New Letters on the Air

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Listening to New Letters on the Air is like eavesdropping on intimate conversations with favorite writers who reveal secrets about their creative methods, read a few favorite passages, and inspire the listener's imagination.

NEW LETTERS ON THE AIR is a weekly half-hour show that has been entertaining and informing audiences about contemporary writers and literature since 1977. Each week, the program focuses on a writer of poetry, fiction or essays, either in an intimate interview or in a public reading before an audience. Post-produced with narrative and music, NEW LETTERS ON THE AIR gives insight into the creative writing process and the universal stories that writers tell.

Each show is self-contained and undated, except for the occasional holiday or theme related program. 30- and 60-second produced promos are provided weekly on the PRSS promo satellite feeds and on Content Depot. Written promos are posted weekly on the DACS along with the timings and cues. Other distribution methods are available.

Though educational, NEW LETTERS ON THE AIR is not pedantic, and the conversation is often filled with laughter as authors discuss and read from their books. Our archive programs contain many Nobel Laureates, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners, along with recipients of other major literary awards. Recent guests include poets Sherman Alexie, Naomi Shihab Nye, Billy Collins, and Alicia Ostriker; dramatists August Wilson, Suzan-Lori Parks, and Tony Kushner; essayists Meghan Daum, Susan Orlean, and David Sedaris; fiction writers Richard Russo, Jane Smiley, and Ha Jin. The program also features less-familiar but remarkable writers whose work and contributions are equally engaging.

"Most people have a creative streak, whether they're interested in writing or not," says Angela Elam, host of NEW LETTERS ON THE AIR. "I hope by exploring the writer's process and hearing work that captures the essence of our lives, the program will inspire listeners to do something creative in their own way."

Series

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5 Pieces

NOTE: ALL EPISODES CAN STAND ALONE; NO OBLIGATION TO RUN THE ENTIRE SERIES. This five-episode series of one-hour programs features 17 of the men and women who have served as United States Poet Laureates over the past four decades, from the late Howard Nemerov (1963-64) to Donald Hall (beginning 2006). These conversations and readings of poetry vary from humorous to heavy, but are always thought-provoking, and are perfect for National Poetry Month in April, though they can be used anytime.


Pieces

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Poet and journalist Dunya Mikhail reads from her three books: THE WAR WORKS HARD, DIARY OF A WAVE OUTSIDE THE SEA, and THE IRAQI NIGHTS. Pushed ou...

Bought by WNJR and WMUU-LP


  • Added: Jul 08, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
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John Berendt, recorded at HEAR/NOW: The Audio Fiction and Arts Festival in Kansas City, discusses his best-selling MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD A...

  • Added: Jun 16, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
Caption: Arthur Phillips
Four hundred years after the death of William Shakespeare and during the Folger Library's year long nationwide tour of The Bard's first folio in 20...

Bought by WNJR and WMUU-LP


  • Added: Jun 06, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
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As part of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, we hear from Jonathan Stalling, the first westerner chosen as Beijing University's Poet-in-Reside...

Bought by KQED and XRAY.fm


  • Added: May 18, 2016
  • Length: 30:30
  • Purchases: 2
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We remember a Past American Voice--Arkansas native and former Rhode Island Poet Laureate, C.D. Wright who died suddenly in early 2016. She authored...

Bought by WNJR


  • Added: May 05, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Georgia State Poet Laureate Judson Mitcham shares stories about some of his influences, including the late poets Richard Hugo, William Stafford and...

Bought by WNJR


  • Added: Apr 13, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Kansas Poet Laureate (2009-2013) Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg is the author of multiple books of poetry and prose. She discusses her many books, includin...

Bought by WMUU-LP and WNJR


  • Added: Apr 05, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
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For Women's History Month, we revisit a novel that's built around real life West Virginia murders of a widow and her three children during the Grea...

Bought by WNJR


  • Added: Mar 11, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
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The 2016 Features Editor of THE NATION, Kai Wright, discusses his 2009 anthology, THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: BLACK HISTORY AND CULTURE THROUG...

Bought by KCMJ Community Radio and WNJR


  • Added: Feb 25, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: R. Dwayne Betts of The Symphony Poets
The Symphony is a group of African-American poets originally comprised of John Murillo, R. Reginald Dwayne Betts, Randall Horton, and Marcus Jackso...

Bought by WNJR and KUFM - Montana Public Radio


  • Added: Feb 11, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2