Love and Defiance's podcast

The Love & Defiance podcast features Humber School for Writers students and graduates who’ve lived interesting or extraordinary lives and who have brought those experiences into their writing. Hosted by David Bezmozgis, Creative Director of the Humber School for Writers

Season 5 Episode 3 - Julie Birrell 05/17/2024

Season 5 Episode 3 - Julie Birrell In this episode, I speak with Julie Birrell, who worked with Marina Endicott on a manuscript called Indivisible about ghosts, power dynamics, and the potential for healing inspired by her work as a high school teacher in a children’s hospital. This season of Love and Defiance is written and produced by David Bezmozgis, and produced and edited by Reem Elmaghraby. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/30961513

Season 5 Episode 2 - Robert Pelletier 05/11/2024

Season 5 Episode 2 - Robert Pelletier In this episode I speak with Robert Pelletier about his collection of stories which anatomize the strangeness, vulnerability, and isolation of contemporary life. This season of Love and Defiance is written and produced by David Bezmozgis, and produced and edited by Reem Elmaghraby. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/30961498

Season 5 Episode 1 - Live at The Black Box Sessions 05/04/2024

Season 5 Episode 1 - Live at The Black Box Sessions Our first episode of Season 5 comes from the Black Box Session at the Toronto International Festival of Authors with a student from the Humber School for Writers. Our guest is Mike Sholars who took the Humber Mentorship Program in the fall of 2020.  This season of Love and Defiance is written and produced by David Bezmozgis, and produced and edited by Reem Elmaghraby. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/30961488

Season 4 Episode 4 - Sumaiya Matin 06/17/2023

Season 4 Episode 4 - Sumaiya Matin In today’s episode I’ll be speaking with Sumaya Matin who worked on her memoir with Shyam Selvadurai. Titled The Shaytan Bride, it was published in 2021 by Dundurn Press and it is an account of Sumaiya’s immigration to Canada from Bangladesh as a young girl, her attempts to reconcile her Muslim faith with secular Canadian society and the patriarchal strictures placed on Muslim girls and women from within their own community which culminates, for Sumaiya, in an attempted forced marriage. This season of Love and Defiance is written and produced by David Bezmozgis, and produced and edited by Evan Gravelle. Thanks for listening. We’ll be back next year with more students and more remarkable stories from the Humber School for Writers. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/26898792

Season 4 Episode 3 - Craig Shreve 06/10/2023

Season 4 Episode 3 - Craig Shreve In this episode, I speak with Craig Shreve about his novel The African Samurai, a fictionalized account of the tragic and heroic life of Yasuke, an African slave and warrior who became the first non-Japanese samurai. This season of Love and Defiance is written and produced by David Bezmozgis, and produced and edited by Evan Gravelle. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/26898786

Season 4 Episode 2 - Shivani Howe 06/03/2023

Season 4 Episode 2 - Shivani Howe In this episode I speak with Shivani Howe about her novel-in-progress, Land’s Breath. Set at a yoga retreat in the interior of British Columbia, Land’s Breath is a story informed by what Shivani describes as chakra psychology and yoga ecology. This season of Love and Defiance is written and produced by David Bezmozgis, and produced and edited by Evan Gravelle. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/26898780

Season 4 Episode 1 - Live at The Black Box Sessions 05/27/2023

Season 4 Episode 1 - Live at The Black Box Sessions Our first episode of Season 4 comes from conversations at the Black Box Sessions at the Toronto International Festival of Authors with students from the Humber School for Writers. Our first guest is Kim Echlin. Kim's novels include Elephant Winter, and Dagmar's Daughter. Our second guest is Vicky Chen who has published a book of nonfiction and three plays. We finish off with Arzu Yildiz, a writer and journalist from Turkey. This season of Love and Defiance is written and produced by David Bezmozgis, and produced and edited by Evan Gravelle. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/26898741

Season 3 Episode 3 – Aaron Goodman 06/04/2022

Season 3 Episode 3 – Aaron Goodman Aaron Goodman discusses his novel inspired by his journey through abandonment, teenage exploration, and growth. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/23068352

Season 3 Episode 2 – Arnab Majumdar 05/28/2022

Season 3 Episode 2 – Arnab Majumdar Arnab Majumdar's book explores his early childhood experiences of living with a parent battling a mental health condition, familial dynamics, and the lingering effects. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/23067911

Season 3 Episode 1 – Naomi Yano 05/21/2022

Season 3 Episode 1 – Naomi Yano David Bezmozgis interviews Naomi Yano at the Black Box Session at the Toronto International Festival of Authors as she discusses loss, betrayal, healing, and writing. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/23067821

Season 2 Episode 4 - Aaron Berhane 06/26/2021

Season 2 Episode 4 - Aaron Berhane Aaron Berhane talks about founding the first independent newspaper in Eritrea, and how he survived when a dictatorship came for him. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/18334202

Season 2 Episode 3 - Onder Deligosz 06/19/2021

Season 2 Episode 3 - Onder Deligosz Onder Deligosz talks about escaping a military coup in Turkey, and how, even in exile, he's using writing to give a voice to his country. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/18334133

Season 2 Episode 2 - Nina Levitt 06/12/2021

Season 2 Episode 2 - Nina Levitt On this episode of Love and Defiance, we talk with Nina Levitt about sexuality, espionage, and the women who used secrecy to survive the world and win a war. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/18334076

Season 2 Episode 1 - Gillian Grant 06/05/2021

Season 2 Episode 1 - Gillian Grant Gillian Grant talks about surviving cancer with the support of her family, the help of Western medicine, and the unexpected generosity and grace of Indigenous healers. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/18334019

Season 1 Bonus Episode - Gabriel Munro 05/29/2021

Season 1 Bonus Episode - Gabriel Munro David Bezmozgis speaks with Gabriel Munro, editor and producer of Love & Defiance, and a student in the Humber Broadcasting-Radio program, about podcasting, audio storytelling and his personal connection to writing. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/18333935

Season 1 Episode 4 - David Albertyn 05/22/2021

Season 1 Episode 4 - David Albertyn David Albertyn talks about using personal experience to find his voice, and how to prepare for a new kind of challenge – success. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/18333566

Season 1 Episode 3 - Tendisai Cromwell 05/15/2021

Season 1 Episode 3 - Tendisai Cromwell Tendisai Cromwell explores how to write about faith, dual identities, and where to draw the line between piousness and piety. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/18333521

Season 1 Episode 2 - Colin Buchanan 05/08/2021

Season 1 Episode 2 - Colin Buchanan Colin Buchanan talks about his novel which takes us from personal heartbreak and institutionalization into the hidden heart of the deep South. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/18333308

Season 1 Episode 1 - Jillian Stirk 05/01/2021

Season 1 Episode 1 - Jillian Stirk David Bezmozgis speaks with Jillian Stirk about her experience as a young diplomat in Warsaw during the Solidarity movement and how the letters she wrote home to her parents formed the basis of her novel, Small Ironies. /episode/index/show/loveanddefiance/id/18333224

Love and Defiance's podcast

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