Advertise on podcast: Writers Who Read

Rating

★★★★★

from

15 reviews

Description

Gary Alan McBride founded the Boulder, Colorado-based Writers Who Read novel study group in May of 2018. Since then he and other local writers have been analyzing 10 novels per year within 12-18 months of their publication. Gary is also the author of the WwR reference guide, Literary Forensics: How Reading Can Make You a Better Writer, available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook in bookstores and at online retailers worldwide. More information here: https://LiteraryForensicsBook.com. WwR is focused 100% on today's fiction, mostly in advance of academic scholarship, so we live on the cutting edge of contemporary analysis. And that's how we like it. Our goal is to read like a writer and not wait for someone else to tell us what to think. That means we read with intent--to become better at noticing what the author is doing to manage our emotions and manipulate our point of view. And so it doesn't matter whether what we read is critically acclaimed or academically vetted, because we can learn the same lessons from bad writing as from highly polished prose. We use our own reactions to the text to discover where to dig, and we use Literary Forensics techniques to sift through the layers. Our goal is to uncover the author's intent and to identify the tools they used to create their story so we can use them in our own writing. On our monthly podcast Gary is joined by Whitney Pinion, Mira Landry, and sometimes others guest readers. We discuss our own textual discoveries as well as insights gleaned from our group discussion, because as much as we can learn on our own, we can learn so much more about how to read and write when we listen to others' viewpoints. And that's where you come in, dear listener. We invite you to join us each month, 10 months a year, for a new episode when we discuss the latest literary techniques and publishing trends so that you can try out these techniques for yourself and maybe add your voice to ours. We are Writers Who Read. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unlock Writers Who Read podcast Email contact info,
Listeners & Audience details

Email contact information

Direct podcast contact details

Listeners

Audience numbers & engagement insights

Audience details

Podcast Insights

Podcast episodes

Check latest episodes from Writers Who Read podcast

Literary Forensics interview

2026/10/15

This bonus episode is actually an episode of Jason DeHart’s podcast, “Words, Images, and Worlds” where he interviews authors about their books and their process. You can find his podcast and videos on YouTube @WordsImagesWorlds, where he explores literacy through comics, media, fandom, and scholarship. Gary was Jason’s guest on an episode that dropped back in August of 2026, and, naturally, he talked (a lot!) about the creation of Literary Forensics, and how it arose from his work with Writers Who Read. You can learn more about Literary Forensics here, and find the book at bookstores everywhere. In every episode we analyze and discuss one novel that has been published within the past 18-24 months. We do this because we are writers who read with intent–we read to study content and form and to uncover techniques that we can apply to our own writing. We read like writers, turning our favorite authors into our writing teachers. We do this through Literary Forensics, a set of tools that allow us to look beyond the surface of plot points, down into the tapestry of themes, contexts, and symbols that hold the very intentions of the author. We uncover why they wrote this novel and how they did it. If you'd like to join our LIVE! meetings in person, find upcoming novel titles and event registration information here and be sure to sign up for our monthly newsletter. Writers Who Read has been meeting in Boulder, Colorado, since 2018, and we are affiliated with the Boulder Writers Alliance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

81: King of Ashes - S. A. Cosby

2026/08/23

Mira Landry, Risë Keller, and Gary McBride talk about King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby, which is Writers Who Read book number 81. Discussion slides for this novel and all novels discussed are available at WritersWhoRead.com. You can learn more about Literary Forensics here, and find the book at bookstores everywhere. In every episode we analyze and discuss one novel that has been published within the past 18-24 months. We do this because we are writers who read with intent–we read to study content and form and to uncover techniques that we can apply to our own writing. We read like writers, turning our favorite authors into our writing teachers. We do this through Literary Forensics, a set of tools that allow us to look beyond the surface of plot points, down into the tapestry of themes, contexts, and symbols that hold the very intentions of the author. We uncover why they wrote this novel and how they did it. If you'd like to join our LIVE! meetings in person, find upcoming novel titles and event registration information here and be sure to sign up for our monthly newsletter. Writers Who Read has been meeting in Boulder, Colorado, since 2018, and we are affiliated with the Boulder Writers Alliance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up Next: King of Ashes - S. A. Cosby

2026/08/09

Mira, Risë, and Gary analyze another recently-published novel on the next episode of Writers Who Read. Next up: King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby. The Atlanta-based wealthy investment manager Roman Carruthers thinks he knows all about gangstas through his intimate connection with rap recording artists. Roman is a fixer, and he's used to solving any problem his clients present. Unfortunately, when his father is almost killed back home in Jefferson Run, VA, Roman discovers that his magic has no effect on the actual gangs who threaten his brother Dante and his family's crematory business. Should Roman fight fire with fire? And where would that lead? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

80: Atmosphere - Taylor Jenkins Reid

2026/07/26

Whitney Pinion, Chelsea Pennington, and Gary McBride talk about Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, which is Writers Who Read book number 80. Discussion slides for this novel and all novels discussed are available at WritersWhoRead.com. You can learn more about Literary Forensics here, and find the book at bookstores everywhere. In every episode we analyze and discuss one novel that has been published within the past 18-24 months. We do this because we are writers who read with intent–we read to study content and form and to uncover techniques that we can apply to our own writing. We read like writers, turning our favorite authors into our writing teachers. We do this through Literary Forensics, a set of tools that allow us to look beyond the surface of plot points, down into the tapestry of themes, contexts, and symbols that hold the very intentions of the author. We uncover why they wrote this novel and how they did it. If you'd like to join our LIVE! meetings in person, find upcoming novel titles and event registration information here and be sure to sign up for our monthly newsletter. Writers Who Read has been meeting in Boulder, Colorado, since 2018, and we are affiliated with the Boulder Writers Alliance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up Next: Atmosphere - Taylor Jenkins Reid

2026/07/12

Whitney, Chelsea, and Gary analyze another recently-published novel on the next episode of Writers Who Read. Next up: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Reid writes novels about the “type of woman who I want to talk about, a woman who has naked ambition.” Atmosphere features Joan, an aspiring astronaut in the early 1980s, desperate to get into space, desperate to be one of the guys, who hides a secret she knows will get her kicked out of NASA's budding space shuttle program. We first meet Joan in her career as the steadying voice at mission control, attempting to guide the surviving crew of a harrowing spaceflight safely home. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

79: The Director - Daniel Kehlmann

2026/06/28

Whitney Pinion, Risë Keller, and Gary McBride talk about The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, translated from the German by Ross Benjamin in 2025, which is Writers Who Read book number 79. Discussion slides for this novel and all novels discussed are available at WritersWhoRead.com. You can learn more about Literary Forensics here, and find the book at bookstores everywhere. In every episode we analyze and discuss one novel that has been published within the past 18-24 months. We do this because we are writers who read with intent–we read to study content and form and to uncover techniques that we can apply to our own writing. We read like writers, turning our favorite authors into our writing teachers. We do this through Literary Forensics, a set of tools that allow us to look beyond the surface of plot points, down into the tapestry of themes, contexts, and symbols that hold the very intentions of the author. We uncover why they wrote this novel and how they did it. If you'd like to join our LIVE! meetings in person, find upcoming novel titles and event registration information here and be sure to sign up for our monthly newsletter. Writers Who Read has been meeting in Boulder, Colorado, since 2018, and we are affiliated with the Boulder Writers Alliance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up Next: The Director - Daniel Kehlmann

2026/06/14

Whitney, Risë, and Gary analyze another recently-published novel on the next episode of Writers Who Read. Next up: The Director by Daniel Kehlmann. The influential Austrian film director G W Pabst discovered Louise Brooks and Leni Riefenstahl, worked with Greta Garbo and Kurt Weill, and moved to Hollywood in the 1930s. Unfortunately, just as WWII began he returned to Austria to care for his ailing mother, trapping Pabst and his family in Nazi Germany and turning him into a tool of the Reich. The stark soundstage, dark shadows, and sharp camera angles of Expressionist cinema infuse Kehlmann's novel, translated from the German, chilling our bones with the horror of seeing precisely how totalitarianism breaks us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

78: Flesh - David Szalay

2026/05/24

Whitney Pinion, Mira Landry, and Gary McBride talk about Flesh by David Szalay, which is Writers Who Read book number 78. Discussion slides for this novel and all novels discussed are available at WritersWhoRead.com. You can learn more about Literary Forensics here, and find the book at bookstores everywhere. In every episode we analyze and discuss one novel that has been published within the past 18-24 months. We do this because we are writers who read with intent–we read to study content and form and to uncover techniques that we can apply to our own writing. We read like writers, turning our favorite authors into our writing teachers. We do this through Literary Forensics, a set of tools that allow us to look beyond the surface of plot points, down into the tapestry of themes, contexts, and symbols that hold the very intentions of the author. We uncover why they wrote this novel and how they did it. If you'd like to join our LIVE! meetings in person, find upcoming novel titles and event registration information here and be sure to sign up for our monthly newsletter. Writers Who Read has been meeting in Boulder, Colorado, since 2018, and we are affiliated with the Boulder Writers Alliance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up Next: Flesh - David Szalay

2026/05/10

Whitney, Mira, and Gary analyze another recently-published novel on the next episode of Writers Who Read. Next up: Flesh by David Szalay. Flesh is an unvarnished exploration of lonely masculinity. Okay. Istvǎn's interiority is a virtual blank slate, much like Rachel Cusk accomplished for her Outline trilogy narrator, okay? Stark Hemingwayesque prose and dialogue. Okay. Winner of the 2025 Booker Prize. Deservedly. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

77: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter - Stephen Graham Jones

2026/04/26

Whitney Pinion, Rachel Dempsey, and Gary McBride talk about The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones, which is Writers Who Read book number 77. Discussion slides for this novel and all novels discussed are available at WritersWhoRead.com. You can learn more about Literary Forensics here, and find the book at bookstores everywhere. In every episode we analyze and discuss one novel that has been published within the past 18-24 months. We do this because we are writers who read with intent–we read to study content and form and to uncover techniques that we can apply to our own writing. We read like writers, turning our favorite authors into our writing teachers. We do this through Literary Forensics, a set of tools that allow us to look beyond the surface of plot points, down into the tapestry of themes, contexts, and symbols that hold the very intentions of the author. We uncover why they wrote this novel and how they did it. If you'd like to join our LIVE! meetings in person, find upcoming novel titles and event registration information here and be sure to sign up for our monthly newsletter. Writers Who Read has been meeting in Boulder, Colorado, since 2018, and we are affiliated with the Boulder Writers Alliance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up Next: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter - Stephen Graham Jones

2026/04/12

Whitney, Rachel, and Gary analyze another recently-published novel on the next episode of Writers Who Read. Next up: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. On January 23, 1870, along the Bear River in Montana, approximately 200 Blackfeet, mostly women, children, and elders, were killed by the 2nd US Cavalry. Stephen Graham Jones memorializes this massacre in his epic Cormac McCarthyesque hellscape, set mostly in 1912, and bookended by the woes of a 21st century professor who can't get tenure. Horrific in all things temporal, intellectual, and spiritual: Cat Man is coming for you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

76: Isola - Allegra Goodman

2026/03/22

Whitney Pinion, Mira Landry, and Gary McBride talk about Isola by Allegra Goodman, which is Writers Who Read book number 76. Discussion slides for this novel and all novels discussed are available at WritersWhoRead.com. You can learn more about Literary Forensics here, and find the book at bookstores everywhere. In every episode we analyze and discuss one novel that has been published within the past 18-24 months. We do this because we are writers who read with intent–we read to study content and form and to uncover techniques that we can apply to our own writing. We read like writers, turning our favorite authors into our writing teachers. We do this through Literary Forensics, a set of tools that allow us to look beyond the surface of plot points, down into the tapestry of themes, contexts, and symbols that hold the very intentions of the author. We uncover why they wrote this novel and how they did it. If you'd like to join our LIVE! meetings in person, find upcoming novel titles and event registration information here and be sure to sign up for our monthly newsletter. Writers Who Read has been meeting in Boulder, Colorado, since 2018, and we are affiliated with the Boulder Writers Alliance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up Next: Isola - Allegra Goodman

2026/03/08

Whitney, Mira, and Gary analyze another recently-published novel on the next episode of Writers Who Read. Next up: Isola by Allegra Goodman. Based on a historical person, Allegra Goodman's Marguerite is as real a 16th century woman as we are ever likely to find within a novel. Orphaned as a child, her fate is in the hands of an unscrupulous guardian who takes her fortune and eventually maroons her on an island in Canada. How she reacts to her situation aligns perfectly with the options available to her within her time, place, and social status--it all reads true. Prepare to be transported by Goodman's masterful use of language. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

75: We Solve Murders - Richard Osman

2026/02/22

Whitney Pinion, Mira Landry, and Gary McBride talk about We Solve Murders by Richard Osman, which is Writers Who Read book number 75. Discussion slides for this novel and all novels discussed are available at WritersWhoRead.com. You can learn more about Literary Forensics here, and find the book at bookstores everywhere. In every episode we analyze and discuss one novel that has been published within the past 18-24 months. We do this because we are writers who read with intent–we read to study content and form and to uncover techniques that we can apply to our own writing. We read like writers, turning our favorite authors into our writing teachers. We do this through Literary Forensics, a set of tools that allow us to look beyond the surface of plot points, down into the tapestry of themes, contexts, and symbols that hold the very intentions of the author. We uncover why they wrote this novel and how they did it. If you'd like to join our LIVE! meetings in person, find upcoming novel titles and event registration information here and be sure to sign up for our monthly newsletter. Writers Who Read has been meeting in Boulder, Colorado, since 2018, and we are affiliated with the Boulder Writers Alliance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up Next: We Solve Murders - Richard Osman

2026/02/08

Whitney, Mira, and Gary analyze another recently-published novel on the next episode of Writers Who Read. Next up: We Solve Murders by Richard Osman. Best-selling British author Richard Osman kicks off a new murder mystery series by introducing us to Amy Wheeler—a hard-knuckled private bodyguard for Maximum Impact Solutions, the famous author she's protecting, her retired police officer father-in-law turned private detective, and the enigmatic character behind a series of murders, François Loubet. Snappy dialogue, good food, international travel, hijinks and other perilous situations abound for our lovable band of sleuths as they figure out who the killer really is. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Podcast reviews

Read Writers Who Read podcast reviews

5 out of 5

15 reviews

★★★★★

KD02139 2025/12/28

Fun and insightful

Love this podcast! It’s everything I’ve been looking for in a book club.

★★★★★

Andrea 1227 2024/05/12

Always look forward to these podcasts

Gary, Whitney and Mira’s discussions always make me want to go back and reread the book they are reviewing. So much information and new angles to cons...

★★★★★

Skunk at the Garden Party 2024/02/01

Literary Forensics

Loved the inaugural podcast! Another insightful discussion; I always come away with a greater appreciation for these books. An excellent forum for asp...

★★★★★

Save Science 2024/02/01

Episode One complete and hoping for many more

Gary, Mira, and Whitney delivered a great podcast. Good style, excellent content, and well reasoned thoughts for us writers to consider. Waiting for t...

check all reviews on apple podcasts