TK with James Scott: A Writing, Reading, & Books Podcast

In our first episode recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference in the summer of 2022, Alexander Chee (How to Write an Autobiographical Novel) talks to James about his career, being the most photographed author in history, the late Randall Kenan, and Courtney Love. Plus legendary editor and founder and President of Words Without Borders, Alane Mason.

Apply to the Sewanee Writers' Conference by March 15!

Buy Alexander Chee's books!

Buy Black Folk Could Fly: Selected Writings by Randall Kenan!

Check out Words Without Borders!

Check out Bea Troxel's music!

Produced/ Mixed by Ryan Shea.

Subscribe! Rate! Enjoy!

Instagram: tkwithjs

Twitter: @JamesScottTK

tk with js at g mail dot com

In our fourth and final episode recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference in the summer of 2021, Elena Passarello (Animals Strike Curious Poses) tells James about sleeping in Elvis's teenage bedroom, getting advice from long-haul truckers, and having screams sent to her. Plus the legendary Mary Flinn of Blackbird.

Apply to the Sewanee Writers' Conference by March 15!

Buy Elena's books!

Check out Blackbird!

Check out Bea Troxel's music!

Produced/ Mixed by Ryan Shea.

Subscribe! Rate! Enjoy!

Instagram: tkwithjs

Twitter: @JamesScottTK

tk with js at g mail dot com

Only the great Carl Phillips could warrant an episode all to himself. Recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference in 2021, James and Carl discuss assembling a collection, enjoying feeling lost, letting go of the argument, and putting a wedge between yourself and the unbearable.

Sewanee Writers' Conference 2022 Applications due March 15!

Buy Carl's books at indie bookstores.

Music courtesy of Bea Troxel.

Produced/ Mixed by Ryan Shea.

Insta: tkwithjs / Tw: @JamesScottTK / https://tkpod.com

The third summer of conversations recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference (2021) continues with M.O. Walsh (The Big Door Prize), who gives a writing tip James has used ever since, then chats about writing a novel you like, being under the influence of John Prine, and writing one of the greatest cocktail scenes ever. Plus, independent editor and member of the collective 5E Editors, Liz Van Hoose.

Sewanee Writers' Conference 2022 Applications due March 15!

Buy M.O. Walsh's books.

Work with Liz Van Hoose or 5E Editors.

Music courtesy of Bea Troxel.

Produced/ Mixed by Ryan Shea.

Insta: tkwithjs / Tw: @JamesScottTK / https://tkpod.com

The third summer of conversations recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference (2021) opens with the brilliance of Katie Kitamura (Intimacies, A Separation), who talks to James about pushing back on expectations, writing things you don't think you can, having your best reader in your own house, and the ghosts of edits past. Plus, the also brilliant author (The Office of Historical Corrections) and The Sewanee Review Editor-at-Large Danielle Evans.

Sewanee Writers' Conference 2022 Applications due March 15!

Subscribe to The Sewanee Review.

Buy Katie and Danielle's books from independent booksellers.

Music courtesy of Bea Troxel.

Produced/ Mixed by Ryan Shea.

Insta: tkwithjs / Tw: @JamesScottTK / https://tkpod.com

The second summer of conversations recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference continues with playwright Rachel Bonds, who tells James about finding her voice in a one-act, using jealousy as a job coach, being on the writing treadmill, and recognizing the struggles of those close to us. Plus, actor and Performing Prose co-founder Sean McIntyre.

http://www.sewaneewriters.org/ 2020 Applications due March 15!

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Rachel Bonds

Rachel and James discuss:

Olivier Sultan (agent)

St. Andrew's-Sewanee School

Lisa D'Amour

Barack Obama

James Agee

George Saunders

Jennifer Egan

Kevin Wilson

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Sean McIntyre: https://www.performingprose.com/

Sean and James discuss:

THE SOPRANOS

Drew Barrymore

Middlebury College

Steve Yarbrough

Jim Shepard

ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare

THE SIMPSONS

LES MISERABLES music by Claude-Monet Schonberg

"Master of the House"

Emily Nemens

Tim O'Brien

SEINFELD

BREAKING BAD

THE GOAT, OR WHO IS SYLVIA by Edward Albee

Dan O'Brien

Marilyn Nelson

SLINGS AND ARROWS

Keanu Reeves

The Stratford Festival

Performing Prose

Emily Shain

Anne Ray

Sewanee Writers' Conference

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Music courtesy of Bea Troxel from her album, THE WAY THAT IT FEELS: https://www.beatroxel.com/

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http://tkpod.com / [email protected] / Twitter: @JamesScottTK /Instagram: tkwithjs / FB: https://www.facebook.com/tkwithjs/

The second summer of conversations recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference continues with Tim O'Brien, who tells James about winning the National Book Award, writing THE THINGS THEY CARRIED while on a break from another book, not leaving a sentence until it's finished, being a father, knowing death, and recognizing the maybeness of it all. Plus, Missouri Review editor Speer Morgan.

http://www.sewaneewriters.org/ 2020 Applications due March 15!

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Tim O'Brien

Buy Tim's books: Buy Tim O'Brien's Books From Independent Booksellers

Tim and James discuss:

Sewanee Writers' Conference

Dan O'Brien

Christine Schutt

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP by John Irving

THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER by John Cheever

Lizzie Borden

Jack the Ripper

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" by Joyce Carol Oates

WAR AND PEACE by Leo Tolstoy

THE BIBLE

BILLY BUDD, SAILOR by Herman Melville

Wyatt Prunty

Emily Nemens

Ernest Hemingway

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Speer Morgan: https://www.missourireview.com/

Speer and James discuss:

Middlebury College

The New England Review

Greg Michaelson

Jack Kerouac

Mark Twain

Tennessee Williams

Christine Schutt

The Dead Sea Scrolls

Kris Somerville's Curio Cabinet

Mike McClaskey

Dan O'Brien

"Fields of Empire" by Joan Silber

Daniel Woodrell

Susan Vreeland

Joanna Scott

Raymond Carver

Robert Olen Butler

Naguib Mahfouz

Gregory Rabassa

Philip K. Dick

Ursula Le Guin

Russell Banks

PBS

Henry Green

Robert Bly

Stephen Dunn

TR Hummer

Dave Smith

Annie Proulx

Edmund White

Ernest Gaines

Larry Brown

John Updike

Margaret Walker

Peter Matthiessen

Richard Ford

"Awakening to Jake" by Jillian Weiss

Henry James

Edith Wharton

CHERNOBYL

"Snow" by Kermit Frazier

A FAITHFUL BUT MELANCHOLY ACCOUNT OF SEVERAL BARBARITIES LATELY COMMITTED by Jason Brown

"Those Deep Elm Brown's Ferry Blues" by William Gay

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Music courtesy of Bea Troxel from her album, THE WAY THAT IT FEELS: https://www.beatroxel.com/

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http://tkpod.com / [email protected] / Twitter: @JamesScottTK /Instagram: tkwithjs / FB: https://www.facebook.com/tkwithjs/

The second summer of conversations recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference begins with James speaking with Marilyn Nelson, who has written poetry in many forms and for many audiences. Marilyn tells James about her fears of being pigeonholed as well as her love of musicality, embodying voices, and finding a way forward. Plus, Copper Canyon Executive Editor Michael Wiegers.

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Marilyn Nelson: https://marilyn-nelson.com/

Buy Marilyn's books: Shop your local indie bookstore for Marilyn Nelson

Marilyn and James discuss:

Andrea Davis Pinkney

Igor Stravinsky

Maurice Manning

Wyatt Prunty

Childcraft Books

Sara Teasdale

Gwendolyn Brooks

Linda Ronstadt "Songs for My Father"

Norton's Anthology of Children's Literature

Stephen Roxburgh

Front Street Publishing

Augusta Savage

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Michael Wiegers: https://www.coppercanyonpress.org/authors/michael-wiegers/

Copper Canyon Press: https://www.coppercanyonpress.org/

Michael and James discuss:

The New York Times

Goodreads

Amazon

Michiko Kakutani

Ocean Vuong

RAILSPLITTER by Maurice Manning

Melissa Stein

Coffee House Press

W.S. Merwin

Robert Graves

Alan Brilliant

Unicorn Press

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Music courtesy of Bea Troxel from her album, THE WAY THAT IT FEELS: https://www.beatroxel.com/

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http://tkpod.com / [email protected] / Twitter: @JamesScottTK /Instagram: tkwithjs / FB: https://www.facebook.com/tkwithjs/

Kevin Wilson's fifth book, the novel NOTHING TO SEE HERE, is a perfect combination of everything that made his previous work so singular: the humor and edge of THE FAMILY FANG, the intensity of his short fiction, and the heart and earnestness of PERFECT LITTLE WORLD. He and James talk depicting basketball, writing being fun and versatile, keeping it short, and lacking a radar for weirdness. Plus, Ecco executive editor Zachary Wagman.

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Kevin Wilson: https://www.wilsonkevin.com/

Buy NOTHING TO SEE HERE: Buy NOTHING TO SEE HERE

Kevin's work mentioned: "Blowing up on the Spot", PERFECT LITTLE WORLD, TUNNELING TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, THE FAMILY FANG, Buzzfeed essay: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kevinwilson/i-cant-save-my-son-from-the-anxiety-ive-passed-on-to-him.

Kevin and James discuss:

PLOUGHSHARES

Laura van den Berg

Lee Boudreaux

Harry Potter

The Southern Voices Festival

"A to B" from A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan

Caki Wilkinson

Latina Davis

Kim Woodley

Grundy County

Franklin County

Kansas State

University of Florida

Patrick Ewing

Hakeem Olajuwon

Kevin McHale

THE DART LEAGUE KING by Keith Lee Morris

"Boys Town" by Jim Shepard

Harvard University

THE NEW YORKER

Calvin Trillin

WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE by Shirley Jackson

A MEMBER OF THE WEDDING by Carson McCullers

MRS. CALIBAN by Rachel Ingalls

GOODBYE, VITAMIN by Rachel Khong

TREASURE ISLAND!!! by Sara Levine

BAD MARIE by Marcy Dermansky

THE LONGSHOT by Katie Kitamura

TRAIN DREAMS by Denis Johnson

Christine Schutt

Steven Millhauser

Larry Bird

Johnny Storm, "The Human Torch"

Julie Barer

Ecco

Greensboro Review

Nicole Kidman

Keith Urban

Christopher Walken

Ryan Call

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Zachary Wagman: @zackwagman

Zack and James discuss:

THE FAMILY FANG

BABY, YOU'RE GONNA BE MINE

PERFECT LITTLE WORLD

Saturday Night Live

ALA

The Lead Read

The Today Show

Vintage

Crown

Dennis Lehane

Dan Halpern

Hogarth

Knopf

New England Patriots

Gillian Flynn

Pulitzer Prize

Nobel Prize

YOUR HOUSE WILL PAY by Steph Cha

COLD STORAGE by David Koepp

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http://tkpod.com / [email protected] / Twitter: @JamesScottTK/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tkwithjs/ Instagram: tkwithjs

Calvin Hennick jokingly calls his memoir, ONCE MORE TO THE RODEO, "every thought I've ever had," and the book touches on fatherhood, manhood, race, family, alcohol, baseball, and countless other topics, all considered on a road trip to his childhood hometown with his young son. He talks to James about having the memoir roundly rejected until it won the Pushcart Press Editor's Award, walking around naked in front of the reader, and not solving all of the world's problems. Plus, the legendary Bill Henderson of Pushcart Press.

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Calvin Hennick: https://twitter.com/calvinhennick?lang=en

Buy ONCE MORE TO THE RODEO: Buy ONCE MORE TO THE RODEO

Calvin and James discuss:

The Chunky Monkeys

THE BOSTON GLOBE MAGAZINE

Grub Street

Boston Red Sox

Adam Jones

Baltimore Orioles

Curt Schilling

Fenway Park

GET OUT dir by Jordan Peele

Cooperstown, NY

Baseball Hall of Fame

PLEASANTVILLE dir by Gary Ross

Jackie Robinson

Millicent Bennett

Grand Central Publishing

Pushcart Editor's Prize

Bill Henderson

APOCALYPSE NOW dir by Francis Ford Coppola

BUSINESS INSIDER

Alex Marzano-Lesnevich

Chip Cheek

Whitney Scharer

Jenn DeLeon

THE BODY PAPERS by Grace Talusan

Franz Kafka

James Joyce

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Bill Henderson: http://pushcartprize.com/

Buy THE PUSHCART PRIZE ANTHOLOGY: Buy the PUSHCART PRIZE ANTHOLOGY

Bill and James discuss:

THE KID THAT COULD

THE PUBLISH IT YOURSELF HANDBOOK by Bill Henderson

The Pushcart Prize

Anais Nin

Buckminster Fuller

Ralph Ellison

Joyce Carol Oates

Doubleday

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Mattel Toys

Random House

WW Norton & Co.

ESQUIRE

Central Park

ONCE MORE TO THE RODEO by Calvin Hennick

Little, Brown

Millicent Bennett

POETS & WRITERS

Cooperstown

Fenway Park

Boston Red Sox

WASHINGTON POST

YOU ARE NOT A GADGET by Jaron Lanier

GARDEN STATE by Rick Moody

THE TALE OF THE RING: A KADDISH: A PERSONAL MEMOIR OF THE HOLOCAUST by Frank Stiffel

A DAY LIKE ANY OTHER: THE GREAT HAMPTONS HURRICANE OF 1938 by Genie Chipps Henderson

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http://tkpod.com / [email protected] / Twitter: @JamesScottTK/ Instagram: tkwithjs / Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tkwithjs/