Let's Deconstruct a Story

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to Let's Deconstruct a Story! This month I'm talking to Katherine Vaz about her wonderful story, "Our Lady of the Artichokes." Please read the story (available at www.kellyfordon.com/blog) before tuning into the podcast.

Also, please check out the link to her fantastic new novel Above the Salt which I read and adored. Sometimes I wish this was also a podcast about novels, but we do offer a brief preview of the book during our discussion. Purchase options are available below.

Next month I'll be talking to Jai Chakrabarti about his story, "A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness," also available via link on my website. If you have any questions for Jai, feel free to contact me and I will pass them along.

Have a wonderful holiday season. I'll be reaching out to my subscribers (here) in two weeks with some end-of-the-year recommendations and then we'll see you on January 1st for Jai Chakrabarti.

Cheers!

Kelly

P.S. You can purchase Katherine Vaz's amazing new book here on Bookshop or here on Amazon.

Upcoming Class: I'm offering a "Let's Deconstruct a Story" workshop in January. More details here.

Hi Everyone,

I had the best conversation with Bonnie Jo Campbell. Can't wait to share it with you!

Please read "Boar Taint" in The Kenyon Review before you listen, or our discussion won't make a lick of sense.

This episode is available on Apple, Spotify, Audible or anywhere you get your podcasts.

If you would like a transcript, please get in touch with me via the contact form on my website, www.kellyfordon.com.

Next month, I will be talking to Katherine Vaz.

See you then! Kelly

PS: Looking for a great audio engineer? Contact Elliot Bancel at [email protected].

Bio: Bonnie Jo Campbell is the author of the novels Once Upon a River, a National Bestseller, and Q Road. Her critically acclaimed short fiction collections include American Salvage, which was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critic’s Circle Award; Women and Other Animals, which won the AWP Prize for Short Fiction; and Mothers, Tell Your Daughters. She was a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow.

Her novel, Once Upon a River, was adapted into a full length feature film and released to international critical acclaim in 2020.

Her forthcoming novel The Waters (January 9, 2023) will be released by W.W. Norton; “with a ‘ruthless and precise eye for the details of the physical world’ (New York Times Book Review), Bonnie Jo Campbell presents an elegant antidote to the dark side of masculinity, celebrating the resilience of nature and the brutality and sweetness of rural life.”

Her story collection American Salvage, a National Book Award Finalist, was heralded by The Guardian as a top 10 rural noir novel of all time.

Please purchase Bonnie Jo Campbell's books through⁠ Bookshop⁠, if possible, or Amazon.

Hi!

I am so happy to share my podcast interview with the esteemed Southern writer George Singleton. We delved into some serious subjects: the legacy of racism in the South, gun control, and substance abuse, but despite all of that, we managed to laugh every now and then because he is hilarious!

(And I said the word "interesting" about a gazillion times--Why? Why did I keep saying the same word over and over again as if I was malfunctioning?)

Anyway, George taught me a lot about persevering despite the fact that he (like many of us) gets sick of his own voice. He shared an anecdote about working with C. Michael Curtis of "The Atlantic Monthly" that shocked and delighted me.

We laughed about that too.

Please read his story, "I'm Down Here on the Floor," before you listen to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts.

My apologies to StorySouth. I forgot to mention where the story was published during the podcast, but this is actually the second story in a row from StorySouth. Check out Jason Ockert's story "The Peoplemachines" from the September 1st episode as well.

Also, here's a link to The Atlantic Monthly story George mentioned called "Show and Tell." I think the paywall might be down now (?), but I subscribe to that magazine, so someone needs to let me know.

*Warning: There is some profanity on this episode, folks.

See you next month when I'll be talking to Bonnie Jo Campbell about her story, "Boar Taint," from The Kenyon Review.

Cheers,

Kelly

Bio: George Singleton has published eight collections of stories, two novels, and a book of writing advice. Over 200 of his stories have appeared in magazines such as the Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Playboy, the Georgia Review, the Southern Review, the Cincinnati Review, and elsewhere. He is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a Guggenheim fellowship, the Hillsdale Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers, and the Corrington Award for Literary Excellence. He lives in Spartanburg, SC, where he holds the John C. Cobb Chair in Humanities at Wofford College. Please find his books on Bookshop or Amazon.

Information about the podcast host, Kelly Fordon, as well as podcast updates and donation opportunities (we would be so grateful!) can all be found here.

We are so grateful to sound engineer Elliot Bancel for his work on this episode. If you need help with your podcast, please find his contact information here.

Chad B. Anderson's story "The Kelley Street Disappearances" has been lodged in my brain for almost a decade, so I decided to track him down, and I was so grateful when he agreed to be on the podcast. I'm sure if you are an avid reader like me, you know how rare it is to have a story resonate for that long. I hope you feel the same way I do about this one!

Thanks also to LDAS-featured writer, Robin Martin, for sending me the story many years ago.

For the first time with this podcast, in the interest of fostering our community of writers, I sent the story to all of my previous guests. LDAS-featured writers, Desiree Cooper and Renee Simms weighed in with a couple of really compelling questions for Chad. You can check out my interviews. with Desiree and Renee here as well.

Also, I'm grateful to Renee for mentioning the story, Recitatif by Toni Morrison, which I had not read, and the stunning New Yorker essay about the story by Zadie Smith.

Salamander Magazine has kindly removed the paywall for "The Kelley Street Disappearances." Please find it here.

Thanks so much to the managing editor, Katie Sticca, for helping us keep this podcast accessible.

**Salamander runs a fiction contest every year that runs from May 1 - June 1, with results announced by early September. Anyone interested can find more information on the website salamandermag.org.

Please check out the Let's Deconstruct a Story podcast on Spotify, Apple, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts after you read the story, and if you have a chance to rate the show, I would really appreciate it.

See you on October 1st, when we'll be talking about "I'm Down Here on the Floor" in StorySouth by George Singleton. Thanks to Dan Wickett of Dzanc Books for suggesting George's work.

On November 1st, Bonnie Jo Campbell visits to talk about her short story, "Boar Taint" in The Kenyon Review.

Chad has just finished editing this wonderful anthology. Check it out here.

Bio: Chad B. Anderson has published fiction in Salamander Review, Black Warrior Review, Nimrod International Journal, The Best American Short Stories 2017, Clockhouse, and Burrow Press Review, and he has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He has had residencies at the Ledig House International Writers’ Colony, the Jack Kerouac House in Orlando, Florida, and the Carolyn Moore Writers House in Portland, Oregon. He has served as an acting managing editor for Callaloo: Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters and a guest editor for Burrow Press Review and is currently an associate fiction editor for Orison Books. He edited and penned the introduction for an anthology of art, poetry, and prose titled What's Mine of Wilderness?, published by Burrow Press in 2023. Born and raised in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, he earned his B.A. in American Studies and English from University of Virginia and his M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Indiana University, where he served as fiction editor for Indiana Review. He currently lives in Michigan.

If you would like to donate the show (and even earmark it for transcription services), you can make a donation here.

Thank you so much! Kelly.

Hi Everyone,

I'm happy to welcome Jason Ockert to show! We discussed his story, "The Peoplemachines" in StorySouth Spring 2023. It blew me away! Who reminds me of a modern-day ⁠Agathocles⁠??...hmmmm....I can't imagine.

Please read the story (available below) before listening to our discussion. Thank you SO MUCH to storySouth for publishing this thought-provoking dystopian story. It will stay with me.

Thanks also to Dan Wickett of ⁠Dzanc Books⁠ for recommending Jason's work.

⁠The Peoplemachines by Jason Ockert ⁠

Afterward, look for the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks to ⁠Elliot Bancel⁠, audio engineer extraordinaire for his meticulous work.

***

In other news...

Coming up in the near future: Interviews with Chad B. Anderson and George Singleton.

Also, I was thrilled to visit the podcast ⁠Homespun Haints⁠, where I tried hard but didn't even make it through half of my Irish ghost stories. Saving a few for a later date! Becky and Diana are so fun--if you have any ghost stories, you should definitely contact them ⁠here⁠.

One last thing I wanted to mention, Susan Perabo (a past guest and extraordinary writer) is featured on Symphony Space here. This story is not to be missed.

Cheers,

Kelly

PSS: Looking for ways to support LDAS? Send us a one-time or recurring donation. We (meaning me...it's just me) would ⁠really appreciate it! ⁠

Bio: Jason Ockert is the author of the novel Wasp Box and three collections of short stories: Shadowselves, Neighbors of Nothing, and Rabbit Punches. His fiction has appeared in Best American Mystery Stories, Granta, Oxford American, One Story, and McSweeney's. He teaches at Coastal Carolina University.

You can purchase Jason's books here on my ⁠Bookshop⁠.

Your Host: Kelly Fordon's latest 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 2016 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind, (WSUP), was an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House, (Kattywompus Press, 2019) was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist and was adapted into a play, written by Robin Martin, which was published in The Kenyon Review Online. www.kellyfordon.com Find her books here on Bookshop, Amazon, or Audible.

Hi Everyone!

I'm thrilled to welcome Caroline Kim on the podcast today! We will be reviewing her story "Motherhood" which is available for free from August 1st-31st on the Story Magazine website. Thank you, Michael Nye! Please see my website to access the story: https://kellyfordon.com/lets-deconstruct-a-story/

CAROLINE KIM is the author of a collection of short stories about the Korean diaspora, The Prince of Mournful Thoughts and Other Stories, which won the 2020 Drue Heinz Prize in Literature, was a finalist for the Northern California Book Award, the Janet Heidinger Award for Fiction, and was long listed for both the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize and The Story Prize. She has an MFA in Poetry from the University of Michigan where she was a recipient of a Hopwood Award and an MA in Fiction from UT Austin where she was a Michener Fellow. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Georgia Review, New England Review, Story, TriQuarterly, Lithub, The Rumpus, The Millions, Pleiades, Porter House Review, MANOA, The Michigan Quarterly Review, Spinning Jenny, Meridian, Faultline, Pidgeonholes, The Bare Life Review, Santa Monica Review, and elsewhere. She has lived on the East Coast, Midwest, and Texas but now makes her home in Northern California with her family. ​

Host: Kelly Fordon’s latest 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 2016 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind, (WSUP), was an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House, (Kattywompus Press, 2019) was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist and was adapted into a play, written by Robin Martin, which was published in The Kenyon Review Online. She is the author of three award-winning poetry chapbooks and has received a Best of the Net Award and Pushcart Prize nominations in three different genres. She teaches at Springfed Arts and The InsideOut Literary Arts Project in Detroit, as well as online, where she also runs a monthly poetry and fiction blog. www.kellyfordon.com

Hi Everyone,

I'm thrilled to host fiction writer, Anna Caritj this month on "Let's Deconstruct a Story." The Sewanee Review has graciously taken down the paywall for Anna's story for the month of June so you can read the story all month for free!

They have also offered readers/listeners of LDAS 10% off a subscription to The Sewanee Review with the code: SISTER. I am definitely going to take advantage of the offer, and hope you will too. We are so grateful to them!

Before listening to our discussion, please read the story "Ugly Sister" here at The Sewanee Review.

And then enjoy our discussion below on Spotify, Apple, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In the coming months, I will be talking with Caroline Kim, George Singleton, Jason Ockerts, and Bonnie Jo Campbell, so make sure to sign up for the newsletter here if you would like to be notified about upcoming episodes. I'm always looking for new writers, so if you have any suggestions, or a book coming out, you can reach me at [email protected].

Thanks so much!

Kelly

PS:

The audiobook edition of my short story collection I Have the Answer is out on Audible. I was thrilled to read four of the stories and the other nine are narrated by incredible voice actors. You can access the audiobook at the link above, but I also have a few free promo codes left. Feel free to email me if you are interested. Thanks!

Hi Everyone,

Robin and I have been good friends and writing buddies since we met at a writer's conference in 2008. Since then, she has won numerous awards for her work and I am so thrilled to feature her brilliant writing here.

We did something a little different for this episode. We are taking a look at two of Robin's stories:

1969 is available at The New Orleans Review

and

Through the Hole is available at PenDust Radio.

To get the most out of this podcast you should read or listen to the story first, as we will be discussing them in-depth i.e. there will be spoilers!

Many thanks to Elliot Bancel for his help editing this episode.

Enjoy!

Kelly

Bio: Robin Luce Martin's honors for stories and novel excerpts include the Tennessee Williams Festival Story First Prize, San Francisco PEN John Keats
Soul Awakening Story Competitions, Old Scores won the 2019 Novel Manuscript and Lizardmaid 2020 Eyelands International 3Rock prize. Out
Like a Lion was short-listed for the Dundee International Prize and the Del Sol First Novel Prize. In 2015 she co-founded the NY author reading series,
https://yeahyouwriteevents.com/

For more information on this podcast, please visit www.kellyfordon.com. Many thanks to Elliot Bancel for his help editing this episode.

Hi Everyone, 

This month I'm thrilled to welcome Meghan Louise Wagner to the podcast! First, because I love the story. Secondly, because I am from NE Ohio and she lives there! Yay! So happy to be promoting fellow Midwesterners. 

Her story, "Elephant Seals" is available in these two places:  Agni Online here or in Best American Short Stories 2022. 

Please read the story first before listening to our discussion.

Enjoy!

Kelly

Bio/Contributor Notes:

Meghan Louise Wagner lives in Northeast Ohio. Her work is forthcoming from or has appeared in such places as AGNI, Story, Cutleaf, Autofocus, Okay Donkey, McSweeney’s Internet Tendencies, X-R-A-Y Lit, and The Best American Stories 2022. She’s a graduate of the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts program and currently teaches writing at Cleveland State University and the Cleveland Institute of Art.

Hi Everyone,

So glad to be back after a short hiatus!

I’m grateful to the Grosse Pointe Public Library for allowing me to use their recording studio for these next few episodes. It was fantastic; however, there was a little learning curve…I apologize for a couple of staticky moments during this podcast. Luckily, it only happened when I was talking! Julie sounds fantastic–and that’s all that matters…but I will add that I am producing this podcast with no money for editing, unfortunately. Please feel free to donate if you like it, and would appreciate some better editing (as I would!). The donation button is featured in the right-hand column on my blog page.

Before you listen, please read Julie’s story “The Ending” here.

Also, please read her blog spot here.

We will be discussing both!

This coming year I will be alternating podcasts with Q and A’s. The next Q and A will feature Michigan short story writer Kevin Fitton on February 15th.

I hope you enjoy this episode.

Kelly

Julie Ann Stewart earned an MFA from Spalding University and has published stories in Good River Journal, Litro Magazine, PoemMemoirStory, and Punch Drunk Press. In Sophie Speaks (http://julieandsophiespeak.blogspot.com/ ), Stewart explores the challenge of balancing creative and family life as she recopies Anna Karenina by hand, as Sophia Tolstoy did for her husband. Now that their seven kids have flown the coop, she and her husband migrate between Indiana and Michigan.

Purchase Water and Blood from Dzanc here or on Bookshop here or Amazon here.