Join Michelle Blackwell, for Upwelling, where she interviews authors, poets, playwrights, historians, and songwriters about their recently published works. Get insights into their creative process and writing as well as publishing tips. Upwelling brings the richness of local literature to the airwaves.
Upwelling: Mario Dell' Olio, Elizabeth Kirkpatrick-Vrenious
Mario Dell' Olio's award-winning memoir, Letters from Italy, tells his parents' love story across continents and oceans through the letters they wrote to each other. It chronicles the struggles of immigration and finding their place in America. Elizabeth Kirpatrick-Vrenios', Concerto for an Empty Frame explores the pain of maternal loss and the healing she found in her music and poetry.
30 Sept 2026
Upwelling: Ericka Lutz and Karin C. Uphoff
Ericka Lutz reads from her short story collection San Andreas. In this collection of stories set in the fictional town of San Andreas de Pacifico, Ericka Lutz captures the quintessential culture of Northern California coastal communities. Lutz also describes her publishing journey and her plans for more short story collections. Poet and herbalist Karin C. Uphoff reads from her new collection Wild Heart. Her poetry reflects her love of nature, while capturing childhood moments and the heartbreak of a clear-cut forest. Wild Heart takes you on a journey of discovery.
22 Sept 2026
Upwelling: Malcolm Macdonald, Gwyneth Moreland, Morgan Daniel
Local journalist and historian Malcolm Macdonald reads from his collection of stories about colorful Mendocino settlers from his 2022 book, Mendocino History Exposed. Local musicians Gwyneth Moreland and Morgan Daniel discuss songwriting and their 2022 release, Foxglove. This episode is from season one and was originally released on November 30th, 2022.
29 Jul 2026
Upwelling: Fran B. Schwartz and C. Rowan Hawthorn
Fran B. Schwartz discusses her novel, Mila Eclipsed. A story about a child hidden during the Holocaust discovering her family history sixty years later. Local poet C. Rowen Hawthorn will read three of her provocative poems touching on female empowerment, living through today's geopolitical chaos, and the difficulty of keeping a loved one's last wishes.
29 Apr 2026
Upwelling: Malcolm Macdonald and Joycelyn Trigg
Mendocino historian Malcolm Macdonald discusses his recent book, The Mendocino Outlaws, and local poet Joycelyn Trigg reads from her poetry collection Vital Records.
The Mendocino Outlaws chronicles a gang of outlaws who murdered and terrorized Mendocino coastal residents in 1879 and 1880, and the heroic locals, including Doc Standley, who pursued them and brought them to trial.
Vital Records melds the two worlds of the South and the Northern Pacific Coast. It explores family dynamics, tragedy, and the combination of two cultures.
31 Dec 2025
Upwelling: A New Years Eve Special With Jean Hegland and Maggie Watson
Internationally known author Jean Hegland from Season 2, reading from her book Still Time. Still Time is a book about a man and his family coming to terms with dementia and the end of life. And Fort Bragg fiduciary Maggie Watson from Season 4, about her end-of-life planning workbook, A Graceful Farewell.
29 Oct 2025
Upwelling: Lori Pappas and Blake More
Lori Pappas and Blake More, two rebels with something to say. Pappas reads from her inspirational memoir, The Magic of Yes, about childhood trauma, being an entrepreneur, and starting an NGO in Ethiopia. It's a book about finding the wise woman within you. More explores the human condition with her poetry collection, Dystopia Unplugged, a collection of searing poems and imagery that capture the pandemic and the division of our times.
Michelle Blackwell interviews Alyssa Ballard about her long-running video series on TikTok and YouTube, and her recent feature at the Mendocino Film Festival. Frei Barty, the Mendocino County Youth Poet Laureate, will share some of his recent work. And Maggie Watson will talk about the workbook she published that helps people prepare for the end-of-life. Upwelling brings the richness of local literature to the airwaves.
30 Apr 2025
Upwelling: David Holper and Maureen Eppstein
Two local authors David Holper and Maureen Eppstein tackle difficult subjects. David Holper’s Church of the Very Last Chance combines political satire and magical realism. It follows the rise of a middle-class Russian student from lost soul to international religious leader. Maureen Eppstein’s most recent poetry collection, Daughter is memoir through poetry. The three poems she’ll read are about the difficult and painful loss of a stillborn daughter. Maureen grieves on the page, and we grieve with her.
29 Jan 2025
Upwelling: Philip Zwerling and Devreaux Baker
Phillip Zwerling’s Hollywood tell-all, In Search of the Thin Man, explores the lives and work of William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Dashiell Hammett as well as the censorship and politics of old Hollywood. Zwerling writes about how fascism in Germany infiltrated Hollywood in the 1930s. Mendocino County’s first poet laureate Devereaux Baker. Reads three new poems including the award-winning poem The War Tunnel, which explores the loss of those whose every possession is obliterated in war and was partly inspired by the Middle East conflict.
18 Nov 2024
Upwelling: Emily Lloyd-Jones and Ginny Rorby
Emily Lloyd-Jones talks about her two recent releases Unspoken Magic for middle-grade readers and The Wild Huntress for young-adult readers. Ginny Rorby discusses her recent novel Girl Under Glass for young-adult readers.
Unspoken Magic is the second title in a delightful middle-grade series set in the magical town of Aldermere. We first met our main characters, Fin, Eddie, and Cedar in Unseen Magic. The town of Aldermere, nestled in the redwood forest, relies on tourists to keep its economy going, but it also has a secret. And that secret is in danger of discovery from some zealous podcasters. The three kids led by Fin, happen across a lost “baby” magical creature the day after the podcasters come to town. They try to both hide the magic and to find the baby’s family so it can go home. The podcasters have other plans.
The Wild Huntress is the third book set in the Welsh mythological universe. We revisit the character Blodeuyn who played a bit part in book two. Here her backstory comes alive and pushes her to find a cure for her mother’s memory sickness. In The Wild Huntress she calls herself Branwen, because if the monsters know her real name it gives them power. We also meet two princes from rival nations. The three of them join together to attempt the impossible without understanding the cost of the prize they seek.
Ginny Rorby's Girl Under Glass is the culmination of fifty years of rumination and is written for young adult and adult readers. It chronicles the life of a teenage girl living with her alcoholic mother in Fort Bragg, California. Kelsey gets herself into trouble on more than one occasion. Through a court-ordered work program, she meets Hobby a retired botanist who is trying to recreate Cleve Baxter’s experiments on plant communication. Hobby and Kelsey’s relationship starts out rocky. Over time Kelsey’s hard outer shell shows some cracks as the two bond and she finds her worth. Like all of Ginny’s books, the story has twists and turns, mysteries, adventures, lies, and tragedies that tug at the heartstrings.
31 Jul 2024
Upwelling: Lisa Manterfield and Kailyn McCord
A twin sister disappears and resurfaces after fifteen years. As this mystery unravels, we get to know the family, their traumas, and their relationships. Lisa Manterfield reads from her novel, All Our Lies Are True, and talks about her publishing experience. Kailyn McCord will read from her recently published essays and talk about life and birth on the rural Mendocino coast.
29 May 2024
Upwelling: Tuomas Mäkinen and Holly Tannen
Tuomas Mäkinen is a member of a Hindu Ashram in Philo, California. He is also a former punk rocker and an immigrant from Finland. In his first book, he tells the story of his transition from an angst-ridden teenager to a spiritually focused monk. Folklorist and local songwriter, Holly Tannen talks about her recent CD release and her love of traditional music.
30 Apr 2024
Upwelling: Norma Watkins and Sidney Regelbrugge
An interview with author Norma Watkins about her novel In Common and Mendocino County 2022 Youth Laureate, Sidney Regelbrugge about her poetry and writing journey.
12 Mar 2024
Upwelling: Ginny Rorby
An interview with award-winning author Ginny Rorby about her novel Like Dust I Rise. Ginny chronicles a family’s struggle to capture the American Dream from the Chicago Stockyards to Texas during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.
1 Feb 2024
Upwelling: Daniel Coshnear and windflower
Daniel Coshnear, winner of a Willa Cather Fiction Award, the Novella Prize, the Missouri Review Editor’s Prize, and the Christopher Isherwood Fellowship, reads from his recently published short story collection, Separation Anxiety. Local poet windflower reads her poetry and discusses her first poetry collection, Age Brings Them Home to Me.
12 Jan 2024
Upwelling: Jean Hegland and Kim Bancroft
Author of Into the Forest, Jean Hegland talks about her novel, Still Time which was rereleased in France, and historian Kim Bancroft delves into her book Writing Themselves Into History which reveals the family life of Emily, Matilda, and HH Bancroft through their own writing.
12 Jan 2024
Upwelling: Tansy Chapman, Maureen Eppstein, Laura Maria Censabella
Author Tansy Chapman talks about her first novel, Rose Gray, Eco Poet Maureen Eppstein about her 2020 poetry collection Horizon Line, and two-time Emmy award-winning writer Laura Maria Censabella about her play, Paradise. Upwelling brings the richness of local literature to the airwaves.
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