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

This week, I talk to my friend and colleague Nathan Holic about his new novel that is a true epic of our hometown (Orlando), Bright Lights, Medium-Sized City.

Nathan Holic at an undisclosed location in Orlando, without a beer.

This is Nathan's 8th appearance on TDO!

This week, I talk to my friend and colleague Amy Watkins about becoming more systematic about submitting work, and about conceiving of book-length projects of poetry.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

• TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

This week, I talk to my friend Corwin Moore, who is a comic and comedy writer.

Our proposed topic of discussion was the greatness of Richard Pryor, which we cover at length in a conversation that took many turns.

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

This week, I talk to my friend, and Orlando's poet laureate, Susan Lilley!

TEXT DISCUSSED

This week, I talk to two poets.

First, I speak with the joyous Jericho Brown about his complex relationship to poetic tradition, identity, and music. Frankly, I kept making tangents to music. Perhaps too many. But this was one of my favorite interviews from Miami Book Fair International.

Second, I speak with Richard Blanco about the poetry of we, and the importance of giving an audience an entertaining performance, and writing poetry that makes me cry in yet another of my favorite interviews from MBFI.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go herewhile still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

This week, Vanessa Blakeslee and I assail more essays on the craft of literature, this time two by T.S. Eliot.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

"Hamlet and Its Problems" can be found here; "Tradition and the Individual Talent" can be found here.

This week, I offer another round of conversations from Miami Book Fair International, in which I talk to Steve Almond about his favorite novel, Stonerby John Williams,

plus I speak with poet Carolyn Forché about her memoir, All You Have Heard is True.

TEXTS DICSUSSED

This week, I talk to fiction writer Nathan Englander about the pressurized form of fictional worlds, giving the reader something worth their time and money, getting to the pain as soon as possible, continuing to learn about one's craft deep into one's career, Judaism in literature, and the wisdom of our friend Darin Strauss.

Nathan Englander and your humble host in The Confucius Institute at Miami Dade College.[/caption]

Books Discussed

This week, I talk to fiction writer Rion Amilcar Scott about his extraordinary fiction collection, The World Does Not Require You. We discuss the academic world, African-American folklore, religion, music, science fiction, and post-modernism.

This week's show features another pair of episodes from Miami Book Fair International.