Plume: A Writer's Companion

11/07/2024

Hi Albuquerque Friends! If you are in the 505 at the end of July, my good friend Dawn and I will be giving a reading together at Books On the Bosque! July 27 at 3:00PM!

I'd be so happy to see you folks there. Afterwards, you betcha we'll be meeting somewhere for beers!

09/07/2024

Plume’s own Samantha Tetangco has published her first poetry collection, and it’s breathtaking.

Praise for Samantha Tetangco & Hope You Blend In:

“In this fierce debut, poet Samantha Tetangco wields “words like flint” to reveal the world we live in, from the apocalyptic world of California wildfires where “our backyards became / this hell / we have created” to the real world in which the q***r brown body becomes “an open wound.” But these poems also remind us of the ordinary magic left to us: breathing in a lover’s scent, planting tulips, and even the beauty of weeds blossoming “so small & sweet / they always go unnamed.” Meticulously crafted and political in the best ways, this book brims with sharp beauty and reminds us what it is to be human.”

—Lisa D. Chavez, author of In an Angry Season

“Samantha Tetangco’s gaze is so sharp in this collection of poems, that a single shift in tense can pierce a hole in the wall of contemporary rhetoric. We who “taught the matches / how to strike” are given an aperture to view our own participation in history. Beyond holding witness, these poems provoke action. Are we—sharing a home, a country, a planet (on fire!)—actually in this together or are we just pretending? You will be known by what you choose: will you be a bearer or a borer of fruit?”

—Benjamin Garcia, author of Thrown in the Throat

Pick up your copy here:
https://www.broadstonebooks.com/shop/p/hope-you-blend-in-poetry-by-samantha-tetangco

24/05/2024

Fantastic reading alert! Tomorrow night, Albuquerque’s wonderful Bad Mouth reading series features Plume’s own Melanie Unruh, with Elizabeth Cohen and Luke Johnson, and music by AJ Woods. What a treat!
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BAD MOUTH IN SPRINGTIME! Please join us for Bad Mouth in Springtime, featuring writers Elizabeth Cohen, Luke Johnson, and Melanie Unruh, with music by AJ Woods!Doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7:…

02/11/2023

Per Elsa, “For this podcast episode, my flash piece ‘Marmarna’ pays homage to a malignant spirit from the Ilocos who infamously lives in the baliti tree, an ancient tree in the Philippines.”

Listen to the full episode here:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1204304/13869812-we-plumed-a-spell-on-you-spooky-poems-stories

Or can find us by searching for Plume: A Writer’s Podcast on your favorite podcast app.
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30/10/2023

Hello, friends! We have been on a bit of a pod hiatus, but today you are in for a treat. We put together a very special, very spooky episode for you, featuring some spine-tingling work by Elsa Valmidiano, Sarah Mina Osman, Danielle Hanson, Lisa D. Chavéz, Dawn Sperber, and Melanie Unruh. Get ready for uncanny visions in the mirror, nighttime creatures that follow you home or beckon you out into the world, ethereal ghosts, and more!
You can listen here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1204304/13869812-we-plumed-a-spell-on-you-spooky-poems-stories
Or you can find the episode under Plume: A Writer’s Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, or wherever you get your pods. We hope you enjoy these eerie poems and stories and that you have a lovely Halloween and Samhain season! 👻🤍

Team Plume is reanimating, dusting off the last year, and gearing up for our first Plume podcast in a while.  In today’s episode, we bring you a ghostly story circle with writing that taps into the otherworldly…and just in time for Halloween ...

09/05/2023

Cynthia Sylvester’s debut book, The Half-White Album, is attracting lots of well-deserved attention, and we’re so excited for her. Yay, Cindy!! ❤️ Her book is first on Ms. Magazine’s April list of new books to read.

My hope is that each of you reading this column will do some research in your own communities to find out where the threats to the freedom to read lie. Talk to your local school and public librarians. Call your legislators, sign the petitions, run for your local school board, raise hell. And also, k...

15/04/2023

We're so excited about Cynthia Sylvester's debut collection, The Half-White Album, and her book launch Saturday evening at Tortuga Gallery, with book sales by Bookworks.
Cindy's stories are earthy and gorgeous, and Plume was delighted to spotlight her work when she was one of our featured writers in 2021.
In Saturday's special book launch performance, she'll be backed by a live band. It should be memorable!!

Tomorrow! Don't miss the one-of-a-kind HALF-WHITE SHOW, a launch event for THE HALF-WHITE ALBUM by Cynthia Sylvester featuring live music and readings.
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Event co-sponsored by UNM Creative Writing, hosted by Tortuga, and with book sales by Bookworks Albuquerque .
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Doors at 6, Performance at 7
901 Edith Blvd SE, Albuquerque, NM 87102
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Learn more about THE HALF-WHITE ALBUM: https://loom.ly/u5moAyE
Event info: https://loom.ly/bBCw17Q

07/09/2022

We're thrilled to share this interview with Crystal (K.) Odelle, Plume's new featured writer! They're such a smart, engaging writer & speaker, & we were delighted by the conversation. Subscribe to Plume: A Writer's Podcast on your fave app to listen today!

31/07/2022

So happy to have spent the morning talking to Crystal K. () about transitions, transformation, and the ways writing and revision can help us see and connect to our authentic selves. Episode coming soon! w/ ,

25/06/2022

New mini episode! Things are *incredibly* hard right now, so we hope you’ll give yourself a little reprieve and listen to our own Dawn Sperber read “If the River Men Take You,” a magical story from her equally magical debut flash fiction chapbook, Now, That’s a Trick. You can preorder a copy from Finishing Line Press! Please see the link in the comments.

Listen here, or wherever you get your pods. 💜 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1204304/10853586-season-3-episode-4-plume-story-time-if-the-river-men-take-you-by-dawn-sperber

04/06/2022

Oh snap! We just hit 2,000 downloads! Since July 2020, we've promoted and highlighted over 40 different women and non-binary writers over 28 episodes, including a season finale tribute episode with stories and poems from our Plume . Thank you to all our listeners and guests for supporting our work and helping us grow and evolve. Here's to 2,000 more!

19/05/2022

Here's a clip from our interview with the talented, insightful , in which she talks about writing complex, flawed women characters. Give the full episode a listen here: https://overcast.fm/+eEhdjXAco or on your favorite podcast app! 💜

16/05/2022

Don't miss our latest exciting episode with Jessamine Chan, the New York Times bestselling author of The School for Good Mothers! Jessamine shares her writing and publishing journey and talks about what it's like to publish your first book after 40. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: https://overcast.fm/+eEhdjXAco

08/05/2022

On this Mother's Day, a throwback to last season's episode, "Writing Moms: A Roundtable Discussion with Julia Halprin Jackson, , and Jennifer Jordán Schaller." 🎉 🎉 🎉

New episodes - including a special mothers & daughters roundtable dropping soon - stay tuned! Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

Listen now: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/season-2-ep-2-writing-moms-a-roundtable-discussion/id1522408211?i=1000523071779

‎Show Plume: A Writer's Podcast, Ep Season 2 Ep. 2: Writing Moms: A Roundtable Discussion with Julia Halprin Jackson, Christina Socorro Yovovich, and Jennifer Jordán Schaller - May 25, 2021

25/04/2022

BIG, heartfelt congratulation to Plume's Dawn Sperber for the release of her new flash fiction chapbook, Now, That’s a Trick!
Copies now available: https://tinyurl.com/2umvefmv

The narrative voice in this collection brings to mind my favorite writers of stories—Denis Johnson, Lauren Groff, Eudora Welty. There’s a similar trust in the strangeness, danger, and lovability of humans and of language. At the same time, the voice here is distinctly Dawn Sperber’s own, magic...

02/04/2022

Check out this clip from our interview with our very own
Melanie Unruh! Find the full episode at https://overcast.fm/+eEhfsLGIY or wherever you get your pods. 💜

01/04/2022

To kick off Season 3, Plumesters Sam and Dawn are turning the tables on their fellow co-host, Melanie Unruh, and talking to her about writing novels, sticking with large projects, and the founding of Plume.
Listen now! https://tinyurl.com/2c2n86b4

01/04/2022

To kick off Season 3, Plumesters Sam and Dawn are turning the tables on their fellow co-host, Melanie Unruh, and talking to her about writing novels, sticking with large projects, and the founding of Plume.

Listen now! https://tinyurl.com/2c2n86b4

25/03/2022

Tonight! Come join our adventure! We're hosting a offsite event at : a Dungeons & Dragons actual play experience, starring Lisa D. Chavez, Melanie Unruh, Tara King, Marlena Chertock, Randi Beck, and Dungeon Master, Sam Tetangco.
Free and open to all - 6:30pm PST / 9:30pm EST. Learn more: https://www.patreon.com/posts/63832504

25/03/2022

Community matters! 🤜 🤛

My most helpful poem reader, Dana Salvador, crossed out all the to-be verbs from the first batch of poems I sent to my writing group, ever. She didn’t judge me. She asked me for more descript…

22/03/2022

Yep, you read that right. We are hosting a offsite event at : a Dungeons & Dragons actual play experience, starring Lisa D. Chavez, Melanie Unruh, Tara King, Marlena Chertock, Randi Beck, and Dungeon Master, Sam Tetangco.

Free and open to all - 6:30pm PST / 9:30pm EST. Learn more: https://www.patreon.com/posts/63832504

28/12/2021

Earlier this year, we recorded a podcast episode in which Jennifer Simpson's friends and family read from her work. It was a beautiful way to honor Jenn and her writing, and to preserve it so anyone can go back and listen whenever they'd like. We decided we also wanted to make Jenn our honorary December featured writer this year. Though she is no longer here, we feel her presence every day, and wanted to continue to celebrate her inimitable voice.

Dawn lovingly has put together a selection of Jenn's essays. Please find it here, and share it far and wide. We want everyone to enjoy Jenn's work and remember our dear friend and team member.

Head to the Patreon link in our bio to access this free digital chapbook: https://www.patreon.com/posts/60438239
💜💜💜

23/11/2021

Our season 2 finale episode is out now! We invited featured writers, rountable panelists, & Plume community members to read their work, & the results are ✨ magical.✨ We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

"A Plume Collage of Voices" features work by these wonderful writers (pictured below, left to right):
Samantha Tetangco, Melanie Unruh, Dawn Sperber, Cynthia Sylvester, Cynthia Patton, Elsa Valmadiano, Jameela F. Dallis, Brenna Gomez, Cassie McClure, Arlaina Ash, Julia Halprin Jackson, Rhea Ramakrishnan, Nari Kirk, Suzanne Richardson, and Marlena Chertock.

Find us on your favorite podcast app under Plume: A Writer's Podcast to listen today. 💜
Or listen here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1204304/9598434-season-2-episode-14-a-plume-collage-of-voices

09/11/2021

Our episode with Kendra Tuthill, November's featured writer is now live! Listen to Kendra talk about self-publishing; writing through grief; setting small, timed writing goals; and more. Plus, she reads her thought-provoking letter of encouragement, which explores the effects of writers losing their attention spans in the age of social media. Find us under Plume: A Writer's Podcast on your favorite app! 💜

02/11/2021

We are so fortunate to have Kendra Tuthill as our featured writer for November! Her work is mesmerizing and intricately plotted, and our conversation with her gave us so much to think about. Check out Kendra next week on the podcast, and sign up for our Patreon (Patreon.com/PlumeAWritersCompanion) for just $5 to receive Kendra's Digital Plume, which features her introspective letter of encouragement and an excerpt from Stitches, her lovely novel.

28/10/2021

Happy (belated) birthday to our dear friend and founding Plumester, Melanie Unruh ()! We could not have done any of this without you!

28/10/2021

A behind-the-scenes peak at the recording of this month's Witchy Writers Roundtable! w/ Jennifer Ghivan, Britt Ashley, & Plume's own Dawn Sperber. Episode now LIVE!

Listen now on your favorite podcast platform or here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1204304/9434795ow

hosted by &

26/10/2021

In honor of Samhain, we offer up this Witchy Writer's Roundtable with guests, Jennifer Ghivan, Britt Ashley, & Dawn Sperber.

Hope you give it a listen! https://www.buzzsprout.com/1204304/9434795

12/10/2021

Excited to share with you this month's conversation with October featured writer, Nari Kirk! We talk with Nari about her writing process, poetic influences on her prose, MFA reflections, writing about grief, and more. Plus, Nari reads her engaging letter of encouragement, which explores the ways in which we often try to force writing into a work ethic.

Nari Kirk is a Korean American writer with an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of New Mexico. Her work has appeared in Hobart online and the anthology All the Women in My Family Sing, among other publications. She lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Listen now! https://tinyurl.com/57t9rnsy

11/10/2021

Sneak peak at the recording of our interview with October Featured Writer, Nari Kirk. Episode drops tomorrow on your favorite podcast platform!