Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 1 84 THE BEST PART ABOUT HOSTING THE WRITE QUESTION IS: that I get to do something I know (read, have conversations with authors about their work, utilize my connections in the publishing industry) in conjunction with some- thing I know very little about (radio—I'm still so new to it, and I have a lot to learn!). In that sense, it's the best kind of job to have. There are equal levels of comfort and discomfort when I get in front of the mic every week. MY FAVORITE KIND OF BOOK TO READ IS: one that skirts genre in interesting ways. I received my M.A. in poetry, and I began studying writing seriously as an undergrad by writing non-fiction; but I find that the books and the writing that I'm drawn to most are those that refuse categorization— whether that's refusing to be called poetry and prose, or whether it's what we know to be "creative" writing and "academic" or "scholarly" work bucking those constraints. I FEEL MONTANA IS DIFFERENT THAN ANY OTHER STATE BE- CAUSE: it holds as large of a place in the imagination as it does physical space. Montana is made up of vast landscapes, both mountainous and prairie, and the way that writers have written about Montana, and the way that Montana sits in the imag- ination(s) of the rest of the world, rivals that beauty and that vastness. THE BEST MONTANA-CENTRIC BOOKS I'VE EVER READ ARE: Oof. "Best" and "ever" are such intimidating words! Here's a partial list: Perma Red by Debra Magpie Earling; Winter by Rick Bass; Another Attempt at Rescue by M.L. Smoker; The Triggering Town by Richard Hugo (Hugo, this book, and Montana are inextri- cable in my mind); Breaking Clean by Judy Blunt; The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth; Badluck Way by Bryce An- drews… I also really love my copy of Roadside History of Montana by Don Spritzer. (I will have a different answer to this prompt every day of the week, I think.) THE THING ABOUT BEING ON THE RADIO THAT MOST PEO- PLE DON'T EXPECT IS: I'm not sure what most people expect, but for me, I was surprised at how my voice became so easily disembodied, so separate from my ideas about myself—my literal voice, my personality, and the way that I conduct or articulate myself. I've had to put aside many facets of my ego in order to begin to feel comfortable in this role, and that com- fort is still slow-growing. M O N T A N A N Y O U S H O U L D K N O W ! L A U R E N K O R N HOST OF MONTANA PUBLIC RADIO'S "THE WRITE QUESTION" I'M OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE OF OUR STATE BECAUSE: I have to be. I'm pessimistic and cynical about enough right now. For Montana, I reserve my optimism. In addition to being the host of Montana Public Radio's "The Write Ques- tion," LAUREN KORN has also the director of the Montana Book Festival, the director of content for The Adroit Journal, and has a Master of Arts in creative writing, specializing in poetry.

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