Bonus #AWP20 with Bloomsday Literary—Chris Cander and Amy Hanson

F***ing Shakespeare

We have one more bit of brightness to send your way with this interview of two writers in the AWP Writer 2 Writer Mentorship program, mentor Chris Cander and mentee Amy Hanson. Chris was unable to attend the conference, like so many, but we were able to catch up virtually with both of them just after the conference closed.

Short story writer Amy Widmoyer Hanson’s writing has won the 2018 New Letters Prize for Fiction and the 2016 Iowa Review award judged by Kelly Link. She has been nominated for the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short story prize and is currently completing the draft of a new novel.

Chris Cander, who is a friend to the show and the author of the beautifully penned novel, The Weight of a Piano, which we talked about extensively in season 3, joins us to discuss the writing process, highs and lows of the publishing journey, and how knowing someone who has been around the block a time or two is worth its weight in gold for a new writer. Turns out there’s plenty to be gained along the way as a mentor, too.

Follow Amy Hanson @amywhanson1 and Chris Cander on Twitter and Instagram @chriscander.