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

Two incredible authors discuss their debuts. First, Elizabeth Chiles Shelburne tells James about her Tennessee-set HOLDING ON TO NOTHING (Blair), reading while driving (?), Dolly Parton, time machines, and two beer guitars. Then Amy Kurzweil on her depiction of three generations, including her grandmother surviving the Holocaust, in FLYING COUCH: A GRAPHIC MEMOIR (Black Balloon Books). They go over the deceptive naïveté of comics, how she learned to depict her story, and the inside dirt on NEW YORKER cartoons.

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Elizabeth Chiles Shelburne: http://ecshelburne.com/

Buy HOLDING ON TO NOTHING: Buy HOLDING ON TO NOTHING

Elizabeth and James discuss:

Blair Publishing

Amherst College

James Patterson

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee

THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY

Mark Barr

The Novel Incubator at Grub Street

Lisa Borders

Michelle Hoover

FREEDOM by Jonathan Franzen

"Little Sparrow" by Dolly Parton

"Down in the Valley" by The Head and the Heart

Grand Ole Opry

TRAMPOLINE by Robert Gipe

ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare

William Gay

George Singleton

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Amy Kurzweil: http://amykurzweil.com/

Buy FLYING COUCH: A GRAPHIC MEMOIR: Buy FLYING COUCH

Amy and James discuss:

BART SIMPSON'S GUIDE TO LIFE: A WEE HANDBOOK FOR THE PERPLEXED by Matt Groening

CALVIN AND HOBBES by Bill Watterson

MAUS by Art Spiegelman

FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC by Alison Bechdel

PERSEPOLIS by Marjane Satrapi

Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive at University of Michigan

"What the son wishes to forget the grandson wishes to remember." - Marcus Lee Hansen

THE NEW YORKER

MOBY DICK by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Marcel Proust

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http://tkpod.com / [email protected] / Twitter: @JamesScottTK

Instagram: tkwithjs / Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tkwithjs/

Between his work as an ad writer and software developer, Mark Barr worked on a classic tale set in 1930s Tennessee that would become his debut novel, WATERSHED. He talks to James about being a Southern voice, identifying as a meat-and-potatoes stylist, setting quotas for his writing, breaking problems down into their smallest components, and fudging the details. Then, Tavia Gilbert discusses being an audiobook narrator.

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Mark Barr: https://www.readmarkbarr.com/

Buy WATERSHED: Buy WATERSHED

Mark and James discuss:

Southern Independent Booksellers Association

The Charles Frazier Cold Mountain Series Fund

Meg Reid

Betsy Teter

Malaprop's Bookstore/ Cafe

THE PRETTIEST STAR by Carter Sickels

CBGBs

THE NEXT GREATEST THING: FIFTY YEARS OF RURAL ELECTRIFICATION IN AMERICA by Richard A. Pence and Patrick Dahl

New Coke

Harry Potter

The Engineering Library and UT-Austin

Tennessee River

Falstaff

Karmann Ghia

Raytheon

Scholastic Book Club

THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH by Norton Juster

Terry Brooks

B. Dalton Bookstore

THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner

Flannery O'Connor

Eudora Welty

William Gay

SUTTREE by Cormac McCarthy

Ron Rash

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Tavia Gilbert: http://taviagilbert.com/

Tavia and James discuss:

The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Maine School of Art

NERVES OF STEEL by Captain Tammy Jo Shults

THE MEN AND THE GIRLS by Joanna Trollope narrated by Davina Porter

LIBRARY JOURNAL

FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER: A DAUGHTER OF CAMBODIA REMEMBERS by Loung Ung

BEING MEAN: A MEMOIR OF SEXUAL ABUSE AND SURVIVAL by Patricia Eagle

BE FRANK WITH ME by Julia Claiborne Johnson

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Instagram: tkwithjs / Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tkwithjs/

The latest novel from Alix Ohlin, DUAL CITIZENS, depicts the lives of two sisters as they navigate family, art, love, and life. She tells James about the depicting the whoosh of time, rewatching Hitchcock's VERTIGO, recommitting yourself, establishing patterns, putting things into your basket, and missing wolf licenses. Plus, Alix's friend and agent, Amy Williams.

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Alix Ohlin: https://alixohlinauthor.com/

Buy DUAL CITIZENS: Buy DUAL CITIZENS from indie bookstores.

Buy Alix's other books: Buy Alix Ohlin's books from independent booksellers

Alix and James discuss:

The Neopolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante

Alice Munro

VERTIGO dir by Alfred Hitchcock

Jimmy Stewart

REALITY BITES dir by Ben Stiller

Winona Ryder

Bread Loaf Writers' Conference

Daniel Johnston

Henry Darger

Tony Gilroy

"What Writers Really Do When They Write" by George Saunders: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/04/what-writers-really-do-when-they-write

Margot Livesey

Michael Ondaatje

Walter Murch

THE CONVERSATIONS: WALTER MURCH AND THE ART OF EDITING FILM by Michael Ondaatje: Buy THE CONVERSATIONS

IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE by Walter Murch: Buy IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE

HITCHCOCK by Francois Truffaut: Buy HITCHCOCK- TRUFFAUT

TRUST EXERCISE by Susan Choi: Buy TRUST EXERCISE

THE OUTLINE TRILOGY by Rachel Cusk: Buy THE OUTLINE TRILOGY

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Amy Williams: https://williamsliterary.com/

Amy and James discuss:

THE GEORGIA REVIEW

I HATE TO SEE THAT EVENING SUN GO DOWN by William Gay

Sloan Harris

Eric Simonoff

Alix Ohlin

Radcliffe Publishing Course

Harvard University

Knopf

Gary Fisketjon

Doubleday

David Gernert

Michener Center for Writers

Denis Johnson

Jim Magnuson

SLACKER dir by Richard Linklater

VERTIGO

Alice Munro

Lincoln Michel

Jean Craighead George

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It started as a short story in grad school, but Gabriel Urza kept coming back to what would eventually be his novella THE WHITE DEATH: AN ILLUSION. He talks to James about feeling like a child in the face of magic, having trouble extricating past from present, portraying the ambiguity of the supernatural, working through your problems when writing, and reading that's like eating a bag of chips. Plus, Tyler Glauz-Todrank from Bear Pond Books in Montpelier, VT on fall releases.

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Gabriel Urza: http://gabrielurza.com/

Buy THE WHITE DEATH: AN ILLUSION: http://nouvellabooks.com/the-white-death-by-gabriel-urza/

Gabriel and James discuss:

Charles Dickens

ANGELS & DEMONS by Dan Brown

Kurt Vonnegut

The Ohio State University

"Fantasy for Eleven Fingers" by Ben Fountain

the Magic Castle

"Eisenheim the Illusionist" by Steven Millhauser

Jeff Mcbride

Mt. Hood

Sewanee Writers' Conference

Bread Loaf Writers' Conference

Annie Hartnett

Hannah Tinti

Loch Ness

Claire Vaye Watkins

THE THIRD HOTEL by Laura van den Berg

PALE FIRE by Vladimir Nabokov

Deena Drewis

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Tyler Glauz-Todrank

Bear Pond Books, Montpelier, VT: https://www.bearpondbooks.com/

Tyler and James discuss:

BUNNY by Mona Awad: Buy BUNNY

Bear Pond Books

Rivendell

James Baldwin

WHO KILLED MY FATHER by Edouard Louis trans. by Lorin Stein: Buy WHO KILLED MY FATHER

New Directions Press

LIE WITH ME by Philippe Besson trans. by Molly Ringwald: Buy LIE WITH ME

LOT: STORIES by Bryan Washington: Buy LOT

THE WORD FOR WOMAN IS WILDERNESS by Abi Andrews: Buy THE WORD FOR WOMAN IS WILDERNESS

Two Dollar Radio

HARD MOUTH by Amanda Goldblatt: Buy HARD MOUTH

GRAND UNION: STORIES by Zadie Smith: Buy GRAND UNION

IN THE DREAMHOUSE: A MEMOIR by Carmen Maria Machado: Buy IN THE DREAM HOUSE

Graywolf Press

RED AT THE BONE by Jacqueline Woodson: Buy RED AT THE BONE

NOTHING TO SEE HERE by Kevin Wilson: Buy NOTHING TO SEE HERE

TUNNELING TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH by Kevin Wilson: Buy TUNNELING TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH

THE FAMILY FANG by Kevin Wilson: Buy THE FAMILY FANG

AN AMERICAN SUNRISE by Joy Harjo: Buy AN AMERICAN SUNRISE

Ben Lerner

ON SWIFT HORSES by Shannon Pufahl: Buy ON SWIFT HORSES

OUT OF DARKNESS, SHINING LIGHT by Petina Gappah: Buy OUT OF DARKNESS, SHINING LIGHT

Scribner

EYES BOTTLE DARK WITH A MOUTHFUL OF FLOWERS by Jake Skeets: Buy EYES BOTTLE DARK WITH A MOUTHFUL OF FLOWERS

Richard Avedon

Milkweed Editions

HUNGER MOUNTAIN

HOMIE by Danez Smith: Buy HOMIE

HOW WE FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES by Saeed Jones: Buy HOW WE FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES

Simon & Schuster

Maggie Nelson

WE THE ANIMALS by Justin Torres: Buy WE THE ANIMALS

EROSION: ESSAYS OF UNDOING by Terry Tempest Williams: Buy EROSION: ESSAYS OF UNDOING

MAKE IT SCREAM, MAKE IT BURN: ESSAYS by Leslie Jamison: Buy MAKE IT SCREAM MAKE IT BURN

YEAR OF THE MONKEY by Patti Smith: Buy YEAR OF THE MONKEY

CONFESSIONS OF THE FOX by Jordy Rosenberg: Buy CONFESSIONS OF THE FOX

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http://tkpod.com / [email protected] / Twitter: @JamesScottTK

Instagram: tkwithjs / Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tkwithjs/

It took Amanda Goldblatt eight years to write her debut novel, HARD MOUTH. The result is a brilliantly inventive work combining style with emotional impact and classic storytelling. She and James talk about their long friendship, cutting the apocalypse, summoning (or not) imaginary beings, making rules for novels, and remembering the books they read as kids. Plus, Amanda's agent from Frances Goldin Literary Agency, Caroline Eisenmann.

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Amanda Goldblatt: https://amandagoldblatt.com/

Buy HARD MOUTH: Buy HARD MOUTH from your local indie bookstore!

Amanda and James discuss:

Washington University

THE CUPBOARD

Eugene Pallette

Caroline Eisenmann

Turner Classic Movies

POND by Claire-Louise Bennett

MY MAN GODFREY

HATCHET by Gary Paulsen

THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON by Johann David Wyss

Harry Potter

THE HUNGER GAMES

E.T.

J Dilla

VOX

Notorious B.I.G.

Andre 3000

MF Doom

Talib Kweli

Kerri Webster

Gordon Lish

Gary Lutz

Amy Hempel

Sam Lipsyte

Christine Schutt

"The Sentence is a Lonely Place" by Gary Lutz

Jim Shepard

Mary Ruefle

Tim O'Brien

Marilynne Robinson

Denis Johnson

Cormac McCarthy

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Caroline Eisenmann: https://goldinlit.com/agents/

Caroline and James discuss:

NOON

James Salyer

Mary Gaitskill

Annie Proulx

Ottessa Moshfegh

Halle Butler

Claire Messud

Nell Zink

Garth Greenwell

Jack Kerouac

Ernest Hemingway

I KNOW YOU KNOW WHO I AM by Peter Kispert

ICM

GOING DUTCH by James Gregor

Simon & Schuster

THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF NATHANIEL P by Adelle Waldman

THE LONGING FOR LESS: LIVING WITH MINIMALILSM by Kyle Chayka

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http://tkpod.com / [email protected] / Twitter: @JamesScottTK

Instagram: tkwithjs / Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tkwithjs/

The debut novel by Miciah Bay Gault, GOODNIGHT STRANGER, is an intoxicating mix of mystery and grief set in a sandy, salty place. And sexy triplets. She tells James about adjusting the level of magic, breaking the rules, sagging middles, writing as an act of faith, and facing the threat of writing something new. Plus, publicist Laura Gianino.

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Miciah Bay Gault: https://www.miciahbaygault.com/

Buy GOODNIGHT STRANGER: Buy GOODNIGHT STRANGER from an Indie Bookstore

Miciah and James discuss:

Jenni Ferrari-Adler

Union Literary

Daniel Torday

John Cheever

Shirley Jackson

THE X-FILES

Fox Mulder

Dana Scully

POPEYE dir by Robert Altman

Harry Nilsson

WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE by Shirley Jackson

THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt

THE HUNDRED-YEAR HOUSE by Rebecca Makkai

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Laura Gianino

Laura and James discuss:

Park Row Books

Harlequin Enterprises

Harper Collins

Laura Brown

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

THE BOSTON GLOBE

PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY

BOOKLIST

LIBRARY JOURNAL

SHELF AWARENESS

KIRKUS REVIEWS

LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by Celeste Ng

O MAGAZINE

VANITY FAIR

Amazon

George Saunders

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

COSMOPOLITAN

Oprah's Book Club

Reese Witherspoon's Book Club

THE CACTUS by Sarah Haywood

THE MILLIONS

Goodreads

THE FALMOUTH ENTERPRISE

THE TODAY SHOW

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http://tkpod.com / [email protected] / Twitter: @JamesScottTK

Instagram: tkwithjs / Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tkwithjs/

In reporting several food articles, Kevin Alexander found the same stories coming up again and again: genius chefs opened one-of-a-kind restaurants in places like Portland and San Francisco, and in the on-rush of attention struggled to maintain their excellence. In short, we lived through a golden age of American cuisine that is now already over. This era is captured is Alexander's captivating BURN THE ICE. Plus, former Esquire editor and current agent, David Granger.

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Kevin Alexander:

Buy BURN THE ICE: Buy BURN THE ICE from your local indie bookstore.

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http://tkpod.com / [email protected] / Twitter: @JamesScottTK

Instagram: tkwithjs / Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tkwithjs/

A random sign for free dogs inspired Mary Miller to drop a manuscript she'd been researching and create the character of Louis McDonald, Jr. for her hilarious and heartbreaking novel, BILOXI. She tells James about feeling indebted to her characters, teaching herself to write, looking in holes with her dog, needing to find joy, and reading with John Grisham. And bologna. And feet licking. Plus a chat with Bennet Johnson from Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, MI.

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Mary Miller: http://www.maryumiller.net/

BUY BILOXI: Buy BILOXI from an Indie Bookseller

ALSO BY: BIG WORLD, THE LAST DAYS OF CALIFORNIA, ALWAYS HAPPY HOUR

Mary and James discuss:

Frederick Barthelme

Jerry Seinfeld

THE MOTEL LIFE by Willy Vlautin

THE OFFICE

THE MOVIEGOER by Walker Percy

THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt

Books-A-Million

ZOETROPE

ON WRITING by Stephen King

BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott

Elizabeth Ellen

Aaron Burch

Square Books

Lemuria Book Store

Bennet Johnson

Literati Bookstore

Parnassus Books

John Evans

Richard Howorth

Lisa Howorth

Grisham Writers in Residence

John and Renee Grisham

Michener Center for Writers

Ann Patchett

Ole Miss

Mississippi State

Claudia Smith Chen

Kevin Sampsell

REM

Elizabeth Spencer

Tom Franklin

Beth Ann Fennelly

W. W. Norton & Company

Charlie Day

IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA

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Bennet Johnson

Literati Bookstore: https://www.literatibookstore.com/

Literati Cultura: https://www.literatibookstore.com/literati-cultura-collectors-club

Bennet and James Discuss:

Mike & Hilary Gustafson

SING, UNBURIED, SING by Jesmyn Ward

ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS by Ocean Vuong

YOU KNOW YOU WANT THIS by Kristen Roupenian

OHIO by Stephen Markley

MIDWEST LITERARY WALK

PACHINKO by Min Jin Lee

HAWKING by Jim Ottaviani

"Boys Town" by Jim Shepard

Calvin Trillin

Amy Hempel

Mary Ruefle

Kevin Wilson

Hannah Pittard

Lorrie Moore

Ernest Hemingway

Literati Book Store Presents

John U. Bacon

Randall Munroe

Sister Helen Prejean

Salman Rushdie

Jonathan Safran Foer

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http://tkpod.com / [email protected] / Twitter: @JamesScottTK

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Christian Kiefer had great reservations about writing his beautiful new book, PHANTOMS. He tells James how he found the story, and the steps he took to tell it. They also talk about capturing bear consciousness, being haunted by one's own work, finding joy in music and writing, and those troublesome flugelhornists. And then our old friend Christopher Boucher discusses his new novel, BIG GIANT FLOATING HEAD.

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Christian Kiefer: https://www.facebook.com/christian.kiefer.9/

Buy PHANTOMS: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780871404817

Also by: THE INFINITE TIDES, THE ANIMALS, ONE DAY SOON TIME WILL HAVE NO PLACE LEFT TO HIDE.

Christian and James discuss:

Matt Salesses

MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden

SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS by David Guterson

Jamil Zaki

Deena Drewis

Nouvella Books

ORIENTALISM by Edward Said

CULTURE AND IMPERIALISM by Edward Said

NOTHING EVER DIES by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Vintage Contemporaries

Tobias Wolff

Robert Stone

Richard Ford

Tim O'Brien

SOPHIE'S CHOICE by William Styron

ABSALOM, ABSALOM by William Faulkner

Henry James

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Emile Zola

Lauren Groff

San Francisco Zoo

GHOST TANTRAS by Michael McClure

Benjamin Percy

Ingmar Bergman

Andrei Tarkovsky

THE WHITE DEATH by Gabriel Urza

THE LAST REPATRIATE by Matthew Salesses

THE SENSUALIST by Daniel Torday

HOW TO SHAKE THE OTHER MAN by Derek Palacio

IF YOU'RE NOT YET LIKE ME by Eden Lepucki

FLY-OVER STATE by Emma Straub

A FAMILIAR BEAST by Panio Gianopoulos

Miles Davis

John Coltrane

WILDERNESS OF MIRRORS, Lawrence English

Nicholas Brittell

THE DISINTEGRATION LOOPS, William Basinksi

Lyle Lovett

George Jones

JESUS' SON by Denis Johnson

PURE HOLLYWOOD by Christine Schutt

Barry Hannah

GERHARD RICHTER PAINTING (documentary)

John Keene

Magnolia Electric Company

Jason Molina

CANADA by Richard Ford

Sewanee

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Christopher Boucher: http://www.christopherboucher.net/

Buy BIG GIANT FLOATING HEAD: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781612197579

Also by: HOW TO KEEP YOUR VOLKSWAGEN ALIVE, GOLDEN DELICIOUS.

James and Christopher discuss:

Melville House

Kurt Vonnegut

THE PARIS REVIEW

Ben Greenman

Boston College

Oregon State

"People Like That Are The Only People Here" by Lorrie Moore

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

"Araby" by James Joyce

Looney Tunes

Elmer Fudd

Bugs Bunny

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http://tkpod.com / [email protected] / Twitter: @JamesScottTK

Instagram: tkwithjs / Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tkwithjs/

A night spent drinking and writing about his parents' divorce uncovered an urgent need in Stanford professor Jamil Zaki to author THE WAR FOR KINDNESS: BUILDING EMPATHY IN A FRACTURED WORLD. He and James talk about how empathy can literally grow parts of the brain, hating the term hard-wired, facing the problems of the world today, and (sigh) STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. Plus Michael Nye returns to talk about reviving and relaunching STORY.

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Jamil Zaki: https://profiles.stanford.edu/jamil-zaki

Buy THE WAR FOR KINDNESS: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780451499240

Jamil and James discuss:

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION

Deanna Troi

The Good Samaritan

Princeton

Manchester United

Liverpool

Allen Iverson

Bill Nye

Borderlinks

Life After Hate

WRECK-IT RALPH

Contact Theory

Angela King

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Defensive dehumanization

Amanda Cook

Gareth Cook

Bread Loaf Writer's Conference

Carl Sagan

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Michael Nye: http://mpnye.com/

Subscribe to STORY: https://www.storymagazine.org/

Michael and James discuss:

STORY

Lee K. Abbott

Travis Kurowski

AWP Conference

Dave Housley

BARRELHOUSE

MISSOURI REVIEW

RIVER STYX

BOULEVARD

HUNGER MOUNTAIN

ONE STORY

PLOUGHSHARES

"Nude" By Claudia Hinz

"World's End" by Clare Beams

Valerie Cumming

Ohio State

"Amputation of the Angels" by Kyle Minor

LaTanya McQueen

Shanie Latham

THE PARIS REVIEW

THE KENYON REVIEW

BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES

Anne Valente

Michael Croley

COLUMBUS ALIVE

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http://tkpod.com / [email protected] / Twitter: @JamesScottTK

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