Now Available: RTA Episode 5
Authors A.E. Osworth & Denne Michele Norris on education, writing groups, and staying true to who you are.
(top, left to right: Randy Winston, A.E. Osworth, Denne Michele Norris)
Episode 5 Guests: A.E. Osworth and Denne Michele Norris
A.E. Osworth is a transgender novelist. Their debut, WE ARE WATCHING ELIZA BRIGHT, was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award and was long listed for The Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize, and The Tournament of Books. Their next book, AWAKENED, is forthcoming from Grand Central Publishing in April 2025. They are a lecturer at the University of British Columbia’s School of Creative Writing where they teach fiction, interactive fiction, and new media.
Denne Michele Norris is the editor-in-chief of Electric Literature, winner of the 2022 Whiting Literary Magazine Prize, where she is the first Black, openly trans woman to helm a major literary publication. A 2021 Out100 Honoree, her writing has been supported by MacDowell, Tin House, and the Kimbilio for Black Fiction, and appears in McSweeney's, American Short Fiction, and ZORA. She co-hosts the critically-acclaimed podcast Food 4 Thot. Her debut novel, When The Harvest Comes, will be published by Random House in April 2025.
About the host
Randy Winston is the Creative Director of Fiction at The Black List, and former Director of Writing Programs at The Center for Fiction, where he managed, curated, and directed the production of all writing courses, the illustrious First Novel Prize, the famed Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowship, and the highly-sought Writers Studio membership. Prior to his work at The Center, Winston served as Fiction Editor of Slice Literary Magazine for 6 years and has over 10 years of executive admin experience in higher education. Before his MFA, Randy served as editor-in-chief of, formerly Southern Polytechnic State University, now Kennesaw State University’s, online and print student publication in Marietta, Georgia. He is a 2016 graduate of the MFA program in Creative Writing (Fiction) at The New School and sits on the board for Orion Magazine and WriteOn NYC.
About the series
A pillar of our Fiction educational resources, Read The Acknowledgements is a live visual podcast designed for book and writing professionals to share their industry experiences and help give writers a clear picture of the ecosystem that is publishing.
This podcast series exists, in part, to fundraise for writers and literary nonprofits in need. Attendance is free, and we encourage viewers and listeners to make donations to writer support funds such as the Authors League Fund, Hedgebrook, Baldwin for the Arts, and Lampblack's Direct Aid Fund.
Read the Acknowledgments is a subsidiary of The Black List, LLC.
Upcoming titles from our guests
When the Harvest Comes by Denne Michele Norris
Titles mentioned in the episode
Aggregated Discontent: Confessions of the Last Normal Woman by Harron Walker
Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping by Matthew Salesses