Story Works Round Table Archives - Page 12 of 66 - Story Works Round Table Podcast

SWRT 332 | Culture, Trauma, and Memory in Somia Sadiq’s Gajarah

Sep 25, 2025

In this week’s episode, Alida and Kathryn are honored to host Somia Sadiq, an award-winning entrepreneur and global peace negotiator, who shares her journey into the world of storytelling through her debut novel, Gajarah. Somia discusses the importance of exploring the complexities of identity, trauma, and belonging through literature, emphasizing the power of storytelling to foster understanding and connection. Join us as we delve into the intricate relationship between the storyteller and the listener, and how Somia’s unique experiences shape her narrative style.

SWRT 331 | Taking Up Space with Susan Swan

Sep 11, 2025

In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida welcomes Susan Swan, an acclaimed novelist and professor emerita at York University, join us to discuss her new memoir, Big Girls Don’t Cry. As Susan reads an excerpt from her book, she invites us into her world of growing up as a tall girl in a society that often discourages women from taking up space. We delve into themes of body image, the societal expectations placed on women, and the journey of finding one’s voice and identity. Join us for a thought-provoking conversation on the importance of asserting oneself in a world that often tries to diminish women’s presence.

SWRT 255 | Using Repetition in Your Story

May 26, 2022

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss the usefulness and drawbacks of using repetition in your story. What kind of repeition is typically employed in story? When does it become predictable or dull? How can we use repetition effectively to add to the reader’s experience without compromising novelty?

SWRT 254 | Motifs

May 19, 2022

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss motifs, those recurring elements in a story that seem to live in the background yet enhance the power and meaning of narrative.

SWRT 253 | Openings

May 12, 2022

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss openings, when and how to begin your novel. This episode will be linked in the show notes to all related episodes in the library.
What does your opening page communicate to a reader? When should you open with a prologue and when in media res? How do you introduce your world without bogging the reader down in info dumps or backstory? Is everything in your opening essential?
Story Works Reading Series is open for submissions. Do you have a short story or essay you’d like to read on a literary journal for your ears? Submit today at www.storyworkspodcast.com/submit.

SWRT 252 | Faces

May 5, 2022

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert talk about describing your characters’ faces so they make an impression on your readers. Faces are so much more than a list of physical traits, brown hair, deep eyes, cleft chin. Lists are forgettable. When you describe your characters, strive to convey an impression of the *person* through the face.

SWRT 251 | Ambiguity in Story

Apr 28, 2022

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn talk about that slippery subject, ambiguity in story. What is it? How does it function in story? How & why it can disappoint or disgruntle readers (like Kathryn!). How it’s different from a hook. More!

SWRT 250 | Description

Apr 21, 2022

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, & Kathryn talk description. Have you considered the purpose and power of description in your narrative before? Given that most of story is narrative, how you tell it matters. At the heart of narrative is description.

SWRT 249 | The Writer’s Sketchbook

Apr 14, 2022

Looking for inspiration or want to know you’re not alone in this crazy creative process called storytelling? Curious about how other writers spend writing time outside of drafting?
This week, Alida, Robert, and Kathryn talk about the ways we make writing our practice and practice our writing. Before launching a project, when problem solving, or developing a new skill, we hone our craft. Just like painters with their sketchbooks, we have our notebooks.
Submit to the Story Works Reading Series today. We want to read your short story or essay!

SWRT 248 | Prewriting

Apr 7, 2022

Summer Session - apply nowSpecial pay what you can session.Could your characters benefit from a writing lesson? Alida has creative writing workshops available today on character traits, a master class in character development, story structure, plot, and more. Live...

SWRT 247 | Writer’s Mindset

Mar 31, 2022

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida and Kathryn dig into the writer’s mindset. When we’re facing challenges of motivation, inspiration, or just plain old scheduling, what can we do to get out of the rut and get back to what matters, what matters to us, that is? Sometimes the hardest thing to accept and act on is that it really is up to us (and no one else) if and when we write. Whether the world is humming along or falling apart at the macro or micro level, it still comes down to what we want and are willing to do for what we want.

Do you want to write?

Show notes, links, & more at www.StoryWorksPodcast.com.

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