#PodcastersForJustice Award-winning author and filmmaker, Priyanka Kumar, spoke to me about the language of cinema, her Zen leanings, returning to the solace of nature, and her latest, "Conversations with Birds." Priyanka Kumar is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts and an alumna of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. She is also the award-winning writer, director, and producer of the feature documentary The Song of the Little Road, starring Martin Scorsese and Ravi Shankar. Her latest is Conversations with Birds, a Publishers Weekly “Top Ten Nonfiction Book for Fall 2022,” a Bookshop.org “Read Outside the Big Five” selection, and Apple, November Best Books of the Month, and been described in a Kirkus, starred review as, “An eloquent depiction of how birding engenders a deep love of our ecosystems and a more profound understanding of ourselves." Priyanka's debut novel, Take Wing and Fly Here, was published in 2013 to critical acclaim, and her essays and criticism have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and many others.  Stay calm and write on ... Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please "Follow" us to automatically see new interviews. In this file Priyanka Kumar and I discussed: How to find the perfect cover art Growing up in the most biodiverse part of the world Why we face unprecedented distraction The importance of bird song How technology rewires our creative spirit  Why you need to replace your insipid lawn with xeriscaping And a lot more! Show Notes: priyankakumar.com Conversations with Birds By Priyanka Kumar (Amazon) Priyanka Kumar Author Page on Amazon Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices