Episodes

June 2, 2021

A Boyhood Brush With Breast Cancer

On this episode, we bring you a story that is not one you hear too often but addresses a very serious situation: breast cancer in men. Kevin Wood shares his essay, A Boyhood Brush with Breast Cancer. This essay was previousl…
May 19, 2021

I Own Seven Vibrators and I Still Worry About What to Say at a Cocktail Party

This episode is about writing like you speak, which is the best way to tell a true, authentic story. Andrea and Allison discuss why bringing your voice into a written essay makes the story so much better.  You will hear a…
May 5, 2021

Happy F*ing Mother's Day

This episode features an extreme mother story by Diana Kupershmit who is honest and vulnerable. Diana tells the truth about a very tough decision she and her husband made when their daughter Emma was born with a severe disab…
April 14, 2021

Why Did the Prison Series Get Canceled?

Welcome to Season 11. If you’re new to Writing Class Radio, season 11 was going to be a little different. We started a 10-part series inspired by the people Allison met teaching memoir writing in prison. But last week, Allis…
March 3, 2021

How to Hit Your Editors in the Heart

This episode is about secrets, a mom/daughter relationship, and donor-conception, a subject that hit both Andrea and Allison in the heart. When Amanda Serenyi’s friend gets pregnant using donor sperm, Amanda freaks out becau…
Feb. 17, 2021

What Did it Take to Finally Get Published?

Get out of your own way and submit your stories already.
Feb. 3, 2021

Crafting a Story is Like Solving a Puzzle

Crafting stories well requires both sides of the brain.
Jan. 20, 2021

Brave Listener Gets Hard Edits

Everyone needs an editor or two, so we asked you to send us your unfinished essays for some hard edits.
Jan. 6, 2021

Taking the Long Road, Writing About Transformation

This episode is about showing a narrator's transformation.
Dec. 23, 2020

Bye Bye 2020

Andrea and Allison say goodbye to 2020.
Dec. 2, 2020

The Upside to a Downside

On today’s episode you’ll hear a story that takes a bad situation and finds the good. We don’t love sappy happy endings, but honest happy endings are the best, especially when they bring joy to the world. Jamie Katz got marr…
Nov. 18, 2020

How Does a Man Get Away with Calling Women Bitches and Hoes in a Story?

This episode is about how home is love.
Nov. 9, 2020

Should I Stay or Should I Leave This Country?

Today’s episode is part of a series called Home. Writing Class Radio helped produce a documentary to help end homelessness for Chapman Partnership, a homeless center in South Florida. On this episode, you will hear a story …
Oct. 21, 2020

At Home in My Skin

This episode features a story about feeling at home in one's skin and shows the art of planting seeds.
Oct. 7, 2020

Torn Between Two Houses Feeling Like a Fool

How to write a story when the end is murky.
Sept. 2, 2020

What Does Your TV Habit Say About You?

This episode is about story structure and all things done well in an essay. LiAnne Yu tells a story about watching TV with her Chinese immigrant parents. As a narrator she brings us into her world--dinners in front of the TV…
Aug. 5, 2020

Who's Your Voice of Reason?

A good device is to use another character to offer a voice of reason.
July 1, 2020

Every Word Matters

Today on our show, we’re talking about how every word in a story matters. We have a story to share that illustrates this point so well. Essayist, teacher, and Writing Class Radio listener Amy Paturel submitted her story call…
June 3, 2020

A Poet's Response to Senseless Murders

This episode of Writing Class Radio is dedicated to George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and all those who have lost their lives in a senseless murder. The story we share with you on this episode is by student and poet Zorina Frey.…
May 6, 2020

An Insider Conversation with a Literary Agent

Today on our show, we share a New York Times Modern Love essay we love by Jessica Strawser, editor-at-large at Writer’s Digest. Her essay caught the attention of literary agent Barbara Poelle, an agent with the Irene Goodman…
April 1, 2020

You Have Permission to Write or Not to Write

We bring you two stories that about the coronavirus pandemic that bring you something more about the human condition.
March 4, 2020

How to Write About Death: Use an Obsession

Writing about an obsession is a creative and interesting way to write about death.
Feb. 5, 2020

Writing Helps You Figure Out How You Think

Today on our show, we’re talking about how writing helps you figure out how you think. And helps you see yourself, specifically your failures more clearly because it’s hard to ignore a pattern when you see it in writing. We…
Jan. 8, 2020

Gotta Be a Good Literary Citizen if You Wanna Get Published

Being a good literary citizen means helping other writers and promoting their work.