Writer's Voice with Francesca Rheannon Francesca Rheannon

In this episode of Writer’s Voice, we feature two stories about war and secrets. First, we talk with Howard Mansfield about his book, I Will Tell No War Stories: What Our Fathers Left Unsaid About World War II. The book uncovers the truth about the terrible toll that war took on American airmen like Mansfield’s father—revealing the real story behind the much touted “glory.”







Then we talk with journalist Sasha Vasilyuk about her terrific debut novel, Your Presence Is Mandatory (publication date 4/23/24). It hews closely to her own family’s history, particularly her Jewish Ukrainian grandfather’s hidden past as a World War II prisoner of war.







Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice.







Key Words: author interview, memoir, fiction, book podcast, Writer’s Voice, WWII, Soviet Union, nonfiction







Read The Transcript















Howard Mansfield













It’s a phenomenon: why did so few American veterans of WWII ever talk about their experience of war?







That’s something Howard Mansfield set out to discover when, shortly before his father died, he came across a battered diary his dad had kept while flying bomber missions over Germany.







In his new book, I Will Tell No War Stories, Mansfield suggests that the sheer magnitude of the war, the harsh conditions of aerial combat and the emotional toll of witnessing destruction and loss, including of civilian populations made it hard for veterans to articulate their experiences.







Also playing a part? The cultural expectation of stoicism and a desire to shield future generations from the horrors of war.







Mansfield’s book serves as a reminder of the individual sacrifices and collective traumas endured by those who served in World War II. But it also holds lessons for us today about confronting the truth about the real human cost of war, wherever and whenever it happens.







In addition to I Will Tell No War Stories, Howard Mansfield is the author of The Habit of Turning The World Upside Down, Chasing Eden and Dwelling In Possibility, among others.







Listen to our previous interviews with Howard Mansfield















Sasha Vasilyuk













Sasha Vasilyuk’s journey from Soviet Crimea to the United States is a testament to the complexities of identity and history. Born in a region marked by geopolitical shifts and historical turmoil, Vasilyuk’s experiences shaped her perspective and inspired her novel, Your Presence Is Mandatory.







Through her family’s history, particularly her Jewish Ukrainian grandfather’s hidden past as a World War II prisoner of war, Vasilyuk explores themes of secrecy, shame, and the impact of totalitarian regimes on personal and collective narratives.







Beautifully written, with a vivid cast of characters, Your Presence is Mandatory is a deeply moving contemplation of how secrets breed shame and suffering, even when they are held in order to protect others...

We talk with Brad Gooch about his acclaimed new biography of Keith Haring, RADIANT: The Life and Line of Keith Haring. Then we listen back to a clip of Gooch talking with us in 2017 about his biography, Rumi’s Secret: The Life of the Sufi Poet of Love.







Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.







Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice.Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.







Key words: biography, Keith Haring, Rumi, Brad Gooch, podcast, author interview, history, book show





Read more: Brad Gooch on The Radiant Life of Keith Haring & more





Keith Haring: Breaking Barriers







In the 1980s, the subways of New York City were covered with art. In the stations, black matte sheets were pasted over outdated ads, and unsigned chalk drawings often popped up on these blank spaces.







These temporary chalk drawings numbered in the thousands and became synonymous with a city as diverse as it was at war with itself, beset with poverty and crime but alive with art and creative energy. And every single one of those drawings was done by Keith Haring.













Haring was one of the most emblematic artists of the 1980s. Part of an iconic cultural crowd that included Andy Warhol, Madonna, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Haring broke down the barriers between high art and popular culture, creating work that was accessible for all and using it as a means to provoke and inspire radical social change.







Haring died of AIDS in 1990. To this day, his influence on our culture remains.







RADIANT: Brad Gooch’s Definitive Biography of Haring







Brad Gooch’s biography of Keith Haring, Radiant, brings Haring’s brilliant but tragically short life to light, painting a vivid picture of the life and times of his subject. Gooch was granted access to Haring’s extensive archive to write a biography that will become the authoritative work on the artist.







About the Author







Brad Gooch is a poet, novelist, and biographer. In addition to Radiant and Rumi’s Secret: The Life of the Sufi Poet of Love (we play an excerpt from our 2017 interview with Gooch about Rumi’s Secret) he’s the author of biographies of Flannery O’Connor and Frank O’Hara; as well as several other works, including memoir, poetry and fiction.

A grandmother’s traumatic history reverberates through three generations…







We talk with Tessa Hulls about her powerful graphic memoir, Feeding Ghosts. It tells the story of three generations of women — her Chinese grandmother, Sun Yi; her mother, Rose; and herself —and how, in the process of writing and drawing their stories, she was able to heal the trauma that haunted them.







Then, we remember the great primatologist Frans de Waal, who passed away March 14. We re-air our 2022 interview with him about his last book, Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist.







Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on your favorite podcast app! It really helps others find our show.







Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice Radio or find us on Threads and Instagram at writersvoicepodcast and at X/Twitter @WritersVoice.







Key words: memoir, podcast, author interview, Frans de Waal, Tessa Hulls, gender, history







Read The Transcript





















TESSA HULLS: TRANSGENERATIONAL TRAUMA







When Tessa Hulls was growing up in a tiny town in the Pacific Northwest, all she knew about her grandmother Sun Yi, who lived with her family, was that she was Chinese, she’d been a famous journalist before the Communist takeover, and that something had happened to make her lose her mind.







She also knew that her mother’s overwhelming obsession was to take care of Sun Yi — something she had been doing ever since she was a kid in Hong Kong, after the two escaped Communist China, and then later when they emigrated to the US.







What Tessa Hulls didn’t know is how that history of political trauma contaminated every aspect of her mother’s relationship to Tessa herself. And why she had spent much of her childhood and early adulthood trying to escape from the ghosts haunting her mother and grandmother — and, by extension, her.







Feeding Ghosts is a vivid journey into the beating heart of one family, set against the dark backdrop of Chinese history. By turns fascinating and heartbreaking, inventive and poignant, Hulls’ memoir exposes the fear and trauma that haunt generations, and the love that holds them together.







About The Author







Tessa Hulls is an artist, a writer, and an adventurer. Her essays have appeared in The Washington Post, Atlas Obscura, and Adventure Journal, and her comics have been published in various venues.







See images from FEEDING GHOSTS















Remembering Frans de Waal







The world-renowned primatologist Frans de Waal passed away on March 15.













During his long career, he studied all the great apes — including humans. His research showed that the capacity for cooperation and empathy is innate and continuous between the different ape species, from chimps and gorillas to bonobos and humans.







In 2022,

Is identity politics keeping us divided? And how can activists build solidarity with others while fighting for their own rights? We talk with activist, educator and organizer Michael Zweig about his book, Class, Race and Gender: Challenging the Injuries and Divisions of Capitalism.







Then in honor of Spring, Host Francesca Rheannon reads her story, The Sheep’s Blessing. It’s about an encounter in the backcountry of Provence that illuminated the sacred bond between a flock of sheep, a dog and a shepherd.







Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on your favorite podcast app! It really helps others find our show.







Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice Radio or find us on Threads and Instagram at writersvoicepodcast and at X/Twitter @WritersVoice.







Key words: Michael Zweig, class, race, gender, intersectionality, identity politics, podcast, author interview, politics







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Read more: Michael Zweig: Overcoming the Divisions of Class, Race & Gender





The Rise of Identity Politics













The movements to support identity rights were a key leap forward in the latter half of the twentieth century. The struggles to protect the rights of racial minorities, of women, of LGBTQ people addressed grievous social wrongs and won important victories. Victories that are being undermined today.







But those movements also took place at a time when the movement to support working class rights and unions was on the wane. One could argue that identity politics replaced class politics, especially in the Democratic Party, but also in the sphere of larger mass movements.







Challenging the Injuries and Divisions of Capitalism







In his book Class, Race and Gender: Challenging the Injuries and Divisions of Capitalism, Michael Zweig says the thread that weaves together class, race, and gender oppression is capitalism, a system that divides those it exploits in order to maintain its rule.







Zweig illuminates the fundamental mechanisms of capitalism, unveiling the root causes behind a myriad of pressing issues plaguing our world today, from income inequality to environmental degradation, from militarism to systemic racism and patriarchy. In Class, Race and Gender, Zweig dissects the interconnectedness of these phenomena, tracing their origins throughout US history.







Drawing from his own experience as an activist, educator, and organizer, Zweig offers not only a a deep understanding of structural inequities but also practical strategies for transformative action.















The Sheep’s Blessing by Francesca Rheannonn













Springlike weather over the last few days has put me in mind of another Spring I experienced over 20 years ago in the beautiful back country of Provence, in the foothills of the Alps.







I was living in the house of my friend Fabienne, who had gone off to Paris for several months during the winter. I wrote a story about an encounter with a shepherd I had on the first spring-like day at the end of January, 2002. The story, “The Sheep’s Blessing,” was published in 2003 in an anthology of writings about Provence, a href="https://www.amazon.com/Travelers-Tales-Provence-Stories-Guides/dp/1885211872" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.amazon.

This week we talk about two novels that explore connections: between men and women, people and nature, the young and the old.







National Book Award finalist Bonnie Jo Campbell tells us about her wonderful new novel, The Waters and translator and novelist Jennifer Croft discusses her acclaimed new novel, The Extinction of Irina Rey.







Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or X/Twitter @WritersVoice.







Key Words: author interview, fiction, podcast, book podcast, author interview, Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Jennifer Croft, translation





Read more: Bonnie Jo Campbell, THE WATERS & Jenny Frost, THE EXTINCTION OF IRINA REY





A Contemporary Fable













Bonnie Jo Campbell is often called a writer of rural noir. But that really doesn’t do her justice. She describes herself as a writer of Americana — but even that seems too limited.







Take her latest novel, The Waters. Yes, it’s set in rural Michigan in the midst of what used to be — and still is in her novel — a vast and mysterious swamp. And yes, her characters play out a drama that is all too familiar to Americans in present times: the fight between those who use religion to dominate and control life and those who try to nurture and protect it.







But The Waters strikes universal themes: what do humans owe each other, their community and the natural world? What happens when we let division sever the deep bonds that connect us? How do we counter the poisonous ideas of false prophets? And finally, how can we repair the world?







The Waters is a beautifully told fable in the form of a contemporary novel, one that inspires as much as it entertains. Read an excerpt here.







About the Author







Bonnie Jo Campbell was a finalist for the 2009 National Book Award for her short-story collection American Salvage. She’s the author of three novels and a volume of poetry and teaches fiction in the MFA program at Pacific University in Oregon.















A Novel About Celebrity, Translation & The Fate of the World













Jennifer Croft’s novel The Extinction of Irina Rey is a genre-bender. It’s a satire on celebrity, a mystery novel, a thought-provoking interrogation of the art of translation and an exploration of the connections between us humans and the life around us. Plus, it’s really funny.







The Extinction of Irina Rey is about eight translators and their search for a world-renowned author who goes missing in a primeval Polish forest. Read an excerpt here.







About The Author







Jennifer Croft won the International Booker Prize for her translation of Olga Tokarczuk’s novel, Flights. She’s also the author of Homesick, which won the Saroyan Prize, and has written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and other publications.

We talk with Rue Matthiessen, daughter of the famed writer Peter Mathiessen about her family memoir, Castles And Ruins: Unraveling, Family Mysteries, And Literary Legacy In The Irish Countryside.







Then, Claire Coughlan tells us about her twisty-turny whodunit, Where They Lie. It’s a murder mystery set in 1968 Dublin, where the detective isn’t a policeman, but a young female news reporter on the make.







And finally we air a short clip from our conversation with Fintan O’Toole last St. Patrick’s Day about his personal history of modern Ireland, We Don’t Know Ourselves.















Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.







Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice.







Key Words: Rue Matthiessen, memoir, author interview, Claire Coughlan, Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day, , memoir, podcast, book podcast, author interview, Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon, mystery fiction, crime fiction, Peter Matthiessen















A Journey To Ireland Reveals A Family’s Secrets













In her memoir Castles and Ruins, Rue Matthiessen uses her memories of those two journeys to Ireland to dig deeper into her parents’ literary legacy, their stormy marriage, and their complicated relationships to their children.







Decades after spending a summer in the Irish countryside with her parents—author Deborah Love and National Book Award winner Peter Matthiessen—Rue Matthiessen took her young family back to Ireland to revisit locales from that season in the sixties. As a guide, she had her mother’s book, Annaghkeen, named for the castle that overlooked their home in Galway.







The book is also a vivid portrait of the artistic community on the East End of Long Island that flourished in the 1960s and 70s.















A Thrilling Crime Fiction Debut Set in 1968 Dublin







Former investigative journalist Claire Coughlan always wanted to write crime fiction. And we are so glad she’s finally been able to do so. Her debut novel is Where They Lie.













It’s 1968 Dublin and Ireland is on the cusp: the strangle grip of the old order of the Catholic Church is just beginning to slacken. There are new opportunities for women — in investigative journalism, for example. But contraception won’t be available until 1985 — and abortion until 2018.







That’s fifty years after Coughlan’s protagonist, the young female journalist Nicoletta Sarto, takes on the task of investigating a case long gone cold: the death of a young woman that could be linked to a clandestine abortion clinic.







Sarto vividly brings 1968 Dublin to life, where the upper crust thinks its privilege will protect it against accountability for its crimes — until it doesn’t.