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

On this week's program, I drive West of Orlando to meet up with two adventurers named Drunky & Rhiannon who've just happened to write the best guide to Walt Disney World as far is this show is concerned. We geek out about boozing like pros at WDW! We drank outside at Hurricane Hannah's,         and then we walked over to inside the Ale and Compass over at the Yacht Club, and then enjoyed some beve...

On this week's program, I talk to the novelist Cheryl Della Pietra , an editorial assistant to Hunter S. Thompson in 1992, about the dynamics of working with him, the reality of the actual writer's life, the dangers of a legendary persona, Hunter's gift for meta-journalism, the challenges of fiction writing and negotiating a gonzo vision in the service of a non-gonzo narrative, and when to put you...

In this week's episode, I share a recording of Loose Lips, the monthly current events literary thing hosted by the inestimable Tod Caviness, Patrick Scott Barnes and Tod Caviness by Katherine J. Parker. Teege Braune, Teege Braune by Patrick Scott Barnes. Michael Cuglietta, Michael Cuglietta by Patrick Scott Barnes. Leigh Fields, Leigh Fields by Patrick Scott Barnes. Dianne Turgeon Richardson, Dian...

I n this week's episode, I talk with Vanessa Blakeslee about David Mamet's  Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama . We manage not to kill one another.  

On this week's program, I talk to the novelist Laleh Khadivi about empathy, anticipating the future, the snarl of time management, challenging oneself as a writer as a form of motivation, the absolute transformation of characters, patriarchal similarities between Middle East and West, the mystical nature of surfing, the fraught possibilities of adolescence, religious fervor, the problematic role o...

On January 19th, 2018, Dianne Turgeon Richardson hosted an evening of protest poetry at Milk Bar in Orlando, Florida! The readers included on this recording are Talor Carr, Rachel Fox, Lana Ghannam, Drew Weinbrenner, John King, Dianne Turgeon Richardson, Lisa Roney, Troy Cunio, Laurie Uttich, and Sean Patrick Mulroy. Lana Ghannam. Lisa Roney. Bar dogs. NOTES For help with getting Voter IDs, for yo...

Episode 297 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on  iTunes , or right click  here  to download. On this week's program, I talk to poets Paul Muldoon and Patricia Smith!   NOTES Please subscribe to my youtube channel , and leave a review of the show on iTunes .

On this week's program, I talk to the poet Denise Duhamel about the role of politics and play in poetry. BOOKS DISCUSSED NOTES Here in Orlando, the City Beautiful, come out and hear some protest poetry on January 19th . If you love Pat Greene, or just love great art, please donate a little something to The Downtown Arts District of Orlando . The music used in this episode was "Tremor" and "As the...

On this week's program, I talk to Charles Simic about James Tate, Kansas surrealism, humor in poetry, and embracing the unconscious, plus I talk to Richard Blanco about the accidents that turn us into artists, the grind of editing, and the joys of finding new forms and challenges.   Be sure to check out the music of  David Rego , whose songs "Rings Ring" and "Sapphire Showers" appear on this episo...

In this week's episode, I catch up with Ben Blum, who was my colleague in a Jonathan Lethem workshop circa 2009, and talk about finding room for earnestness in a postmodern outlook, finding room for pleasure in a world sick with stimulation, and writing a challenging project that changes who you are as a writer. TEXT DISCUSSED NOTES The music used in this episode was "Sweet Spot," "Chase," "Chaoti...

In this week's episode, Tod Caviness, Julian Chambliss, Dianne Turgeon Richardson, and Jared Silvia join me in a roundtable discussion of the  Star Wars Christmas Special of 1978  and maybe got a few other topics in there as well.

I n this week's episode, we return to September 5th, 2017, the 60th anniversary of the publication of Jack Kerouac's  On the Road . This celebration included  Tod Caviness, Janna Benge, Bob Kealing, Erik Deckers, Suleika Jaouad, Karen Price, Holly Kapherr, Jared Silvia, Chris Cortez and Mark Piszczek. NOTES Check out The Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts ! Learn more about The Kerouac Project  resid...

I n this week's episode, I talk with  Vanessa Blakeslee  about the new fiction anthology,  A Very French Christmas , from New Vessel Press. NOTES Some context for the dubious Dutch tradition of Black Pete . David Sedaris discusses this in his essay, " 6 to 8 Black Men ." Be sure to check out the music of David Rego , whose song "Harp" appears on this episode.

  This week I talk to Jacob Shores-Agüello, the resident of the Kerouac House in summer of 2017. We talk about the roles that genres play in the process of mourning, the improvistory games that can create a sense of shared culture, the glory of compression, and how to avoid the musical information car crashes that happen with prose. TEXTS DISCUSSED

This week I talk to the fiction writer Laurie Stone, and we talk about the need for more craft in experimental work, what New York means for writers, the tricks of memory and aging, and our beloved  avant garde  forebears. TEXTS DISCUSSED  

This is a special episode, for Will Dowd, checks in to talk about how he turned his Drunken Odyssey blog, Areas of Fog, into a book! We try to get to the bottom of our editorial relationship, the trick of bypassing or appeasing the gatekeepers among the editors of the literary world, and how the weather affects every aspect of life in New England. TEXTS DISCUSSED NOTES If you are at Miami Book Fai...

I n this week's episode, I talk with  Vanessa Blakeslee  about Ann Hood's  MorningStar: Growing Up With Books . NOTES Check out my interview with Ann Hood back on episode 242 .  

Episode 286 is a bonus episode, on the 1 year-anniversary of our national tragedy, the election day of 2016. I talk to the philosopher Bruce Janz about how to stay sane and process the current state of American democracy, and how our reading habits can console us. [caption id="attachment_22372" align="alignnone" width="2016"] Photo by Lisa Roney.

On this week's show, Sara Nicolas,Christina Farley, and Ella Martin, discuss the world of young adult fiction at Litlando, from February 25th, 2017.

This week is a live show: Horror Movie Poetry Night IV. We enter the dark rubicons of  Saw, Annabel, Child's Play,  SawII ,  The Lady in White , Phantasm,  Return of the Living Dead ,  Halloween III: Season of the Witch ,  The Omen, Saw II, The Descent, The Bat, Dead Waves,  Lair of the White Worm , and Terminator . The TDO All Stars included Joshua Begley, Elise McKenna, Jeff Shuster, Shawn McKee...

On this week's show, I talk about discovering character in the process of novel writing with Jay Baron Nicorvo! TEXTS DISCUSSED

Episode 282 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on  iTunes , or right click  here  to download. In this week's episode, I share a recording of Loose Lips, the monthly current events literary thing hosted by the inestimable Tod Caviness, with special guests Erik Deckers, Whitney Hamrick, Joe Snyder, Mary McGinn, and moi. NOTES Join us on...

I n this week's episode, I talk with  Vanessa Blakeslee  about Colum McCann's  Letters to a Young Writer. Books Discussed NOTES Colum McCann hosts a lovely Bloomsday reading every year at Ulysses Folk House in downtown Manhattan. Check out my interview with the late Charlie Bethel, an amazing playwright and performer, back on episode 39 .

Episode 280 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on  iTunes , or right click  here  to download. On this week's show,  David James Poissant  and I offer words of advice for 12 new writers and their questions. I probably swear more than I should in a classroom. NOTES Read Ta-Nehisi Coates' " The First White President ." Check out Orlando S...

On this week's show, I talk editing and publishing and writing and the post-MFA malaise with Leslie Salas. TEXTS DISCUSSED   NOTES Leslie Salas currently blogs for The Gloria Sirens , and is an editor at Sweet .