More from New Letters on the Air
Poet and aphorist James Richardson
(00:29:00)
From: New Letters on the Air
Poet James Richardson has called himself an "accidental aphorist," but his well-crafted works are no accident. He reads from his 2010 book, BY THE NUMBERS: POEMS AND ...
Alaska's State Writer Laureate, 2010-2012, Peggy Shumaker
(00:29:00)
From: New Letters on the Air
Peggy Shumaker, Alaska's State Writer Laureate, 2010-2012, is adept at capturing the beauty of landscapes, both internal and external. She reads from her poetry collection ...
PEN/Faulkner Award Finalist Lorraine Lopez
(00:29:00)
From: New Letters on the Air
Fiction writer Lorraine Lopez was a 2010 finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, with her collection HOMICIDE SURVIVORS PICNIC AND OTHER STORIES. She's also published three ...
Poet Michelle Boisseau
(00:29:00)
From: New Letters on the Air
Poet Michelle Boisseau talks about her collection A SUNDAY IN GOD-YEARS, which examines borders between black and white, free and slave, living and dead, and wrestles with ...
National Book Award-winning poet and translator, Robert Bly
(00:29:00)
From: New Letters on the Air
Esteemed poet and translator, Robert Bly, is joined by sitarist David Whetstone in this public reading for the Midwest Poets Series. Bly reads a variety of poems, including ...
Poet, editor, and translator, Wayne Miller
(00:29:00)
From: New Letters on the Air
Poet and editor Wayne Miller reads from his 2011 collection, THE CITY, OUR CITY, and discusses the art of translation. Miller also shares poems from his 2006 book, ONLY THE ...
Poet and fiction writer, Sapphire
(00:29:00)
From: New Letters on the Air
Poet and fiction writer Sapphire, best-known for her novel PUSH, which became the award-winning film PRECIOUS, reads from her 2011 novel, THE KID, which follows the son of ...
When She Named Fire
(00:29:00)
From: New Letters on the Air
The title our Clarion Award-winning show, "WHEN SHE NAMED FIRE," is taken from an anthology of contemporary poetry by American women. Edited by poet Andrea Hollander Budy, ...
Japanese poet and fiction writer, Mariko Nagai
(00:29:00)
From: New Letters on the Air
Japanese poet and fiction writer Mariko Nagai draws from history and personal experience to explore different types of love and desire, and to depict characters facing ...
Missouri poet William Trowbridge
(00:29:00)
From: New Letters on the Air
Unafraid of incorporating pop culture in his work, poet William Trowbridge, the author of five poetry collections, including THE COMPLETE BOOK OF KONG, shares poems from his ...
Related Pieces
Piece Description
In this excerpt of a 1998 interview by James McKinley for the public radio program NEW LETTERS ON THE AIR, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and short story writer John Updike discusses his inelegant beginnings that inspired him to become one of the most elegant writers of the twentieth century. Updike's writing typified New England WASP-iness, and he also examines his interconnected relationship to faith and sex.
Broadcast History
Excerpt from an original interview
Timing and Cues
IN: You began as a successful writer quite young, coming down from Harvard...
T: 4:28
OUT: ...love in its physical as well as its spiritual dimensions.
Intro and Outro
INTRO:The Pulitzer prize-winning novelist John Updike died (today/ Tuesday/ January 27th). Updike was the author of over 50 books of poetry, plays, memoir, criticism, children’s books, and of course novels and short stories. He was a towering figure of mid-twentieth century literature, known for writing about the fractured lives of men and women. Topics such as divorce, infidelity, and alcoholism all crept into Updike’s work. New Letters magazine editor emeritus, James McKinley, talked with John Updike in 1998 for the public radio program New Letters on the Air:
OUTRO:John Updike in 1998, interviewed by James McKinley on the public radio program New Letters on the Air. Updike died on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at the age of 76.
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Emily Corwin
Posted on January 28, 2009 at 04:11 PM | Permalink
Elucidating
A wonderful short interview. I enjoyed McKinley's inquiry and Updike's insight into the shared origin of man's (and his characters') religious and sexual impulses.