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.
How to Subscribe
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Chucky Dolls, an Evil Pinball Machine, and Horror

'A Fractured Infinity'
Why We Write: Season 4

Chinese-American identity in the midwest

Writers Should Write Book Reviews

Debut novel is no 'Ordinary Wonder'

How to Survive NaNoWriMo

Margaret Chen's 'Suburban Gothic'

A Journey into the 'Blue Desert'

'The Art of Talking with Children'

A debut author on addiction, parenting, and David Sedaris

Starting a literary podcast

A joyful look at death (no really)

Contemplating the wilds of New York City

Imagining the moon's moon

A poem to the border patrol

How to Read Poetry (and Why)

'Mean Girls' meets 'Cheer'

A uniquely Welsh word

Margaret Chen's 'Suburban Gothic'

A Journey into the 'Blue Desert'

How to Survive NaNoWriMo
Why We Write: Season 3

Cowboys and 'the dread'

'We Be Womxn'

Nigerian-American author debuts novel in verse

Debut poet Jennifer LeBlanc on myth and mysteries

'Teaching While Black'

Author, illustrator Julia Denos is 'Starcrossed'

Coming of age during the Vietnam War in 'Sybelia Drive'

Sophie Goldstein's 'Embarrassment of Witches'

Conspiracy, Nixon and Watergate...for kids

Boston poet Steven Cramer on writing, rewriting and adaptation

My Captain America

Writing Under Pressure: Creating During the Pandemic

On the High Seas with Chaney Kwak

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.

Writing Master Class with A.J. Verdelle

Demon fighting teens and musical theater

Axie Oh's 'Rogue Heart'

Singapore's 'Sarong Party Girls'

Graphic memoir explores infertility

An ice skater who broke racial barriers

Caribbean mermaids and evil spirits

Debut memoir discusses trauma and 21st-century dating

Funny, fantastic and weird books

A Syrian kid moves to Ohio in 'Other Words for Home'

Middle grade novel explores adoption, racism, mental illness

Memoir explores a family torn apart by the Holocaust

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.

Bestselling YA author & love junkie

Writing books for kids who don't read books

From the page to the stage

Scott Loring Sanders on Surviving Jersey

What an MFA in Creative Writing Can Do For You

Monster trucks and The Truth About Poop

Watch Us Rise author Renée Watson

Poetry for the broken spaces

Recommending kids books

Making hard science easy
Chasing poetry with Jess Rizkallah

Dreaming about Joan of Arc

Risky memoir writing

Teaching teens to WRITE

Sara Farizan is 'Here to Stay'

Poet Richard Blanco on 'How to Love a Country'

A memoir of family and the Holocaust

Strange Fruit and forgotten black history
