Funds for Bookworm are provided in part by Lannin Foundation.

Boots!

Where would we be without books?

Where would we be without good?

No, Timberd.

It's a rhetorical question, sir.

But where would we be without books?

From KCRW and KCRW.com, I'm Michael Silverblatt, and welcome to Bookworm.

Today I have an exciting show because I have two literary people, neither of whom I've known before.

Although the magazine Freeman's has had four previous issues, this issue, edited by John Freeman, as they all are, is the best new writing on California.

And one of the people in this issue is Robin Cost Lewis.

She is the Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, and she is the author of a book of poetry that won the National

Book Award called Voyage of the Sable Venus. And just as I'd never read Freemans before,

although Voyage of the Sable Venus won the National Book Award, I hadn't looked at it before.

So I want to thank you both for being here.

Now, first of all, John Freeman, can you tell us what kind of magazine is Freeman's, a different subject with each issue?

Yeah, for five years I edited Granta, and I liked having a theme for each issue.

It was like a handle for a suitcase.

And so for my magazine, when I started it up, I thought it would just make it easier to carry around.

And the first issue, I didn't know what the theme would be, but then the first couple submissions coalesced around a rival.

And it sort of was off and running.

And the others were family and home.

...