Mark Seinfelt Mark Seinfelt

This week my father Frederick Seinfelt returns to Word Patriots. We will briefly discuss the archetypal Bildungsroman “Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship” and several other early German specimens or representatives of the genre and then examine three prominent 20th Century educational or coming of age novels —William Somerset Maugham’s “Of Human Bondage,” Thomas Mann’s “The Magic Mountain” […] The post Word Patriots – Bildungsroman or Coming of Age Novel appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Some writers are known primarily for a single work. Others for the totality of their oeuvre. British-American author Paul West has produced as prolific a canon as any living writer: twenty-five novels, three volumes of poetry, and eighteen works of nonfiction. He is a writer of great distinction and originality and a veritable sorcerer of […] The post Word Patriots – Paul West Early Years appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

In the first quarter of the last century the great men and women of literature were both numerous and grand and they routinely carried out radical and groundbreaking experiments in fictional form. Linguistic virtuosity was the order of the day. Today, we live in a more sedate age, the so-called postmodern era which rejects the […] The post Word Patriots – William H. Gass, “The Tunnel,” and “Middle C” appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

My guest this week on Word Patriots is Laura Bordas, President of Holt Memorial Library in my hometown of Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. Everyday, all across this nation, in small towns and big cities, a wide assortment of individuals battle ceaselessly and untiringly for the cause of the word. These frontline soldiers include teachers, librarians, library staff […] The post Word Patriots – Laura Bordas / Holt Memorial Library appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Devouring lions, ravenous bears, and deadly snakes — these and other animal predators in search of human flesh are a staple of ancient mythology, along with their mythic counterparts — dragons, griffins, gorgons and more. The message is clear: for millennia our ancient human ancestors lived in very real fear of very real predatory animals. […] The post Word Patriots – Paul Trout’s “Deadly Powers” appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Today on Word Patriots we explore the full measure of what this show’s title stands for: the patriotism of those who have come before us, and whose creative acts, and acts of sacrifice and service, have vouchsafed us the promise which is our legacy; and the words which we, the living, use to create an […] The post Word Patriots – H. Scott Conklin on the patriotic necessity to critically analyze and persuasively communicate appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Paradox, irony, the seemingly contradictory are the very stuff of art. Beauty often finds its genesis in the very opposite of beauty. Often the new spark of hope ignites only after an artist has plummeted and touched bottom, been made aware of his own mortality and experienced the dark night of the soul. My study […] The post Word Patriots – Chuck Navasky and One Less Tear appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Word patriots often wear different hats and serve the word in multiple ways. This week’s guest Eugene O’Connor is a perfect example of such a comprehensive and versatile word patriot. A poet and translator, Eugene is also the managing editor and acquiring editor in classics at The Ohio State University Press. His research interests include […] The post Word Patriots – The multifaceted Eugene O’Connor appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Halloween is just around the corner and today’s show marks the halfway point of our inaugural year at Web Talk Radio, a milestone of sorts for my producer Donnie “Turk” Schnars and me. We are going to use the occasion to look both forwards and backwards. In the past six months we have spoken to […] The post Word Patriots – Dr. Turkensteen and Igor-Mark’s Creature appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Welcome fellow word patriots. This week we have a real treat. Novelist Tawni O’Dell will be stopping in to discuss her latest book, 2010’s “Fragile Beasts.” Everyone has heard of Tawni. With the exceptions, perhaps, of the actor Jimmy Stewart and the opera singer Renee Fleming, Tawni O’Dell stands as the most famous artistic figure […] The post Word Patriots – A Chat with Tawni O’Dell appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

This week on Word Patriots, Jason Charnesky returns for one of our periodic shows devoted to past masters, heroic word patriots who overcame great obstacles, who wrote in new and innovative ways, or who defied convention by visiting formerly taboo topics and thereby opened new fields of exploration for literature. A poet and instructor of […] The post Word Patriots – Charnesky on Lowry appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

My guest this week on Word Patriots is Wayne Fields. For more than four decades, Wayne has been a professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis. His scholarly focus includes rhetoric, American literature, non-fiction prose, and American political discourse. He has worn many hats at the university, serving as English department chair, dean […] The post Word Patriots – Fishing With Fields appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

My guest this week on Word Patriots is James Morrow. Morrow is a wry and trenchant satirist in the tradition of Swift, Voltaire, Heller and Vonnegut. The Denver Post has hailed him as Christianity’s Salman Rushdie, only funnier and more sacrilegious. He has won Nebula and World Fantasy Awards and been nominated for both the […] The post Word Patriots – James Morrow, Satirist and Novelist of Ideas appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

My guest this week on Word Patriots is “Dwight Riverbottum.” Dwight Riverbottum is the pen name of an author from Pittsburgh, currently living in NYC. The above sentence, Mr. Riverbottum has written me, “has always reflected the extent of the information I divulge.” He further states, “I can only imagine that this is the manner […] The post Word Patriots – Dwight Riverbottum, First Among Equals appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Throughout history, the perpetrators of holocaust and genocide have offered endless reasons and justifications for their crimes. This week on Word Patriots@Webtalkradio, my guest is Jonathan Maxwell, author of “Murderous Intellectuals: German Elites and the Nazi SS” which explores why so many well-educated professionals willingly joined the Nazi Party as well as the broader topic […] The post Word Patriots – Jonathan Maxwell’s “Murderous Intellectuals: German Elites and the Nazi SS” appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

This week on Word Patriots@Webtalkradio, my guest is Ray Goss, the author of the memoir “Misadventures in Broadcasting: Zany stories from 50 plus years of sports play-by-play.” My preference is, of course, literary fiction. But I’m not a monomaniac. I love all kinds of books. In the sweltering heat of summer, I’m less inclined to […] The post Word Patriots – Ray Goss’ Misadventures in Broadcasting appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

New Englander, WW 2 Navy veteran, footballer, wrestling coach, and pick-up baseball player, Edgar H. Knapp, 89, is exuberance personified, a remarkable and wonderful teacher, a man who has had a life-long love of poetry. He attended Lawrence Academy and Wesleyan University and later taught at Groton and Penn State. In 1965, he edited a […] The post Word Patriots – A Duet—Man of Letters Edgar H. Knapp and his daughter Jacqueline appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

This week on Word Patriots@Webtalkradio, my guest is Theo Matthews, AKA Teddy Kistler, the author of the novel “The Chronicler’s Tale: A Story of the Stories.” Matthews describes himself as “an optimistic hominid and experimental writer who enjoys twisting words until they bruise and turning phrases to their breaking points.” He writes in a sub-genre […] The post Word Patriots – Theo Matthews’ Story of the Stories appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

This week on Word Patriots@Webtalkradio, my guest is Barbara Michel, the author of seventeen books. She is a graduate of the British American School of Writing. Several of her novels have won first-place awards at writers’ workshops and conferences. Her “Colorado Blaze” entry won a national award in “The Writers’ Digest” 2006 contest. While director […] The post Word Patriots – Through A Glass Darkly With Barbara Michel appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

This week on Word Patriots@Webtalkradio, I will be discussing the importance of reading the classics and the poetical works of John Milton with John W. Moore, Jr. John is an Associate Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature at Penn State. A zealous word patriot, he earned his B.A. and M.A. at Boston College and […] The post Word Patriots – Moore on Milton appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.