Join the conversation with authors from within the Lesley community.
Why We Write brings you conversations with authors from the Lesley community about books, writing, and the writing life. Our show library features dozens of episodes with alumni, faculty, and visiting authors who share the inspiration behind their work while offering insight into their writing processes. We cover just about every genre, from poetry to sci-fi to memoir and young adult.
Find the show notes and transcript for our latest episode.
National Poetry Month
We love poetry and we love our Lesley poets, so every week in April (aka National Poetry Month) we've invited one Lesley author onto the show to share a poem and why they wrote it — all in 10 minutes or less.
Visit the episode page for more information.
Visit the episode page for more information.
Visit the episode page for more information.
Visit the episode page for more information.
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![Photograph of Sara Farizan leaning forward smiling at the view.](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/0N6A4468-2.jpg?h=25cc4e9e&itok=JgmM6pnI)
Chucky Dolls, an Evil Pinball Machine, and Horror
![Nathan Tavares author photo](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Nathan-Tavares-credit-Eric-Richard%20Magnussen.jpg?h=27f4582b&itok=SVy3hFcI)
'A Fractured Infinity'
Why We Write: Season 4
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Chinese-American identity in the midwest
![MFA in Creative Writing faculty Tony Eprile portrait.](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/faculty-tony-eprile-Edit-Edit.jpg?h=dab6c4e3&itok=fvJ9YHu1)
Writers Should Write Book Reviews
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Debut novel is no 'Ordinary Wonder'
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How to Survive NaNoWriMo
![Margaret Chen headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Margaret_Chen.jpg?h=01e407c3&itok=7O48hZrW)
Margaret Chen's 'Suburban Gothic'
![Head shot - Celia Jeffries](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Celia_Jeffries-2.jpg?h=bfcefc9c&itok=VecVX_Uv)
A Journey into the 'Blue Desert'
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'The Art of Talking with Children'
![Black and white photo of Cindy House](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Cindy_House_bw.jpg?h=1aaeedcb&itok=SSHLjkmm)
A debut author on addiction, parenting, and David Sedaris
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Starting a literary podcast
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A joyful look at death (no really)
![Staci Halt headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Staci_Halt_headshot.jpg?h=f95709cf&itok=T6VM0Ssg)
Contemplating the wilds of New York City
![July Westhale sits in an arm chair. Black and white photo](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/July_Westhale.jpg?h=e2f69b94&itok=v8hdFOvY)
Imagining the moon's moon
![Robbie Gamble headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Robbie_Gamble.jpg?h=a38523e8&itok=pz6zuZqy)
A poem to the border patrol
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How to Read Poetry (and Why)
![Hayley Krischer head shot](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Hayley-krischer-BW.jpg?h=eca76b29&itok=uKV79oxe)
'Mean Girls' meets 'Cheer'
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A uniquely Welsh word
![Margaret Chen headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Margaret_Chen.jpg?h=01e407c3&itok=7O48hZrW)
Margaret Chen's 'Suburban Gothic'
![Head shot - Celia Jeffries](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Celia_Jeffries-2.jpg?h=bfcefc9c&itok=VecVX_Uv)
A Journey into the 'Blue Desert'
![Julia Leef sitting on a bench writing on an autumn day.](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Julia_Leef.jpeg?h=69f2b9d0&itok=YvfpsQeT)
How to Survive NaNoWriMo
Why We Write: Season 3
![Lydia Leclerc headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/lydia_leclerc.jpg?h=7365a748&itok=XSveS6k4)
Cowboys and 'the dread'
![U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo author photo](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/U-Meleni-Mhlaba-Adebo.jpg?h=4bce2fb7&itok=bqBRh3M0)
'We Be Womxn'
![Black and white headshot of Candice Iloh](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Candice-Iloh-bw.jpg?h=dcb9d530&itok=GjJ-mQAI)
Nigerian-American author debuts novel in verse
![Jennifer Leblanc headshot in black and white](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Jennifer-Leblanc.jpg?h=1e5f358c&itok=r67pGBVF)
Debut poet Jennifer LeBlanc on myth and mysteries
![Matthew E. Henry wearing graduation robes with other people in the background. Standing outside.](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Matthew-E-Henry.jpg?h=79efdc86&itok=l0Ykl9mx)
'Teaching While Black'
![Starcrossed book cover - two children looking at each other, one from space, the other from earth.](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/STARCROSSED-Julia-Denos.jpg?h=963a2654&itok=2lQ7Iztg)
Author, illustrator Julia Denos is 'Starcrossed'
![Sybelia Drive book cover - painting of flowers](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Sybelia-Drive-cover.jpg?h=4a41fc67&itok=hgkipn_D)
Coming of age during the Vietnam War in 'Sybelia Drive'
![Photo of MFA Creative Writing Faculty Sophie Goldstein](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Sophie%20Goldstein_0.jpg?h=b1c58ed1&itok=dGDWJQMC)
Sophie Goldstein's 'Embarrassment of Witches'
![Headshot of P. O'Connell Pearson](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Patty%20O%27Connell.jpg?h=eef92425&itok=D-ed-Hs-)
Conspiracy, Nixon and Watergate...for kids
![Black and white headshot of steven cramer](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/faculty-steven-cramer_0.jpg?h=9f3e4e3a&itok=e09w0C1W)
Boston poet Steven Cramer on writing, rewriting and adaptation
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My Captain America
![Tracey Baptiste](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/faculy-tracey-baptiste.jpg?h=d288308d&itok=1kTAiUwZ)
Writing Under Pressure: Creating During the Pandemic
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On the High Seas with Chaney Kwak
![Headshot of Cameron Kelly Rosenblum](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Cameron%20Kelly%20Rosenblum.jpg?h=270e608e&itok=-nM9nYKd)
Why We Need to Talk About Mental Health
Why We Write: Season 2
An ice skater who broke racial barriers. Singapore's sarong party girls. God, politics, and middle America. These are just some of the topics from Why We Write's Season 2.
![A.J. Verdelle headshot in black and white](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/a-j-verdelle.jpg?h=0a2b7e64&itok=IaJeBeQc)
Writing Master Class with A.J. Verdelle
![Michelle Knudsen black and white author photo](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Michelle%20Knudsen.jpg?h=e893a2cc&itok=X8h9g4bl)
Demon fighting teens and musical theater
![Axie Oh headshot in black and white](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Axie%20Oh%20B%26W.jpg?h=338f5105&itok=gBw_0qGu)
Axie Oh's 'Rogue Heart'
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Singapore's 'Sarong Party Girls'
![Sheila Alexander head shot in black and white](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Sheila%20Alexander%20podcast.jpg?h=884ba80c&itok=fkdPGILe)
Graphic memoir explores infertility
![Illustrated book cover with an African-American girl wearing a purple dress and ice skating](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/mabel-fairbanks-rose-vina-book-cover.jpg?h=4ba0b00a&itok=xfU7oocK)
An ice skater who broke racial barriers
![Tracey Baptiste photo black and white](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/faculy-tracey-baptiste-1.jpg?h=e458aa8e&itok=S8X84HLj)
Caribbean mermaids and evil spirits
![Tracy Strauss author photo in black and white](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Tracy-Strauss-2.jpg?h=3f403d4e&itok=gR-uGzb3)
Debut memoir discusses trauma and 21st-century dating
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Funny, fantastic and weird books
![Headshot of Jasmine Warga in black and white](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Jasmine%20Warga%20bw.jpg?h=c2888cd0&itok=uN1_WNPV)
A Syrian kid moves to Ohio in 'Other Words for Home'
![Mariama Lockington photo in black and white](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Mariama_Lockington-2.jpg?h=4089e6b1&itok=ZaImGY82)
Middle grade novel explores adoption, racism, mental illness
![Lisa Gruenberg headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Lisa-Gruenberg%3Dbw.jpg?h=fa783760&itok=Au9oCBWI)
Memoir explores a family torn apart by the Holocaust
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30 Years of Commonthought
Why We Write: Season 1
Writing books for kids who don't read. Searching for the real Shakespeare. And forgotten black history. These are just some of the topics we explored in Why We Write's first season.
![Katie Cotugno black and white author photo](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Katie%20Cotugno.jpg?h=d99df7e5&itok=nXbrdbO8)
Bestselling YA author & love junkie
![Jason Reynolds portrait](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Jason%20copy%20banner.jpg?h=018fae7f&itok=sM4E2mKG)
Writing books for kids who don't read books
![Jami Brandli headshot in black and white](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Brandli-Jami-headshot-bw-square.jpg?h=78a3e0d2&itok=KSBikDON)
From the page to the stage
![Scott Loring Sanders headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Scott-Loring-Sanders-bw-square-headshot-2.jpg?h=f2e68192&itok=vczEgHr8)
Scott Loring Sanders on Surviving Jersey
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What an MFA in Creative Writing Can Do For You
![Susan Goodman headshot black and white](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/susan-goodman-bw-headshot.jpg?h=dae46ebe&itok=Bgl_JCt6)
Monster trucks and The Truth About Poop
![Headshot of author Renee Watson in a black shirt](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Renee%20Watson.jpg?h=6706d7d0&itok=F1M8gMqA)
Watch Us Rise author Renée Watson
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Poetry for the broken spaces
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Recommending kids books
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Making hard science easy
Chasing poetry with Jess Rizkallah
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Dreaming about Joan of Arc
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Risky memoir writing
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Teaching teens to WRITE
![Sara Farizan headshot in black and white.](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/sara-farizan-bw.jpg?h=ff9725dd&itok=iaL3DFZ1)
Sara Farizan is 'Here to Stay'
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Poet Richard Blanco on 'How to Love a Country'
![Caroline Heller headshot in black and white](/sites/default/files/styles/short_content_1x_wide/public/Caroline-Heller-bw.jpg?h=fa483917&itok=mUBG9_C9)
A memoir of family and the Holocaust
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Strange Fruit and forgotten black history
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