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Backspace: Essays on Everything with Michelle Kennedy

Backspace: Essays on Everything with Michelle Kennedy

By: Michelle Kennedy
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About this listen

 Hi! I am Michelle Kennedy and I am an author, a mom of many, a lover of knits and a devoted reader and writer of the essay.

Backspace features essays on life, love, parenting and more - a literary experience in the time it takes to wade through the pick up line at school - or get to the store. Join us every week for new essays and new discussions on great writing - and not so great writing.

Read the essays at my website: mishkennedy.com

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/backspace-essays-on-everything-with-michelle-kennedy--6186916/support.2024 Art Hygiene & Healthy Living Literary History & Criticism
Episodes
  • Ernest Hemingway: The Art of the Short Story

    Ernest Hemingway: The Art of the Short Story
    Jul 28 2025
    In this episode of Backspace: Essays on Everything, host Michelle Kennedy dives into Ernest Hemingway’s timeless essay The Art of the Short Story—a behind-the-scenes look at how Papa approached storytelling, discipline, and emotional restraint on the page.

    What can modern writers learn from his brutal clarity and iceberg theory?
    Why does so much of what he doesn’t say still cut to the bone?

    Tune in as Michelle unpacks Hemingway’s six rules for writing, reflects on their relevance today, and explores how the short story remains a radical form of art in an attention-deficit world. Whether you're a writer, a lit nerd, or just Hemingway-curious, this episode is a love letter to craft, clarity, and the quiet revolution of the short form.

    📚 Mentioned in the episode:
    • The Art of the Short Story by Ernest Hemingway
    • The iceberg theory
    • Hemingway’s writing habits and discipline
    • Michelle’s favorite short stories (and why they still work)
    🔗 Subscribe for more literary deep dives, personal essays, and reflections on writing and life.

    #Hemingway #ShortStories #WritingTips #Podcast #Literature #BackspacePodcast #MichelleKennedy

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/backspace-essays-on-everything-with-michelle-kennedy--6186916/support.
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    40 mins
  • Reading Joan Didion’s Holy Water – Stillness, Beauty, and the Art of Noticing

    Reading Joan Didion’s Holy Water – Stillness, Beauty, and the Art of Noticing
    Jul 2 2025
    In this episode of Backspace: Essays on Everything, writer and narrator Michelle Kennedy reads Joan Didion’s luminous essay Holy Water, a meditation on infrastructure, awe, and the strange poetry of control. Michelle also shares her personal reflections on Didion’s work, the beauty of paying attention, and what it means to slow down in a world that rarely allows it. If you love literary essays, quiet revelations, or simply the power of a well-read voice, this episode is for you.

    🔸 Holy Water originally appeared in Didion’s 1992 essay collection, After Henry
    🔸 Narrated and discussed by Michelle Kennedy, author of Without a Net
    🔸 Subscribe for more literary readings, personal essays, and conversations about writing, voice, and meaning 💻 Learn more at https://mishkennedy.com
    🎧 Subscribe & share wherever you listen to podcasts

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/backspace-essays-on-everything-with-michelle-kennedy--6186916/support.
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    27 mins
  • Slow. The. Fuck. Down.

    Slow. The. Fuck. Down.
    Apr 21 2025
    Slow the fuck down.

    This is my movement.

    Slow the fuck down. I have to tell myself this now. Mostly because I just don’t have the physical energy to keep up with my brain now, in my 50’s. But I used to. And I exhausted myself more than once doing it. Slow the fuck down. The only thing I can still do as fast as my brain wants it to is type. I can get frantic. I have been frantic. Many times. Or I’ve felt it but you didn’t see it because I am so good at hiding my freneticism. Sometimes I feel it. Like my body wants to be frantic - and I have no reason to be. For many years, my life was frantic whether I wanted it to be that way or not. With eight kids total and usually 4 or 5 or 6 underfoot at any given time, I am used to being busy.

    Read the rest here!

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/backspace-essays-on-everything-with-michelle-kennedy--6186916/support.
    Show More Show Less
    14 mins
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