Craft: Exploring Creativity

The award-winning fiction, poetry, and criticism of writer Amal El-Mohtar have appeared in publications ranging from Tor.com, Fireside Fiction, Lightspeed, Uncanny, and Strange Horizons, and in her own collection, The Honey Month. With Max Gladstone, she co-authored the multiple award-winning This is How You Lose the Time War. Her most recent book is The River Has Roots. She is one of 4 featured authors for the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Columbus Book Festival, which will be held at the main library on July 12-13.

Author Grady Hendrix‘s latest book is Witchcraft for Wayward Girls and we discuss both witchcraft and wayward. Set in the 1970s, the book follows four teenage girls in a Florida home for unwed mothers who discover a book that actually teaches them witchcraft. The book explores themes of power and control, often as described by 70s activist literature.

Years ago, Hendrix grew bored with traditional book events and now performs fast-paced book events with hundreds of images and Hendrix’s well-honed wit. I ask the age-old questions every author fears: when will you write a sequel and when will your books become movies?

Check out Grady Hendrix at the Westerville Library on May 28th!

Singer-songwriter Iris Dement has released seven albums since 1990, including her latest, Workin’ on a World. Her songs sometimes juxtapose heavy lyrics with upbeat music, letting the listener feel energized while contemplating the difficulties of life. While she doesn’t see herself as a political singer songwriter, her lyrics engage with the politics of the times, like “How many more people of color are we gonna let be gunned down by police/How many more perpetrators are we gonna sit back and watch walk free?

She’s had many memorable duets, especially with John Prine, including their song “In Spite of Ourselves,” a clever lyrical triumph that you should quickly listen to if you haven’t heard it before. Then, get tickets to see her with Six String Concerts on May 16.

Emmy-nominated producer, writer, and freelance journalist Nora Neus will visit the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s South High Branch on April 11 as part of the Authors at the Library series.

Her most recent book is “Renegade Girls,” a young adult graphic novel that fictionalizes the 19th-century relationship between reporter Helena “Nell” Cusack and street photographer Alice Austin. Neus worked as a journalist for CNN and other outlets before writing novels, including 24 Hours in Charlottesville: An Oral History of the Stand Against White Supremacy, and Muhammad Najem, War Reporter. We discuss how she researched the novel and how her personal experiences shape her storytelling. Listen in!

American writer, illustrator and filmmaker Vashti Harrison is the New York Times bestselling creator of Big, winner of the 2024 Caldecott Medal, both the Coretta Scott King Book Award Author and Book Award Illustrator Honor, and a National Book Award finalist.

Big traces a child’s journey to self-love and shows the power of words to both hurt and heal. I encourage you to share this wonderful book and its powerful ending with your children.

She’ll appear in town as part of the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Authors at the Library on Saturday, April 5 in the Main Library.

Long time Craft listeners (I believe there may be at least one) will know that I like horror fiction. Podcast host Kim Davis feels the same way about true crime and has a turned her interest into the comedic true crime podcast Slaycation, which focuses on vacations that end in murder or mysterious disappearances. Along with her co-hosts Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colbert, she examines true crimes and contemplates why criminals do what they do. We discuss how the podcast began, notable cases she’s covered, her research process, and the emotional impact of the stories.

Listen in to hear about matricide and abductions in vacation spots. It will make you think twice before you hop into an airplane with your family bound for a warm spot because who knows what the guests or bellhop might be up to?