Esmé Raji Codell is the author of Educating Esme, a diary of a first-year teacher; the acclaimed novel Sahara Special, winner of the IRA Children's Book Award, a Kirkus Editors' Choice for 2003; as well as a memoir for young readers, Sing a Song of Tuna Fish: Hard-to-Swallow Stories from Fifth Grade. She lives in Chicago and is a librarian in the Chicago public schools.…

Jim Krusoe is the author of five books of poetry, the short story collection Blood Lake , and the novels The Sleep Garden , Iceland , Girl Factory , Erased , Toward You and Parsifal . He is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Fund. He was the founder of Santa Monica Review and taught a famed fiction writing class at Santa Monica College. You can contact him at a legacy email address, which you can hear in the interview. *********** Original music by Alison Swing , Katatonic Silentio , Aleksi Perala and Nick Klein . *********** For more, visit Out of Your Mouth Podcast page.…

Monona Wali's debut novel, My Blue Skin Lover , won the 2015 Independent Book Publishers Gold award for multicultural fiction. She is an alum of Hedgebrook, Breadloaf, and the Community of Writers. Her stories appear in Folio, Juked, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and the Santa Monica Review. Prior to writing fiction, she was a filmmaker. Her film Grey Area is included in the LA Rebellion film festival, highlighting groundbreaking work done by BIPOC filmmakers in the 70’s and 80’s. Learn more at mononawali.com . *********** Original music by Alison Swing , Katatonic Silentio , Aleksi Perala and Nick Klein . *********** For more, visit Out of Your Mouth Podcast page.…

My guest is actor and writer Danton Stone. A longtime member of Circle Rep Company in New York, he originated roles in Lanford Wilson’s “Fifth of July” and “Balm in Gilead”. And he was part of the “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” revival cast that won a Tony Award. His film and TV credits include Once Around, Eight Men Out, Oz, Roseanne and the Sopranos. Danton grew up in New York and moved to in Los Angeles 10 years ago. His plays include "42 Cities in 40 Nights" and "i, hardware". *********** Original music by Alison Swing , Katatonic Silentio , Aleksi Perala and Nick Klein . *********** For more, visit Out of Your Mouth Podcast page.…

My guest is writer Paula Bomer. Paula Bomer is the author of the novels Tante Eva and Nine Months, the story collections Inside Madeleine and Baby and other Stories, and the essay collection, Mystery and Mortality. She grew up in South Bend, Indiana and has lived for over 30 years in Brooklyn. Her forthcoming novel, The Stalker, will be published by Soho Press May 5, 2025. To learn more, visit her website at paulabomer.com . *********** Original music by Alison Swing , Katatonic Silentio , Aleksi Perala and Nick Klein . *********** For more, visit Out of Your Mouth Podcast page.…