Praise for Word by Word:

"Word by Word is the writers' Fresh Air. I count on Jordan Rosenfeld to keep the program going as it contributes not only to the literary life of the Bay Area, but, beyond that, to the quality of public radio, which, without such programs, would consist overwhelming of News and political commentary."

--Lynn Freed.Author of five novels, and, most recently, a collection of stories, THE CURSE OF THE APPROPRIATE MAN. READING, WRITING & LEAVING HOME, essays, will be published by Harcourt in Fall, 2005

“Word by word is a wonderful program with a terrific host who knows how to question writers with intelligence and tact and to get them to talk about their work. It is an opportunity for listeners to get to know writers and their work in some depth. Word by Word performs and important service for the community at a time when writers need to speak out and to be heard more than ever.”
–Sheila Kohler, author of five novels and three books of short stories.

“Recently, I was lucky to be a guest on Ms. Rosenfeld's program, talking about a book, an anthology, I've edited. Thanks to her our conversation -- at least her part of it -- was marvelously informed and energetic and surely of interest to all who were listening. For me, it was delightful fun. Her ambition is a keen and necessary one and it deserves, it demands, generous support.”
–Douglas Bauer, author of Dexterity & Editor of the anthology, "Prime Times."

“Congratulations on getting a good new program onto the airwaves--in my experience, radio is the single best medium for reaching people's attention, and I'm always amazed, each time I'm on the air, how many people hear it.
–Jane Hirshfield, Poet.

"I tune into Word by Word to hear interviews with my favorite authors. Jordan Rosenfeld asks the types of questions only a deep reader of fiction can ask, and is a leader in the discussion of today's publishing amid reports of a dwindling readership."

–Susan Henderson, Managing Editor of NIGHT TRAIN literary magazine, a recipient of an Academy of American Poets award, and a featured author in McSweeney's Books The Future Dictionary of America.

"I have followed Jordan Rosenfeld's career since it started and believe that her imaginative initiatives on behalf of good writing should be given all the support they deserve."
--Duncan Campbell, special correspondent of The Guardian in London.

As a writer whose work has been featured on Word by Word, I am deeply grateful that such a forum exists, for both the sake of discussion and exhibition. While there are other public radio shows that present good writing, both on a national and a local level, they are almost universally devoted to the work of writers so well-established that being featured is merely another line on a résumé for the authors. Word by Word, by contrast, is strongly focused on *working* writers, not merely prestige -- and thus provides invaluable insight to listeners used to hearing the more traditional prose offerings. The show's breadth of view and lack of elitism, coupled with its producers' very rigorous eye for artistic excellence, are in fact unique.

For aspiring writers and passionate readers, Word By Word provides much-need intelligent discussion of the art seldom heard on even NPR's airwaves. When I speak with writers in other countries, they invariably express astonishment at the sheer numbers of writers, and good ones, in the United States, as compared to other industrialized countries. They want to know what our society, what our educational system, do to produce so much creativity. In my estimation, it is not the adulation accorded to the John Irvings and Tom Wolfes that spur Americans to write, but the opportunity through writing to communicate with isolated others throughout a vast land.

Almost half of all Americans live outside of cities, in rural places where readers and writers both tend to be isolated. Word By Word creates an airwave-based community forum for those who love literature -- and those who may come to love it.
--Novelist Anne Mini, Ph.D.'s memoir, Is That You, Pumpkin? Love, Loss, and the Last Passions of Philip K. Dick will come out in 2006.

As a devoted listener to "Word by Word," I can say that its classic simplicity--eavesdropping on host Jordan Rosenfeld and a writer guest's lively, intelligent conversation about the creation of literature--would win over any skeptic about its value in today's soundbite times. Programs like these are crucial for our nation's cultural development: they are what public radio is all about.
--Emily Bloch, writer and editor in Amherst, Massachusettts.

Find out what the buzz is all about! Word by Word airs the first and third Weds. of EVERY MONTH. Listen in streaming live online: www.krcb.org (click "listen" at top). And soon, ON-DEMAND. Next show: March 16th, 7pm pacific time. Tom Bissell, author of "God Lives in St. Petersburg" and "Chasing the Sea."