Hi Everyone,

I hope you enjoy this episode, which features Susan Shepherd discussing her Best American Short Story, “Baboons, “ first published in The Kenyon Review.

Paid subscribers and Conscious Writers Collective members are welcome to join us for interviews, and I want to thank Paul Delong, in particular, for his question, which is included in this recording.

Also, thanks to audio engineer Elliot Bancel for his help with this episode.

**Susan recommended a memoir during the interview: The Sheep Stell: Memoirs of a Shepherd by Janet White.

Upcoming Schedule:

On January 1st, Maura Stanton will discuss her story “School for Robots” on the podcast.

On January 14th at 12 pm, I will be talking to Toni Ann Johnson about “Daughtered Out” in The Coachella Review. Paid subscribers and CWC members are welcome to join us—more information to come.

On February 1st, Shastri Akella’s podcast episode drops. Remember to read “The Magic Bangle” first.

On February 17th, ‘Pemi Aguda will join me to discuss her story, “Manifest,” first published in Granta. Thanks to Peter Ho Davies for connecting us! Paid subscribers and CWC members are welcome to join.

On March 1st, Toni Ann Johnson’s podcast episode will drop for everyone.

On April 1st, ‘Pemi Aguda’s podcast episode will drop. We will be discussing her story, “Manifest,” first published in Granta.

Bio:

Susan Shepherd’s writing has been published in the Boston Globe, Ploughshares, Story Magazine, the Chicago Quarterly, the Kenyon Review, One Story Magazine, Swamp Pink, Best American Short Stories 2024, and is forthcoming in the Harvard Review.

Her story “Goats’”(Ploughshares), was a distinguished story in Best American Short Stories 2021, edited by Jesmyn Ward, and “Snakes’”(Chicago Quarterly) was a distinguished story in Best American Short Stories 2023, edited by Min Jin Lee.

“Baboons” was chosen by Lauren Groff to be published in the 2024 edition of Best American Short Stories. Available now from Bookshop.org or Amazon.

Susan Shepherd’s work as a producer and reporter has aired on multiple National Public Radio shows, including Living on Earth, and Marketplace.

Her show, 11 Central Ave, a radio comic strip, aired on select NPR stations on Morning Edition around the country. 11 Central Ave won a Gold Medal for ‘Best Comedy’ from the New York Festivals, and a National Gracie Allen Award for ‘Best Producer, Comedy’.

In other news:

Have you heard about Telephone?!

The brainchild of Nathan Langston, TELEPHONE is a game played by artists. It works like the children’s game of the same name. A message is whispered from person to person, changing and evolving as it is passed from player to player—a secret message is passed from art form to art form.

Here are links to two artists from Australia and the Netherlands responding to my poem. This game has given me a little hope in these dire times.

I hope you enjoy it.

Cheers,

Kelly

About your host:

KELLY FORDON’s latest poetry collection, What Trammels the Heart, was published by SFAPress in 2025. Her short story collection, I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020), was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House (Kattywompus Press, 2019), was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. It was later adapted into a play by Robin Martin and published in The Kenyon Review Online. Her novel-in-stories, Garden for the Blind, was published by WSUP in 2015. She teaches at Springfed Arts in Detroit and online, where she also runs a fiction podcast called “Let’s Deconstruct a Story.” http://www.letsdeconstructastory.substack.com.

What Trammels the Heart is on sale right now for 40% off at tamupress.com with the code HEART40 :) and $10 on Amazon here.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe