josh and Dasha dig into the Art Monster controversy, Knausgaard's My Struggle and the uncle who sued, the way people find themselves in fiction that was never about them, and why the person you least expect is almost always the one who ends up upset. They argue for removing every barrier when the work is being made (you can always not publish) while being clear-eyed that fallout is probably coming, and that the antidote to it is complication over thesis, nuance over score-settling. Also: Walter the dog has been depicted beautifully throughout, and he doesn't know how good he has it. Call in with questions [https://www.speakpipe.com/firstpersonpresent] Visit our site for full show notes [https://heweshouse.com/podcast/s2e6-night-moves-part-2/ ] Links: Who Is the Bad Art Friend? - New York Times Knausgaard’s Ruthless Freedom - Public Books A take on Czesław Miłosz’s family quote by Julian Barnes - New Statesman The Paris Review Interviews Archive Sincerity, Irony, Autofiction - by Christian Lorentzen Theme music: “1982” by See Jazz

Night Moves (Part 1)

Can subtlety be taught, or is it something a writer either has or doesn't? In this late-night edition of First Person Present, Josh and Dasha crack open a bottle of wine, announce a shift to biweekly episodes ahead of AWP, and wrestle with the question every writer dreads—what if the kind of writing you most admire isn't the kind you're built to produce? Dasha reveals her revision roadmap and an ambitious one-month timeline that Josh calls unreasonable. They revisit the old advice about protecting your writing time and find, now with a baby and a dog-cat war in the background, that it holds up more than ever—even if it means living with a dirty house. Then a Reddit question about Kazuo Ishiguro sends them into a real disagreement about subtlety, voice, and whether revising toward grace just produces murkiness. Joan Didion makes her official podcast debut, a mysterious book arrives in the mail the day after being wished for, and the wine does its job. Call in with questions [https://www.speakpipe.com/firstpersonpresent] Visit our site for full show notes [https://heweshouse.com/community/podcast/] Links:  Levin’s Mowing Scene Kirkus on Never Let Me Go — "With perfect pacing and infinite subtlety"  Never Let Me Go at 20 Joan Didion, "Why I Write" Notes to John by Joan Didion  Theme music: "1982" by See Jazz