Edan Lepucki

First Draft Episode #246: Edan Lepucki

Edan Lepucki, New York Times bestselling author of California and
Woman No. 17. Edan’s latest project is Mothers Before, a
collection of essays and photographs based on the popular
Instagram Mothers Before, which Edan created. She is also the
co-host, with fellow writer Amelia Morris, of the podcast Mom
Rage.


Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode




Dan Chaon, author of Ill Will, Await Your Reply, and You
Remind Me of Me, was an influential teacher in Edan’s young
writing life




A breakthrough moment for Edan was drafting a story that
mimicked the structure used by Cary Holladay in
“Merry-Go-Sorry,” a short story published in Alaska Quarterly
Review (read an excerpt of the story, based on the West
Memphis 3, here). Cary is also the author of Brides in the
Sky: Stories and a Novella and The Quick-Change Artist:
Stories.




Edan worked at Book Soup, a local bookstore in Los Angeles,
Calif.




For 45 years, until her recent retirement, Connie Brothers
shaped the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, including by calling every
accepted writer personally to welcome them to the program.




As a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, Edan is in a
position to correct the depiction of the esteemed writing
program in HBO’s Girls




Frank Conroy, director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, died
halfway through Edan’s time at the program. He was replaced
by Lan Samantha Chang, who has been credited with a shift in
the program’s makeup and away from a once-toxic environment.




Raymond Carver, author of What We Talk About When We Talk
About Love, Cathedral, and Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?




George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo: A Novel, and
Tenth of December: Stories




Lorrie Moore, author of Birds of America: Stories and
Self-Help and Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?




Mary Gaitskill, This Is Pleasure: A Story, Bad Behavior:
Stories, and Because They Wanted To




Edan founded Writing Workshop L.A. after coming home from
Iowa




Leslie Parry, author of Church of Marvels, was a classmate of
Edan’s at Iowa and one of the earliest authors to help teach
at Writing Workshop L.A.




Chris Daley was another early writing instructor who now
serves as director of Writing Workshop L.A.




The UCross Residency program in Wyoming




The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood




Edan’s appearance on The Colbert Report




The New York Times profile about Edan’s debut experience with
California, written by Brooks Barnes




Appearing on Fresh Air with Terry Gross is one of Edan’s life
goals




Aimee Bender, author of Willful Creatures, The Particular
Sadness of Lemon Cake, and The Girl in the Flammable Skirt:
Stories




Edan’s agent, Erin Hosier




“Our Mothers as We Never Saw Them,” a piece Edan wrote for
the New York Times that went viral




Writers who contributed to Mothers Before include: Brit
Bennett (author of The Mothers: A Novel); Jennine Capó Crucet
(author of Make Your Home Among Strangers and My Time Among
the Whites: Notes From an Unfinished Education); Jennifer
Egan (author of A Visit From the Goon Squad and Manhattan
Beach: A Novel); Angela Garbes (author of Like a Mother: A
Feminist Journey Through The Science and Culture of
Pregnancy); Annabeth Gish; Alison Roman (author of Nothing
Fancy: Unfancy Food For Having People Over); Lisa See (author
of The Island of Sea Women: A Novel and Snow Flower and the
Secret Fan); Danzy Senna (author of Caucasia: A Novel, and
New People); Dana Spiotta (author of Eat the Document: A
Novel and Stone Arabia: A Novel); and Jia Tolentino (author
of Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion).




Annie Dillard, author of The Writing Life, as well as Pilgrim
at Tinker Creek and An American Childhood




Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project: Why I Spent
a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight
Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun and Better
than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking
Habits—To Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and
Generally Build a Happier LIfe




I want to hear from you!


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Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author
of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture
Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of
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