Oscar Casares is the author of one very well received novel, Amigoland and a book of short stories, Brownsville Stories. Oscar looks and talks every inch an author from Hollywood’s central casting. In our conversation he tells us how he got started as a writer after serving in a Madman type of advertising firm in Houston and quitting to take up full time writing after he discovered his gift for storytelling inherited by a gifted uncle who used to tell him tall tales when he was young. Following the realization that colleagues and friends felt that the world he had been used to growing up in Brownsville Texas was some kind of alien planet he was determined to bring to life that world in his breakthrough Brownsville stories. Asked what advice he gives to his writing students, (Oscar teaches writing at the University of Texas) he tells them no one outside of their intimate circle is in any haste to read their writing. You have to make them care by making the stories you tell unforgettable. We hope you enjoy this stimulating interview with a natural born story teller. We certainly did!

In this podcast we welcome our new co-host Erika Jones

Erika is an independent film maker who resides in Los Angeles and loves the idea of the way books can be used as a vehicle for social change. More about her passions for literature and meeting the authors who want to make a difference in later episodes.