How Critically Acclaimed Novelist Erik Raschke Writes

The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

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Critically acclaimed novelist, short story writer, and educator, Erik Raschke, stopped by this week to talk about coming-of-age in Denver, Colorado, how The Beat Generation influenced his writing, and how your children consume you.

Erik Raschke is a native to Denver, Colorado – and admittedly, one of my oldest friends. He became a dual Dutch and American citizen in 2013, teaches writing at the University of Amsterdam and is a certified New York public school teacher.

Erik's first novel, The Book of Samuel, was translated into Italian and nominated for the prestigious Printz award. His short story, Winch (Portland Review), was nominated for the 2018 Best American Short Stories.

His latest is To the Mountain, a novel described as "... an absorbing tale of sacrifice, hope, and the bond between father and son."

NY Times bestselling author Margaret Coel called the book, “A deeply affecting tale of a father’s love for his autistic son ... Raschke’s lyrical prose evokes both the awesome wilderness of the Rocky Mountains in winter and the unfathomable wilderness of the human heart."

As a journalist in the early '90s in Belfast, Erik briefly covered violence that marked the end of The Troubles. His short stories and essays have been published in The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine, Hazlitt, Georgia Review, De Volkskrant, and Guernica, among others.

Stay calm and write on …

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Preview a sample of a podcast at the break from this week's sponsor Look Closer: The Found Fiction Podcast, more at foundfiction.org.

In this file Erik Raschke and I discussed:

• The European Rockabilly facsimile that made him cry
• Denver and Ken Kesey's impact on his writing
• Why he studied the history of disability for his latest novel
• How grad school teaches you to write nice sentences, but not great stories
• And more!

Show Notes:

• ErikRaschke.com
• To the Mountain by Erik Raschke (Amazon)
• Erik Raschke Amazon author page
• The Revenant by Michael Punke (Amazon)
• Erik Raschke on Facebook
• Kelton Reid on Twitter

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