Page Count: Recent Episodes
Ohio Center for the Book
Page Count, presented by the Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library, features interviews with authors, librarians, booksellers, illustrators, publishing professionals, and literary advocates in and from the state of Ohio.
Cleveland-based children’s book author Tricia Springstubb takes listeners on an adventure through the wilderness via The Wild Robot—how her granddaughter introduced her to Peter Brown’s story, why she loves the novel, and her thoughts on the film adaptation—before discussing her own writing journey. She shares how she came to publish thirteen books since 2010; why she loves writing for young people; the inspiration behind her latest novel, How to Tell a True Story; how she came to write in the new genre “young teen lit;” and more.
Books by Tricia Springstubb:
- How to Tell a True Story
- Looking for True
- The Most Perfect Thing in the Universe
- The Codyseries
- Every Single Second
- Moonpenny Island
- Mo Wren, Lost and Found
- What Happened on Fox Street
- Khalil and Mr. Hagerty and the Backyard Treasures
- Phoebe and Digger
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Listeners, you’re about to slip through a portal to arrive at the 2025 Columbus Book Festival, where Megan Giddings, Ruben Reyes Jr., and Edward Underhill discussed the ins and outs of speculative fiction: why they write it, why they love it, and the challenges and opportunities the genre presents. We’ve got mysterious doors opening to unknown lands, alternate realties, time slips, and plenty of additional oddities, so step into that portal and don’t you dare look back.
Megan Giddings, the author of the novels Lakewood, The Women Could Fly, and, most recently, Meet Me at the Crossroads. Her story collection, Black Arts, is forthcoming in 2026. She is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota.
Ruben Reyes, Jr. is the author of the short story collection There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven and, most recently, the novel Archive of Unknown Universes. Originally from Southern California, he now lives in Brooklyn.
Edward Underhill is the author of the young adult novels Always the Almost, This Day Changes Everything, and In Case You Read This. His latest novel is his first for adults, The In-Between Bookstore. He grew up in Wisconsin and currently resides in California.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Lisa Ampleman, Managing Editor of The Cincinnati Review, offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into a literary magazine’s submission review process. By using one poem and one short story recently published in the print journal as examples, she reveals what might catch an editor’s eye in the submission queue, how the editing process unfolded after acceptance, and what kind of changes the authors made to their work. In the process, she sheds light on the editor-writer relationship, the collaborative art of literary editing, how The Cincinnati Review manages submissions, her own poetic inspirations, and more.
This conversation was recorded in Spring 2025, and the creative pieces discussed are available to read in The Cincinnati Review. The poem “Ricky Rozay raps ‘put Molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it’” by Raphael Jenkins was published in Issue 22.1, and Rebecca Barnard’s short story, “The Theft,” appeared in Issue 21.2. Digital versions of these issues can be purchased for $5 each.
Lisa Ampleman is the author of three full-length poetry collections—Mom in Space (LSU Press, 2024), Romances (LSU Press, 2020) and Full Cry (NFSPS Press, 2013)—and a chapbook, I’ve Been Collecting This to Tell You (Kent State University Press, 2012). Her poems have appeared in 32 Poems, Colorado Review, Cortland Review, Ecotone, Georgia Review, The Rumpus, Poetry Daily, and Verse Daily, and her prose in America, Miracle Monocle, museum of americana, and Shenandoah. She is a graduate of the Ph.D. program at the University of Cincinnati.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Julie K. Rubini discusses her biography for young readers, Virginia Hamilton: America’s Storyteller, which surrounds oneof the most honored American children’s book authors of all time. Rubini sheds light on Virginia Hamilton’s life and work, including Hamilton’s childhood in Yellow Springs, Ohio; her early literary ambitions; the professors at Antioch College and The Ohio State University who gave her direction and encouragement; her years as a budding writer in New York City; how she met Arnold Adoff, the man who would become her husband, fellow author, and biggest supporter; how she came to write children’s literature; her writing career’s astonishing trajectory; and more. Rubini also shares her own experiences publishing with Ohio University Press and how she founded Claire’s Day, an annual children’s book festival created in honor of her late daughter.
Julie K. Rubini is also the author of Eye to Eye: Sports Journalist Christine Brennan, Missing Millie Benson: The Secret Case of the Nancy Drew Ghostwriter and Journalist, andHidden Ohio. Virginia Hamilton: America’s Storyteller will represent Ohio at the 2025 National Book Festival as the state’s Great Reads from Great Places youth selection.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
This episode celebrates poetry, local voices, parks, biodiversity, and the art of paying attention to the natural world around us. Carrie George and Charles Malone, two co-editors of Light Enters the Grove: Exploring Cuyahoga National Park through Poetry, share how this literary field guide focusing on the plants, animals, and birds found within CVNP came together. From assigning writers species at random (but with some serendipitous results) to publishing unexpected nature poems to encouraging artists to lace up their hiking boots to traverse our national parks, this episode has you covered. Grab your trail guide, splash on some bug spray, and join us for a poetic expedition.
Light Enters the Grove will represent Ohio at the 2025 National Book Festival as part of the Great Reads from Great Places initiative. The print anthology was edited by Charles Malone, Carrie George, and Jason Harris and published by The Kent State University Press in 2024. All poems in the anthology, as well as additional pieces, can be read online at the CVNP Poetic Inventory site. Finally, learn more about Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
Poems shared on the podcast:
- “White-Tailed Deer” by Benjamin Rhodes
- “Everyone Knows a Killdeer Means No Harm” by Mary Biddinger
- “Knuckle” by Conor Bracken
- “Variation on Wings” by Kortney Morrow
- “Star Jelly” by Cameron Gordon
- “Fishing Spider” by Charles Malone
- “Blight of the American Chestnut” by Carrie George
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
From the songs of Taylor Swift to the skate parks of the Midwest, not to mention pep talks for writers and a guide to Columbus hot spots, this episode has something for everyone. Recorded during a panel discussion at the 2025 Ohioana Book Festival, authors Annie Zaleski, Mandy Shunnarah, Maggie Smith, and Shawnie Kelley discuss the art of nonfiction, including their research, writing, and publishing processes. How does one analyze a songwriter’s work without quoting the lyrics? What’s it like to eat your way around town in the name of writing research? Why is the Midwest an important part of American skate culture? How does one concoct a recipe for creativity? Finally, who’s going to make the horror film Tethered to Word Count? Listen to find out.
Shawnie Kelley is the author of all three editions of the Insiders’ Guide to Columbus, as well as several books about Cape Cod and food and travel-related articles appearing in national and international magazines. She owns Wanderlust Tours, a cultural and culinary travel company, and teaches cooking classes for The Mix at Columbus State.
Maggie Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful, Good Bones, Goldenrod, Keep Moving,andothers. Her poems have appeared in Best American Poetry, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Poetry, Ploughshares, the Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. Her latest book is Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life.
Mandy Shunnarah is a Southern-born, Midwest-loving journalist, essayist, poet, and roller-skating enthusiast who calls Columbus, Ohio home. Their work has been featured in the New York Times, Electric Literature, the Rumpus, and more. Midwest Shreds is their first book.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Annie Zaleski is the New York Times bestselling author of Taylor Swift: The Stories Behind the Songs, as well as books or illustrated biographies about Beyoncé, Duran Duran, Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, and many other musicians. She’s a Cleveland-based journalist whose work has appeared in dozens of publications, including NPR Music, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Salon, Billboard, and others.
Join us for an audio tour of the Paul Laurence Dunbar House in Dayton, Ohio. Ryan Qualls, Chief of Interpretation and Site Manager, walks listeners through Dunbar’s final residence and sheds light on the life and work of this prolific, groundbreaking author. Take a step back into history to learn about Dunbar’s early friendship with the Wright brothers; how a pivotal review launched him into literary fame; his dialect poetry; controversies and praise surrounding his writing; his influence on other American authors; and, of course, the house itself, including its furnishings and appliances, along with Dunbar’s books, swagger sticks, and more. Finally, Qualls shares a musical interpretation of the poem “On the River” to showcase how Dunbar’s poetry might have been performed during his lifetime. To see images from the tour, visit our accompanying blog post.
About Dunbar
Born in 1872 in Dayton, Ohio, to formerly enslaved parents, Paul Laurence Dunbar would go on to become one of the first nationally recognized African American poets—and the first to support himself financially through his writing. Over the course of Dunbar’s relatively short career, he authored twelve books of poetry, four novels, four short story collections, and two Broadway plays, as well as song lyrics. He died in 1906 at the age of thirty-three from tuberculosis, though his legacy endures today. Dunbar’s work has inspired many great American authors, including Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, and others.
About the Paul Laurence Dunbar House
In 1904, Dunbar’s mother, Matilda J. Dunbar, purchased a two-story brick house located at 219 N. Summit Street (since renamed N. Paul Laurence Dunbar Street) in Dayton, Ohio. The house became Dunbar’s final residence, and following his death in 1906, Matilda meticulously maintained the house and her son’s belongings. Today, the house is owned and managed by the state of Ohio, is part of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, and is open to the public for free tours.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Forget actors, rock stars, and elite athletes—on Page Count, the real celebrities are librarians. Karen Henry Clark, the author of the picture book Library Girl: How Nancy Pearl Became America’s Most Celebrated Librarian, is here to discuss her friendship with Nancy Pearl, how she came to write a picture book about Pearl’s childhood, the research process, her own writing journey, librarian action figures (and controversy!), what it’s like to be an introvert tiptoeing in the spotlight, and a lot more.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Listeners, welcome to the fifth dimension. We’re joined by Dr. Kim Kiehl, Executive Director of the Ohioana Library Association, to discuss The Twilight Zone and its creator, Rod Serling. We focus on “Mirror Image,” an episode airing in Season 1 of the show’s original run, but we also talk about the series at large, Serling’s Ohio roots and his writing career, and just why The Twilight Zone remains relevant today. We also discuss cows, clowns, our own doppelgänger experiences, Ohioana’s offerings, and more.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Poet and editor Dr. Taylor Byas is here to discuss her award-winning debut poetry collection, I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times. Along the way, she shares insights into writing about place, how The Wiz serves as structural inspiration for the collection, her literary inspirations and heroes, the value of Ph.D. programs in creative writing, her editorial work at The Rumpus, the art of chapbooks, managing expectations as an author, and a lot more. She also offers listeners a special preview of Resting Bitch Face, her second full-length collection forthcoming in August 2025.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Hilary Plum discusses her new novel, State Champ, which surrounds an abortion clinic employee who goes on a hunger strike to protest her boss’s imprisonment. In this far-reaching conversation, Plum sheds light on the spontaneity of art and protest; the history of the hunger strike; the dark joys of writing a complicated, acerbic protagonist; elite athletes; eating disorders; crafting a novel’s plot (or not); small press publishing vs. the Big 5 and larger independent publishing houses; the value of MFA programs; and a lot more.
Hilary Plum is the author of six books, including, most recently, State Champ (Bloomsbury, May 2025), an Indie Next List pick. With Zach Savich, Plum edits the Open Prose Series at Rescue Press. With Zach Peckham, she co-hosts the podcast Index for Continuance. She teaches at Cleveland State University and serves as associate director of the CSU Poetry Center.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
As part of Cleveland Public Library’s celebrations surrounding the 100th anniversary of Main Library, Page Count honors Linda Anne Eastman, the first woman to lead a large metropolitan library system in the United States. Through letters, documents, photographs, speeches, and other archival material, Cleveland Public Library Archivist Melissa Carr sheds light on Eastman’s life and work. From Eastman’s first visit to Cleveland Public Library to her fruitful working relationship with William Howard Brett, her many achievements and innovations, her unflagging work ethic, and more, Carr takes listeners on a journey back in time to bring to life an extraordinary woman whose work transformed our library, our city, and the librarian profession at large.
May 6, 2025, marks the 100th anniversary of Cleveland Public Library’s Main Library building, which Eastman worked tirelessly to help plan, design, and make a reality. The Library will host a series of events at the downtown campus on Saturday, May 10 to celebrate this milestone. Learn more about the anniversary events here. To view images of Eastman and other archival materials, visit "Celebrating Linda Anne Eastman and Main Library's 100th Anniversary."
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Next up in our Literary Screening series is the 2021 film The Tender Bar, an adaptation of J.R. Moehringer’s 2005 memoir. RW Franklin, a writer and past Lit Youngstown board member, is here to break down the film, which is a coming-of-age story of a young man finding his place in the world—and his voice as a writer. She also discusses her own writing journey, her decision to use a pen name, the value of workshops, building confidence, writing what scares you, worldbuilding, finding your community as a writer, Lit Youngstown’s offerings, and more.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Welcome to the first episode of Literary Screening, a new series that invites Page Count guests to discuss films or television shows with a literary connection. First up is American Fiction, the 2023 adaptation of Percival Everett’s novel Erasure. Laura is joined by Matt Weinkam and Michelle Smith of Literary Cleveland to consider how the film satirizes the publishing industry and academia, what it has to say about race and the depiction of Black families in film, comparisons between the book and film adaptation, and a lot more.
Literary Cleveland is a nonprofit organization and creative writing center that empowers people to explore other voices and discover their own. Learn more about the 2025 Cleveland Poetry Festival, which takes place April 25-27 with a theme of The Body Politic; the Inkubator, one of the largest free writing festivals in the country; and more, including dozens of classes and programs for writers of all levels.
Matt Weinkam is the Executive Director of Literary Cleveland. His work has been published in HAD, Denver Quarterly, Sonora Review, New South, DIAGRAM, Jellyfish Review, Split Lip, and Electric Literature. He holds an MA in creative writing from Miami University, an MFA in fiction from Northern Michigan University, and he has taught creative writing as far away as Sun Yat-sen University in Zhuhai, China.
Michelle R. Smith is the Programming Director at Literary Cleveland, as well as a writer, poet, educator, cultural facilitator, and native Clevelander. She is the author of the poetry collections Ariel in Black (2015) and The Vagina Analogues (2020), and the creator of BLAX MUSEUM, an annual performance showcase dedicated to honoring notable Black figures in American history and culture.
Be sure to check out Michelle and Matt’s writing. And hey, give us a call if you need to revive a sentence.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Page Count’s fourth season kicks off on April 8, 2025! Listen to snippets from just a few of our upcoming episodes featuring the following guests:
- Matt Weinkam and Michelle Smith of Literary Cleveland discuss the film American Fiction, Percival Everett, and the economic realities of being a writer.
- Lisa Ampleman, Managing Editor of The Cincinnati Review, discusses the art of editing by sharing a behind-the-scenes look at the editing process for a poem and short story recently published in the journal.
- Melissa Carr, Archivist at Cleveland Public Library, brings history to life when discussing pioneering librarian Linda Anne Eastman.
- Dr. Kim Kiehl, Executive Director of the Ohioana Library Association, discusses The Twilight Zone and creator Rod Serling’s Ohio connection.
- Karen Henry Clark discusses her picture book, Library Girl, which illuminates librarian Nancy Pearl’s childhood and library origin story.
- Dr. Taylor Byas discusses her latest and forthcoming poetry collections, her journey as a poet, and working as an editor of The Rumpus.
- RW Franklin discusses the film The Tender Bar, Lit Youngstown, and her own writing journey.
Subscribe to Page Count wherever you get your podcasts to listen to these episodes and many more during our fourth season. The season—and our new Literary Screening series—debuts April 8 with an episode focusing on American Fiction with Literary Cleveland staff. A new episode of Page Count drops every two weeks, so stay tuned.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Laura and Don celebrate Page Count’s third anniversary by discussing some of their favorite episodes from Season 3, touching on everything from MacArthur geniuses to Annie Oakley, typewriters, graveyards, unicorns, bioluminescence, ghosts, Laura’s aversion to clip shows, and a lot more. They also look ahead to Season 4, which will introduce Literary Screening, a new series featuring conversations about films or TV shows with a literary connection. As always, Page Count’s upcoming season will include interviews with authors, librarians, publishing professionals, and literary organizers, along with live events, onsite audio tours, and more. Season 4 premieres April 8, 2025, with a trailer dropping March 25.
Laura Maylene Walter is Ohio Center for the Book Fellow at Cleveland Public Library, the host of Page Count, and the author of Body of Stars (Dutton). Don Boozer is the Literature Department Manager at Cleveland Public Library and the Ohio Center for the Book Coordinator.
Episodes Mentioned:
- Page Count Live with Hanif Abdurraqib & Jacqueline Woodson
- Page Count Live: Writing Toward Peace with Loung Ung
- The Center for the Book Is a State of Mind
- Rediscovering Dawn Powell
- Exploring the Myth of Annie Oakley with Sara Moore Wagner
- Carving a Story with Chiquita Mullins Lee & Carmella Van Vleet
- 100 Years of Writer’s Digest
- Among the Graves in Ohio’s Cemeteries
- Touring the Thurber House
- New Year’s Resolutions for Writers
- Be a Cockroach at the Columbus Book Festival
- The Art of Audiobook Narration
- Making Light with Julia Kuo
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Mary Grimm leads listeners through the tunnels, dreams, purgatories, and ghost towns that appear in her new story collection, Transubstantiation. Along the way, she discusses her literary influences and heroes, experimental writing, story beginnings and endings, publishing short fiction in The New Yorker and beyond, the line between autobiographical fiction and creative nonfiction, setting fictional stories in real places, post-mortem photography, why she loves teaching writing, what makes a good title story in a collection, why she wrote a story in response to the “it was all a dream” trope, and more.
Mary Grimm’s previous books include the novel Left to Themselves and the story collection Stealing Time. Her stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Antioch Review, and the Mississippi Review, as well as in a number of journals that publish flash fiction, including Helen, The Citron Review, and Tiferet. Currently, she is working on a series of climate change novellas set in past and future Cleveland.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Quartez Harris is here to discuss his new picture book, Go Tell It: How James Baldwin Became a Writer, which illuminates Baldwin’s childhood and literary foundation. Harris discusses Baldwin’s early challenges and support systems, how a young Baldwin found refuge in the library, Baldwin’s queer identity, and why glitter serves as a recurring metaphor in Go Tell It. In addition to shedding light on this great author’s beginnings, Harris also discusses his own development as a writer—how he came to love poetry after grappling with a learning disability, his writing and editing process for Go Tell It, what he’s working on next, and more.
Quartez Harris is a poet, teacher, and author. He was a Baldwin House fellow and named Ohio Poet of the Year for his book We Made It to School Alive, and his poetry has garnered numerous accolades. He spent many years as a second-grade teacher in the Cleveland public school system, and he currently spends his time writing and teaching poetry workshops. He lives in Ohio with his wife and son.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Kelcey Ervick, author of the graphic memoir The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law that Changed Women’s Lives, is here to discuss soccer, women’s sports, Title IX, connections between goalkeeping and writing, rereading your teenage diaries, research for memoirists, her own evolution from athlete to writer to graphic memoirist, Viking names, and a lot more.
Kelcey Ervick is the author of four award-winning books, including The Keeper(Avery Books/Penguin), a 2025 Choose to Read Ohio selection and winner of a 2023 Ohioana Book Award. Her three previous award-winning books of fiction and nonfiction are The Bitter Life of Božena Němcová, Liliane's Balcony, and For Sale By Owner. She is co-editor, with Tom Hart, of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Graphic Literature. Ervick has a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati and is a professor of English and creative writing at Indiana University South Bend. She writes and draws stories of the creative life at her illustrated newsletter, The Habit of Art.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
In a special episode recorded before a live audience at the Inkubator writing conference, Laura interviews Loung Ung, whose bestselling memoirs detailing her experiences under the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia have moved readers worldwide. Ung discussed the genesis of her writing life, writing in a child’s voice for an adult audience, writing and publishing in English as a nonnative English speaker, overcoming anxiety about sharing her family’s story, how she met Angelia Jolie and came to co-write the screenplay adaptation of First They Killed My Father, her experiences with the filming process in Cambodia, how others can start on the activist’s path, what it means to write toward peace, and more.
This conversation was recorded on September 20, 2024 at Cleveland Public Library as part of Literary Cleveland’s free Inkubator writing conference.
Loung Ung is an author, lecturer, and activist who has devoted her life to advancing human rights and equality in Cambodia and around the world. She is the author of the memoir First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (HarperCollins 2000), which tells the story of her survival under the Khmer Rouge regime, as well as Lucky Child and Lulu in the Sky, additional memoirs published by HarperCollins. She is currently working on a novel. In 2013, Ung expanded her activism as a writer for Girl Rising, a documentary film about girls’ education around the world. First They Killed My Father was adapted into a Netflix movie in 2017 by director by Angelina Jolie from a screenplay co-written by Jolie and Ung.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
We’re wrapping up 2024 by offering New Year’s resolutions for writers inspired by advice offered this year by some of Page Count’s guest authors: Ross Gay, Claire McMillan, Alison Stine, Jacqueline Woodson, Hanif Abdurraqib, Brian Broome, Sara Moore Wagner, Chiquita Mullins Lee, Leah Stewart, Rob Harvilla, Libby Kay, David Hassler, and Alex Rowland. From writing in new places to finding inspiration, letting go of perfection, making new writing friends, and beyond, these twelve resolutions can help writers start 2025 on a positive and productive note.
12 Resolutions for Writers:
- Let go of perfection. (Page Count Live: Trash & Delight with Ross Gay & Alison Stine)
- Protect your in-progress writing as necessary. (Alchemy of Writing with Claire McMillan)
- Don’t be precious about where you write—and make good use of the available time you have to work, no matter how limited. (Page Count Live: Trash & Delight with Ross Gay & Alison Stine)
- Don’t let a fixation on awards, publications, or recognition affect your writing process. (Page Count Live with Hanif Abdurraqib & Jacqueline Woodson)
- Write outside of yourself and consider other perspectives—as well as the reader’s experience. (Cringe & Controversy with Brian Broome)
- Leave your writing desk to go out into the world to research and experience new things. (Exploring the Myth of Annie Oakley with Sara Moore Wagner)
- Don’t put pressure on yourself to publish on a certain timeline. (Carving a Story with Chiquita Mullins Lee & Carmella Van Vleet)
- When the going gets tough, remember the beneficial parts of the writing life. (At the Sewanee Writers’ Conference with Leah Stewart)
- Try not to take yourself so seriously, and don’t beat yourself up if you make a mistake. (Be a Cockroach at the Columbus Book Festival)
- Make a new writing friend. (Be a Cockroach at the Columbus Book Festival)
- Find inspiration in your daily life. (40 Years of Poetry with David Hassler)
- Be resilient in your writing life. Better yet, be unkillable, like a cockroach. (Be a Cockroach at the Columbus Book Festival)
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
In a virtual panel hosted by Literary Cleveland during the 2024 Inkubator writing conference, Ohio poets Ruth Awad and Maggie Smith consider how poetry can awaken us to new possibilities of being. Throughout their wide-ranging conversation, Awad and Smith discuss inspiration, hyphenated identities, poems as time capsules, poetic supervillain origin stories, and finding language for grief and rage as well as peace and liberation. What words keep us moving? How can poetry help us not just survive but find joy?
The event, titled “Outside the Joy: Poetry and Possibility,” was held September 18, 2024. Page Count thanks Literary Cleveland for making this episode possible.
Ruth Awad is a Lebanese-American poet, a 2021 NEA Poetry fellow, and the author of Outside the Joy (Third Man Books, 2024) and Set to Music a Wildfire (Southern Indiana Review Press, 2017), winner of the 2016 Michael Waters Poetry Prize and the 2018 Ohioana Book Award for Poetry. She is the co-editor of The Familiar Wild: On Dogs and Poetry (Sundress Publications, 2020). She lives and writes in Columbus, Ohio.
Maggie Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful; My Thoughts Have Wings, a picture book illustrated by Leanne Hatch; the national bestsellers Goldenrod and Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change; as well as Good Bones, named one of the Best Five Poetry Books of 2017 by the Washington Post; The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison; and Lamp of the Body. Her next book, Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life, is forthcoming in April 2025.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
If you’ve ever wondered about the process of turning your book into an audiobook, or what it takes to work as an audiobook narrator, then this episode is for you. Danielle Muething and Gary Leo Smith, two professional narrators based in Ohio, share a behind-the-scenes look at the art of audiobook narration. They discuss everything from how to get started as a narrator, how much money narrators can expect to earn, different pricing models, what authors should consider as they seek out a narrator for their books, AI’s impact on the industry, rights considerations, the editing process, and a lot more.
Danielle Muething and Gary Leo Smith are members of Ohio Audiobook Narrators, a support group for professional and aspiring audiobook narrators.
Danielle Muething has been an actor, singer, dancer, and teacher. She is currently an audiobook narrator, voice over artist, and writer. This year she released her first book with a second coming soon - both of which she will narrate. When she isn't narrating or writing, she is reading, playing video games, watching movies, and hanging out with her husband and two dogs.
Gary Leo Smith has narrated over 30 audiobooks and stories on many subjects, from real estate and self-improvement to military thrillers and children’s books. After a career in marketing and art direction, he turned his curiosity about audiobooks into a second career. He records in a home studio he designed and does his own audio production. Gary is an avid reader, and his other pursuits are aviation, scuba diving, and the occasional round of golf, played somewhat poorly. He is a founding member of Ohio Audiobook Narrators (OAN).
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Denise Phillips, the owner of Gathering Volumes, an independent bookstore in Perrysburg, Ohio, offers holiday gift recommendations for readers of all ages and interests. From eels to dragons, baked goods, murderbots, Toni Morrison/Buffy the Vampire Slayer mashups, and a lot more, listen to get some holiday shopping ideas for the book lover in your life.
Books Denise recommends:
- Once You Go This Far by Kristen Lepionka (part of the Roxane Weary series)
- Titanshadeby Dan Stout (part of the Carter Archives series)
- You Should Smile More and Not Bad for a Girlby Anastasia Ryan
- Barnaby Unboxed!by Terry Fan, Eric Fan, and Devin Fan
- The Bakery Dragonby Devin Elle Kurtz
- Pardon My Frenchieby Farrah Rochon
- Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce
- Heroineby Mindy McGinnis
- Don’t Get Caughtby Kurt Dinan
- All Systems Redby Martha Wells (part of the Murderbot Diaries series)
- On Tyranny (graphic edition) by Timothy Snyder and illustrated by Nora Krug
- Vita Nostraby Marina and Sergey Dyachenko
- Stay Awakeby Megan Goldin
- The Book of Eelsby Patrik Svensson
- Ornithography: An Illustrated Guide to Bird Lore & Symbolism by Jessica Roux
- A Darker Shade of Magicby V.E. Schwab
- The Scholomance series by Naomi Novik
- The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
- Pewby Catherine Lacey
- Ring Shout by P Djèlí Clark
- Never Let Me Goby Kazuo Ishiguro
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Author and illustrator Julia Kuo discusses her picture book Luminous: Living Things That Light Up the Night, whichwon the 2024 Floyd’s Pick Book Award. She shines a light on bioluminescence, the mysteries of the open ocean, squids and glowworms and jellyfish, illustration career paths, her journey to becoming an author, and the art of making our own light.
Julia Kuo is the author and illustrator of Let’s Do Everything and Nothingand Luminous. She is the illustrator of many picture and specialty books, including The Next Scientist, When Love Is More Than Words, and thebestselling Rise. Julia has created editorial illustrations for publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist. She has taught at Columbia College Chicago and at her alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis. Julia has been an artist-in-residence twice at the Banff Centre for the Arts and a 2019-2021 fellow with the Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry at the University of Chicago.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Halloween is right around the corner, so grab your pumpkin spice lattes and join us as we explore Ohio’s cemeteries with Ian Adams, Randall Lee Schieber, and Robin L. Smith, the photographers and author, respectively, of This Place of Silence: Ohio’s Cemeteries and Burial Grounds. Our guests discuss the process of photographing and writing about cemeteries in every county in Ohio, cemetery art and architecture, the history and evolution of the American cemetery, unique gravestones and monuments, famous figures put to rest in Ohio’s burial sites, the literary inspiration behind the book’s title, and a lot more.
Ian Adams has twenty-one photography books and more than sixty-five Ohio calendars to his credit. He conducts nature and garden photography seminars, workshops, and slide programs throughout North America and taught digital photography at Ohio State University’s Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster from 2010 to 2019.
Randall Lee Schieber is a professional photographer based in Columbus, Ohio. He specializes in editorial, architectural, location, and travel photography and has published eight books and fifteen calendars. His work has appeared in a variety of local and national publications.
Robin L. Smith is the research director at Columbus Business First newspaper. She is the coauthor (with Randall Lee Schieber) of Columbus: A Photographic Portrait and Ohio: Then and Now, and the author of Columbus Ghosts: Historical Haunts of Ohio’s Capital and Columbus Ghosts II: More Central Ohio Haunts.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Page Count hit the road in July to record a panel interview with authors and podcasters Rob Harvilla, Libby Kay, and Alex Rowland in front of a live audience at the Columbus Book Festival. Listen in as Rob, Libby, and Alex discuss their work, offer tips for other writers and podcasters, define “podcast princess,” share mistakes and lessons learned, reveal why the Columbus Book Festival was one of their favorite events, and encourage writers to aspire to be cockroaches. Yes, cockroaches. Also, Laura explains how she messed up the original event recording and had to fix her mistakes, so that’s fun!
Rob Harvilla is the host of the podcast 60 Songs That Explain the '90s, the author of the book of the same name, and a senior staff writer at The Ringer. He recently debuted the next iteration of his podcast, 60 Songs That Explain the '90s: The 2000s.
Libby Kay is an author of romance novels, including the Buckeye Falls series. The most recent novel in this series is Forever to Fall; she promoted Faking the Fall at the Columbus Book Festival. Libby cohosts the Romance Roundup podcast with Liz Donatelli.
Alexandra Rowland is the author of fantasy books, including A Taste of Gold and Iron and A Conspiracy of Truths, among others. Alex’s latest novel is Yield Under Great Persuasion; they promoted Running Close to the Wind at the Columbus Book Festival. Alex was a four-time Hugo Award-nominated podcaster as a cohost of Be the Serpent.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
In celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University, David Hassler, the Bob and Walt Wick Executive Director of the Wick Poetry Center, sheds light on the Center’s history, programs, and community impact while also sharing a few poems and discussing highlights from the recent anniversary events.
Robert Wick, a sculptor and former art department faculty member at Kent State University, and his brother, Walter Wick, established the Wick Poetry Center in memory of their sons. Today, the Wick Poetry Center encourages new voices by promoting opportunities for individuals and communities locally, regionally and nationally. Wick engages emerging and established poets and poetry audiences through readings, publications, workshops and scholarship opportunities.
David Hassler directs the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University. He is an author, editor, poet, and playwright, with works including the poetry collection Red Kimono, Yellow Barn, for which he was awarded Ohio Poet of the Year 2006; May 4th Voices: Kent State, 1970, a play based on the Kent State Shootings Oral History Project; Growing Season: The Life of a Migrant Community, a documentary book he authored with photographer Gary Harwood, and which received the Ohioana Book Award and the Carter G. Woodson Honor Book Award; and additional co-edited works. His TEDx talk, “The Conversation of Poetry,” conveys the power of poetry to strengthen communities.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Brian Schoen, Ph.D., and Timothy G. Anderson, Ph.D., the editors of Settling Ohio: First Peoples and Beyond, discuss Ohio’s history, the inspiration for and genesis of Settling Ohio, their process for putting the book together, academic publishing, and more. Settling Ohio: First Peoples and Beyond was Ohio Center for the Book’s 2024 Great Reads from Great Places selection for adult readers and represented the state at the National Book Festival.
Timothy G. Anderson, Ph.D., is an associate professor of geography at Ohio University.
Brian Schoen, Ph.D., is the chair of the Department of History and the James Richard Hamilton/Baker & Hostetler Distinguished Professor of Teaching in the Humanities at Ohio University. He is the author of The Fragile Fabric of Union: Cotton, Federal Politics, and the Global Origins of the Civil War and has coedited three other collections.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Chiquita Mullins Lee and Carmella Van Vleet, authors of the picture book You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce!, discuss the life, art, and significance of Elijah Pierce, a celebrated, self-taught Black folk artist known for his wood carvings. They share how their book grew out of Lee’s play about Elijah Pierce, their collaborative writing process, their experience viewing Pierce’s carvings at the Columbus Museum of Art, what it means to them personally to tell Pierce’s story, and more. You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce! is Ohio’s 2024 Great Reads from Great Places youth selection and represented the state the 2024 National Book Festival. The book is illustrated by Jennifer Mack-Watkins.
Chiquita Mullins Lee is an Arts Learning coordinator at the Ohio Arts Council, where she coordinates Ohio’s Poetry Out Loud program along with the Arts Partnership and the Big Yellow School Bus grant programs. Her play about Elijah Pierce, Pierce to the Soul, will be return to the stage on November 1, 2024, at McConnell Arts Center in Columbus.
Carmella Van Vleet is a former teacher and the award-winning author of almost two dozen books for kids and adults. She lives in Ohio and likes lists, exclamation points, and baking shows. But not necessarily in that order.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Poet Sara Moore Wagner takes listeners on a deep dive into the life and legend of Ohio-born sharpshooter Annie Oakley. As the subject of Wagner’s latest poetry collection, LADY WING SHOT, Oakley appears as an allegorical figure whose stories are built on both fact and fiction—a woman irrevocably connected to the myth of the American West, the cult of fame, feminism and gender roles, and the history of American gun culture. In addition to Oakley, Wagner discusses craft, her writing process, how she puts a poetry collection together, tips for poets looking to submit their work, and more.
Sara Moore Wagner is the author of three prize-winning full-length books of poetry: Lady Wing Shot, winner of the 2023 Blue Lynx Prize; Swan Wife, winner of the 2022 Cider Press Review Editors Prize; and Hillbilly Madonna, winner of the 2022 Driftwood Press Manuscript Prize. She is also the author of two chapbooks, Tumbling After (Red Bird, 2022) and Hooked Through (Five Oaks Press, 2017). She is a 2022 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award recipient, a 2021 National Poetry Series Finalist, and the recipient of a 2019 Sustainable Arts Foundation award. In 2023, she became the Managing Poetry Editor of Driftwood Press. She teaches Creative Writing part time at Northern Kentucky University, where she recently received their Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity award. She lives in West Chester, Ohio.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
What do ghosts, unicorns, The New Yorker, and wild wallpaper patterns have in common? James Thurber, of course. Laura and Don take Page Count on the road to give listeners an audio tour of the Thurber House in Columbus, where Leah Wharton, operations director, and Steve Andersson, a docent and educator, shed light on the life and work of the American humorist James Thurber. In the process, they seek out the ghost(s) that allegedly haunt the house, consider the age-old cats vs. dogs debate, spy a unicorn in the garden, discuss Thurber’s books and cartoons, and much more. To view photos from Page Count’s visit, be sure to visit our accompanying blog post, “Inside the Thurber House.”
James Thurber was a humorist, cartoonist, author, playwright, and journalist known for his quirky and relatable characters and themes. One of the foremost American humorists of the 20th century, Thurber’s inimitable wit and pithy prose spanned a breadth of mediums and genres, including short stories, illustrations, modern commentary, fables, children's fantasy, and letters. Many of his drawings and stories first appeared in The New Yorker. Some of Thurber’s famous tales include “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “The Night the Ghost Got In,” “The Dog That Bit People,” “The Night the Bed Fell,” and “The Unicorn in the Garden.” Thurber’s drawings often feature dogs and family life.
Founded in 1984, Thurber House is a nonprofit literary arts center, museum, historic landmark, and gathering place for readers, writers, and artists of all ages based in the restored 1873 home of James Thurber. Thurber House programs include The Thurber Prize for American Humor, author events featuring nationally bestselling authors and local authors, writing workshops for children and adults, writer residencies, and more.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
It’s summertime, and writers, you know what that means: it’s conference season! To celebrate, we’re speaking with Leah Stewart, the director of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, one of the best and most prestigious writing workshops in the country. Stewart shares how the conference works, the changes she’s made since taking the reins as director, tips for applying, why summer conferences are valuable for writers, the importance of financial support, and how literary organizations can evolve their institutional culture for the benefit of attendees, staff, and faculty alike. She also discusses her own writing process, why researching her latest novel made her relieved to be a writer instead of an actor, the current publishing landscape for novelists, and more.
Leah Stewart is a professor at the University of Cincinnati, the director of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and the author of six novels: Body of a Girl, The Myth of You and Me, Husband and Wife, The History of Us, The New Neighbor, and What You Don’t Know About Charlie Outlaw. She lives in Cincinnati. Applications for the 2025 Sewanee Writers’ Conference will open in January 2025.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Straight from “the mothership of all libraries,” Guy Lamolinara, head of the Library of Congress Center for the Book, joins Laura and Don to discuss how his career evolved from aspiring dentist to journalist to thirty-four-year veteran of the Library of Congress, his formative years in Cleveland, the network of Center for the Book state affiliates, the upcoming the National Book Festival, and much more.
The Library of Congress recently released the full author lineup for the National Book Festival, which takes place Saturday, August 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. Visit the 2024 National Book Festival website to learn more about this free event, where Ohio Center for the Book representatives will be in attendance to celebrate Ohio's literary heritage and the 2024 Great Reads from Great Places selections.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Writer’s Digest Editor-in-Chief Amy Jones opens the magazine’s archives to take us back to a time when typewriters were king, paying markets for short stories abounded, and song sharks lurked in the literary waters. Tune in to learn what has changed in the last 100 years for writers—and what hasn’t. (Spoiler: Rejection is a constant. Typewriters and SASEs? Not so much.) In the process, explore the history of Writer’s Digest magazine, which has been headquartered in Cincinnati since 1921.
To see images from the February 1924 issue of Writer’s Digest discussed in this episode, visit “The Life of a Writer in 1924” on the Ohio Center for the Book website.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Hemingway called her his favorite novelist. Gore Vidal directed attention back to her work after her death. Even Rory Gilmore was spotted reading her novels in Gilmore Girls. Who was Dawn Powell, and why isn't her work more widely known? Dr. Jennifer Swartz-Levine, Professor of English and Dean of the School of Arts, Education, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Lake Erie College, helps us rediscover this prolific midcentury American author who penned satirical novels that skewer New York society as well as heartfelt autobiographical fiction about her Ohio roots.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
In a special episode recorded before a live audience at the 2024 Ohioana Book Festival, Jacqueline Woodson and Hanif Abdurraqib discuss their latest books, their artistic influences, how they define “making it” as a writer, what it was like to win the MacArthur Fellowship, how they navigate their public roles as authors, how libraries impacted their lives, and more.
Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. He is the author of the poetry collections The Crown Ain’t Worth Much and A Fortune for Your Disaster. His nonfiction titles include Go Ahead in The Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest, They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, and A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and won the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence. His latest book is There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension.
Jacqueline Woodson is the author of more than thirty books for young people and adults, including Another Brooklyn, Red at The Bone, and The Day You Begin. She received a 2023 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship and a 2023 E. B. White Award, among many other accolades, and was the 2018–2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Her memoir Brown Girl Dreaming won the National Book Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor, and the NAACP Image Award. In 2018, she founded Baldwin For The Arts, a residency serving writers, composers, interdisciplinary, and visual artists of the Global Majority. Her most recent book, Remember Us, is a middle grade novel set in Bushwick.
The panel was sponsored by Ohio Humanities and hosted at the Ohioana Book Festival at the Columbus Metropolitan Library on April 20, 2024. Festival photos: Mary Rathke
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Page Count’s third season kicks off on May 21! Listen to snippets from just a few of our upcoming episodes featuring the following authors and experts:
- Amy Jones, Editor-in-Chief of Writer’ Digest, dips into the magazine’s archives to consider what has changed in the literary world—and what hasn’t—in the last 100 years.
- Jacqueline Woodson and Hanif Abdurraqib discuss their latest books, the concept of “making it” as a writer, and more during a conversation recorded at the 2024 Ohioana Book Festival.
- Dr. Jennifer Swartz-Levine of Lake Erie College discusses the prolific midcentury author Dawn Powell, whose work was nearly lost to history before experiencing a resurgence.
- Steven Andersson shares insights into humorist James Thurber’s life and work in a special episode featuring a tour of the Thurber House, which was led by Andersson and Leah Wharton, operations director.
- Guy Lamolinara, the head of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, discusses his Cleveland roots, the Center for the Book, the National Book Festival, and the enduring nature of books and reading.
Subscribe to Page Count wherever you get your podcasts to listen to these episodes and many more during our third season. The season debuts May 21 with Woodson and Abdurraqib’s episode; thereafter, a new episode drops every two weeks.
Photo Credits
- Amy Jones: Jason Hale Photography
- Jacqueline Woodson: Tiffany A. Bloomfield
- Hanif Abdurraqib: Megan Leigh Barnard
- James Thurber: Denyse B. Smith
Laura and Don celebrate Page Count’s second anniversary by sharing some of their favorite episodes along with a few fun facts. For example, did you know that this is the sixtieth Page Count episode? Or that cotton is the traditional gift for second anniversaries? Or that Laura is only in this for the fame and glory? Finally, Don and Laura offer a quick preview of what's in the works for Page Count’s third season, which debuts May 21.
Laura Maylene Walter is Ohio Center for the Book Fellow at Cleveland Public Library, the host of Page Count, and the author of BODY OF STARS (Dutton). Don Boozer is the Literature Department Manager at Cleveland Public Library and the Ohio Center for the Book Coordinator.
In this episode:
- Touring the Toni Morrison Reading Room
- Escaping the Drawer with Sammy and Annisha
- The Great Environmental Awakening with Douglas Brinkley
- The Secret Life of Zane Grey
- Revising Nancy Drew with Jennifer Fisher
- First Pages with Kirsten Reach
- Poetry Critiques with Mid-American Review
- Nonfiction Critiques with Kristen Elias Rowley
- Query Critiques with Devon Halliday
- Query Critiques with Erin Hosier
To view all episodes, visit https://ohiocenterforthebook.org/podcast. And stay tuned for the Season 3 Trailer, set to air May 7, 2024!
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
David Weaver, executive director of the Ohioana Library Association, makes his second appearance on the podcast to discuss the upcoming Ohioana Book Festival. In addition to sharing festival highlights, including a special live Page Count conversation featuring Hanif Abdurraqib and Jacqueline Woodson, Weaver discusses his work with Ohioana, his upcoming retirement, and Ohio’s contributions to the literary world.
The 18th annual Ohioana Book Festival will be held at Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Main Library on Saturday, April 20, from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Additional programs and activities will take place in the community throughout April. Page Count’s special live episode with Hanif Abdurraqib and Jacqueline Woodson will be held at 12pm on Saturday, April 20 in the auditorium.
- Ohioana Book Festival
- 2024 Festival Authors
- 2024 Festival Schedule
- Ohioana Library Association
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library and hosted by Laura Maylene Walter. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
In celebration of the paperback release of her latest novel, Alchemy of a Blackbird, Claire McMillan discusses the art and life of Remedios Varo, historical fiction, surrealism, and Pamela Colman Smith, the artist behind the world’s most famous tarot deck. She also dives into the alchemy of writing, from finding the perfect title to writing “drawer novels” and beyond. Finally, McMillan answers questions from Page Count listeners surrounding the challenges of the sophomore novel and talking (or not) about current works in progress.
Claire McMillan is the author of Alchemy of a Blackbird, The Necklace,andGilded Age, which was inspired by Edith Wharton’s House of Mirth. She was the 2017–2018 Cuyahoga County Writer-in-Residence and currently serves as a member of the board of trustees of The Mount, Edith Wharton’s home in Lenox, Massachusetts. She practiced law until 2003 and then received her MFA in creative writing from Bennington College. She grew up in Pasadena, California, and now lives on her husband’s family farm outside of Cleveland, Ohio, with their two children.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library and hosted by Laura Maylene Walter. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
We’re pleased to share this Writers Unplugged event featuring Cleveland author Susan Petrone. Jen Jumba of Cleveland Public Library conducted this interview in person on February 7, 2024, to discuss Petrone’s latest novel, the power of music, the unreliability of memory, the thrill of finding yourself in a book, and, of course, the falafel and milkshakes at Tommy’s.
Writers Unplugged is a Cleveland Public Library series uniting authors, performers, journalists, activists, and educators to delve into the issues impacting our communities. Susan Petrone is the author of The Musical Mozinskis (2024),The Heebie-Jeebie Girl (2020), The Super Ladies (2018), Throw Like a Woman (2015), andA Body at Rest (2009). She was a recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for FY 2020.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library and hosted by Laura Maylene Walter. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Brian Broome, author of the debut memoir Punch Me Up to the Gods, discusses growing up in rural Ohio, how he was discovered by a literary agent at a storytelling event, how he navigates writing about family, how he approaches structure and revision, and the story in his memoir that made Laura cringe the hardest (that’s a compliment). Broome also answers questions from Page Count listeners surrounding challenges faced by working-class writers and the recent Goodreads review bombing controversy.
Brian Broome is the author ofPunch Me Up to the Gods (Mariner Books, 2021), which won the 2021 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction, Publisher Triangle’s Randy Shilts Award for Nonfiction, and the 2022 Lambda Literary Award in Gay Memoir/Biography. He is K. Leroy Irvis Fellow and instructor in the Writing Program at the University of Pittsburgh. Broome has been a finalist in The Moth storytelling competition and won the grand prize in Carnegie Mellon University’s Martin Luther King Writing Awards. He also won a VANN Award from the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation for journalism in 2019. Broome lives in Pittsburgh.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library and hosted by Laura Maylene Walter. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
In honor of Toni Morrison Day on February 18, Page Count took a field trip to Lorain Public Library to tour the Toni Morrison Reading Room. Cheri Campbell, Local History and Archives Librarian, guides listeners through the room while providing history, lore, and anecdotes about Morrison’s life and storied literary career. From Morrison’s time growing up in Lorain (including how she got hired, fired, and hired once more at Lorain Public Library), to winning the Nobel Prize in Literature and beyond, this episode is a must for Morrison fans.
To see some of the images mentioned in this episode—including Toni Morrison’s high school yearbook photo, pictures from her appearance at the reading room dedication, and more—read our accompanying blog post, “Inside the Toni Morrison Reading Room.”
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
We’re honored to share this episode of Wild Precious Life, a Cleveland-based podcast hosted by Annmarie Kelly, to remember the life and work of Echo Brown. Brown was the celebrated author of BLACK GIRL UNLIMITED, THE CHOSEN ONE, and the one-woman play, BLACK VIRGINS ARE NOT FOR HIPSTERS. She died in 2023, at the age of thirty-nine, after a long illness. In this episode, which originally aired in 2022, she and Annmarie Kelly discuss health, writing, creativity, and the art of discovering—and creating—magic in life as well as on the page.
Listen and subscribe to Wild Precious Life and follow Annmarie Kelly.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Author and Writer’s Digest editor-at-large Jessica Strawser answers publishing questions from Page Count listeners, defines “book club fiction,” shares insights gleaned from her career as a six-time novelist, and discusses her latest novel, THE LAST CARETAKER.
Strawser is the author of the book club favorites ALMOST MISSED YOU, NOT THAT I COULD TELL, FORGET YOU KNOW ME, A MILLION REASONS WHY, and THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW. Her sixth novel, the instant USA Today bestseller THE LAST CARETAKER, surrounds a resident caretaker on a nature reserve who discovers her new home hides a safe house aiding domestic violence victims. In addition to her career as a novelist, Strawser is the editor-at-large and columnist at Writer’s Digest, where she served as editorial director for nearly a decade.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
In a live episode recorded at the Lit Youngstown Fall Literary Festival, Ross Gay and Alison Stine discuss joy, trash, the art of writing quickly and without pressure, novel drafting, revision, writerly obsessions, creating art in a burning world, and, of course, why we must bring each other French fries.
Ross Gay is the author of four books of poetry: Against Which; Bringing the Shovel Down; Be Holding, winner of the PEN American Literary Jean Stein Award; and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. He is also the author of three collections of essays: The Book of Delights, Inciting Joy, and, most recently, The Book of (More) Delights. Photo credit: Natasha Komoda.
Alison Stine is the author of the novel Trashlands, which was longlisted for the 2022 Reading the West Book Award, a finalist for the Ohioana Book Award, and longlisted for the 2022 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award. Her first novel, Road Out of Winter, won the 2021 Philip K. Dick Award. Her next novel, Dust, is forthcoming in 2024. She is also the author of three poetry collections and a novella.
This conversation was recorded before a live audience at Youngstown State University on October 21, 2023 at the Lit Youngstown Fall Literary Festival.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
We’re excited to share this excellent interview about the art of running a reading series from Index for Continuance, which is produced by the CSU Poetry Center and hosted by Hilary Plum and Zach Peckham. In this conversation, Hilary Plum speaks with novelist Sarah Rose Etter about reading series and their place in the literary landscape. From practical tips surrounding running a series—gleaned from Etter’s time hosting TireFire in Philadelphia—to advice for writers stepping up to the microphone to give readings of their own, this episode offers a crash course in literary community, performance, and citizenship.
Index for Continuance is a podcast focusing on small press publishing, politics, and practice by engaging editors, writers, publishers, critics, booksellers, and organizers involved in independent, small press, DIY, and community literary work in conversation. Index for Continuance aims to build an archive of grassroots knowledge that can serve the future of publishing. Learn more about the CSU Poetry Center, which produces Index for Continuance.
Sarah Rose Etter the author of the novels Ripe (Scribner, 2023), a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and a Time Must-Read Book of 2023, and The Book of X (Two Dollar Radio, 2019), winner of the 2019 Shirley Jackson Award. Her short fiction collection, Tongue Party, was selected by Deb Olin Unferth as the winner of the 2011 Caketrain Award.
On a related note, listen to Unicorn-Level Books with Two Dollar Radio, Page Count’s interview with Two Dollar Radio editors Eric Obenauf and Eliza Wood-Obenauf.
Page Count returns with a new episode on January 2: the recording of an in-person conversation with Ross Gay and Alison Stine at the Youngstown Fall Literary Festival.
Searching for the perfect books to fill out your holiday shopping list? We’ve got you covered with recommendations from the owners of two independent bookstores in Ohio. Suzanne DeGaetano of Mac’s Backs in Cleveland and Greg Kornbluh of Downbound Books in Cincinnati suggest books to gift readers of all ages and genres, from picture books to graphic novels, poetry, works of nonfiction, cerebral literary novels, and beyond.
We encourage listeners to visit (or order online from) Mac’s Backs, Downbound Books, and other independent bookstores this holiday season.
Recommendations from Mac’s Backs:
- The Voice in the Hollow by Will Hillenbrand
- Ain’t It Fun: Peter Laughner & Proto-Punk in the Secret City by Aaron Lange
- Poem for Cleveland Anthology, edited by Ray McNiece
- Foster by Claire Keegan
- Starter Villain by John Scalzi
- How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? by Mac Barnett & illustrated by Jon Klassen
- When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson & Omar Mohamed
- Refugee by Alan Gratz
- What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
- Bonus: Settling Ohio: First Peoples and Beyond, edited by Timothy G. Anderson & Brian Schoen
Recommendations from Downbound Books:
- Free Throws, Friendship, and Other Things We Fouled Up by Jenn Bishop
- The Future of Rock and Roll: 97X WOXY and the Fight for True Independence by Robin James
- The Shade Treeby Suzy Lee
- Dragons Hoopsby Gene Luen Yang
- How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney
- The Lost Subways of North America by Jake Berman
- The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscapeby Katie Holten
- Landings: A Crooked Creek Farm Year by Arwen Donahue
- The Guest Lectureby Martin Riker
- Open Throatby Henry Hoke
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
This episode celebrates youth writing, art, editing, and publication. Laura is joined by Alex Ashbrook, a teaching artist with the nonprofit Lake Erie Ink, along with Anna Lucia and Alba Cristina Del Rio Ochoa, two members of the Teen Book Project editorial board. Anna and Alba Cristina discuss their vision for the Teen Book Project, how youth across Northeast Ohio can submit to the anthology or get involved, skills they’re gaining from their work with the editorial board, and what they each love most about writing and art.
Lake Erie Ink will accept submissions from youth in Northeast Ohio for the Some Thing To Say anthology until December 31, 2023. Learn more about the Teen Book Project and how to submit at the Lake Erie Ink website, and follow The Teen Book Project on Instagram.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
In this special live episode, Laura Maylene Walter interviews Elissa Washuta, author of the essay collection WHITE MAGIC. Their wide-ranging conversation covers the craft of essay writing, research and memory mining for nonfiction writers, revision, rejection, unique writing residencies, cultural appropriation, witchcraft, and more. Washuta also offers on-the-spot literary tarot readings to Laura and five audience members.
Elissa Washuta is a member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and the author of White Magic, Starvation Mode, and My Body Is a Book of Rules. With Theresa Warburton, she co-edited the anthology Shapes of Native Nonfiction: Collected Essays by Contemporary Writers. Elissa is an associate professor at The Ohio State University, where she teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing.
This episode was recorded before a live audience on September 23, 2023, at Cleveland Public Library as part of Literary Cleveland’s Inkubator writing conference.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Author Katharine Beutner takes a trip down memory lane with Laura to discuss their shared experience as editors of their high school literary magazine (!) before turning to a discussion of craft and crime. Beutner discusses the inspiration for her new novel, KILLINGLY; the art of historical fiction; writing novels vs. poetry; research; revision; women’s colleges in the late 1800s; evolving attitudes surrounding queerness at the turn of the twentieth century; the ethics of fictionalizing an actual missing-person case; cat fanciers of yore; and more.
Killingly, a New England Gothic novel surrounding the aftermath of a student’s disappearance from Mt. Holyoke College in 1897, was published by Soho Press in June 2023. Beutner is also the author of Alcestis, a queer retelling of the Greek myth, originally published in 2010 and re-released by Soho Press in September 2023. This interview was conducted in May 2023.
To see images of Whispering Minds, the high school literary magazine discussed in this episode, follow Ohio Center for the Book’s new Instagram account! Finally, for the chance to have your writing or publishing inquiry answered by Laura and a guest on a future episode, submit your questions via this online form.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
We’re releasing this episode a day early in honor of Athena Dixon appearing at Literary Cleveland’s debut Plum City Reading event! This reading takes place at Loganberry Books at 7pm on October 9, with an afterparty to follow across the street at Literary Cleveland’s offices. Chris Bachelder and Jennifer Habel will also read.
Athena Dixon takes listeners on a deep dive into the phenomenon of loneliness through her new essay collection, The Loneliness Files. Dixon discusses the inspiration behind these essays, isolation during COVID lockdowns, how online interactions can combat as well as amplify loneliness, true crime, fan fiction, vulnerability in writing nonfiction, the connection between loneliness and writing, the journey to publication as an unagented author, and, naturally, sensory deprivation tanks.
The Loneliness Files was released by Tin House Books on October 3, 2023. Athena Dixon is a poet, essayist, and editor. Her work is included in the anthology The BreakBeat Poets Vol.2: Black Girl Magic, and her craft work appears in Getting to the Truth: The Craft and Practice of Creative Nonfiction. She is also the author of The Incredible Shrinking Woman (Split/Lip Press 2020) and No God In This Room (Argus House Press 2018), winner of the Intersectional Midwest Chapbook Contest. Learn more about Dixon at her website.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
In honor of the upcoming 2023 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards ceremony, we’re proud to share this Asterisk interview with historian, author, and Ohio native Tiya Miles, who won a 2022 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award prize in nonfiction for All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake. The Asterisk is a production of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. Karen Long conducted this interview with Miles earlier this year.
The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, which have been administered by the Cleveland Foundation since 1963, recognize books that have made important contributions to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures. To learn about the 2023 winners, please visit anisfield-wolf.org. The 2023 award ceremony will be held Thursday, September 28; a livestream of the event will be available.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook. Page Count will return on October 10, 2023 with a new episode.
In honor of Superman’s 85th birthday this year, Dr. Valentino Zullo explores the Cleveland-created superhero’s origin story. Dr. Zullo and Laura discuss some of the first-ever Superman comics; Superman’s early focus on fighting social inequities vs. super villains; how creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster came to dream up the famous superhero; Brad Ricca’s entertaining and exhaustive literary biography Super Boys; legal battles surrounding the rights to Superman; and today’s expanded Superman universe, including a look at Supergirl: Being Super by Mariko Tamaki and Joelle Jones.
Dr. Zullo is the Anisfield-Wolf Post-Doctoral Fellow in English and Public Humanities at Ursuline College and a co-director of Superman’s Cleveland, a city-wide celebration of the world’s first comic book superhero. Visit supermanscleveland.com to learn about free events and programs in September, October, and November 2023.
Headshot artist credit: Sina Grace
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
Madeline ffitch, author of the novel Stay and Fight, discusses living and writing in Appalachian Ohio; the realities of homesteading; writing in multiple points of view; the art of writing a child’s voice for an adult audience; fiction and autobiography; writing for urban vs. rural audiences; climate activism; Appalachian anti-fascism; the politics-art connection; and why sometimes, a snake is just a snake.
Stay and Fight was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel, the L.A. Times Book Prize for Fiction, the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction, and the Washington State Book Awards. It was Ohio Center for the Book’s 2023 adult selection for Great Reads from Great Places at the National Book Festival. Madeline ffitch writes and organizes in Appalachian Ohio.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
Michelle Houts, the author of the picture book When Grandma Gatewood Took a Hike, and Erica Magnus, the book’s illustrator, discuss the life and adventures of Emma “Grandma” Gatewood, the first woman to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. Houts and Magnus share Gatewood’s incredible story while discussing the power of perseverance, the art of picture books, tips for aspiring authors, finding inspiration in nature, and more. When Grandma Gatewood Took a Hike was the Ohio Center for the Book’s Great Reads from Great Places youth selection at the 2023 National Book Festival.
In this episode:
- When Grandma Gatewood Took a Hike by Michelle Houts, illustrated by Erica Magnus Emma Gatewood
- Grandma Gatewood’s Walk by Ben Montgomery
- Ohio University Press
- Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio Penobscot Bay, Maine
- Wellfleet, Massachusetts
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
It’s launch day for Cleveland Noir, an anthology offering a twisty, duplicitous, and sometimes murderous view of Cleveland. Anthology editors Michael Ruhlman and Miesha Wilson Headen discuss the noir genre, why Cleveland is an apt city for this work, the process of curating and editing the anthology, the diverse range of voices and geographic locations represented, tips for new writers, and more.
Michael Ruhlman is the award-winning bestselling author of nine nonfiction books, nine cookbooks, and a collection of novellas, as well as a coauthor of many additional cookbooks. Subscribe to his Substack newsletter here.
Miesha Wilson Headen is a journalist, the recipient of Best Minority Issues Reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, has worked as a bookseller, and has organized multiple books fairs in Ohio. She is a former mayor of Richmond Heights.
Cleveland Noir contributing writers: Paula McLain, Susan Petrone, Mary Grimm, Dana McSwain, Abby L. Vandiver, Sam Conrad, Angela Crook, D.M. Pulley, Miesha Wilson Headen, Alex DiFrancesco, J.D. Belcher, Jill Bialosky, Thrity Umrigar, Michael Ruhlman, and Daniel Stashower.
Finally, as mentioned in this episode, Loganberry Books still has a few remaining Author Alley events this summer: August 12 is Fiction Showcase, and September 9 is the Children’s & Illustrated Lit Showcase. Visit the 2023 Author Alley page for details.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
Journey into the sewer with Jay B. Kalagayan, the creator, writer, and publisher of MeSseD, a comic series inspired by the nickname for the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD) that follows the adventures of sewer worker Lilliput. Kalagayan discusses the art of comic creation and collaboration, his influences, the value of diverse stories and representation, pursuing creativity at all ages, the comics landscape in Ohio, infrastructure, sewer worms, partners in slime, and, naturally, the Hell Is Real billboard.
Kalagayan is the executive director of Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC), a free comics, art, and animation festival in Columbus, Ohio. An entrepreneur and arts advocate in Cincinnati for the last 25 years, he is the founder of Know Theatre of Cincinnati and a co-founder of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. He is a writer of plays, cartoon strips, reviews, articles, marketing collateral, fundraising appeals, and geeky event calendars. Photo by Mikki Schaffner Photography.
The first two seasons of MeSseD are available digitally for free at messedcomics.com, and the series is available on WebToon. Kalagayan will participate in the Cincinnati Comic Expo September 22-24 and Cartoon Crossroads Columbus September 27-October 1.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
Jennifer Fisher, a Nancy Drew expert, author, collector, and historian, sheds light on the life and work of Mildred Wirt Benson, the original ghostwriter of the Nancy Drew series. Fisher reveals how and why the original 34 Nancy Drew books, which were published beginning in the 1930s, were revised decades later—sometimes significantly. She compares the original and revised versions of THE HIDDEN STAIRCASE; discusses the Jennifer Fisher Collection & Portfolio at the Toledo Lucas County Public Library; considers how Mildred Wirt Benson might be considered a real-life Nancy Drew; describes the 1980 court case surrounding the rights to the Nancy Drew series; and offers tips surrounding the art of biography writing.
To learn more about Nancy Drew, visit Fisher’s comprehensive website, which offers information about Nancy Drew books, history, facts, collectibles, and beyond.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
As past panelists for the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards, Traci Brimhall, Melissa Faliveno, and Tanya Rey share what it was like to read and judge applications. They discuss what made an application stand out, how writers can craft the narrative and philosophy statements to good effect, the importance of submitting polished work, the inherent subjectivity of the process, persistence in the face of rejection, and more.
About the Panelists:
Traci Brimhall's fifth poetry collection, Love Prodigal, will be published by Copper Canyon Press in 2024. She is also the author of Come the Slumberless to the Land of Nod (Copper Canyon Press, 2020); Saudade (Copper Canyon Press, 2017); Our Lady of the Ruins (W.W. Norton, 2012), selected by Carolyn Forché for the 2011 Barnard Women Poets Prize; and Rookery (Southern Illinois University Press, 2010). Her children’s book, Sophia & The Boy Who Fell, was published by SeedStar Books in March 2017.
Melissa Faliveno is the author of the debut essay collection Tomboyland, named a Best Book of 2020 by NPR, New York Public Library, Oprah Magazine, and Electric Literature and recipient of a 2021 Award for Outstanding Literary Achievement from the Wisconsin Library Association. Her writing has appeared in Esquire, Paris Review, Bitch, Literary Hub, Ms Magazine, Brooklyn Rail, Prairie Schooner, and in the anthology Sex and The Single Woman (Harper Perennial, 2022).
Tanya Rey is a queer Cuban-American writer whose work has appeared in Guernica, Granta, The Sun, Roads & Kingdoms, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Georgia Review, and Catapult, among others. She holds an MFA from New York University and has received fellowships from The Georgia Review, Rona Jaffe Foundation, San Francisco Writers Grotto, MacDowell, Hedgebrook, UCross, Blue Mountain Center, I-Park, and others. Rey has worked as managing editor for One Story and fiction editor for Epiphany and has taught creative writing at New York University and Writing Pad in San Francisco.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
Chaz O’Neil, the Individual Artist Programs & Percent for Art Coordinator for the Ohio Arts Council, offers behind-the-scenes tips for Ohio writers applying for the $5,000 OAC Individual Excellent Awards. He discusses eligibility, types of writing accepted, submission guidelines, narrative and philosophy statements, the judging process, and how writers can prepare the strongest application possible. Laura also shares a bit about her own application that won her one of these grants in 2022. Learn more about O'Neil at his website and on Instagram.
The Individual Excellence Award application deadline is September 1, 2023. Be sure to check out Part 2 of this series to hear from past OAC panelists who offer advice to applicants.
Additional OAC Resources:
- YouTube Channel
- Artist with Disability Access Grant
- Traditional Arts Apprenticeship
- Ohio Heritage Fellowships
- Percent for Art
- Ohio Artist Registry
- Artist Opportunity Database
Following this episode, we offer a preview of “Revising Nancy Drew,” our episode featuring Nancy Drew expert and collector Jennifer Fisher. This episode will drop a day early on July 3. Stay tuned!
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
This episode was recorded before a live audience at the 2023 Ohioana Book Festival at the Columbus Metropolitan Library on April 22, 2023. A panel of five authors discuss turning points in their writing careers—the good, the bad, the ugly, and the existentially fraught. This conversation covers everything from rejection to reader reactions, imposter syndrome, awards, inspiration, validation, and more.
Featured authors include:
- Mindy McGinnis, author of the YA mystery A Long Stretch of Bad Days
- Ric Sheffield, author of the memoir We Got By: A Black Family’s Journey in the Heartland
- Judith Turner-Yamamoto, author of the novel Loving the Dead and Gone
- Andrea Wang, author of the picture books Watercress and Luli and the Language of Tea
- Felicia Zamora, author of the poetry collection I Always Carry My Bones
For more information, visit the Ohioana Book Festival page.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
Kristen Elias Rowley, the editor in chief of The Ohio State University Press and its literary imprint, Mad Creek Books, sheds light on the nonfiction publishing landscape. She discusses university and small press publishing, the types of books Mad Creek publishes, the importance of discovering new voices, diversity in publishing, how she works with authors, and trends she sees in memoir submissions. Finally, she critiques the opening pages of three nonfiction submissions submitted by Ohio writers.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
To celebrate the publication of Grounded, a new middle-grade novel surrounding four kids searching for a lost cat in an airport, Huda Al-Marashi discusses the art of writing and publishing collaboratively. She sheds light on the technicalities of the collaboration process, the value of writing friendships, the commitment required to finish a book, writing for adults vs. kids, her advice for writers at two distinct parts of their careers, and more.
Grounded is coauthored by Al-Marashi and Aisha Saeed, S. K. Ali, and Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow.
Huda Al-Marashi is the author of the bestselling memoir First Comes Marriage: My Not-So-Typical American Love Story. Her other writing has appeared in various anthologies and news outlets, such as the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, and al Jazeera, and she is a fellow with the Highlights Foundation Muslim Storytellers Program. Grounded is her first novel for young readers.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
Page Count’s second season kicks off on May 9! Listen to snippets from just a few of our upcoming episodes featuring the following authors and experts:
- Huda Al-Marashi, co-author of the new middle-grade novel Grounded, discusses the art of writing collaboratively.
- Kristen Elias Rowley, editor-in-chief of the Ohio State University Press, critiques nonfiction pages from Ohio writers.
- Jennifer Fisher, Nancy Drew expert and collector, offers insight into Mildred Benson, one of the original authors of the beloved Nancy Drew series.
- Chaz O’Neil of the Ohio Arts Council provides tips for writers applying for OAC’s Individual Excellence Awards.
- Jay Kalagayan, comics creator and author of MeSseD, discusses comics, creativity, and the wondrous world of sewers.
- and many more to come.
Subscribe to Page Count wherever you get your podcasts to listen to these episodes and many more during Page Count’s second season. The season begins May 9, with a new episode dropping every two weeks.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
You know what they say: an April hiatus brings May . . . episodes? In any case, Page Count is taking a break from full-length episodes in April. But don’t worry—we’ll be back for a second season, which features an exciting lineup of guests, beginning May 9, 2023. A trailer for this second season will drop April 25.
Finally, our host, Laura Maylene Walter, will moderate a panel at the Ohioana Book Festival on April 22, 2023. This panel discussion, “Turning Points in a Writing Career,” will become a future Page Count episode.
Stay tuned for a lot more in Page Count’s second season!
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook
This bonus episode celebrates the return of an in-person Ohioana Book Festival on Saturday, April 22, 2023, at the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Main Library. The day will include panel discussions, readings, activities, an on-site book fair, and a live Page Count podcast recording, among other offerings.
Festival authors featured in this episode who are scheduled to participate in the live Page Count panel, “Turning Points in a Writing Career,” include:
- Mindy McGinnis, author of the YA mystery A Long Stretch of Bad Days
- Ric Sheffield, author of the memoir We Got By: A Black Family's Journey in the Heartland
- Judith Turner-Yamamoto, author of the novel Loving the Dead and Gone
- Andrea Wang, author of the picture book Luli and the Language of Tea
- Felicia Zamora, author of the poetry collection I Always Carry My Bones
Additional authors mentioned in this episode: Abby Collette, Amanda Flower, Brad Ricca, Tom Batiuk, Kari Gunter-Seymour, Cinda Williams Chima, Tricia Springstubb, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Prince Shakur, and Will Hillenbrand.
For the full list of more than 150 participating authors and illustrators, visit Ohioana’s 2023 Festival Authors page. For more information about the festival, visit the Ohioana Book Festival page. We hope to see you in Columbus on April 22!
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
To celebrate the publication of her new story collection, The Last Catastrophe, Allegra Hyde discusses climate fiction, the concept of “global weirding,” the inspiration behind her speculative premises, the value of literary magazine publication, her revision process, what it was like to appear on a late-night show to discuss her debut novel, literary agents for short fiction writers, her writing process for novels vs. stories, creating art at the end of the world, and more.
Allegra Hyde is the author of Eleutheria, which was named a “Best Book of 2022” by The New Yorker. She is also the author of the story collection, Of This New World, which won the John Simmons Short Fiction Award. Her second story collection, The Last Catastrophe, was published in March 2023 by Vintage. A recipient of three Pushcart Prizes, Hyde’s writing has also been anthologized in Best American Travel Writing, Best of the Net, and Best Small Fictions. She currently teaches at Oberlin College.
Mentioned in this episode:
- Oberlin College
- Alexis de Tocqueville
- John Simmons Short Fiction Award
- Erin Harris at Folio Literary Management
- Poets & Writers lit mag article
- Late Night with Seth Meyers
- Martha Stewart
- Oberlin Arboretum
Photo credit: Tanya Rosen-Jones
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
Mid-American Review (MAR) Editor-in-Chief Abigail Cloud and Poetry Editor Megan Borocki shed light on the literary magazine landscape, especially for poets. Cloud and Borocki discuss what kind of work MAR publishes, their editorial approach and process, trends they see in the submission queue, submission tips, preferred fonts (spoiler: poets love Garamond), their perspective on cover letters, the realities of rejection, and more. They also critique three poems submitted to Page Count by Ohio writers.
Learn more about Mid-American Review online follow the journal on Twitter. Finally, Page Count extends special thanks to Sara Shearer, Carole Mertz, and a third, unnamed poet for submitting their poems for this episode.
Abigail Cloud is editor-in-chief of Mid-American Review and a teaching professor at Bowling Green State University, from which she holds an MFA. Her first collection, Sylph, was published by Pleaides Press in 2014.
Megan Borocki (they/them) has an MFA in poetry from Bowling Green State University. They are poetry editor for Mid-American Review. Their work has recently appeared in Moon City Review, Olney, and The Hunger.
Mentioned in this episode:
- Sylph by Abigail Cloud
- Bowling Green State University’s MFA and BFA in Creative Writing programs
- Winter Wheat: The Mid-American Review Festival of Writing
- Gordon Square Review
- The New Yorker
- The Atlantic
- Bluets by Maggie Nelson
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
Prince Shakur discusses his debut memoir, When They Tell You to Be Good, a political and personal exploration of his coming of age as a writer and activist. Shakur shares how race and identity shaped his formative years, how journaling providing him with a creative outlet, his experience with activism and protest, his approach to writing about family, how he incorporated research into the memoir, the challenges he faced in the publishing industry, working with Hanif Abdurraqib as his editor at Tin House Books, and more.
Learn more about Prince Shakur at his website and YouTube channel.
Mentioned in this episode:
- When They Tell You to Be Good by Prince Shakur
- Black Lives Matter
- The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
- Anne Frank’s revised diaries
- The Bat Rally
- Standing Rock
- Black Queer & Intersectional Collective
- bell hooks
- Jesmyn Ward
- Saidiya Hartman
- Boy Erased by Garrard Conley
- The Green Book
- Sangam House
- Michael Brown
- Hanif Abdurraqib
- Tin House Books
- Outside essay: “A Black Traveler Confronts Racism at a Montana Resort”
- Catapult essay: “In an America on Fire, Baldwin’s Legacy Led Me to Paris”
-
PublishingPaidMe
- Kenyon Review Yong Writers Workshop
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, poet Teri Ellen Cross Davis discusses the challenges and joys of writing love poems while sharing the creative process behind “The Goddess of Interracial Dating,” which appears in her collection A MORE PERFECT UNION. She also discusses the value of writing groups and residencies, literary magazine submission strategies, the art of persona poems, empowering women and making her own superheroes, returning to her writing self after having children, and more.
Teri Ellen Cross Davis is the author of A MORE PERFECT UNION, winner of the 2019 Journal/Charles B. Wheeler Poetry Prize (Mad Creek Books, 2021) and HAINT (Gival Press, 2021), winner of the 2017 Ohioana Book Award for Poetry. She is She is the poetry coordinator for the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. Learn more by visiting poetsandparents.com.
Mentioned in this episode:
- “My Beloved” by Charles Simic
- Emily Dickinson
- The Uncanny X-Men
- Study: “The Protective Role of Melanin Against UV Damage in Human Skin”
- Walt Whitman
- Wanda Coleman
- Terrance Hays
- O.B. Hardison Poetry Series
- Tyre Nichols
- Tamir Rice
- Gordon Square Review
- “The Embers of Eve”Ali Black
- Cave Canem
- Hedgebrook
- The Community of Writers
- Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
- Sharon Olds
- Brenda Hillman
- Gregory Pardlo
- Folger Shakespeare Library
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- Library of Congress
- John Wilmerding Symposium
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
To celebrate the 150th birthday of Ohio author Zane Grey, Laura is joined by Lucas Fralick from the Wyoming Center for the Book and Don Boozer from Cleveland Public Library to discuss Grey’s novel Wyoming, which was originally published in serial form in 1932. Wyoming surrounds plucky, independent Martha Ann Dixon and abrasive Andrew Bonning, whose paths cross as Martha Ann hitchhikes her way to Wyoming.
Lucas, Don, and Laura discuss their favorite (and not-so-favorite) parts of the novel; Grey’s depiction of Wyoming; the myth and the romanticization of the West; Grey as the first millionaire American author who popularized the Western genre; Grey’s secret life and many romantic entanglements; Thomas H. Pauly’s excellent Grey biography; and how this novel was inspired by (and perhaps should be partially credited to?) Grey’s assistant, Berenice Campbell. In the process, Lucas offers his insights as a Wyoming resident, and Laura gets a bit too worked up over Andrew Bonning, aka the poster child for toxic masculinity.
Lucas Fralick is the program coordinator at Wyoming Humanities, which houses the Wyoming Center for the Book. Don Boozer is the manager of the Literature Department at Cleveland Public Library and coordinator for the Ohio Center for the Book. Both the Wyoming and the Ohio Center for the Book are designated affiliates of The Center for the Book at the Library of Congress. For more context surrounding Zane Grey's life and work that we couldn't fit in this discussion, see this blog post of the OCFB website.
Corrections: At several points in this episode, Laura mistakenly refers to Andrew Bonning as “Andrew Bonner.” (If he wanted people to get his name right, maybe he should have treated Martha Ann with a bit more respect. Just saying.) Laura also likely pronounced Berenice Campbell’s first name incorrectly, which she deeply regrets.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
Don Boozer, the Literature Department Manager and Ohio Center for the Book Coordinator at Cleveland Public Library, steps in as Page Count’s guest host to interview author and historian Douglas Brinkley. During a discussion that covers the burning Cuyahoga River, the conservation policies of past American presidents, environmental activism, and his latest book, Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening, Brinkley sheds light on the history of U.S. environmentalism while offering hope for the future.
Mentioned in this episode:
- Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
- The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America (2009)
- Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America (2016)
- Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening (2022)
- The Quiet World: Saving Alaska's Wilderness Kingdom, 1879–1960 (2011)
- 1969 Cuyahoga River Fire Coverage from the National Park Service and Cleveland Historical
- Lake Erie information from the Environmental Protection Agency
- Seuss, The Lorax, and Lake Erie
- National Park Service: Ohio
- Douglas Brinkley’s Official Website
- 1969 Time article about the Cuyahoga River
- 1960s Plain Dealer photograph of pollution in Cuyahoga River
- Cuyahoga Valley National Park
- Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
In this bonus episode, join us behind the scenes at the kickoff event for Cleveland Reads, the citywide reading challenge that tasks Clevelanders with reading a million books and/or minutes in 2023!
Featured in this episode:
- Justin Bibb, Mayor of Cleveland
- John Marshall High School Marching Band
- Jen Jumba, Cleveland Public Library
- Felton Thomas, Jr., Cleveland Public Library Executive Director and CEO
- Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers President
- Tracy Martin, Cleveland Public Library
- Matt Weinkam, Literary Cleveland Director
- Nancy Mocsiran, Cleveland Public Library
- Marcus Reid, Cleveland Public Library
- Margo Hudson, Seeds of Literacy
The kickoff event was held Saturday, December 17, 2022, in the Public Auditorium in downtown Cleveland. Additional Cleveland Reads events and programs will be held through 2023. Visit ClevelandReads.com to register and participate.
With special thanks to all Cleveland Reads partner organizations, especially the City of Cleveland, Cleveland Metropolitan School District, American Federation of Teachers, and the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.
Literary agent, author, and podcaster Erin Hosier discusses the current publishing landscape, challenges and opportunities in the industry, the author-agent relationship, and what aspiring writers can do to develop their writing. Finally, she and Laura critique three query letters submitted by Ohio writers.
Erin Hosier is a literary agent with Dunow Carlson & Lerner in NYC, specializing in narrative nonfiction (music biography, memoirs by artists, history, science and untold true stories of all kinds) and select literary fiction. She is the author of the memoir DON'T LET ME DOWN (Atria, 2019), and the coauthor of HIT SO HARD by Patty Schemel (Da Capo, 2017). She is the co-creator and host of the podcast Tell Me About Your Father, now in its third year. In general, novels with happy endings put her in a bad mood. She lives in Cleveland.
Mentioned in this episode:
- Edan Lepucki
- Leigh Stein
- Betsy Lerner
- Molly Shannon’s 2022 Cleveland appearance (Tell Me About Your Father episode)
- Daddy Issues royal family episode (Tell Me About Your Father)
- FOREST FOR THE TREES: An Editor’s Advice to Writers by Betsy Lerner
- Youngmi Mayer
- Feeling Asian podcast
- Hairy Butthole podcast
- HYSTERICAL by Elissa Bassist
- Poets & Writers online resources
- Publishers Marketplace
- Belt Magazine
- The William N. Skirball Writers’ Center
Publishing News & Info
- Publishing, Under Pressure (New York Times)
- The Great Publishing Resignation (Book Riot)
- Is the Publishing Industry Broken? (Publishers Weekly)
- HarperCollins strike (NPR)
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library and hosted by Laura Maylene Walter. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
We’re wrapping up 2022 with a compilation of writing advice from some of the authors who appeared on the pod this year. From writing routines to persistence, motivation, research, rejection, and more, these authors have you covered. Be sure to listen to their full Page Count interviews for more in-depth discussion of these topics and others.
In this episode:
- Negesti Kaudo on why writers shouldn’t worry about time
- Liz Breazeale on taking writing seriously
- Matt Bell on recordkeeping while drafting a novel
- Will Hillenbrand on research
- Jill Grunenwald on following your passion as a writer
- Jyotsna Sreenivasan on not having an MFA
- Derf Backderf on rejection
- Christopher Gonzalez on his new perspective on rejection
- Negesti Kaudo on writing residencies
- Thrity Umrigar on avoiding industry distraction
- Matt Bell on literary community
- Rachel Elizabeth Cargle on the importance of reading
- Tracy Subisak on having fun
Finally, at the end of this episode, we share a preview of our first conversation scheduled to air in 2023: an interview and query letter critique with literary agent Erin Hosier. That episode airs January 3, 2023, so be sure to subscribe to Page Count and stay tuned.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
We’re taking a meta dive into the world of podcasting with Jill Grunenwald, an author, librarian, and the cohost of OverDrive’s Professional Book Nerds podcast. Grunenwald shares how Professional Book Nerds got its start, how she and her cohosts produce the show, the challenges and benefits of hosting a podcast, tips for authors making their first podcast appearance, and why podcasting is such a popular medium for discussing books. On the writing front, Grunenwald discusses her work as a memoirist, including her latest title READING BEHIND BARS, which chronicles her time as a prison librarian.
Books mentioned in this episode:
- Running with a Police Escort by Jill Grunenwald
- Reading Behind Bars by Jill Grunenwald
- Matrix by Lauren Groff
- NPR's Podcast Start Up Guide: Create, Launch, and Grow a Podcast on Any Budget by Glen Weldon
Podcasts mentioned in this episode:
- Professional Book Nerds
- Reading Glasses
- Maintenance Phase
- Westworld
- Love to See It with Claire and Emma
- The Always Sunny Podcast
- How to Start a Podcast
Additional podcasts Laura recommends for writers:
- Missing Pages
- Print Run
- The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
- First Draft with Sarah Enni (archives)
- Between the Covers
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
This mini episode offers 10 tips for writers working on their first novels. Host Laura Maylene Walter draws on her experience as a novelist to discuss idea generation, outlines, structure, word-count goals, persistence, the constant battle against self-doubt, and more.
The advice Walter shares in this episode was originally recorded during a workshop she led at the Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. This episode may be especially helpful for writers participating in NaNoWriMo, the annual challenge to write 50,000 words of a novel in the month of November.
The cold open is an outtake “Escaping the Drawer with Sammy and Annisha.” And for another episode related to the novel-writing process, listen to “Novel Revision with Matt Bell.”
Finally, as Thanksgiving approaches, learn about National Native American Heritage Month by accessing resources from the National Park Service, the National Archives, the Smithsonian, and more.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
Kirsten Reach, founder of Jonquil Editorial and former Kenyon Review fiction editor and Melville House book editor, critiques opening pages from Ohio prose writers. Her feedback surrounds the importance of starting in the right place, writing dialogue that moves the story forward, and creating a clear and immediate sense of the world from the very first page. This episode also covers literary magazine submission tips, the best time to hire a freelance editor, the joys of cake and gossip, and more. With special thanks to the three writers who shared their work: S. Elizabeth Sigler, Suzanne Ondrus, and JB Bergin.
To learn more about Kirsten Reach and her editorial work, visit Jonquil Editorial or connect with her on Twitter @KirstenReach.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
In this special live episode, Laura Maylene Walter interviews Liz Breazeale, an award-winning author and NEA Fellow, to offer listeners practical advice surrounding the writing process, revision, rejection, literary agents, publication, MFA programs, and more. During their conversation, Liz equates revision with disaster; Laura reveals why she can’t be Liz’s literary executor; Liz describes how she found her literary agent; and Laura shares how she won a writing grant that will transform her into a mermaid.
This episode was recorded before a live audience on September 10, 2022, at Cleveland Public Library as part of Literary Clevleand’s Inkubator Writing Conference. Learn more about Liz Breazeale by visiting her website or following her on Twitter or Instagram.
Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
A fun discussion about puppets, children’s literature, libraries, and the age-old cat vs. dog debate? Toucan play at that game—namely, our two special guests Sammy and Annisha!
First, we partnered with the Indiana Center for the Book to chat with our friend Sammy, a corduroy puppet in the shape of a toucan who has interviewed Indiana authors for more than a decade. Sammy lives in a drawer but does not want to talk about it! Sammy is a very good reader! Sammy thinks Garfield is a killjoy! Sammy does not know who Jonathan Franzen is! Sammy’s sassiness increases with age! Sammy sees puppets as friends! Although really, what even IS a puppet, anyway?
We’re also joined by Annisha Jeffries, the Manager of the Youth Services Department at Cleveland Public Library. Annisha discusses her love of cats, why puppets are helpful for young readers, why libraries matter, and more. She also shares her enthusiasm for Bill Cotter’s books, including DON’T PUSH THE BUTTON and DON’T TOUCH THIS BOOK. Sammy, meanwhile, offers enthusiastic bird praise for author April Pulley Sayre and shares Sayre’s delightful book, BIRD, BIRD, BIRD!
Find Sammy’s amazing interviews on the Indiana State Library’s Toucan Tuesdays YouTube playlist, or check out a few of our favorites:
- Sammy interviews Leah Johnson!
- Sammy interviews Helen Frost and Rick Lieder!
- Show and Tell with Sammy!
- Sammy interviews Barb Shoup!
Mentioned in this episode:
- Puppetry at Cleveland Public Library
- The Indiana Chant by April Pulley Sayre
- BIRD, BIRD, BIRD! by April Pulley Sayre and illustrated by Gary Locke
- RAH, RAH, RADISHES! by April Pulley Sayre
- GO, GO, GRAPES! by April Pulley Sayre
- DON’T TOUCH THIS BOOK! by Bill Cotter
- DON’T PUSH THE BUTTON! by Biller Cotter
- Jonathan Franzen’s love of birds
Produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library and hosted by Laura Maylene Walter. For a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
Children’s book author and illustrator Will Hillenbrand discusses his origins as a young artist; why “instant art” is a myth; his attempt to kiss a cow for research; his breakthrough after being diagnosed with dyslexia; how his son inspired the Mole and Bear book series; the power of giving voice to ideas; the literary magic available to us in books; the importance of play and joy in art; and why, as a child, he wanted to grow up to be a fire truck.
Visit willhillenbrand.com to learn more or follow Hillenbrand on Twitter or Facebook.
Books mentioned in this episode:
- MIKE MULLIGAN AND HIS STEAM SHOVEL by Virginia Lee Burton
- KISS THE COW by Phyllis Root and illustrated by Will Hillenbrand
- ZEE GROWS A TREE by Elizabeth Rusch and illustrated by Will Hillenbrand
- SPRING IS HERE by Will Hillenbrand
- THE MOLE FAMILY'S CHRISTMAS by Russell Hoban and illustrated by Lillian Hoban
- STARTING FROM SKETCH by Will Hillenbrand
- TURTLE-TURTLE AND THE WIDE, WIDE RIVER by Will Hillenbrand (forthcoming)
- CHARLOTTE’s WEB by E.B. White
- MIGHTY READER AND THE READING RIDDLE by Will Hillenbrand
- THE VOICE IN THE HOLLOW by Will Hillenbrand (coming January 3, 2023)
- KATIE AND THE BIG SNOW by Virginia Lee Burton
- LITTLE RED by Will Hillenbrand (coming Fall 2023)
Produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library and hosted by Laura Maylene Walter. For a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
Negesti Kaudo, author of the debut essay collection RIPE, discusses the art of writing nonfiction; her development as a writer; exploring race, privilege, and the body in on the page; innovative essay structure; embracing work that is uncomfortable; workshop dynamics and etiquette; her job as a Buzzfeed sex toy writer; the joy of writing residencies; and why the popular “write drunk, edit sober” maxim isn’t the best advice for writers.
Find Kaudo on Twitter, Instagram, or at kaudonegesti.squarespace.com.
Writing Residency Resources
- Poets & Writers Conferences and Residencies Database
- Fee-Free Writing Residencies
- Family-Friendly Writing Residencies
- BOMB Residency Roundup
Produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library and hosted by Laura Maylene Walter. For a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
Celebrated graphic novelist Derf Backderf discusses his latest book, KENT STATE: FOUR DEAD IN OHIO, which documents the fatal May 4, 1970 shooting at Kent State University. Backderf sheds light on this event’s history and its aftermath; his decision to tell the story through the point of view of the four slain students (Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer, and William Schroeder) and a Guardsman; his research and writing processes; the evolution of his career; his view of the current landscape for graphic novels; his favorite independent bookstores; and more.
KENT STATE: FOUR DEAD IN OHIO is the Ohio Center for the Book’s 2022 Great Reads from Great Places selection for adult readers and will represent Ohio’s literary heritage at the 2022 National Book Festival on September 3.
Derf Backderf’s previous books include MY FRIEND DAHMER, TRASHED, and PUNK ROCK AND TRAILER PARKS. Learn more at derfcity.com and buy KENT STATE at your favorite independent bookstore. Mac's Backs sells personalized, signed copies of Backderf's books.
For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
Children’s book illustrator and author Tracy Subisak discusses JENNY MEI IS SAD, a picture book about the support friends can offer in times of sadness. Subisak shares the genesis of this story, how she became a children’s book author and illustrator, the connection between creativity and vulnerability, how illustrators work with an agents, a preview of some of her forthcoming books, and her advice for young artists.
JENNY MEI IS SAD is the Ohio Center for the Book’s 2022 Great Reads from Great Places children’s book selection and will represent Ohio’s literary heritage at the 2022 National Book Festival on September 3.
Books mentioned in this episode:
- JENNY MEI IS SAD, written and illustrated by Tracy Subisak
- AMAH FARAWAY, written by Margaret Chiu Greanias and illustrated by Tracy Subisak
- SORRY, SNAIL, written and illustrated by Tracy Subisak, is forthcoming in 2023
- MIXED-UP MOONCAKES, written by Erica Lyons and Christina Matula and illustrated by Tracy Subisak, is forthcoming in 2024
Learn about Subisak’s other books at http://tracysubisak.com.
For a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
This bonus episode celebrates Author Alley, an annual book fair held at Loganberry Books in Cleveland. Harriett Logan discusses the history of Author Alley and provides a preview of some of this year’s offerings. Next, five participating authors (Nicole D. Miller, James Redwood, Megan Neville, Jason Lady, and Tricia Springstubb) share a bit about their books. You can meet these authors but also many others by coming to Loganberry Books on August 6 for the BIPOC showcase; August 13 for the fiction, poetry, and ephemera showcase; and August 20 for the nonfiction and illustrated works showcase. The event runs from noon to 4pm on each day.
Here is the full list of participating 2022 Author Alley authors, and here’s an article about Otis the cat’s retirement from Loganberry.
Finally, mark your calendars for our first-ever live podcast event, which will take place at 3:30pm on Saturday, September 10 at Literary Cleveland’s Inkubator conference. "Page Count Live: Advice for the Career-Minded Writer" will feature an interview with award-winning short story author and NEA Fellow Liz Breazeale. Register for the free Inkubator conference and attend this live taping of Page Count.
For a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page at https://ohiocenterforthebook.org/podcast. To get in touch, follow Ohio Center for the Book on Twitter @cplocfb or email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org and put “podcast” in the subject line.
Eric Obenauf and Eliza Wood-Obenauf discuss the beginnings and evolution of Two Dollar Radio, an independent publisher, bookstore, and vegan café based in Columbus, Ohio. They share insight on starting a small press without a budget or connections; the origin of the “Two Dollar Radio” name; the benefits of being based outside of New York; what they look for when acquiring manuscripts; how they manage submissions; why they accept unsolicited and unagented manuscripts; their publisher mentoring program; publisher consolidation and industry challenges; why bookstore visitors are greeted by a unicorn mural; how a limerick by Lemony Snicket came to grace their menu; and a DIY spirit that extends to the bookstore and café, where Eric and Eliza have had a hand in making everything themselves, from the books to the furniture to the food.
Mentioned in this episode:
The Book of X by Sarah Rose Etter
They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
I Will Die in a Foreign Land by Kalani Pickhart
Crapalachia by Scott McClanahan
Binary Star by Sarah Gerard
Two Dollar Radio Guide to Vegan Cooking: The Pink Edition by Jean-Claude van Randy and Speed Dog (with Eric Obenauf)
Purple Palm Press
Akashic Books
For a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page at https://ohiocenterforthebook.org/podcast. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org and put “podcast” in the subject line. Find us on Twitter @cplocfb.
Author Jyotsna Sreenivasan discusses the power of second-generation stories; Indian American stereotypes in fiction; tips for writing dialogue and expressing the internal thoughts of a character whose first language is not English; writing and publishing without an MFA; freeing herself from the pressure to publish; transforming a novel into a novella; the long road of revision; and how her latest book, the story collection These Americans, came to be.
Mentioned in this episode:
- And Laughter Fell From the Sky (William Morrow)
- These Americans (Minerva Rising Press)
- Second Generation Stories: Literature by Children of Immigrants
- Pioneer Girl by Bich Minh Nguyen
- The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston
- Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
- Barack Obama’s early journey as an author
For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page at https://ohiocenterforthebook.org/podcast. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org and put “podcast” in the subject line.
We’re getting meta on the pod by talking about page counts in published books and, by extension, word counts in unpublished manuscripts. What is an acceptable word-count range for a novel or memoir, and why does word count matter at all? Writer, speaker, and former Penguin publishing executive Brandi Larsen shares the economic rationale for common page-count ranges in published books and offers tips for writers penning their own manuscripts. While there’s always wiggle room and the occasional exception, there’s a reason why writers might run into trouble when trying to publish a 50,000-word novel or a 200,000-word memoir with a traditional publisher—and this episode will illuminate why.
Brandi Larsen is a writer and speaker building a more inclusive publishing landscape. Her work at Penguin Random House helped create NYT bestsellers, and her journalism pieces earned Emmy nominations. Her talks about publishing, leadership, and grief inspire audiences from Zoom to Harvard. She serves as the board president for Literary Cleveland and writes books and essays. Uncultured: A Memoir publishes September 20, 2022 and is available to pre-order now. Learn more at BrandiLarsen.com and @brandilarsen on social media.
For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page at https://ohiocenterforthebook.org/podcast. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org and put “podcast” in the subject line.
Christopher Gonzalez discusses his debut story collection, I’m Not Hungry But I Could Eat, as well as his writing process, flash fiction techniques, literary magazine editing, literary Twitter, the art of putting together a story collection, small press publishing vs. the Big 5, revision, reality TV, leaning into your own weirdness as a writer, and more.
Mentioned in this episode:
- “On Chicken Tenders” by Helen Rosner
- Barrelhouse
- Santa Fe Writers Project (SFWP)
- “And Another and Another and Another Glass of Rosé” in Catapult
- Love Is Blind
- The Bachelorette
- Race and the Bachelor franchise
- Reality TV
- Twitter tips for writers
- Nafissa Thompson-Spires
- Roxane Gay
- Raven Leilani
Host: Laura Maylene Walter Presented by: Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library
For a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page at https://ohiocenterforthebook.org/podcast. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org and put “podcast” in the subject line.
NOTE: At the time of this recording, Devon Halliday was an agent at Transatlantic Agency, but she is now pursuing other opportunities. Stay tuned for additional podcast episodes discussing trends related to agent and editor transitions within the publishing industry.
Devon Halliday, a former literary agent, discusses how she became an agent, working in publishing outside of New York City, the difference between a scout and an agent, how she manages her queries, and what she looks for in new clients. Next, she critiques query letters from three Ohio writers working on historical fiction, memoir, and YA manuscripts, respectively. Halliday offers advice surrounding the structure and content of these query letters, as well as her thoughts on comparative titles, manuscript word count, book proposals, the role of research in memoir, platforms for nonfiction writers, rhetorical questions in query letters, and more.
Halliday recommends Twice in a Lifetime by Melissa Baron, which publishes December 6, 2022.
For a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page at https://ohiocenterforthebook.org/podcast. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org and put “podcast” in the subject line.
Matt Bell discusses his new craft book, Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts. We talk about the mysteries, joys, and frustrations of novel revision, including getting that first draft out on the page, recordkeeping during the drafting process, finding your place on the “outline or no outline” spectrum, strategies for the second draft, unpublished first novels, abandoning a novel after writing 100 pages, why community is sustaining for writers, and more.
Matt Bell is the author of the novels Appleseed, Scrapper, and In the House upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods, as well as the short story collection A Tree or a Person or a Wall, a nonfiction book about the classic video game Baldur's Gate II, and several other titles. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Esquire, Tin House, Fairy Tale Review, American Short Fiction, Orion, and many other publications. A native of Michigan, he has an MFA from Bowling Green State University and teaches creative writing at Arizona State University.
For a transcript of this episode, visit https://ohiocenterforthebook.org/podcast. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org and put “podcast” in the subject line.
Writer, entrepreneur, and activist Rachel Elizabeth Cargle discusses her Akron roots; the viral photo that served as a catalyst for her deeper exploration of intersectional feminism; how she improves her own writing by studying her literary ancestors; her thoughts on the state of the publishing industry, especially for writers of color; how she makes use of a robust social media following; the importance of celebrating marginalized voices; how and why she founded Elizabeth’s Bookshop & Writing Centre in Akron; and why community building is imperative to the health and success of independent bookstores.
Books Rachel recommends in this episode:
- Chlorine Sky by Mahogany L. Brown
- Grown by Tiffany Jackson
- Listening with My Heart by Gabi Garcia and Ying Hui Tan
- I Promise by Lebron James and Niña Mata
- You Matter by Christian Robinson
For a transcript of this episode, visit https://ohiocenterforthebook.org/podcast. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org and put “podcast” in the subject line.
Bestselling author Thrity Umrigar discusses her latest novel, Honor, including her inspiration, the research process, being a part of Reese’s Book Club, and promoting the novel during the pandemic. Umrigar also discusses persistence, how she flirted with the idea of giving up writing, her conception of what “success” means for authors, her love of libraries, and the importance of doing the work above all else.
Follow along as David Weaver, executive director of the Ohioana Library Association, and Betty Weibel, author of The Ohio Literary Trail: A Guide, discuss Ohio’s literary heritage and offer a quick tour of some of the notable literary sites found around the state.
Laura Maylene Walter chats with Don Boozer, the Ohio Center for the Book (OCBC) Coordinator and Manager of the Literature Department at Cleveland Public Library, to introduce Page Count. Laura and Don discuss the OCFB collection and their hopes for the podcast before their conversation takes an unexpected detour to Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Welcome to Page Count, a new podcast presented by the Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. This podcast celebrates authors, illustrators, librarians, booksellers, literary advocates, and readers in and from the state of Ohio. Page Count launches April 26 and will offer a new episode every other Tuesday.