The Drunken Odyssey with John King: A Podcast About the Writing Life

This week I talk with the novelist Jason Z. Morris about structuring a novel, learning the confidence to write a novel, how the peer review process in science helps in receiving creative writing criticism, and the fun, diverse conversations to be had at the faculty cafeteria at Fordham at Lincoln Center.

This week I talk with the poet Kimiko Hahn about the mysteriousness of objects, the mourning involved in memory, the strange penchant of Dr. Chevalier Quixote Jackson, and discovering the scheme of a book of poetry.

This week I talk with poet EmilyBrandtabout her new book Falsehood by After Hours Press. We delve into her personal connection with the poems and her growth from taking a poetry class as a one-off to her experience in NYU's MFA program to published poet.We also discuss the effect her students have had on her writing and her life, which range from high school students to veterans of the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan.

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In this week's episode, I talk with creative writer and Disney historian Todd James Pierce about the new Disney's Hollywood Studios attraction that let's guests cross into the screen of a cartoon experience.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

In this bonus, mid-week episode of The Drunken Odyssey, the game-writing expert Michael Merriam and I read and discuss Escape from Fire Island, a lost classic from the 1990s. Somehow, we touch upon Dragon's Lair, The Canterbury Tales, Hamlet (naturally), He-Man and The Masters of the Universe, and The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

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This week, my occasional co-host, Vanessa Blakeslee, and I discuss Douglas Glover's latest collection, The Erotics of Restraint: Essays on Literary Form. We explore his insights on time and plot construction, as seen the works of Alice Munro, Jane Austen, Ernest Hemingway, and others.

This week I sit down with novelist and memoirist Paul Lisicky to discuss his new memoir, Later: My Life at The Edge of The World. We dive into the process of memory in writing memoir, the ways of poetically complicating how time works in narrative, and the influences that let him know what was possible to be at home in memoir. We also discuss his formative experiences living in Provincetown in the 1990s, and discovering queer identity during the times of the AIDS epidemic.

Paul Lisicky. Photo by Beowulf Sheehan.[/caption]

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This week, I speak to actor, show writer, and memoirist Ron Schneider about the show business life, theme park creativity, and learning to master new creative challenges.

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NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

This week, I speak to fiction writer Shane Hinton about his poetic, spooky apocalyptic novel, Radio Dark.

Episode 408 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that's your thing.)

This week, my occasional co-host, Vanessa Blakeslee, and I discuss Paul Fussell's entertaining treatise, Class: A Guide Through the American Status System. While this is clearly not a craft book, a sociological understanding of the American class system can add layers to your characterization, or so John found when he discovered this gem back in the early 1990s. Paul Fussell (1924-2012) possessed a gorgeously sardonic wit when not hiding in academia.

Someday John will own a sailboat, and become truly, deeply, fatally lost, and happy.