The Exacting Clam Cephalopodcast

This episode continues David Collard's ongoing series of conversations about criticism and small press publishing with guests Dawn Raffel, author of Boundless as the Sky, and Luke Kennard, author of Black Bag (shortlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize).

With this episode, we kick off a series of conversations between the distinguished critic David Collard (author of Multiple Joyce and A Crumpled Swan) and a number of authors and publishers s, in which they discuss book reviews, small press publishing, Guillermo Stitch’s recent novel The Coast of Everything and its reception, and much else. First up is C. D. Rose, author of We Live Here Now, winner of the 2025 Goldsmiths Prize.

David Collard and Kurt Luchs discuss their two recent books: Collard's A Crumpled Swan: Fifty essays about Abigail Parry's 'In the dream of the cold restaurant' (Sagging Meniscus, June 2025) and Luchs' Tributaries: Essays & Verses Flowing From & Celebrating Favorite Poems (Sagging Meniscus, December 2025).

After a long hiatus, Kurt Luchs returns with another poem from his 2024 collection, Death Row Row Row Your Boat. This episode's poem is the second in the collection: "Mine".

Today Kurt Luchs begins a series of readings of poems from Death Row Row Row Your Boat, his new collection from Sagging Meniscus. This episode's poem is the first in the collection: "A Mist in the Tree".

In this episode, Guillermo Stitch, Executive Editor of Exacting Clam, reads his editorial from the Winter 2023 issue.

In this brief but informative episode, the host (or a pigeon, or perhaps Mrs. Brodsky herself), having damaged the sun and been bitten by a doorbell, is led to reconsider career options.

Today we talk about the play Kinderkrankenhaus and its new production at the Brick Theater in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, with author Jesi Bender, director Nola Latty, and assistant director/dramaturg AJ Stoogenke.

Jesi Bender is an artist from Upstate NY. Her play, Kinderkrankenhaus, was published by Sagging Meniscus Press in late 2021 and debuted at Colgate University's Brehmer Theater in 2022. The NYC premiere will occur September 28-30 at the Brick Theater in Brooklyn, NY.

Nola Latty is a director, producer, and performance artist from Philadelphia, based in Brooklyn, New York. They create work that balances the intimate with the avant-garde. Their surreal digital play, Still Goes, was a part of the 2022 Exponential Festival. They have produced shows at Ars Nova, The Brick, and New York University, and performed at New York and Denver Fringe Festivals, Chaos Computer, and The Tank, along with several other small DIY Venues. Nola is a neurodiverse artist, and invites that part of them to affect their creative and leadership practices. 

AJ Stoogenke (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist based in New York. She is currently assistant directing and dramturging Kinderkrankenhaus at The Brick Theater. She recently cast the web series “High Functioning: A Chronicle of Chronic Ills” and has previously worked as a makeup artist and costume designer for a variety of independent films, editorial projects, and theater productions.

As a disabled individual, AJ prioritizes accessibility in her work. She is a proud co-founder of the NYU Tisch Drama Coalition of Disabled Artists. She also currently works as a talent booker for models with disabilities. 

The Brick Theater is Williamsburg’s primary incubator of innovative theater and performing arts. https://www.bricktheater.com/event/kinderkrankenhaus/all/

The Cephalopodcast returns to life with a brief report from an appropriately mollusk-friendly region—Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Featuring "observations and admonitions" from roving, raving publisher Jacob Smullyan and proper poems by Clam regulars Mike Silverton and Marvin Cohen, its nudities of meaning are gracefully hidden behind the murmur of a consuming sea.

In this episode, Kevin Philip Sirois presents C.J. Spataro’s gorgeous, moving, strange yet familiar story, “The Becoming,” available in the print edition of Exacting Clam’s Autumn 2021 issue.

C.J. Spataro is the MFA program director at Rosemont College and the editorial director of Philadelphia Stories and PS Books. She is an award-winning short story writer, Pushcart Prize nominee, and a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grant winner.