Kerstin Zilm | soundslikerstin

kalifornische nahaufnahmen - stories off the beaten path

Growing up in Germany’s Black Forest foothills, I loved making up stories. I wrote sitting on my bed, a candle flickering next to me, the radio tuned to my favorite station. I fell in love with radio. I became a journalist. I stopped making up stories. After I turned 50, I found myself sitting next to a candle putting pen to paper more frequently again. Making up stories. Writing poetry. Starting a novel. Why not do both? I asked myself. And now I invite you into the writer’s room where I take my notes.

Reporter Notes from my computer, where I type stories for public radio, Online publications, and print magazines in English und auf Deutsch. Some of them won awards. Hundreds haben sich versendet (evaporated into the air) since I started my radio journey. It was the end of 1989 in Berlin, two weeks after the wall came down.

Poetry-and-Prose Notes from the orange desk with a view of the purple-flower tree where hummingbirds rest on knotty branches. Here, I journal, write poems write poems and short stories, edit drafts of my novel, and wrote notes for “Ein Jahr in Kalifornien”— a published book about my first year as a German-public radio correspondent. It started in February of 2003, less than a month before the Oscars.

Me-And-My-Dog Notes from my standing desk where I write after walks with our Australian-cattle-dog mix, Esty. We found each other during the pandemic in June of 2020. One day, those #morningwalkswithesty-notes will turn into a book.

And then, there are Your-Story Notes, not yet written. I invite you to discover and uncover a story you feel a longing to write down but are unsure how to go about it. With your courage, my 30 years of experience getting to the essence of a story, and our combined creativity, we can make it happen together. It would be my joy and honor to guide you along your journey with questions, prompts, and – probably most importantly – with listening.