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Finding Inspiration Everywhere: Meet Author Carrie Knowles

Writing has been a central part of Carrie Knowles’ life since she was a young girl. She pursued creative writing as her major in college, even though it went against her father’s wishes.Host Frank Stasio meets writer and 2014 North Carolina Piedmont Laureate Carrie Knowles.

She paid her way through school with gigs writing ad copy and commercial jingles. And once she became a mother to three young kids, she helped to support her family with freelancing. Memories from childhood, living abroad and questions about art have all provided fertile ground for her fiction writing. Knowles has also spent a large part of her life working to ignite the creative spark in others, encouraging them to find inspiration in the everyday. As the 2014 North Carolina Piedmont Laureate in short fiction, she held 40 presentations to assist people on their writing journeys.

She is also the author of “A Self-Guided Workbook and Gentle Tour on Learning How to Write from Start-to-Finish” (Owl Canyon Press/2020). Host Frank Stasio talks to Knowles about her passion for teaching and writing, her two recent books and how her degrees in psychology inform her what she puts on the page.

Note: This program originally aired January 13, 2020.

 

Knowles' latest headshot.
Courtesy of Carrie Knowles /
Knowles' latest headshot.
Knowles, her husband and their grandchild.
Courtesy of Carrie Knowles /
Knowles, her husband and their grandchild.
The cover of Knowles' forthcoming book, 'A Self-Guided Workbook and Gentle Tour on Learning How to Write from Start-to-Finish.'
Courtesy of Owl Canyon Press /
The cover of Knowles' forthcoming book, 'A Self-Guided Workbook and Gentle Tour on Learning How to Write from Start-to-Finish.'

Copyright 2020 North Carolina Public Radio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
Amanda Magnus grew up in Maryland and went to high school in Baltimore. She became interested in radio after an elective course in the NYU journalism department. She got her start at Sirius XM Satellite Radio, but she knew public radio was for her when she interned at WNYC. She later moved to Madison, where she worked at Wisconsin Public Radio for six years. In her time there, she helped create an afternoon drive news magazine show, called Central Time. She also produced several series, including one on Native American life in Wisconsin. She spends her free time running, hiking, and roller skating. She also loves scary movies.