The Drunken Odyssey with John King: A Podcast About the Writing Life

This week, I talk to two poets. First, I speak with the joyous Jericho Brown about his complex relationship to poetic tradition, identity, and music. Frankly, I kept making tangents to music. Perhaps too many. But this was one of my favorite interviews from Miami Book Fair International. Second, I speak with Richard Blanco about the poetry of  we , and the importance of giving an audience an enter...

This week, Vanessa Blakeslee and I assail more essays on the craft of literature, this time two by T.S. Eliot. TEXTS DISCUSSED " Hamlet and Its Problems " can be found here; " Tradition and the Individual Talent " can be found here.

This week, I offer another round of conversations from Miami Book Fair International, in which I talk to Steve Almond about his favorite novel, Stoner by John Williams, plus I speak with poet Carolyn Forché about her memoir,  All You Have Heard is True . TEXTS DICSUSSED

This week, I talk to fiction writer Nathan Englander about the pressurized form of fictional worlds, giving the reader something worth their time and money, getting to the pain as soon as possible, continuing to learn about one's craft deep into one's career, Judaism in literature, and the wisdom of our friend Darin Strauss. Nathan Englander and your humble host in The Confucius Institute at Miami...

This week, I talk to fiction writer Rion Amilcar Scott about his extraordinary fiction collection, The World Does Not Require You. We discuss the academic world, African-American folklore, religion, music, science fiction, and post-modernism.

This week's show features another pair of episodes from Miami Book Fair International.

On today's show, I share two interviews. The first is with the fiction writer and memoirist Tim O'Brien about how to live in this world. The second is with the comic creator Chris Ware and his editor at Pantheon Books, Chip Kidd, with whom we discussed how design meshes with the content of a story.

In our discussion, Vanessa Blakeslee and I manage to talk about yuletide fellowship, hallucinogens, the possibility of St. Patrick's Day cookies, and other perennial holiday topics.

Music!

In this week's episode, I talk once again with the graphic novelist, Peter Kuper, this time about his latest literary adaptation,  Heart of Darkness.  NOTES This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile. TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the acco...

In this week's episode, I talk with podcaster, editor, journalist, and journeyman writer Jonathan Small about how to build a career as a writer who gets paid and merges into the cultural styles of the magazines one writes for. Check out Jonathan's excellent podcast, Write About Now . NOTES This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile. TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subs...

  Photo by Art Streiber. In this week's episode, I talk with the amazing Carmen Maria Machado about her new experimental memoir,  In the Dream House, as well as her masterful debut , Her Body and Other Stories . TEXTS DISCUSSED NOTES This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile. TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to re...

  In this week's episode, I share the talk Patty Hawkins and I had about Todd Phillip's Joker. We put it in a Batman context, and frankly stray far afield from talking about the movie, but frankly the movie is worth straying from, too.

In this week's episode, I interview Ron Cooper about Florida literature, research, the cultural tensions of Florida, and the mystery of existential characters. NOTES This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.   TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgra...

In this week's episode, I interview Erik Deckers about how he finished the novel he began as a resident at the Kerouac Project of Orlando . TEXT DISCUSSED NOTES This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile. TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the...

In this week's episode, I wear an ugly shirt from outer space  to speak with Vanessa Blakeslee and Lisa Roney about Flannery O'Connor's  Mysteries and Manners . NOTES This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile. TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here  while still logged in to upgra...

In this week's episode, I talk with historian and crime writer Gilbert King about the history of justice and journalism, the role of luck in research, experimenting with presentation until a passage feels right, and how to manage one's doubts when pursuing a writing project. TEXTS DISCUSSED NOTES   Check out my first interview with Gilbert back on episode 60 !  

In this week's episode, I talk with creative writer and Disney historian Todd James Pierce about the new developments in role-play storytelling that were and perhaps still are planned for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios park at Walt Disney World. According to the end of the line cast member outside Oga's Cantina, you can't  see  all three of Batuu's suns, but...

In this week's episode, I talk with crime novelist Scott Phillips, author of The Ice Harvest , Cottonwood , Rake , T he Adjustment , and other books.

Episode 382 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on  Apple podcasts , stitcher , spotify, or click  here  to stream. In this week's episode, I talk with Rick Moody about his new book,  The Long Accomplishment: A Memoir of Hope and Struggle in Matrimony . Photo by Laurel Nakadate

In this week's episode, I talk with the fiction writer and essayist Deirdre Coyle about why fantasy can be more real than realism, the video game experience that happens inside our minds, and the joys of cutting extraneous words from manuscripts.          

In this week's episode, I talk with the novelist Binnie Kirshenbaum about finding one's voice, finding the right point-of-view, avoiding boredom, and the occasional hell of marketing literature. [caption id="attachment_24695" align="alignnone" width="1243"] Photo by Tina Boyadjieva.[/caption] TEXTS DISCUSSED NOTES This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile. TDO Listeners can...

In this week's episode, I talk with the memoirist Katherine Smyth about how literature fills our lives, and is there for us in peculiarly reassuring ways when we lose everything. Photo by Frances F. Denny.[/caption] TEXTS DISCUSSED NOTES This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile. TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link t...