January 18, 2005 - First of five Literary Friendships with Garrison Keillor. Robert Bly and Donald Hall. 2 poets, 50 years, 3,000 letters; Robert Bly and Donald Hall are two of the leading figures in American letters.
February 16, 2005 - Dsicussion held Wednesday, February 16th, 2005. Married writers with ten novels and four children. Michael Chabon is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and most recently, the novella "The Final Solution: A Story of Detection." He is at work on a thriller set in an imaginary world inspired by Franklin D. Roosevelt's short-lived plan during WWII to create a Jewish homeland in Alaska. Ayelet Waldman is a public defender-turned-novelist and has published five detective thrillers in the "Mommy-Track" mystery series. She is also author of the novel "Daughter's Keeper. "Chabon and Waldman met on a blind date eleven years ago and were engaged to be married three weeks later. He writes at night; she writes during the day. They live in California with their four young children.
March 4, 2005 - Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, worked as a business executive for many years-eventually becoming Vice President of General Foods-before turning to literature full time. He is author of three books of poetry, the controversial best seller "Can Poetry Matter? Essays on Poetry and American Culture" and most recently "Disappearing Ink: Poetry at the End of Print Culture." Kay Ryan is author of five collections of poetry. After years of being ignored by the poetry establishment, she recently won one of its most prestigious prizes: the $100,000 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. Her most recent book is "Say Uncle." Gioia published the first essay on Ryan's poetry; when he and his family moved to California, he sent her a postcard saying he hoped they'd cross paths. Both California poets with working-class origins, they became good friends.