Our guest this morning is none other than Ellen O'Connell Whittet. Her memoir What You Become in Flight is coming out with Melville House Press distributed by Penguin Random House on April 14th. She’s written for the Paris Review, New York City Ballet, and Buzzfeed and is the winner of Prairie Schooners Virginia Faulkner Award. On top of having a knack for nonfiction and journalism, Whittet is also a lecturer within the writing program at the University of California Santa Barbara. She shares her love for self-expression by drawing on her past as a ballerina and how a severe injury drove her to become a writer. She finds joy in Big Sur and Los Angeles and grew up along the Santa Barbara coast. A journey of self-discovery and catharsis, Whittet recognizes the power of word.&nbsp;

Golden State Writers turn California dreams into literature. We pose the question of how California can move, develop, and effect the writer. Through a series of interviews with some of the Golden State's local artists, we hope to find the answer. 
Golden State Writers is produced at the University of California Santa Barbara and supported by the Diana Raab Writer’s Fellowship, and the College of Creative Studies.