Coming up on New Letters on the Air

Check the New Letters on the Air website to listen to recent programs, and for a schedule of upcoming shows. June 18, 2006 B.H. Fairchild Author of The Art of the Lathe, a collection of poetry that gives insight into the life and work of Fairchild's father in Liberal, Kansas, this California poet was in his mid-fifties before a major publishing house even considered this work.  Rejected many times, the book was finally published in 1998 and won seven prizes, including the William Carlos Williams Award.  Fairchild also discusses his 2002 National Book Critics Circle Award-winning book, Early Occult Memory Systems of the Lower Midwest. June 25, 2006 Jasper Fforde Popular British comic novelist Jasper Fforde talks about his pun-filled detective novel satires of classic literature including The Eyre Affair and Something Rotten.  Revealing how hard getting published is, Fforde says that his first book was rejected approximately 76 times before finding an agent, and a legion of fans. He's turning his comic eye toward children's fairytales with The Big Over Easy, the first in his Nursery Crime series, which will be available in paperback in July.  July 2, 2006 Sarah Vowell Creative nonfiction writer Sarah Vowell talks about her 2005 "travelogue of doom," Assassination Vacation with New Letters on the Air's assistant producer, Dennis Conrow.  She also discusses her beginnings as an essayist, the beginnings of her career launched by public radio, and gives some insight into the difference between writing for radio and print. July 9, 2006 David Ray New Letters' founder and former editor David Ray reads from his latest book of poems The Death of Sardanapalus & Other Poems of the Iraq War that examines war from ancient times until now.  Ray and the current New Letters editor Robert Stewart discuss the role pacifism plays among protest poets, especially in the work of the late William Stafford, and the relevance of such work today. July 16, 2006 Marilyn Kallet Marilyn Kallet's 2005 poetic offering Circe, After Hours(her 11th book) covers topics as diverse as eating a rodent served by a cost-cutting French woman, finding relatives killed in the Holocaust, or remembering her father's loose association with the Mafia.   This Knoxville poet reads from this book and has an entertaining talk with fellow poet Michelle Boisseau about the craft of poetry. July 23, 2006 Stuart Dybek Short story writer Stuart Dybek grew up in the south side of Chicago.  He continues to revisit that locale as a backdrop for many of his stories found in the collections The Coast of Chicago and I Sailed with Magellan.  He talks about his work with UMKC creative writing professor, Michael Pritchett, and also reads from his 2006 book of poems, Streets In Their Own Ink. July 30, 2006 A.S. Byatt British novelist and short story writer A.S. Byatt is the author of 15 books of fiction, including Possession, for which she won the 1990 Booker Prize.  In this program, she reads from that novel, and talks about her return to the short story with her 2005 collection, The Little Black Book of Stories.  She also chats about the pleasures of aging, the craft of writing, and the influence of American literature on her work.

History of New Letters on the Air

New Letters on the Air celebrates its 28th year as one of the nation's leading audio-literature collectors and broadcasters.  David and Judy Ray began New Letters on the Air in 1977 as the radio companion to the distinguished literary quarterly New Letters.  Rebekah Presson Mosby worked as a producer and then host from 1982 until 1995.  Now, producer/host Angela Elam continues the tradition with New Letters editor Robert Stewart and other members of the New Letters staff.  New Letters on the Air is not only a weekly program broadcast over many public radio stations, but is also one of the largest and best collections of recordings of contemporary authors, both from the United States and around the world. Many of these important writers -- Allen Ginsberg, Jane Kenyon, Howard Nemerov, Michael Dorris, James Dickey, John Gardner, Gwendolyn Brooks -- have now passed from the literary scene. Many are Nobel laureates, winners of Pulitzer Prizes or National Book Awards.  Most programs from our extensive archives are offered for sale on audiocassette or CD.