Two members of the SFSU Creative Writing faculty aired their writings nationwide on public radio Tuesday.

Leo Litwak, professor emeritus of English and Creative Writing, appeared Tuesday on "Fresh Air," the popular National Public Radio program hosted by Terry Gross, to discuss his new memoir, "The Medic: Life and Death in the Last Days of World War II." "How Lies Grow," a poem by Maxine Chernoff (pictured upper right), chair and professor of Creative Writing, was read on the air by legendary author and radio personality Garrison Keillor on his program, "The Writer's Almanac."

Litwak served in World War II as a medic. He taught English literature at SFSU for more than 30 years and is the author of the novels "Waiting for the News," which won the 1970 National Jewish Book Award, and "To the Hanging Gardens." His short story "The Eleventh Edition" was awarded first prize in the 1990 edition of Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards. He retired from SFSU in 1995.

Chernoff's poem is a humorous piece about the first times she lied to her baby. She wrote the poem in the mid-1980s shortly after she gave birth to twins. It was originally published in her 1991 collection titled "Leap Year Day: New and Selected Poems." Keillor has also recently read poems on air by the likes of Emily Dickinson, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Walt Whitman.

To listen to the Litwak interview, visit the "Fresh Air" Web site.

To listen to Keillor reading Chernoff's poem, vist "The Writer's Almanac Web site.