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Show Notes
Page Count’s fourth season kicks off on April 8, 2025! Listen to snippets from just a few of our upcoming episodes featuring the following guests:
- Matt Weinkam and Michelle Smith of Literary Cleveland discuss the film American Fiction, Percival Everett, and the economic realities of being a writer.
- Lisa Ampleman, Managing Editor of The Cincinnati Review, discusses the art of editing by sharing a behind-the-scenes look at the editing process for a poem and short story recently published in the journal.
- Melissa Carr, Archivist at Cleveland Public Library, brings history to life when discussing pioneering librarian Linda Anne Eastman.
- Dr. Kim Kiehl, Executive Director of the Ohioana Library Association, discusses The Twilight Zone and creator Rod Serling’s Ohio connection.
- Karen Henry Clark discusses her picture book, Library Girl, which illuminates librarian Nancy Pearl’s childhood and library origin story.
- Dr. Taylor Byas discusses her latest and forthcoming poetry collections, her journey as a poet, and working as an editor of The Rumpus.
- RW Franklin discusses the film The Tender Bar, Lit Youngstown, and her own writing journey.
Subscribe to Page Count wherever you get your podcasts to listen to these episodes and many more during our fourth season. The season—and our new Literary Screening series—debuts April 8 with an episode focusing on American Fiction with Literary Cleveland staff. A new episode of Page Count drops every two weeks, so stay tuned.
Transcript
Matt Weinkam (00:00):
If we're being honest, for most of us that write that aren't going to get the six-figure book deal, you make your money by speaking and reading and teaching.
Michelle Smith (00:12):
Knowing that they were going to make a Percival Everett book into a movie was really exciting. And then to know it was this one...I was intrigued and surprised <laugh> that this was the one.
Lisa Ampelman (00:26):
I used to think that there was a right way to edit pieces, that it was more like math. Like, I'm gonna look at the Chicago Manual of Style and make sure we're following the rules. Now that I'm further along, I see it much more as an interpretive act.
Melissa Carr (00:41):
Linda Eastman was our fourth chief librarian of Cleveland Public Library. She was and is one of the most influential and beloved figures in our library's history.
Dr. Kim Kiehl (00:55):
Ohio claims Rod Serling as an Ohioan. We really feel like The Twilight Zone, in some ways, was born here because this is where he came to find his writing voice.
Dr. Taylor Byas (01:09):
One of my peers who was in my cohort already had a book out at that point. I was like, oh my gosh <laugh>, what am I doing? What am I doing wrong? Which...I wasn't doing anything wrong.
Karen Henry Clark (01:20):
The publisher wanted the subtitle to be "How Nancy Pearl Became America's Most Famous Librarian," and she said, "oh, Karen, no." Because for people in their town at their branch library, that is their most famous librarian.
RW Franklin (01:40):
I just need to really take it to heart that I am a writer. It doesn't matter if I don't have an actual novel published yet. I am actively doing the things that make me a writer.
Laura Maylene Walter (01:52):
All this and more in season four of Page Count, which premieres April 8, 2025.
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