Uploaded July 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Lidia Yuknavitch is the nationally bestselling author of the novels The Book of Joan, The Small Backs of Children, and Dora: A Headcase, the story collection Verge, and the memoir The Chronology of Water. She is the recipient of two Oregon Book Awards and has been a finalist for the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize and the PEN Center USA Creative Nonfiction Award. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
“One life is all we have, and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are, and to live without belief—that is a fate more terrible than dying.” - The Book of Joan
Having grit and an unwillingness to surrender as an artist
False notions around the idea of transcendence
Social conditioning
Patriarchy
The umbilical cord as a metaphoric symbol in Lidia’s writing
Objective correlatives
Intergenerational trauma
Her writing center “Corporeal Writing”
How her newest book “Thrust” is a love letter dedicated to her son and mother
“The edges of everything are always shimmering” - Lidia
Enzo circles
Having a competitive spirit as an athlete
Lidia feeling comfort in the water
The connection between colonization and the way we view the gender binary
Lidia’s process of researching while she is writing a book
People / Artists Mentioned:
VOWWS (Band)
Jesse Draxler (Visual Artist)
David Lynch (Filmmaker)
Melissa Febos (Writer)
Terese Marie Mailhot (Writer)
Judith Butler (Philosopher)
Danez Smith (Poet)
David Cronenberg (Filmmaker)
Viggo Mortensen (Actor)
Kristen Stewart (Actor)
Jane Campion (Director)
Philip K. Dick (Writer)
Brandon Cronenberg (Director)
Percy Bysshe Shelley (Poet)
Elizabeth Moss (Actor)
Margaret Atwood (Writer)
Books Mentioned:
The Misfit’s Manifesto
Thrust
The Book of Joan
It Didn’t Start With You
Frankenstein
Films / TV Shows Mentioned:
eXistenZ (1999)
Crimes of the Future (2022)
Titane (2021)
Blade Runner (1982)
Dead Ringers (1988)
Possessor (2020)
Mary Shelley (2017)
Shirley (2020)
The Handmaid’s Tale (2017)
artistdecoded.com
lidiayuknavitch.net
instagram.com/lidiamiles
twitter.com/LidiaYuknavitch
Artist Decoded Patreon: patreon.com/artistdecoded
Originally Posted 7.4.2022
Lidia Yuknavitch is the nationally bestselling author of the novels The Book of Joan, The Small Backs of Children, and Dora: A Headcase, the story collection Verge, and the memoir The Chronology of Water. She is the recipient of two Oregon Book Awards and has been a finalist for the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize and the PEN Center USA Creative Nonfiction Award. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
“One life is all we have, and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are, and to live without belief—that is a fate more terrible than dying.” - The Book of Joan
Having grit and an unwillingness to surrender as an artist
False notions around the idea of transcendence
Social conditioning
Patriarchy
The umbilical cord as a metaphoric symbol in Lidia’s writing
Objective correlatives
Intergenerational trauma
Her writing center “Corporeal Writing”
How her newest book “Thrust” is a love letter dedicated to her son and mother
“The edges of everything are always shimmering” - Lidia
Enzo circles
Having a competitive spirit as an athlete
Lidia feeling comfort in the water
The connection between colonization and the way we view the gender binary
Lidia’s process of researching while she is writing a book
People / Artists Mentioned:
VOWWS (Band)
Jesse Draxler (Visual Artist)
David Lynch (Filmmaker)
Melissa Febos (Writer)
Terese Marie Mailhot (Writer)
Judith Butler (Philosopher)
Danez Smith (Poet)
David Cronenberg (Filmmaker)
Viggo Mortensen (Actor)
Kristen Stewart (Actor)
Jane Campion (Director)
Philip K. Dick (Writer)
Brandon Cronenberg (Director)
Percy Bysshe Shelley (Poet)
Elizabeth Moss (Actor)
Margaret Atwood (Writer)
Books Mentioned:
The Misfit’s Manifesto
Thrust
The Book of Joan
It Didn’t Start With You
Frankenstein
Films / TV Shows Mentioned:
eXistenZ (1999)
Crimes of the Future (2022)
Titane (2021)
Blade Runner (1982)
Dead Ringers (1988)
Possessor (2020)
Mary Shelley (2017)
Shirley (2020)
The Handmaid’s Tale (2017)
artistdecoded.com
lidiayuknavitch.net
instagram.com/lidiamiles
twitter.com/LidiaYuknavitch
Artist Decoded Patreon: patreon.com/artistdecoded
Originally Posted 7.4.2022
