It's spring at WORDS TO GO and for those of you looking forward to summer vacations, don't let today's feature story fool you. It's called "Travel Plans," but Carole warns that this weird assortment of self-indulgent celebrity hounds may be going nowhere fast. Even so, Winnipeg writer David Koulack keeps their pretentions moving right along with droll wit and keen observation. We love choice words at WORDS TO GO — if you're a writer, send us your best published prose and poetry, fiction or non. For guidelines, go to http://www.carolegiangrande.com/podcasts-giangrande.html 

Welcome to WORDS TO GO Podcast #40! Curl up close to your computer/MP3 player, and listen up as Carole intros an outstanding new talent, Paulo da Costa from Portugal via the west coast of Canada. And if there's still a chill in the air where you are, his story set in the heat of Angola will warm you up with its rich language and powerful characters. Carole dedicates this podcast to an old literary friend and gentleman of the writer's world, a wonderful agent and mentor who's left us. Whatever part of the world you hail from, we're always keen to read your published prose and poetry, fiction and "non" on air. Check out guidelines for submission at www.carolegiangrande.com.

Welcome to our podcast of WORDS TO GO, where Carole's bundled up some fine poetry and prose to warm you on these gray, late-winter days. In the sartorial department, poet and novelist Susan Glickman muses on the wonders of sneakers flying high, stray gentlemen's shoes and hats that can't keep a straight face! And the strands of memory weave together in an essay by Patricia Schultheis on a childhood memory jarred loose by a stopped car and a feared word spoken on the radio. Poetry or prose, Carole loves reading your published words on air. Check our submission guidelines at www.carolegiangrande.com/podcasts-giangrande.html

Welcome to our first podcast of the new year, and while the weather outside is bone-chilling, here at our WORDS TO GO studio, we always keep the kettle on and the fireplace crackling. So make yourself at home! Today Carole's given over the show to a remarkable piece of writing — Meredith Andrew's surreal and thoughtful reflection on the world of 9/11 and after. This inventive story made it into the prestigious Bridport Prize Anthology (2004), published in the U.K. Whether or not you've won a prize, we love reading your published work. Send us your short fiction, poetry, essays or novel excerpts. For submission guidelines, go to http://www.carolegiangrande.com/podcasts-giangrande.html 

Welcome to our holiday-season podcast on WORDS TO GO -- curl up in front of the fire, dear listener, pour yourself an eggnog (or other heartwarming spirits) and listen to some fine poetry and prose by two award-winning Canadian authors. Carole reads three poems by Susan Glickman from her upcoming collection, along with a novel excerpt by Erika Rummel set in Vienna at the end of World War II. Thanks to all of you, writers and listeners both, for making 2011 a year of fabulous reading and wonderful new literary discoveries. Send us your published work; guidelines are available at http://www.carolegiangrande.com/podcasts-giangrande.html 

Tune in for our second anniversary edition of WORDS TO GO! Ten thousand downloads in sixteen countries, and we're on a roll! So plug in those earbuds and join Carole and our party-crashers in the studio with a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday" — plus edible electronics from the Internet Bakery, and more. On a reflective note, listen to a stunning work of short fiction set in South Africa, from Dawn Promislow's first collection, Jewels. We love reading and sharing your published work with our listeners. For submission guidelines, go to www.carolegiangrande.com/podcasts-giangrande.html

Join WORDS TO GO as we push the boundaries of good taste right into the stratosphere of excellent literary choice. Time for a frisky frolic through erotic fantasy in North America's biggest shopping mall with a delightful prize-winning story by Darlene Barry Quaife. Dear listener, do you belong to the 99 percent? Are you occupying a park somewhere without the comfort of a good read? Carole goes online to find out what the lucky folks at Occupy Wall Street are borrowing from their onsite lending library. Whether you're occupying a patch of ground or hunched over your keyboard, we love reading your published work. Check out guidelines at carolegiangrande.com/podcasts. 

Summer's still with us at WORDS TO GO — join us as Carole reads a subtle story by Patricia Schultheis that's not quite as amusing as it first appears. A couple's anxious domestic banter unloads a range of emotions around the story's absent central character — their son, Peter, who springs to life in telling details. And in memory of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, Carole reads a moving poem by Deborah DeNicola which re-imagines that calamity by running it in reverse. Whether it's prose or poetry, we're always looking for your published work, so visit www.carolegiangrande.com/podcasts for guidelines.

This week, WORDS TO GO tries out a new format — all writers, all the time! (So where are Carole's book reviews? You'll find them on The Thoughtful Blogger: www.carolesbooktalk.wordpress.com). This week, we're featuring the irrepressible Steve Pitt as he shares adventures - real and imagined - with his teenage son and omnipresent family pooch. Plus short fiction from Sara Cassidy who explores both a young woman's loss of a beloved horse, and a new relationship that's just as gentle. Go to our Facebook page and let us know what you think of the new format. For submission guidelines, visit www.carolegiangrande.com.

Join Carole in a feisty post-vacation mood as she considers converting some of her red-hot summer reading picks into wood pulp and pencil shavings. But we digress. On the plus side, Carole features the exquisite poetry of Claudia Coutu-Radmore who writes from the point of view of her ancestors in New France. Hang in for a review of two first-rate debut novellas, both studies of two very different types of man. Carole loves reading your published fiction, poetry and essays on air. Find us on Facebook at WORDS TO GO or visit carolegiangrande.com.