Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Putting the ‘I’ Back in Essay, with Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Putting the ‘I’ Back in Essay, with Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon
In the premiere episode of Reckon True Stories, co-hosts and acclaimed authors Deesha Philyaw (The Secret Lives of Church Ladies) and Kiese Laymon (Heavy, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, Long Division) come together to kick off a season where nonfiction takes the spotlight. They talk about their own journeys to writing nonfiction, the distinctions they make between their essay writing and fiction writing, as well as how they came to collaborate and work together in the publishing industry.
Deesha and Kiese discuss writing on their own terms, revising their own ideas of what an essay is “supposed” to do or look like, and putting themselves back into the writing, while also exploring what makes for a compelling essay — calling for the writer to not lose the storytelling aspect in their nonfiction work.
Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned
The Fire This Time (Jesmyn Ward)
Becoming (Michelle Obama)
“The Girl Is Mine” (Deesha Philyaw, Literary Mama 2004)
Song of Solomon (Toni Morrison)
“The Charge of the Light Brigade” (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Poetry Foundation)
“Annabel Lee” (Edgar Allan Poe, Poetry Foundation)
How to Sit (Tyrese Coleman)
“Water Come Back To You: On Trying To Write About Love” (Deesha Philyaw, Split Lip Mag 2021)
“Whiting” (Deesha Philyaw, Short Reads 2023)
“The 13 Guys You’ll Meet On A Dating App” (Deesha Philyaw, Medium 2019)
“If He Hollers Let Him Go” (Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, The Believer 2013)
“The Case for Reparations” (Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic 2014)
“I Called Out American Dirt’s Racism. I Won’t Be Silenced.” (Myriam Gurba, Vox 2020)
Creep: Accusations and Confessions (Myriam Gurba)
“On No Longer Being A Hysterical Woman” (Nafissa Thompson-Spires, The Paris Review 2020)
Oldster (Sari Botton)
“Feral” (Staci Greason, Oldster 2023)
More from Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon:
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
Heavy (Kiese Laymon)
Long Division (Kiese Laymon)
How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: Essays (Kiese Laymon)
Ursa Short Fiction podcast
Produced by Ursa Story Company in partnership with Reckon.
Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Kiese Laymon
Show Producers: Dawnie Walton & Mark Armstrong
Associate Producer: Marina Leigh
Episode Editor: Kelly Araja
Reckon Editor In Chief: R.L. Nave
Reckon Deputy Editor: Michelle Zenarosa
Audience Director: Katie Johnston
Creative Strategist: Abbey Crain
Sr. Social Producer: Sid Espinosa
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
View all episodes
By Ursa Story Company
4.9
115115 ratings
In the premiere episode of Reckon True Stories, co-hosts and acclaimed authors Deesha Philyaw (The Secret Lives of Church Ladies) and Kiese Laymon (Heavy, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, Long Division) come together to kick off a season where nonfiction takes the spotlight. They talk about their own journeys to writing nonfiction, the distinctions they make between their essay writing and fiction writing, as well as how they came to collaborate and work together in the publishing industry.
Deesha and Kiese discuss writing on their own terms, revising their own ideas of what an essay is “supposed” to do or look like, and putting themselves back into the writing, while also exploring what makes for a compelling essay — calling for the writer to not lose the storytelling aspect in their nonfiction work.
Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned
The Fire This Time (Jesmyn Ward)
Becoming (Michelle Obama)
“The Girl Is Mine” (Deesha Philyaw, Literary Mama 2004)
Song of Solomon (Toni Morrison)
“The Charge of the Light Brigade” (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Poetry Foundation)
“Annabel Lee” (Edgar Allan Poe, Poetry Foundation)
How to Sit (Tyrese Coleman)
“Water Come Back To You: On Trying To Write About Love” (Deesha Philyaw, Split Lip Mag 2021)
“Whiting” (Deesha Philyaw, Short Reads 2023)
“The 13 Guys You’ll Meet On A Dating App” (Deesha Philyaw, Medium 2019)
“If He Hollers Let Him Go” (Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, The Believer 2013)
“The Case for Reparations” (Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic 2014)
“I Called Out American Dirt’s Racism. I Won’t Be Silenced.” (Myriam Gurba, Vox 2020)
Creep: Accusations and Confessions (Myriam Gurba)
“On No Longer Being A Hysterical Woman” (Nafissa Thompson-Spires, The Paris Review 2020)
Oldster (Sari Botton)
“Feral” (Staci Greason, Oldster 2023)
More from Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon:
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
Heavy (Kiese Laymon)
Long Division (Kiese Laymon)
How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: Essays (Kiese Laymon)
Ursa Short Fiction podcast
Produced by Ursa Story Company in partnership with Reckon.
Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Kiese Laymon
Show Producers: Dawnie Walton & Mark Armstrong
Associate Producer: Marina Leigh
Episode Editor: Kelly Araja
Reckon Editor In Chief: R.L. Nave
Reckon Deputy Editor: Michelle Zenarosa
Audience Director: Katie Johnston
Creative Strategist: Abbey Crain
Sr. Social Producer: Sid Espinosa
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More shows like Reckon True Stories
View all
This American Life
90,966 Listeners
Pop Culture Happy Hour
11,536 Listeners
The Read
27,358 Listeners
The Book Review
3,997 Listeners
Up First from NPR
56,537 Listeners
Love Letters
1,324 Listeners
IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson
13,044 Listeners
We Can Do Hard Things
41,538 Listeners
Ursa Short Fiction
219 Listeners
Your Mama’s Kitchen
2,322 Listeners
The Business of Publishing
0 Listeners