EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:01:50 Behind the work
00:04:40 Ice cream
00:07:20 The significance of the platform Debutiful today
00:10:24 Balancing writing and community building
00:13:00 Why Emma writes
00:15:00 Career surprises so far and lessons learned
00:20:57 In service of community with boundaries
00:26:48 How Debutiful works
00:30:09 Emma on FAT SWIM
00:31:26 What Emma has learned about her writing over three books
00:34:15 On readers
00:36:46 How Blue Stoop supports the Philly writing community
00:39:59 What writers should know
00:53:24 Questions from Listeners
EPISODE GUESTS
Adam Vitcavage is the founder of Debutiful. His work has appeared in Electric Literature, Paste Magazine, The Millions, and the anthology Living, Together: Reimagining Community in the Age of Disconnection. Electric Literature has called him “the champion of debut authors” for his work covering debut books, and the Debutiful podcast was named a Best Book Podcast by BookRiot, Town & Country, and SheReads. He lives in Denver with his wife.
Emma Copley Eisenberg is the nationally bestselling author of the novel HOUSEMATES, nominated for a Lambda Literary Award in Lesbian Fiction and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Prize, as well as the nonfiction book THE THIRD RAINBOW GIRL, a New York Times Notable Book and Editor’s Choice. Her fiction, essays, and criticism have appeared widely including in The Yale Review, Granta, The Paris Review, The New Republic, The Cut, TIME, The New York Times Review of Books, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. She lives in Philadelphia, where she co-founded Blue Stoop, a community hub for the literary arts, and is a 2026 Pew Foundation fellow. She’s received fellowships and residencies from Yaddo, Bread Loaf, Tin House and others, and has taught creative writing at Wesleyan University, Haverford College, Bryn Mawr College, Temple University and independently. Her new book of fiction, FAT SWIM, which includes the Pushcart Prize-winning title story, was published by Random House on April 28, 2026.
ABOUT THE HOST
Randy Winston is an artist and curator who serves as Creative Director of Fiction at The Black List, and formerly served as Director of Writing Programs at The Center for Fiction, where he managed, curated, and directed the production of all writing courses, the illustrious First Novel Prize, the famed Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowship, and the highly sought Writers Studio membership. Prior to his work at The Center, Winston served as Fiction Editor of Slice Literary Magazine for six years and has over ten years of executive admin experience in higher education. Before his MFA, Randy served as editor-in-chief of, formerly Southern Polytechnic State University, now Kennesaw State University’s online and print student publication, in Marietta, Georgia. He is a 2016 graduate of the MFA program in Creative Writing (Fiction) at The New School. A former Orion Magazine trustee, Winston sits on the board at WriteOn NYC.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Read The Acknowledgements is an educational live visual podcast designed for book and writing professionals to share their industry experiences and help give writers a clear picture of the ecosystem that is publishing.
This podcast series exists, in part, to fundraise for writers and literary non-profits in need. Attendance is free, and we encourage viewers and listeners to make donations to writer support funds such as the Authors League Fund and Baldwin for the Arts.
Always available on Apple and Spotify.
Read the Acknowledgments is brought to you by The Black List, LLC.
TITLE(S) MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE
FAT SWIM by Emma Copley Eisenberg
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