Wild Roof Podcast

In the January episode, Rachel Turney joins host Aaron Lelito to talk about her new poetry collections Record Player Life (the b-side), which is forthcoming from The Poetry Lighthouse, and Retired Wannabe Club Kid, forthcoming from Parlyaree Press.

In this episode, we chat about how to maintain an organized chaos when working on multiple writing projects, the influence of music in her new work, and the dilemma of publishing poems about family. Rachel closes us out with the reading of a short piece called "Meditation."

More about the guest:

Rachel Turney is an educator and artist located in Denver. Rachel is passionate about immigrant rights, teacher support, and empowering other artists. She is a Writers’ Hour prize winner and Best of the Net nominee. She runs the online reading series Poetry (in Brief). She is on staff at Bare Back Magazine with her monthly column "Friday Night in the Suburbs." She reads for The Los Angeles Review. Website: turneytalks.com / Instagram: @turneytalks / Bluesky: @rachelturney

In the December episode, authors Simmons Buntin and Kathryn Wilder join host Aaron Lelito to talk about creative nonfiction as a genre, how place and the natural world inform their writing, and their approach to shaping individual essays into a book-length collection. We chat about craft, cows, cultivating awe in our daily lives . . . and beer. Listen up for a wonderful conversation with Simmons and Kat.

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Simmons Buntin, the author of Satellite: Essays on Fatherhood and Home, Near and Far, is a tall drink of water who seeks a certain beauty in all of his pursuits, whether writing, editing the award-winning online journal Terrain.org, lecturing, making photographs, managing projects and teams, or even walking the dogs. That seeking — that seeing — is a professional and creative pursuit well beyond the surface of things, something akin to truth. And quite often: humor.

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Kathryn Wilder is a writer and rancher in Dolores and Disappointment Valley, Colorado. She is the author or editor of five books. The latest, The Last Cows: On Ranching, Wonder, and a Woman’s Heart, is available now from Bison Books. In this engaging and thoughtful narrative that blends biology, geology, natural history, and human history into her personal story, Wilder offers an intimate view into the inner workings of a rancher’s heart.

 

In the November episode, author Michael Engelhard joins host Aaron Lelito to talk about his essay collection No Place Like Nome: The Bering Strait Seen Through Its Most Storied City.

In this chat, we learn what brought Michael to Alaska, why Nome is a special place (even by Alaskan standards), and  how we can learn from a grizzly bear mother protecting her cubs.

Michael was trained as an anthropologist with a degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and he worked for twenty-five years as a wilderness guide and outdoor instructor in Alaska and on the Colorado Plateau.

In No Place Like Nome, Michael Engelhard surveys the seam that links two neighboring continents through the lens of one pivotal city. The region's legacy of millennia shines on pages enriched by this writer's recollections-from mammoths to Cold War monuments, from a spa turned orphanage to cyclist miners and shaman hoards. Meet the explorers and adventurers, reindeer herders and hustlers, the dancers, drummers, dreamers, warriors, walrus-tusk carvers, and whalers, clergy, foragers, and photographers who shaped a place of conflicting visions as thoroughly as it shaped them.

See more about Michael's book here.

In the September episode, WRJ contributor Marybeth Holleman returns, joining Aaron Lelito and Ashley Cundiff to talk about her new novel Bloom Again.

We learn about Marybeth's diverse background that bridges the arts and sciences, as well as how living in both North Carolina and Alaska shaped her writing. And we get into the central themes of the book: climate anxiety, changing ecosystems, and the question of how to navigate it all.

Marybeth closes us out with a reading from the book (. . . and for the record, no polar bears were harmed in the process!).

See more about Bloom Again here.

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Also, on Thursday October 2, at 3:00pm Alaska time / 7:00pm EST, Trustees for Alaska will be sponsoring a conversation between Marybeth Holleman and Kathleen Dean Moore with audience Q&A about central themes in Marybeth's novel, Bloom Again.

Discussion topics include how not to feel paralyzed or overwhelmed by what life throws our way, how to find footing through collaboration, how art and science can complement each other, the tensions and treasures of advocacy in art and science, and women in art and science (just to name a few!). You may join with this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85815769761.

In the August episode, Fr. Isaac Slater joins host Aaron Lelito to talk about how he developed a love for writing, life as a contemplative monk, and his new book, "Do Not Judge Anyone": Desert Wisdom for a Polarized World. Along the way, we cover some poignant (and humorous) lessons from the Desert Fathers, the role of spontaneity and improvisation in spiritual practice, and how self-judgement is related to our outlook on others. Fr. Isaac closes us out with a great story of Zen Master Ryōkan and a reading of his poem "Constellation."

See more about "Do Not Judge Anyone" here.

In the June episode, Colleen Sabaka joins host Aaron Lelito to talk about creating Opt West Magazine, moving from Minnesota to Los Angeles, and how law school got her back into poetry. Colleen shares her deliberate approach to reviewing submissions and gives us a preview of a new project with poet Brad Vogler called This Revisiting.

See more about Opt West here and connect on Instagram.

In the May episode, Gabriela Blandy joins host Aaron Lelito to talk about her current writing projects, the Wild Muse Nature Writing Prize, and the challenges of writing about profound experiences in nature. Gabriela has experience as a life coach, breathwork facilitator, yoga teacher, and shamanic practitioner, and she explains how all these areas connect in her creative life, leading to the development of Wild Muse.  

Gabriela closes the episode with a writing prompt centering around the age old question of "what do you want?"

See more about Gabriela and the Wild Muse Nature Writing Prize here and connect with Gabriela on Substack. You can also follow Wild Muse on Instagram.

In the April episode, Editor of Wildscape Literary Journal joins host Aaron Lelito to talk about her start as a writer, the development of Wildscape, and the adrenaline rush of storm chasing.

Ophelia closes the episode with a reading of her poem, "Yes/No."

See more about Wildscape here and more about Ophelia on Instagram.

In the March episode, Jacob Riyeff joins host Aaron Lelito to talk about his poetry collection, Be Radiant, which is available now from Fernwood Press.

We chat about Jacob's writing background, from beat poet beginnings of reading Ginsberg and Kerouac to the fascination with the natural world (i.e. knowing the difference among marshes, bogs, and swamps). Along the way, Jacob shares his love of Old English poetry, and how it matters to us as English speakers in 2025. He tells us why is collection is subtitled "A Sonata Pome," and closes the episode with a reading of two pieces, "On the Year's First Compost" and "Shallow Ocean, ca. 460-420 million years ago."

See more about Be Radiant here and more about Jacob at his website.

In the February episode, Amy Dupcak joins host Aaron Lelito to talk about her role as Editor in Chief of Cagibi Literary Journal.

We chat about Amy's writing background, from the moody poetry of adolescence to the publication of her short story collection dust, as well as some practical advice for submitting your work. Along the way, we discover our mutual appreciation for the novels of Vladimir Nabokov, including the book-nerd intricacies of Pale Fire.

See more about Cagibi here and more about Amy at her website.