Writers conferences. What are they? What are they good for? And are they worth the time and money? President of the Washington Independent Review of Books, Jennifer Yacovissi, joins us to discuss the merits of writers conferences, how to choose the right conference for you, and the upcoming Washington Writers Conference. Plus, Courtney and Jennifer choose their own adventures in a writer’s odyssey ..read more

Abi catches up with writer and Senior Nonfiction Features Editor for the Rumpus, Darcy Gagnon. They discuss a new take on approaching the work of your younger self, reading three books at a time, and a detective-like character Darcy really feels he embodies ..read more

From the mystical to the fantastical, there's a spectrum of magic within writing. Courtney Sexton and Abi Newhouse sit down with local author, Len Kruger, to discuss the ways adding magic to your writing can create different opportunities for storytelling. Plus, we let tarot cards guide our next writing exercise ..read more

Every writer experiences the ebb and flow of creativity, but sometimes we need a little push to get into the flow. Nonfiction writer and cofounder of The Inner Loop, Rachel Coonce finds rhythm in her writing routine through the rhythm of her words. She revisits familiar concepts of poetry as they appear in prose, and offers a prompt inspired by Raymond Carver in this Inspiration Takeover, a series of mini-episodes with different writers who offer us a little dose of inspiration ..read more

What’s the value in a writing retreat? From concentrated time to write to communing with other writers, writing retreats can serve to jumpstart your writing when you’re stuck in a rut. Abi Newhouse and Aeriel Merillat join Rachel and Courtney to talk about how their latest retreat helped their writing and their writing lives. Plus, the four revisit one of our favorite games… the exquisite corpse ..read more

Strap in for the silliest installment yet of The Inner Loop Radio in celebration of our 100th episode! From hot pockets to small batch murders, there are even more laughs than usual, as Rachel and Courtney remember their favorite episodes, get sentimental with community memories of the past 10 years of TIL, and laugh all the way through our best “off-camera” moments in a beyond-funny bloopers reel ..read more

If you find it easy to forget your strengths as a writer, you’re not alone. There are so many voices around us all the time—in our podcasts, our reading, even our music—that can make us wonder what we might be missing in comparison. Nonfiction writer and The Inner Loop’s Author’s Corner program manager Abi Newhouse takes us through the ways she works to remember her own voice when, as an editor and podcast producer, others’ voices rule her working world. Plus, ‘tis the season: she offers us a prompt on twisting a traditional dish or dessert to tell a larger story about your own culture in this ..read more

Courtney catches up with nonfiction writer Timothy Denevi, who does his best Bob Dylan impression as they talk about Joan Didion, the dilation and expansion of narrow worlds, and how life can get complicated quickly, whether in an Atlas of Remote Islands or in MILF Island ..read more

Writing in a Second Language with Pantea Amin Tofangchi by Rachel Coonce and Courtney Sexton ..read more

Food is what we all have in common, and often it’s what brings us together around the holidays. First released in November 2019, former Washington City Paper food editor Laura Hayes and food journalist Susan Lutz, tell us how writing about food can be a vehicle for staging a scene, accessing difficult topics, or exploring the world around us, and how food writing as a genre has taken on new meaning. Plus, we hear food-related writing from local authors Sherrie Flick and Eric Kozlik ..read more