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

Satire can be the last, best way to critique difficult topics, and Ryan Chapman's blistering novel, RIOTS I HAVE KNOWN, takes on, among other things, incarceration, literature's standing in the culture, and intellectual pretension. He and James talk novellas, using contemporary cultural references, writing to a melody, and publishing a book after working in the field. Plus, literary advocate, legend, and Ryan's editor, Ira Silverberg.

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Ryan Chapman: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Ryan-Chapman/140796679

Buy RIOTS I HAVE KNOWN: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781501197307

Ryan and James discuss:

Joseph Heller

Mark Leyner

Martin Amis

Don DeLillo

Thomas Pynchon

AO Scott

Wesley Morris

BREAKING BAD

Philip Roth

Roberto Bolano

Horacio Castellanos Moya

New Directions Books

Poopy Atherton

University of Iowa

WG Sebald

THE CRYING OF LOT 49 by Thomas Pynchon

Kanye West

A$AP Rocky

DRAM

JURASSIC PARK

Steve Martin

Michel Foucault

"Pardon Edward Snowden" by Joseph O'Neill

Tin House Summer Workshop

Joy Williams

Guy Debord

Andy Dufresne

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

Frank Darabont

THE VIRGIN SUICIDES by Jeffrey Eugenides

THE LOSER by Thomas Bernhard

TRAINSPOTTING by Irvine Welsh

THE BEACH by Alex Garland

THE GODFATHER

THE GODFATHER by Mario Puzo

Eric Andre

TOO MANY COOKS

Toni Morrison

Ira Silverberg

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Marya Spence

Daniel Torday

DEAR CYBORGS by Eugene Lim

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Ira Silverberg: https://twitter.com/silverbergira?lang=en

Ira and James discuss:

Sam Lipsyte

FSG

Macmillan Publishers

BOMB Magazine

Marya Spence

Simon & Schuster

Mark Twain

OZ

SCRUBS

NAKED LUNCH by William S. Burroughs

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

BOOKFORUM

LITHUB

THE MILLIONS

Parul Sehgal

HIGH RISK: AN ANTHOLOGY OF FORBIDDEN WRITINGS

PUSH by Sapphire

Knopf

Kathy Acker

Grove Press

Dennis Cooper

Ben Lerner

Coffee House Press

Three Lives & Co.

Melville House

SOHO

Emily St. John Mandel

Katherine Faucett

THE ARGONAUTS by Maggie Nelson

Leslie Jamison

Graywolf Press

Little, Brown and Company

Random House

Andrew Wiley

Overlook Press

Allen Ginsberg

Marguerite Duras

Alain Robbe-Grillet

Samuel Beckett

Eugene Ionesco

Barney Rosset

JT LeRoy

NEA

Cave Canem: The Retreat

Whiting Awards

LAMBDA Literary

NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS

PARIS REVIEW

Ann Kjellberg

BOOK POST

AWP

Poetry Society of American

Academy of American poets

AIR TRAFFIC by Gregory Pardlow

ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS by Ocean Vuong

Cathy Park Hong

Poem-A-Day

Alex Dimitrov

Four Way Books

Copper Canyon Press

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

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

With the long road of a novel ahead of her, Julia Phillips mined her obsessions, and based her debut, DISAPPEARING EARTH, on her love of Russia's Kamchatka peninsula and her desire to portray the effects of violent acts on women. She and James talk about the cost of being horrified, the surprising realization that not everyone loves Soviet architecture, the book that unlocked her book, and the need to keep readers from chopping the vegetables. Then James talks to Jon Sealy about his new press, Haywire Books.

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Julia Phillips: http://www.juliaphillipswrites.com/

Buy DISAPPEARING EARTH: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525520412

Julia and James discuss:

JONESTOWN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PEOPLES TEMPLE

Kamchatka Peninsula

THE JOURNEY OF NATTY GANN

Fulbright Fellowship

Yaddo

Emerson College

PT Anderson

THE ANATOMY OF STORY by John Truby

GOOD TALK by Mira Jacob

ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac

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Jon Sealy: http://www.jonsealy.com/

Haywire Books: https://www.haywirebooks.com/

Jon and James discuss:

THE WHISKEY BARON by Jon Sealy

Hub City press

THE UNMADE WORLD by Steve Yarbrough

Unbridled Books

George Singleton

LSU Press

The Southern Voices Festival

Mark Powell

Baker & Taylor

Ingram

Consortium

Publishers Group West

Itasca

THE EDGE OF AMERICA by Jon Sealy

HUMMINGBIRD HOUSE by Patricia Henley

FIREBIRD by Mark Powell

Heather Bell Adams

WVU Press

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

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

The dazzling, drunken, dirty (in an elegant, literary way) debut by Chip Cheek, CAPE MAY, is the result of a feverish writing spree and a measured revision process. Old friends Chip and James discuss learning to let go, having fun at the desk, selecting the right words in sex scenes, discovering characters through their dialogue, and changing ice cream to sherbet. Then, super agent to Chip and many past guests, Katherine Fausset.

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Chip Cheek

Buy CAPE MAY: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250297150

Chip and James discuss:

Pages: A Bookstore

Whitney Scharer

Sally Rooney

The Chunky Monkeys

Celeste Ng

Grace Talusan

Jenn De Leon

Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich

Lizzie Stark

THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt

James Salter

THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD by Richard Yates

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S by Truman Capote

THE CALL OF CTHULHU by H.P. Lovecraft

Jeanne Leiby

Jim Butler

Gustave Flaubert

Jennifer Haigh

Katherine Fausset

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Katherine Fausset: https://www.curtisbrown.com/agents/katherine-fausset/

Katherine and James discuss:

Chip Cheek

The Muse & The Marketplace

Grub Street

Benjamin Percy

Colm Toibin

STATION ELEVEN by Emily St. John Mandel

THE THIRD HOTEL by Laura van den Berg

A MANUAL FOR CLEANING WOMEN: SELECTED STORIES by Lucia Berlin

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

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

At first, she wrote essays as a distraction from her fiction, but over time, Grace Talusan felt the pull of the experiences that would form the foundation of her memoir, THE BODY PAPERS. From immigration to cancer to sexual abuse, the book depicts a life marked by trauma, and yet through it all there is humor, family, and hope. Grace tells James how she embraced her own story, faced honesty, and escaped despair. Plus, Grace's editor and Restless Books marketing director, Nathan Rostron.

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Grace Talusan: http://gracetalusan.com/

Buy THE BODY PAPERS: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781632061836

Grace and James Discuss:

UC-Irvine

Joanne Diaz

Restless Books

Ilan Stavans

ONCE MORE TO THE RODEO by Calvfin Hennick

Ross White's THE GRIND

Bread Loaf Writer's Conference

Tell All

Grub Street

Alysia Abbott

Celeste Ng

Porter Square Books

Whitney Scharer

Chunky Monkeys

Jeff Rubin

THE FACT OF A BODY by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich

Tufts University Counseling Center

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Nathan Rostron of RESTLESS BOOKS: https://restlessbooks.org/

Nathan and James discuss:

Graywolf Press

New Directions Publishing

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

W.W. Norton & Co.

Simon & Schuster

Regan Arts

Judith Regan

Ilan Stavans

Amherst College

THE BOY by Marcus Malte, Translated by Emma Ramadan & Tom Roberge

Riff Raff

Richard Pevear and Larissa Volohonsky

Prix Femina

Editions Zulma

THE INVISIBLE BRIDGE by Julie Orringer

Cormac McCarthy

THE BODY PAPERS by Grace Talusan

THE IMMIGRANT WRITING PRIZE

TEMPORARY PEOPLE by Deepak Unnikrishnan

George Saunders

Salman Rushdie

Hindu Prize

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

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

Back in episode 47, Whitney Scharer discussed the incredible sale of her debut, THE AGE OF LIGHT, and now, she and James discuss the actual novel, which depicts the relationship between Lee Miller and May Ray. They talk about creating fictional characters from real people, when she had her "Aha!" insight into Lee's psyche, cultural movements, Boston apartment hopping, and, of course, what you call a butt. Plus, Whitney's UK cover designer, Stuart Wilson.

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Whitney Scharer: https://whitneyscharer.com/

THE AGE OF LIGHT: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780316524087

Whitney and James discuss:

Lee Miller

Man Ray

Peabody-Essex Museum

CAPE MAY by Chip Cheek

Jean Cocteau

Janet Flanner

THE NEW YORKER

Ernest Hemingway

GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES by Anita Loos

David Bain

Margot Livesey

Pamela Painter

Emerson College

Richard Kenney

JUST KIDS by Patti Smith

CBGB's

Robert Mapplethorpe

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Stuart Wilson

Stuart and James discuss:

Francesca Main

Whitney Scharer

Jeff Cottenden

Lee Miller

Pan 70th Anniversary Collection

Justine Anweiler

JAWS by Peter Benchley

BORN FREE by Joan Adamson

THE PROVINCIAL LADY by E. M. Delafield

Edward St. Aubyn

Benedict Cumberbatch

THE PAPER LOVERS by Gerard Woodward

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

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

In our final episode of our Sewanee Writers' Conference series recorded in the summer of 2018, James is joined by Christine Schutt, one of our greatest authors, to discuss her career from FLORIDA to her latest, PURE HOLLYWOOD. They cover a lot of books, and a lot of ground, from nerves about reading to insecurity about writing, in an honest and illuminating conversation. Plus, friend and (relatively) new PARIS REVIEW editor Emily Nemens.

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Christine Schutt: https://www.christineschutt.com/

Christine and James discuss:

Christine's books: FLORIDA; A DAY, A NIGHT, ANOTHER DAY, SUMMER; NIGHTWORK; ALL SOULS; PROSPEROUS FRIENDS; PURE HOLLYWOOD: AND OTHER STORIES

Amy Hempel

Barry Hannah

Gordon Lish

Lucy Corin

UC Davis

Mary Jo Salter

John Casey

Cheri Peters

William Gay

Wyatt Prunty

Jill McCorkle

AWP

Donald Justice

Elizabeth Bishop

BLUETS by Maggie Nelson

TRIQUARTERLY

National Book Award

Kathryn Davis

SLEEPLESS NIGHTS by Elizabeth Hardwick

TRAIN DREAMS by Denis Johnson

CHILD OF GOD by Cormac McCarthy

AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner

TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf

Diane Williams

NOON

Josh Weil

UC Irvine

The Nightingale-Bamford School

Wesleyan University

Mills College

Elizabeth Winthrop

GOSSIP GIRL by Cecily von Ziegesar

Laura van den Berg

Elisabeth Schmitz

Margot Livesey

Alfred Hitchcock

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

Alice Munro

Dan O'Brien

Maurice Manning

Clare Beams

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Emily Nemens: https://www.theparisreview.org/

Emily and James Discuss:

THE PARIS REVIEW

THE SOUTHERN REVIEW

Diane Williams

WRITERS AT WORK

Pulitzer Prize

WOMEN AT WORK, INTERVIEWS FROM THE PARIS REVIEW

Francois Mauriac

Nadine Gordimer

Hernan Diaz

Kelli Jo Ford

Emily Bell

AWP

THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE

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

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

The third in a series of conversations recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference in the summer of 2018 finds James sitting down with Randall Kenan, who talks about the books that made him feel less alone, the art of writing about food, and the legacy of James Baldwin. Plus, Anna Lena Phillips Bell, editor at Ecotone Magazine.

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Randall Kenan: https://randallkenan.com/

Randall and James discuss:

Margot Livesey

Richard Bausch

Jill McCorkle

Tony Earley

Steve Yarbrough

Wyatt Prunty

Maurice Manning

Zora Neale Hurston

Charles Chestnut

Latin American Boom

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Carlos Fuentes

Mario Vargas Llosa

Isabelle Allende

UNC- Chapel Hill

Amos Tutuola

Wole Soyinka

William Faulkner

Bennett Cerf

Donald Klopfer

Christine Schutt

Little Richard

Studs Terkel

V.S. Naipaul

THE LIVING IS EASY by Dorothy West

Jackie Kennedy

THE WEDDING by Dorothy West

Dan O'Brien

C-SPAN'S BOOKNOTES with Brian Lamb

SOUTHERN FOOD by John Egerton

Southern Foodways Alliance

INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison

Edna Lewis

William Styron

Molly O'Neill

Mark Twain

MFK Fisher

Urban Waite

JAMES BALDWIN: A BIOGRAPHY by David Leeming

THE NATION

THE FIRE NEXT TIME by James Baldwin

NO NAME IN THE STREET by James Baldwin

GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN by James Baldwin

ANOTHER COUNTRY by James Baldwin

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Anna Lena Phillips Bell: https://ecotonemagazine.org/

Anna Lena and James discuss:

David Gessner

UNC- Wilmington

AWP

TIN HOUSE

AMERICAN SCIENTIST

David Schoonmaker

Emerson College

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

In the second in a series of conversations recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference in the summer of 2018, James spoke to three people from the world of playwriting: old friend and playwright Dan O'Brien, agent Beth Blickers, and actor Emily Shain. They discuss what draws them to work, how the written word earns its space, and the great value of surprise.

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Dan O'Brien: http://www.danobrien.org/

Dan and James discuss:

David Baldacci

THE HOUSE IN SCARSDALE: A MEMOIR FOR THE STAGE

NEW LIFE

Paul Watson

THE BODY OF AN AMERICAN

Guggenheim Fellowship

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Beth Blickers: https://www.apa-agency.com/

Beth and James discuss:

APA Agency

Theatre Breaking Through Barriers

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

Charles Darwin

MASTER OF NONE

MJ Kaufman

WIT by Margaret Edson

Theatre by the Blind

Ike Schambelan

Nicholas Viselli

TEENAGE DICK by Mike Lew

Gregg Mozgala

Shannon DeVido

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Emily Shain: http://www.emilyshain.com/

Emily and James discuss:

Performing Prose:

https://www.performingprose.com/

Shawn McIntyre

Anne Ray

Jill McCorkle

Christine Schutt

James Joyce

The Back Room Shakespeare Project

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

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

In the first in a series of Sewanee Writers' Conversations, recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference in July 2018, James sat down with poet Maurice Manning to talk about his latest collection, ONE MAN'S DARK, as well as a beautiful story about a gift from Claudia Emerson, challenging himself with each book, and how his poetry has changed. Plus, editor-in-chief of 32 POEMS, George David Clark.

Sewanee Writers' Conference: http://www.sewaneewriters.org/

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Maurice Manning

Maurice and James discuss:

Tony Earley

Tim O'Brien

Claudia Emerson

Pelican pens

Margot Livesey

Daniel Boone

Brooks Haxton

By Maurice Manning: ONE MAN'S DARK, THE GONE AND THE GOING AWAY, BUCOLICS, THE COMMON MAN, A COMPANION FOR OWLS, LAWRENCE BOOTH'S BOOK OF VISIONS

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George David Clark: http://www.georgedavidclark.com/

32 POEMS: http://32poems.com/

David and James discuss:

32 POEMS

Texas Tech

VIRGINIA QUARTERLY REVIEW

MERIDIAN

John Poch

ONE STORY

Hannah Tinti

Dan O'Brien

REDIVIDER

Mark Wagner

Aimee Bender

Lydia Davis

"How to Talk to the Hunter" by Pam Houston

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

Lydia Kiesling tricked herself into writing a novel by starting with small vignettes about her feelings as a new parent and setting them in a northern California that's rarely explored in literature. The result of tying those scenes together is her excellent debut, THE GOLDEN STATE. She and James talk about her work as editor of THE MILLIONS, spreadsheets, local newspapers, present tense, and barfing toddlers. Plus, Shuchi Saraswat from Brookline Booksmith talks about the Transnational Literature Series and book sales.

Lydia Kiesling: http://www.lydiakiesling.com/

Lydia and James Discuss:

CAL SUNDAY MAGAZINE

Sarah Smarsh

Hamilton College

OFF COURSE by Michelle Huneven

MODOC COUNTY RECORD

David Lodge

Sarah Blackwood

LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis

Tobias Wolff

Brandon Taylor

THE MILLIONS

Laura van den Berg

Emily Bell

Charles Dickens

THE GRADUATE dir by Mike Nichols

C. Max Magee

THE LAST SAMURAI by Helen DeWitt

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Shuchi Saraswat: https://www.shuchisaraswat.com/

Shuchi and James discuss:

Brookline Booksmith

The Transnational Literature Series

KINGDOM OF OLIVE AND ASH ed by Chabon & Waldman

THIS IS NOT A BORDER ed by Soueif & Hamilton

Ru Freeman

Khury Petersen-Smith

BEACON PRESS

Tom Hallock

HILLBILLY ELEGY by J.D. Vance

VISITATION by Jenny Erpenbeck

GO WENT GONE by Jenny Erpenbeck

Laura van den Berg

DISORIENTAL by Negar Djavadi

POSO WELLS by Gabriela Aleman

Coolidge Corner Theatre

PERSEPOLIS dir by Marjane Satrapi

Words Without Borders

The Forum Network

Bob Woodward

EXIT WEST by Mohsin Hamid

HOME FIRE by Kamila Shamsie

PACHINCO by Min Jin Lee

THE INCENDIARIES by R.O. Kwon

THE MARS ROOM by Rachel Kushner

CIRCE by Madeline Miller

SONG OF ACHILLES by Madeline Miller

BookScan

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

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