Mining the Dalkey Archive Podcast

Although Dalkey Archive did publish two works by Desmond Hogan (A Farewell to Prague, The House of Mourning and Other Stories), this episode covers The Ikon Maker, Hogan’s first novel from 1976, reissued in 2013 by Lilliput Press. Vince and Chad talk about this short, moving book about a woman whose adult son has moved to England and fallen out of touch, about the forthcoming (in 2039?) opera of Finnegans Wake, about Hogan’s disturbing conviction and ensuing disappearance, about the way sexuality is portrayed in The Ikon Maker, and much more.

The next book to be featured in this series is Threshold by Rob Doyle. (Who also wrote about the reissues of both The Ikon Maker and A Farewell to Prague.)

This episode’s music is “McLeyvier” by Rich Aucoin.

You can subscribe to the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and watch us on YouTube.

And be sure to follow our sister podcasts: Two Month Review (Apple, Spotify) and Three Percent (Apple, Spotify) for more book talk!

Without question, Gertrude Stein was one of the most influential writers of the past century. And thanks to the three guests on this episode—Francesa Wade (Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife) and Cecilia Konchar Farr & Janie Sisson (As I Was Saying: A Companion to Gertrude Stein’s The Making of Americans)—along with the forthcoming Dalkey Essentials edition of The Making of Americans, Stein is having a moment. To celebrate these three books, we discuss Stein’s literary reputation, why people are “afraid” to read The Making of Americans, the role that being a lesbian woman has played in her general reception, the influence she’s had since her passing, and Leo Katz’s long, illuminating conversations with Alice Toklas after Stein’s passing. A very upbeat, exciting podcast about a writer who was way ahead of her time.

This episode’s music is “Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano” by John Cage (who sites Stein as an influence), performed by Orlando Bass in Vienna at the Konzertsaal @ Das MuTh, during the Impulstanz festival. 02/08/2022.

You can subscribe to the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and watch us on YouTube.

And be sure to follow our sister podcasts: Two Month Review (Apple, Spotify) and Three Percent (Apple, Spotify) for more book talk!

On this episode of this Irish Edition of the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast, Chad and Vince talk about Brigid Brophy’s 1969 masterpiece, In Transit, a novel that is trans-positive at its core. They talk about Joycean punning and experimental structures, Chad’s love of airports (weirdo), masculine vs. feminine writing, Brophy and Brooke-Rose and literary history, and much more.

The next book to be featured in this series is The Ikon Maker by Desmond Hogan.

This episode’s music is “In the Margins” by The Lemonheads.

You can subscribe to the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and watch us on YouTube.

And be sure to follow our sister podcasts: Two Month Review (Apple, Spotify) and Three Percent (Apple, Spotify) for more book talk!

Adam Levin (The Instructions, Mount Chicago) comes on the podcast to break down the Top Five Stanley Elkin novels according to Chad’s silly and fun “Power Rankings.” They talk about what makes Elkin so great, which books they both want to reread, the coincidence of having giving their respective fathers the same book gift, and arguing about some of the final rankings . . .

This episode’s music is “FugaziBlackHoleMirage (7 of Clubs)” by Hallelujah the Hills. (Which, if you’re into indie music of this sort, check out the whole Deck project. It’s one of the most ambitious releases of 2025.)

You can subscribe to the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and watch us on YouTube.

And be sure to follow our sister podcasts: Two Month Review (Apple, Spotify) and Three Percent (Apple, Spotify) for more book talk!

Two of Allison a. deFreese’s recent translations are the focus on this particular episode: Elegy for Joseph Cornell by María Negroni and Flame Trees in May by Karla Marrufo. She talks about how these books came to be, the nature of translating more “experimental” or poetic works, her interest in literature from the Yucatán Peninsula, learning Yucatec Maya, the way both books are put together and how to approach them, and more. It’s a lovely conversation and celebration of two unique works of literature.

This episode’s music is “Full Bloom” by Human Pyramids.

You can subscribe to the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and watch us on YouTube.

And be sure to follow our sister podcasts: Two Month Review (Apple, Spotify) and Three Percent (Apple, Spotify) for more book talk!

Chad and Vince struggle to talk about Bernard Share’s two novels available from Dalkey Archive Press: Inish and Transit. More respect than love for these books, which leads to an interesting discussion about how to try and approach these books, understand where Share is coming from, and what the differences are between criticism, reviewing, and whatever this podcast is supposed to be.

The next book to be featured in this series is In Transit by Brigid Brophy (mid-October).

This episode’s music is “Incomprehensible” by Big Thief.

You can subscribe to the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and watch us on YouTube.

And be sure to follow our sister podcasts: Two Month Review (Apple, Spotify) and Three Percent (Apple, Spotify) for more book talk!

In this month’s installment in the ongoing look at Dalkey Archive’s Irish Literature Series, Vince and Chad discuss The Dogs of Inishere by Alannah Hopkin, a short story collection from 2017. They talk about the short story form, the position of a collection in today’s marketplace, sequencing, aging, B. S. Johnson, and more.

The next book to be featured in this series is Transit by Bernard Share (September), followed by In Transit by Brigid Brophy (October).

This episode’s music is “If Time Was Kinder” by Arms and Sleepers & Sun Glitters.

You can subscribe to the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and watch us on YouTube.

And be sure to follow our sister podcasts: Two Month Review (Apple, Spotify) and Three Percent (Apple, Spotify) for more book talk!

On this entry into the Irish-centric thread of this podcast Vince Francone (The Soft Lunacy, Like a Dog, A Book No One Wants) and Chad W. Post are joined by Angela Weaser, the longest tenured Dalkey Archive employee in its history, and ex-wife of John O’Brien. They talk a bit about Dalkey back in the day, about Angela’s trip to visit Aidan Higgins and his wife Alannah Hopkin (whose biography of Higgins, A Very Strange Man plays a large role in this episode) when Dalkey signed on all the Higgins books, and, obviously, Langrishe, Go Down, Higgins’s first novel, which is now a Dalkey Essential. They also touch on Scenes from a Receding Past (future Essential), and the monumental A Bestiary.

The next book to be featured in this series is Alannah Hopkin’s collection of short stories, The Dogs of Inishere.

This episode’s music is “Tom Courtenay” by Yo La Tengo.

You can subscribe to the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and watch us on YouTube.

And be sure to follow our sister podcasts: Two Month Review (Apple, Spotify) and Three Percent (Apple, Spotify) for more book talk!

Declan O’Driscoll (The Irish Times) joins Vincent Francone (A Book No One Wants) and Chad W. Post to talk about Tom O’Neill’s Grattan and Me, a brilliantly funny, perceptive book about a Quixote-esque civil servant (Grattan) and his cynical, chaos-making sidekick (Suck Ryle) as they travel Ireland trying to inject a bit more humanity and rational kindness into the world. A rambunctious novel filled with humor, philosophical ideas, and a debate about the importance of James Joyce, Grattan and Me is the perfect Bloomsday book . . .

This episode’s music is “Common People” by Pulp.

You can subscribe to the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and watch us on YouTube.

And be sure to follow our sister podcasts: Two Month Review (Apple, Spotify) and Three Percent (Apple, Spotify) for more book talk!

Dan O’Brien joins Chad to talk about the new edition of his memoir, From Scarsdale: A Childhood, his other two Dalkey Archive books (A Story that Happens: On Playwriting, Childhood, & Other Traumas, True Story: A Trilogy) two of his poetry collections that relate to his and his wife’s cancer diagnoses (Our Cancers, Survivor’s Notebook), the state of drama in America, and much more.

The music in this episode is “Aerial Troubles” by Stereolab.

You can subscribe to the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and watch us on YouTube.

And be sure to follow our sister podcasts: Two Month Review (Apple, Spotify) and Three Percent (Apple, Spotify) for more book talk!