Ep 96 Discipline Meets Horror-Inspired Imagination with Janet-Rose Nguyen
Janet-Rose Nguyen opens up about the early influences thatshaped her storytelling voice, the unexpected journey that led to casting Kim’s Convenience star Jean Yoon in her debut feature, and why she believes discipline isn’t just helpful—but absolutely essential—to both writing and filmmaking.Janet-Rose Nguyen holds a BA in Creative Writing and a BFAin Screenwriting, and is currently in post- production on her debut feature, Welcome to Kurosawa House, starring Jean Yoon (Kim’s Convenience), Tymika Tafari (Dinner With Friends) and Ivy Miller. As a queer Vietnamese-Canadian storyteller, she is deeply committed to bringing underrepresented voices to the screen, crafting stories that challenge, unsettle, and expand the boundaries of genre.Janet-Rose Nguyen talks about what what early influencesshaped stories, how she got Jean Yoon of Kim’s Convenience to act in her debut feature and why discipline is so important to writing and filmmaking.Website: https://janetrosenguyen.com/Do You See Her? trailer: https://vimeo.com/1111514114?fl=ip&fe=ecDo You See Her? is premiering at the Blood in the Snow Film Festival (BITS),running November 17–22, 2025, in Toronto at the Isabel Bader Theatre. Artsy Raven links:For more about The Artsy Raven Podcast or to join ourexclusive Artsy Raven club to receive free books and other cool stuff, visit: https://jfgarrard.com/arpodcastIf you really like this show, please feel free to send us a digital tip https://ko-fi.com/jfgarrardPatreon subscribers remember to access your bonus content for each episode: https://www.patreon.com/jfgarrard
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Ep 95 Living with Loss and Mortality with Eleanor Lerman
Eleanor Lerman discusses the poetic influence of Leonard Cohen on her books, the themes of grief in her books and confronting mortalitythrough art.Eleanor Lerman is an acclaimed author whose fifty-yearcareer spans award-winning poetry, short stories, and novels. She was one of the youngest finalists for the National Book Award in Poetry and has received major honors including the Juniper Prize and the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize.Her fiction has also earned wide recognition, such as the John W. Campbell Award for Best Book of Science Fiction and a shortlisting for The Chautauqua Prize. Lerman is the recipient of prestigious fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the NEA, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Her latestpoetry collection, Slim Blue Universe (Mayapple Press, 2023), was a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Medal Provocateur, and her upcoming short story collection, King the Wonder Dog and Other Stories, will be released by She Writes Press in 2026.At time 23:43 she reads from Oleander Marriage.Author Links: eleanorlerman.com and on Facebook (facebook.com/eleanor.lerman).Artsy Raven links:For more about The Artsy Raven Podcast or to join ourexclusive Artsy Raven club to receive free books and other cool stuff, visit: https://jfgarrard.com/arpodcastIf you really like this show, please feel free to send us a digital tip https://ko-fi.com/jfgarrardPatreon subscribers remember to access your bonus content for each episode: https://www.patreon.com/jfgarrard
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Ep 94 Triumphing Over Bullies as a Dork with Rachel Renée Russell and Nikki Russell
Rachel Renée Russell and Nikki Russell open up about theinspiration behind Dork Diaries—the international blockbuster series with over 55 million copies sold worldwide—how their stories have empowered kids facing bullying, and why they’re bringing Nikki Maxwell’s adventures to life in vibrant full color for a new generation of readers. Rachel Renée Russell is the #1 New York Timesbestselling author of Dork Diaries, an international blockbuster series chronicling the life and misadventures ofmiddle school students, Nikki Maxwell and her best friends Chloe and Zoey. With humor and wit, Rachel’s books encourage tweens to embrace their individuality and always let their inner dork shine through. The Dork Diaries serieshas been translated into fifty-two languages worldwide and its characters are as diverse as the millions of tweens who read the books. With more than fifty-five million books in print, the serieshas garnered such honors as two Kids’ Book Choice Awards, an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Children, the Milner Award for Children’s Literature, and a Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Book of the Year nomination. Rachel is also the author of a second New York Times bestselling series, The Misadventures of Max Crumbly, which received a Kids’ Book Choice Award. Her daughter, Nikki Russell, is the illustrator for both book series. The mother-daughter team has released twenty-oneconsecutive New York Times bestsellers. At time 31:00 Nikki reads from Dork Diaries 1 Full-ColorEdition: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life.Author link: https://dorkdiaries.com/ Artsy Raven links:For more about The Artsy Raven Podcast or to join ourexclusive Artsy Raven club to receive free books and other cool stuff, visit: https://jfgarrard.com/artsyraven/ If you reallylike this show, please feel free to send us a digital tip https://ko-fi.com/jfgarrard Patreonsubscribers remember to access your bonus content for each episode: https://www.patreon.com/jfgarrard
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Ep 93 Climate Fiction and Magical Realism with Katie Welch
Katie Welch delves into magical realism in Ladder to Heaven, where a cataclysmic earthquake opens an extraordinary channel of communication between humans and animals. Drawing on her experience as a Banff Centre alumnus, she also shares her insights and wisdom for fellow writers.Katie Welch lives in Kamloops and on Cortes Island, BC. Herdebut novel MAD HONEY was nominated for the 2023 OLA Evergreen Prize. She is a two-time alumnus of the Banff Centre and was a finalist for the 2023 CBC Short Story Prize.At time 18:00 she reads from Ladder to Heaven.Author link: https://writerkatiewelch.com/Artsy Raven links:For more about The Artsy Raven Podcast or to join ourexclusive Artsy Raven club to receive free books and other cool stuff, visit: https://jfgarrard.com/arpodcastIf you really like this show, please feel free to send us a digital tip https://ko-fi.com/jfgarrardPatreon subscribers remember to access your bonus content for each episode: https://www.patreon.com/jfgarrard
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Ep 92 Balancing Writing and Life with Danila Botha
Danila shares how she balances life with writing, how she turned a bad reviewer into a friend, and why it’s essential to understand that an author cannot control awards or reviews.Danila Botha is the author of the critically acclaimed shortstory collections, Got No Secrets, For All the Men (and Some of the Women) I’ve Known, which was a finalist for the Trillium Book Award, The Vine Awards and the ReLit Award and most recently, Things that Cause Inappropriate Happiness. Thecollection won an Indie Reader Discovery Award for Women's Issues, Fiction, and was a finalist for the Canadian Book Club Awards, the Next Generation Indie Book Awards and the National Indie Excellence Book Awards. She is alsothe author of the award-winning novel Too Much On the Inside which was optioned for film. Her new novel, A Place for People Like Us will be published in Sept 2025. Her first graphic novel will be published in 2026 by At Bay Press. At time 28:30 she reads from A Place for People Like Us. Links: www.danilabotha.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/danilabotha.bsky.socialhttps://www.facebook.com/danilabothawriterhttps://www.instagram.com/danilabotha/ Artsy Raven links:For more about The Artsy Raven Podcast or to join ourexclusive Artsy Raven club to receive free books and other cool stuff, visit: https://jfgarrard.com/arpodcastIf you really like this show, please feel free to send us a digital tip https://ko-fi.com/jfgarrardPatreon subscribers remember to access your bonus content for each episode: https://www.patreon.com/jfgarrard
About The Artsy Raven Podcast about Writing and Art with host JF Garrard
JF Garrard (writer, editor and publisher) has frank conversations with writers, editors, publishers, artists, actors, directors and other art professionals about what inspires them to create and what led to their success. Writers on the podcast will showcase their work by reading from their book.
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