Conversations with Writers

In earlier interviews, poet, storyteller and literary activist, Magdalena Ball talked about the factors that made her start writing, her concerns as a writer and about her debut novel , Sleep Before Evening . Since then she has gone on to publish She Wore Emerald Then , a poetry chapbook written in collaboration with Carolyn Howard-Johnson. The chapbook was a finalist in the USA Book News 2009 NBBA Best Book Awards. She Wore Emerald Then was followed by Repulsion Thrust (Bewrite Books, 2009), a full length, solo poetry collection whcih tackles subjects like quantum physics, astronomy, time travel, ecological destruction, and technological singularity, all viewed through the lens of the human condition. Below, Magdalena Ball talks about the work she is currently doing: How would you describe Repulsion Thrust ? My latest book is Repulsion Thrust , which is out from Bewrite Books . It's a poetry book which is in three sections. The first has an overall theme of "The Black Dog...

Ivor W. Hartmann is a Zimbabwean writer, visual artist and literary activist. He is also editor-in-chief of StoryTime , an ezine that seeks to showcase new African writing. In this email interview, Hartmann talks about the ezine and about how it is being received by emerging African writers. What is StoryTime all about? To quote the StoryTime About page mission statement if I may, since I put the effort into re-writing it recently: The StoryTime African New Fiction FreEzine is all about new African fiction reading and writing. For our readers we provide a free weekly ezine showcasing the works of some of the hottest new African fiction writers. For our writers we endeavour to find them, and then encourage free online fiction publication at ST, as a multi-purpose means to improve writing ability and their exposure. For the ST readers, my aim is to publish at least one great fiction story every week from an African writer, usually early morning Sunday (+2GMT). I also do the occasional ...

Poet and author, Karl Stuart Kline is a past president of Epilepsy Concern, a coalition of self-help groups; a past president of the Greater Miami Avicultural Society and a lifetime honorary member of the Florida Sheriff’s Association . He made his debut as an author in 2004 with the publication of Poison Pearls , an 88-paged collection of poetry and prose which explores issues that include forced labor, modern-day slavery, human trafficking and prostitution. He followed this up with Going Without Peggy (PublishAmerica, 2005), another collection of poetry and prose about his marriage of 17 years and the bond that existed between him and his first wife, Peggy; her struggle with breast cancer and the effect her death had on him. His latest book, Brain Stemmed Roses (PublishAmerica, 2006) is also a collection of poetry and prose and includes some of his early work from the 60s and 70s as well as poetry about romance and friendship in Eastern Europe and a section dedicated to his ...

Steve Dearden is a literature activist, consultant, and writer. He coordinates the Writing Squad , a program for writers between the ages of 16 and 20 in Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, and Light Transports , a project commissioning and publishing writers in journey-sized chunks for free distribution on the transport network. He also works with a range of literature and cultural clients on project, business, and organisational development. He has written for radio and for magazines in the United Kingdom and Australia. One of his short stories has been translated into Swedish. Steve Dearden spoke about the work he is doing. You have been described as a "gamekeeper turned poacher." How and why is this so? It's a shorthand other people use and I don't recognize. I worked for the Arts Council for nine years, but it was a different beast in Yorkshire at the time. We were part of the profession, we got in there, got our hands dirty, intervened, collaborated, did strategic...