Listeners Invited to Writers' Block Party
by Shannon Maughan -- Publishers Weekly, 3/4/2002
One of the newest magazines on the block isn't a traditional magazine at all, but rather an amalgam of music (including its own theme song), poetry, short stories and other prose, all collected in the premiere issue of Writers' Block Party: An Audio Magazine. The 51-minute CD is distributed via Big Daddy Music (908-653-9110) and www.writersblockparty.com. PW recently caught up with Writers' Block Party creator—and nonfiction author (The Book of Eleven, Andrews McMeel)—-Chicago-based Amy Krouse Rosenthal.
PW: What was the inspiration behind Writers' Block Party?
AKR: I have this thing, this compulsion, to want to put all the stuff that moves me, the stuff I love, all in a special box. And by "stuff" I'm referring not to material items but to writings and music and random creative outpourings. I think this habit or quirk of mine obviously led me to make WBP. It's a combination of all the things I love: writing, radio, magazines, music, the '70s PBS variety show Zoom, those cool mix tapes we made in college. Audio suits me. And there is so much potential there, I think. I mean, there are plenty of TV shows and books and movies out there. But I think audio is a less trodden terrain. More importantly, I do think the idea of an audio magazine melds well with the way people live and absorb information and entertainment. It's a "magazine you can enjoy while driving." I'm smitten, really, utterly convinced that the world needs this. Naïve optimism? You bet.
PW: Was it difficult to find authors and performers to contribute/participate?
AKR: I was surprised and delighted to find how receptive people were. Sure, several of the contributors are friends/colleagues. But most of them are not—they're either someone whose work I knew and loved, like Billy Collins—and this was a pre–Poet Laureate appointment—or someone who was recommended to me as the project started to roll along.
PW: Have booksellers been receptive to stocking WBP?
AKR: Yes, but here's the tricky thing: Does it go in the CD music section? Does it go in the audiobook section? The magazine section? At the Starbucks counter? It's a new genre, a new medium actually. For booksellers, these are not small questions (as I'm learning). People are working with us to figure it all out, to see where in the store it will live best.
PW: What's in store for listeners on Issue Two of WBP and when does it come out?
AKR: Issue Two comes out in the fall—and we are selling subscriptions, by the way. The next issue is going to be so great I can hardly wait to start recording. But it's not fair to this first issue to start focusing on what's next. I'd like to digest what I've learned on this one—that, and take a long, hot bath—before we start talking about Issue Two.
