Write Around the Corner

For our season 5 premiere we travel to Richmond to talk with international best-selling author Sadeqa Johnson. Her book, Yellow Wife, was one of O Magazine’s most anticipated historical fiction books for 2021.

This episode finds us in the mountains of far southwest Virginia for a conversation with Sister Bernie Kenny and Tauna Gulley. Their book, Better for Being With You - A Philosophy of Care, chronicles decades of providing compassionate, quality health care to people in Central Appalachia.

We’re in Raleigh, NC to visit with Diane Chamberlain. She is a bestselling author of over 30 novels published in more than twenty languages. We’ll talk about her book, The Last House on the Street, which is full of history and drama along with lots of unexpected twists and turns.

This week, we’re in Roanoke talking with Mitchell Kaplan. His novel, Rhapsody, takes us on a musical journey in the 1920s and explores the relationship with George Gershwin and Kay Swift.

We’re right around the corner on the lawn of Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, in Charlottesville to talk with Jocelyn Johnson. Her book, My Monticello, is a collection of powerful stories that show people fighting to survive in America.

We’ll visit with Willa Reece in Franklin County, Va. and talk about her book, Wildwood Whispers, which is a heartwarming tale of hope, fate, and folk magic.

We’re in Roanoke to talk with the author of Alternate Routes. This novel is part travel tale and part coming of age story during a time of social changes in mid-1970’s. For the main characters, Walker and Kyla, it was a trip neither could have imagined when they started their journey.

We travel to Bryson City in western North Carolina to visit with Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle who is a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. We’ll discuss her debut novel, Even as We Breathe, which was a finalist for the Weatherford Award, named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2020 and received the 2021 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award.

With a farm and goats as a backdrop, we visit with Bill Guerrant in Keeling, Virginia. His novel, Jim Wrenn, was inspired by a true story and a newspaper ad that read, "Who wants a seven-year-old boy or a four-year-old girl?". This glimpse into 1900’s life of a mill town and farming community pulls at the heart strings.

This episode finds in Harlan, Kentucky, to talk with Robert Gipe about his innovative trilogy – Trampoline, Weedeater, and Pop. These illustrated novels introduce us to a cast of characters and a range of issues in contemporary Appalachia.

We visit in Roanoke with accomplished poet and visual artist, Cathryn Hankla, who has more than a dozen books of poetry and prose in print.

This week finds us in Bland, Virginia, to talk with talented author, Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry. Writing in English, her second language, she has published fifty stories and received nine Pushcart nominations. Her debut novel, The Orchard, is a moving story of four friends coming of age in the 80s.

Our journeys take us to Barboursville, Virginia, to chat with cozy mystery author, ACF Bookens. We’ll discuss her Stitches in Crime and St. Marin’s series, plus a lot more.

On this special edition of Write Around the Corner we’re in Roanoke with acclaimed journalist and author, Beth Macy. We’ll be discussing her 2018 New York Times-bestselling book, Dopesick. We’ll also talk about the multi-award-winning dramatized adaptation of the book that was released by Hulu as an eight-episode limited series in 2021.