Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. On this episode, we talk with award-winning professor and distinguished author John Hampsey.

Dr. Hampsey is a Professor of Romantic and Classical Literature at California Polytechnic State University, where he received the University Distinguished Teaching Award. Earlier in his career, he taught at Boston University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

His acclaimed memoir Kaufman’s Hill was called the “best book written on American boyhood in decades” by historian Howard Zinn. In 2025, he completed an international book tour for his latest release, Soda Lake, further cementing his reputation as a powerful literary voice.

Over the course of his career, Hampsey has published more than thirty stories and essays in prestigious literary journals and magazines. Born in Pittsburgh, his life story and literary journey are as compelling as the works he writes.

In this conversation, we explore literature, teaching, memoir writing, American identity, and the creative process behind his celebrated books.

All Things John Hampsey:

https://www.johnchampsey.com/ 

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Joe Dimino Podcaster/Artist

Joe Dimino has been writing & creating in a variety of capacities since his college days at the University of Missouri-Kansas City somewhere around 1993. If you are keeping score, that would be about 29 years+. It all began at UMKCs University News as a Sports Writer & turned into a myriad of expressive avenues. Inventing poems, art, video & audio has always been in the proverbial cards.