Marginalia KMUW Studios

I begin this episode of Marginalia a bit red in the face. You see, I interviewed Jenny Offill about her novel, Weather , on March 6. It was the last interview I conducted in-studio at the station. The next week we started working from home.

What would a world look like where only two people remain?

I recently had a conversation with Rufi Thorpe about her book, The Knockout Queen . At its most basic level, it’s a book about friendship. But that’s just one of the many themes we could have explored. It's also about sexuality. It’s about fitting in. It’s about how we don’t always do the right thing. And then there’s Thorpe’s writing. Somehow it’s simultaneously accessible and sophisticated. She has a way of respecting people's desires and fragilities as legitimate. There are so many things to

Luke Geddes has written a novel set in Wichita. Since KMUW is based in Wichita, that’s an oddity worth pointing out. The novel, Heart of Junk , is about a group of antique mall booth owners and the world of collectibles—a world Geddes discovered when he spent a couple years in Wichita earning an MFA from Wichita State University. Heart of Junk is filled with humor, sadness, and cynicism. I wondered if Geddes’s time in Wichita was filled with the same. Here’s our conversation. - Heart of Junk by

Diana Arterian is the Spring 2020 Visiting Emerging Poet at Wichita State University. Her book, Playing Monster :: Seiche, is a book-length poem, a blending of two collections, tackling abuse by her father and anxiety about her mother's stalker.

In her debut novel, Kiley Reid tackles the subjects of race, social media, #BlackLivesMatter, misconception, misunderstanding… all without casting judgement.