PWN's Debut Review
PWN’s Debut Review is a new podcast from Project Write Now, a nonprofit writing studio. Hosted by PWN instructors Ray Brunt and Courtney Harler, the podcast is devoted to debut art and its creators. Guests reveal their creative inspirations and motivations.
Episodes
40 episodes
The Courtneys with Courtney Zoffness and Courtney Maum
For the final episode of Season Five, Courtney Harler speaks with two Courtneys, Courtney Zoffness and Courtney Maum. Maum is, of course, a returning guest, and Zoffness is new to the podcast.Courtney Zoffness is the author of the debut...
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Season 5
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Episode 8
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48:17
Bathing Myself in Narrative with Amy Long and Emma Bolden
Today Courtney speaks with two talented memoirists, Amy Long and Emma Bolden.Amy Long is the author of the debut memoir, Codependence, winner of the 2018 Essay Collection Competition with the Cleveland State University Poetry C...
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Season 5
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Episode 7
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1:05:26
Home, and What That Means with Anna Qu and Mihaela Moscaliuc
In honor of National Poetry Month, we’ve invited back to the podcast one of our favorite poets, Mihaela Moscaliuc. Anna Qu, a prose writer, also joins the conversation.Anna Qu is the author of the c...
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Season 5
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Episode 6
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1:17:56
Waiting to Continue to Evolve with Janice Obuchowski and William Pei Shih
Today, for Episode Five of Season Five, I’m talking with Janice Obuchowski and William Pei Shih. Janice and William first met as scholars at the 2017 Brea...
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Season 5
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Episode 5
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52:50
Forgot to Include a Plot with Krystal A. Sital and Peter Mountford
Krystal A. Sital and Peter Mountford join me for Episode Four of Season Five.Krystal A. Sital is the author of the memoir Secrets We Kept: Three Women of Trinidad, a finalist for the PEN America Emerging Writers Award. Her essa...
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Season 5
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Episode 4
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1:10:25
Never Just a Writer with Lisa Lee Herrick and Lee Herrick
For Episode Three of Season Five, Courtney talks to Lisa Lee Herrick and Lee Herrick. Yes, to be clear, they are married.Lisa Lee Herrick is an award-winning Hmong-American writer, illustrator, and producer. A 2021 PEN America Emerging ...
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Season 5
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Episode 3
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1:09:17
I Always Start with Story with Pablo Cartaya and Ray Brunt
For Episode Two of Season Five, Ray Brunt joins Courtney once more to talk with Pablo Cartaya.Pablo is the award-winning author of several books for children and young adults, as well as a screenwriter, speaker, and educator. His debut ...
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Season 5
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Episode 2
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1:12:52
Echoes of Time with Rebecca Makkai & Meghan Lamb
We launch Season Five with two wonderful writers, Rebecca Makkai and Meghan Lamb.Rebecca is the author of four novels and a collection of short stories. Her n...
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Season 5
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Episode 1
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1:13:10
Go Crunch Leaves with Nathalia Garcia
For Giving Tuesday, we chat with Nathalia Garcia, a first-generation Brazilian-American and brilliant emerging poet. In recent years, Nathalia has been both a dedicated student and an assistant instructor at Project Write Now. Jennifer Chauhan ...
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Season 4
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Episode 8
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49:13
Because of RBG with Rebecca Evans, Carla Schick & Harrison Solow
We have three guests today, an editor and two contributors of When There Are Nine, a poetry anthology in tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Rebecca Evans, one of the anthology’s editors, is a ...
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Season 4
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Episode 7
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58:01
Change the Voices with Mannikka Rosa
Today’s guest, Mannikka Rosa, is an educator, entrepreneur, and spoken-word artist. She uses hip hop pedagogy to more fully engage her students in innovative ways through her consulting firm, ...
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Season 4
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Episode 6
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43:33
A Photographer’s Daughter with Mihaela Moscaliuc
Our guest today is Mihaela Moscaliuc, a poet, translator, and educator. Her latest collection, out just last year from Pittsburgh Press, is called Cemetery Ink. Moscaliuc is also a graduate p...
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Season 4
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Episode 5
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43:51
These Are Humans Too with Adam Vitcavage
Today we speak to Adam Vitcavage, founder of Debutiful, a literary webpage and podcast. Much like PWN’s Debut Review, Debutiful focuses on connecting readers and listeners with deb...
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Season 4
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Episode 4
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1:08:07
Share Your Own Joy with Raakhee Mirchandani
Jennifer Chauhan, the executive director of Project Write Now, joins us as guest cohost today. Courtney and Jennifer interview Raakhee Mirchandani, a journalist, podcaster, mother, and children’s bo...
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Season 4
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Episode 3
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40:14
Much Ado About a Chipmunk with Courtney Maum
We continue Season Four with Courtney Maum, a writer and book coach. Maum’s debut memoir, The Year of the Horses, was released in May from Tin House. Maum has also previously published three ...
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Season 4
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Episode 2
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57:30
Return to the Craft with Chen Chen
Today, we launch Season Four with Chen Chen, a poet, essayist, instructor, and editor. His first collection, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities, won the prestigious...
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Season 4
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Episode 1
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54:05
Constantly Curating with Alan Heathcock
NOTE: This updated episode includes bonus material—on-site interviews with attendees at Alan Heathcock's book launch event this summer in Boise, Idaho, as well as congratulations from friends (and former podcast guests) Brittany Ackerman and Br...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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1:18:47
Brutal Passages with Brett Riley
Brett Riley joins us for Episode Three of Season Three. Brett is a writer and professor based in Las Vegas, Nevada. His debut young adult novel, Freaks, with Imbrifex Books, hit the shelves in March and the next book in the series,
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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45:27
You Take Back Your Power with Cori Thomas
In Episode Two of Season Three, we feature Cori Thomas, coauthor of the new memoir I Cried to Dream Again: Trafficking, Murder, and Deliverance, with Sara Kruzan. Cori is a playwright, screenwriter, actor, and activist of Liberian and ...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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45:39
Reading This Book on Trains with Kerri Sullivan, Brittany Coppla & Donnie Martino
We’re launching Season Three with contributors to the new book called New Jersey Fan Club: Artists & Writers Celebrate the Garden State.
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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52:17
A Gift in Time with Julia Whelan
Our last guest of Season Two, Julia Whelan, is a writer, narrator, and actor. Her debut novel, My Oxford Year, released in 2018 and is also available as an audiobook beautifully narrated by Julia her...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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48:14
Reaching [for] Perfection with Laura Zlatos
We’re back this week with Laura Zlatos for Episode 7 of Season 2. Laura is a playwright and librettist. She’s written many plays and has won many awards for her work. She’s a graduate of both NYU Tisch ...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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53:21
Unlock Something with Brandon Dudley
This week we talk to Brandon Dudley, a fiction writer, high school teacher, and former journalist. Brandon’s chapbook, Hazards of Nature, won the 2020 Maine Chapbook Series chosen by N...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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47:14
Written for the Struggler with Sterling Cunio and Caits Meissner
For Episode 5, we’re doing a two-part series with PEN America. For Part 2, we speak to Sterling Cunio and Caits Meissner. Caits is the director of the Prison and Justice Writing Program and editor of their new craft handbook called “The Sentenc...
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Season 2
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Episode 0
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54:47
The Key to Resilience with Sarah Shourd and Robert Pollock
For Episode 5, we’re doing a two-part series with PEN America. For Part 1, we speak to Sarah Shourd and Robert Pollock. Robert is the manager of the Prison and Justice Writing Program. The program just published a new craft handbook...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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43:47