Writers Read Their Early Sh*t

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes Daria Salamon, author of 'The Prairie Bridesmaid' & co-author of 'Don't Try This At Home,' for a jaw about why Winnipeg is cool for artists, the blonde awfulness of 'Sweet Valley High,' being covered in eggs & tears, the glory of handwritten letters, how as long as the writing is honest the rest can be fixed, & being bu...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes the refreshingly swear-y Hollay Ghadery, author of 'Fuse,' for a wide-ranging chinwag about multiple vasectomies, hangovers through the decades, feeling anxious about eternity, being a writer or being dead, getting better all the time, & semantic satiation. Hollay also shares some not-too-bad early sh*t. Music by the death-defying DJ Max in Tokyo; this...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes musician & poet Bill Hickey for a ramble-yak about sharing an elevator with a pissed-off David Foster Wallace, carpet farming, fighting off ALL the members of KISS, & the sick, lip-smacked goodness of gritty early sh*t.  They also reminisce about the glories of Goontown, Penguin Dust, & that one time  Bill was Jason's roadie. Check out some of Bill&...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes writer & artist Kimberley Orton for a chat about the 20 best Tom Waits songs, what Toronto sounds like, how four to four-thirty is just not long enough for proper sex, the crashing pleasure of hanging up on people, getting bonked by the backspin, & eyes & teeth. Kimberley also shares some exciting excerpts from her teenage journals. Music by the mysterio...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes urban Neapolitan & Scotland's best-kept secret, poet & singer-songwriter Roy Møller, for a gabfest about the Beatles, the best Bob Dylan desert island trilogy, how Eternal Thou bought a car, and Røy's unusual origin story. Will Jason pronounce Leith correctly, or will he prove himself to be a seedy little grapefruit of a man? There's only one...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes Lea Graham, poet & prof & author of 'Hough & Helix & Where & Here & You, You, You' & 'From the Hotel Vernon',' for a chat about Jack Kerouac's grave, Bob Dylan's library books, Michael Jackson in Borneo, adulterous Nazis, circumcision gods, & Lord Pork. Having slightly misunderstood the podcast'...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes teacher, writer, podcaster, & pal Shea Layton for a gabfest about Rocky Mountain oysters, Pimp cologne, the main problem with guys named Chet, & fist fighting in the food court at the mall. Then, in a thrilling first for WRTES, they deliver a dramatic reading of Shea's incomplete (but compellingly gritty) early screenplay, 'Dryer Sheets.' Get...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes the scarily-talented Katie Zdybel for a jaw about punctuating your thinking, the perfect literary day, magic trolleys, mermaids, writing letters as writing practice, & the power of JD Salinger's prose. There's also some early sh*t, but not much, because Katie's so good at what she does. Also: thanks to popular demand, listen for another mysterious...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes poet, memoirist, and glutton for joy Carla Funk to a chat about trying on literary costumes, Rock-a-Thons, Patrick Lane drunk in a snowbank in Vanderhoof, writing as an act of hospitality, cannibals, pianos as suicide weapons, and the secret history of Glass Tiger. Carla's latest book is 'Mennonite Valley Girl' & it's fab. Enjoy more Carla at...

Send us Fan Mail Didn't like the first one? Well, here's another one! Jason & Curtis, launching another raid on another early sh*t base, revisit their first band—the mighty 5Fs—& subject their cruelest song (& its accompanying video) to rigorous (& abashed) analysis. Digressions include the first rock star in space, living in sin at the Lava Buffet, the Crab Tank Lady, sl...

Send us Fan Mail Podcast predicament (& it's a big one): what do you do when you conduct an interview so freewheeling, so important, so dangerous, so damned crazy , that it goes for over three hours? Break it up into two separate blasts of hell and hallelujah, that's what. Get ready for brief flashes of brief enjoyment & welcome to Writer's Read Their Early Sh*t's first...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes poet & non-KISS fan CM Preston for a freewheeling chinwag about the whys and wherefores of early sh*t, bad writing advice, questioning your sanity, whether art is a mirror or a hammer or something else entirely, the best things about Japan, and quoting Kafka at dinner parties. Check out CM's work at cmpreston.com & join the early sh*t chat at https://ww...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes his eleven-year-old son, Joe, for a confabulation about Joe's early work and some of Jason's earliest ideas for super heroes and super villains. Skunk guns, what fermented soybeans really taste like, and who would win in a fight between Jeff Kool and Captain Dagger...this unmissable episode has it all. So don't, er, miss it. Original music by the very...

Send us Fan Mail It's a trap! Jason welcomes the mellifluous Tyler James Russell for a Boba Fett-infused chinfest featuring some of Tyler's early & action-packed Star Wars fan fiction. Bounty hunters, The Sound & The Fury, shitty first drafts, the detestable messiness of Dostoevsky, guilty lapses, & writing novels as screenplays first: it's all here. Enjoy more Tyler at...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes Sarah Tsiang for a relatively spicy conversation about Popeye Candy Sticks, getting your ego out of your poems, being dead inside, & ghosts on the phone. Also discussed: does the chicken care? Check out Sarah's website at https://sarahtsiang.com/ and join the early sh*t chat at https://www.facebook.com/WRTESpodcast and on Instagram @writersreadtheirearlyshi...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes blogger and travel advisor John Davidson for a look at the world of online travel writing, the coolest places to visit in Japan, and some early, bloggy sh*t. Also discussed: Jason's affection for Australian space-rockers The Church, a smashing end to wedded bliss, macaroni & cheese meat pies, KISS, and flowing mullets. Check out John's blog at https://...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes writer pal Erin McGregor for some grade five equine poetry, macramé bathroom decorations, second-hand lipstick, English-speaking monkeys, and the unexpected aceness of Ovaltine. Music by DJ Max in Tokyo; check him out at http://soundcloud.com/djmaxintokyo . Join the conversation on the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WRTESpodcast and on Instagram @writersr...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes writer Adam Lewis Schroeder for a deeply grim (and grimly deep) confab about high school poetry, the Hardy Boys, ancient Okanagan Valley literary feuds, the carnal adventures of Schlump, and whether or not WRTES should be a podcast about kittens. Music by DJ Max in Tokyo ( http://soundcloud.com/djmaxintokyo ). Join the conversation on Facebook at https://www.faceboo...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes Buddhist cartoonist Victoria Taylor for a charming discussion about the art of memoir, elephant traps, pounding the bones, and spending time with the beloved dead. There are also a few brief appearances from a frosted vagina. Check out Victoria's memoirs on Instagram (@victoria4971) and join the conversation on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/WRTESpodcast...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes beat wizard DJ Max in Tokyo for a free-ranging chat about a tiny Bob Marley living in your fridge, thermal detonators, Koda Kumi, the Land of Fermented Soybeans, indie rock pricks, and the relative unsexiness of the bass clarinet. Check out DJ Max in Tokyo's Soundcloud page ( http://soundcloud.com/djmaxintokyo ) and the Beats and Beets Project on YouTube and jo...

Send us Fan Mail Jason welcomes his sister Alison for a chilling & turbulent tour through some of her adolescent journals, poems, & short stories. Will it all disappear in a rhythmic, romantic haze, or does Alison know too much to die? Music by DJ Max in Tokyo ( http://soundcloud.com/djmaxintokyo ). Join the conversation at https://theconnectionproject.ca/ and on the Facebook page at https...

Send us Fan Mail Ace bassist for Tokyo-based super group Glow and the Forest David White details attic happenings & his aversion to meat, philosophical and actual, while Jason stands, poetically, on a windy ridge, with cohorts. Please contact the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/WRTESpodcast) if you're interested in reading your own early sh*t on the show, & check out https://w...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the show! What is this, & why does it exist? Introductory info & details about Writers Read Their Early Sh*t. Plus: Jason's foundational early poem.  Support the show