Ursa Short Fiction

Ursa Short Fiction

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Ursa Short Fiction episodes

  • Story: ‘Bitch Baby,’ by Halle Hill

    Ursa Short Fiction is proud to present an original audio production of “Bitch Baby,” written by Halle Hill, from her debut collection, Good Women, and performed by Nytia Nikole. “Bitch Baby” is about two siblings, Celine and Reggie, in the aftermath of Reggie being beaten by police. This story is dazzling, messy, heart-wrenching, and beautiful. Hill tackles themes of racial tensions, queerness, religion, and family. Stick around at the end for Halle Hill, in her own words, discussing her writing journey.

    Support our work by becoming a member in Apple Podcasts, or at ursastory.com/join.


    Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned

    • “Bitch Baby” (Halle Hill, Oxford American, 2020)
    • Good Women (Halle Hill, Hub City Press, 2023)
    • “On paying attention to what works best for you: conversation with Kimberly King Parsons” (The Creative Independent, 2024)


      More from Deesha and Dawnie:

      • The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
      • The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton)


        Produced by Ursa Story Company 


        Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton

        Story performed by Nytia Nikole

        Interview by Marina Leigh


        Ursa Executive Producers: Dawnie Walton, Deesha Philyaw, and Mark Armstrong

        Associate Producer: Marina Leigh

        Episode Editor: Kelly Araja


        About the Author 

        Halle Hill is the author of Good Women (Hub City Press), which was named a 2023 Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, O Magazine, Electric Literature, Book Riot and Southwest Review. A finalist for the 2023 Weatherford Award for Appalachian writing, she is the winner of the 2020 Crystal Wilkinson Creative Writing Prize and the 2020 Oxford American Debut Fiction Prize. Her short stories have been translated into French and published in journals including Joyland, New Limestone Review, Atlanta Magazine, Ursa Short Fiction and The Oxford American, among others. A born and raised East Tennessean, she currently lives, works and teaches in North Carolina.


        About the Narrator 

        Nytia Nikole comes from the culturally rich city of Boston. She’s an award-winning actress and director, an accomplished filmmaker, writer, and producer. She is best known for her lead role in Taboo 3, and supporting roles in Fractured, Fixation 2, Dexter Jackson's Guide to Dating, several other films as well as multiple tv roles to include Fatal Attraction, Murder Chose Me, and ATL Homicide, and Personal Injury Court to name a few. Nytia has experience in film, theatre, and voiceover performance.

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        Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join

        30 min
      • [Free Teaser] Member Bonus: What Deesha and Dawnie Are Reading Right Now

        In this Member Bonus episode, Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton talk about what they’re reading, writing, watching, and what they’re celebrating. What books and anthologies should we be on the lookout for in 2025? What newsletters should we be following? Plus: Bonus writing prompts! 

        Enjoy this free teaser, and become an Ursa Member in Apple Podcasts or at ursastory.com/join to get the full episode. 

        Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned

        • James (Percival Everett)
        • Colored Television (Danzy Senna)
        • Caucasia (Danzy Senna)
        • The Seven Daughters of Dupree (Nikesha Elise Williams; release date January 2026)
        • Black Cake (Charmaine Wilkerson)
        • Good Dirt (Charmaine Wilkerson)
        • Homegoing (Yaa Gyasi)
        • Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston)
        • Mateo Askaripour
        • Little Movements (Lauren Morrow; release date September 2025)
        • Bibb Country: Unearthing My Family Secrets of Land, Legacy, and Lettuce (Lonnae O’Neal; release date June 2025)
        • Lonnae O’Neal in Andscape
        • I’m Every Woman: Remixed Stories of Marriage, Motherhood, and Work (Lonnae O’Neal)
        • “Ain’t I A Mommy” (Deesha Philyaw)
        • Love, Rita (Bridgett M. Davis; release date March 2025)
        • That’s How They Get You (Anthology Edited by Damon Young; release date June 2025)
        • Damon Young
        • Hanif Abdurraqib
        • Mahogany L. Browne
        • Wyatt Cenac
        • Kiese Laymon
        • Roy Wood Jr.
        • Nicola Yoon
        • You’ve Got A Place Here, Too (Anthology Edited by Ebony LaDelle; release date August 2025)
        • Ebony LaDelle
        • Elizabeth Acevedo
        • Kai Harris
        • Kennedy Ryan
        • The Norton Introduction to Literature: Fifteenth Edition (Edited by Kelly J. Mays)
        • “How To Make Love To A Physicist” (Deesha Philyaw; Barrelhouse)
        • “Girl” (Jamaica Kincaid, The New Yorker, 1978)
        • Bruce Holsinger
        • Luis Alberto Urrea
        • Alice LaPlante
        • Judy Blume
        • Brit Bennett

        • Newsletters:

          • SubMakk (Rebecca Makkai)
          • Welcome to Writing, Wandering, Wondering (Deesha Philyaw)
          • Yours, Inigo (Inigo Laguda)
          • The Way Home (Yona Harvey)
          • Naked Acts of Love (Bridgett M. Davis)
          • The Querent (Alexander Chee)
          • 52 Curate (Imani Perry)
          • Witness (Robert Jones Jr.)
          • The Audacity (Roxane Gay)
          • Sinister Malefactor of Panglossian Expectations (Jane Friedman)
          • Thot Pudding (Sarah Thankam Mathews)
          • Channeling (J Wortham)


            Watch List:

            • Shrinking
            • Somebody, Somewhere
            • Schitt’s Creek
            • Severance
            • Bookie

            • More from Deesha and Dawnie:

              • The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
              • The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton)


                Produced by Ursa Story Company

                Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton

                Executive Producers: Dawnie Walton, Deesha Philyaw, Mark Armstrong

                Associate Producer: Marina Leigh

                Episode Editor: Kelly Araja

                Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

                Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join

                22 min
              • Destiny O. Birdsong on Navigating Censorship in Storytelling

                Deesha and Dawnie talk with Destiny O. Birdsong, author of the poetry collection Negotiations and the novel Nobody’s Magic. Last year, Birdsong published a short story, “The Jump,” only to have it pulled from publication less than a day later over disagreements with the editors. The story eventually found a new home at Roxane Gay’s newsletter, The Audacity.

                Birdsong talks about navigating censorship and what happens when writers and editors don’t see eye to eye, and they highlight the necessity of respect and support from editors and keeping the integrity of your work when finding a home for it. Birdsong also talks about the intersections of religion and queerness, the representation of queer sex and sex work in literature, and how she follows instinct when approaching her work.

                Support our show by becoming an Ursa Member: ursastory.com/join

                Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned

                • Negotiations: Poems (Destiny O. Birdsong)
                • Nobody’s Magic (Destiny O. Birdsong)
                • “The Jump” (Destiny O. Birdsong, The Audacity 2024)
                • Rick Hillis
                • Roxane Gay
                • Toi Derricotte
                • “The Woman Shaping a Generation of Black Thought” (J Wortham,The New York Times, 2023)


                  Watch List:

                  • Cross
                  • 48 Hours
                  • Insecure

                  • More from Deesha and Dawnie:

                    • The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
                    • The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton)


                      Produced by Ursa Story Company 

                      Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton

                      Executive Producers: Dawnie Walton, Deesha Philyaw, and Mark Armstrong

                      Associate Producer: Marina Leigh

                      Episode Editor: Kelly Araja


                      About the Author

                      Destiny O. Birdsong is the author of the poetry collection Negotiations (Tin House Books, 2020) and the triptych novel Nobody’s Magic (Grand Central, 2022), which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, was a finalist for the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and won the 2022 Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction. She has served as a Writer-in-Residence for the Hurston/Wright Foundation and the University of Tennessee and is a contributing editor of Poets & Writers magazine. She is currently at work on a second novel and a collection of short stories.

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                      Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join

                      1 hr 8 min
                    • [Free Teaser] First Chapters: The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, by Dawnie Walton

                      An Ursa Member Bonus! In a new recurring feature we call First Chapters, Dawnie and Deesha dig into the memorable opening chapter of Dawnie’s debut novel, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev. Dawnie talks about her journey to becoming a writer, as well as the process of this story coming to fruition.

                      To listen to the full episode, become an Ursa Member in Apple Podcasts or at ursastory.com/join. 

                      Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned

                      • The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton) 
                      • Moonrise Over New Jessup (Jamila Minnicks)
                      • James Baldwin
                      • Daisy Jones & The Six (Taylor Jenkins Reid)


                        Listening List:

                        • The Final Revival of Opal & Nev: Audiobook (Dawnie Walton)
                        • Grace Jones
                        • David Bowie

                        • Watch List:

                          • Almost Famous (2000)
                          • Summer of Soul (2021)
                          • Wattstax (1973)

                          • More from Deesha:

                            The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)


                            Produced by Ursa Story Company 

                            Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton

                            Executive Producers: Dawnie Walton, Deesha Philyaw, and Mark Armstrong

                            Associate Producer: Marina Leigh

                            Episode Editor: Kelly Araja

                            Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

                            Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join

                            15 min
                          • Story: ‘Snow Bath Season,’ by Stacie Denetsosie

                            Deesha and Dawnie introduce an Ursa original production of “Snow Bath Season,” a short story written by Stacie Denetsosie, and performed by Nasheen Sleuth. This story is about Diana, a young Navajo woman whose late mother is communicating with her via an Amazon Alexa device. 

                            Denetsosie juxtaposes modern technology with Navajo tradition in compelling ways, while also writing into grief, love, and mother-daughter relationships through humor and bizarre circumstances. “Snow Bath Season” is from Denetsosie’s debut collection, The Missing Morningstar, published by Torrey House Press. Stay tuned after the story to hear from Stacie Denetsosie herself.


                            Support our work at Ursa with a one-time contribution: ursastory.com/join


                            Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned

                            • The Missing Morningstar: And Other Stories (Stacie Shannon Denetsosie, Torrey House Press, 2023)
                            • Crooked Hallelujah (Kelli Jo Ford)
                            • “I Give You Back” (Joy Harjo)
                            • Woman of Light (Kali Fajardo-Anstine)
                            • Julia Alvarez

                            • More from Deesha and Dawnie:

                              • The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
                              • The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton)


                                Produced by Ursa Story Company 


                                Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton

                                “Snow Bath Season” written by Stacie Denetsosie 

                                Performed by Nasheen Sleuth

                                Interview by Marina Leigh 


                                Executive Producers: Dawnie Walton, Deesha Philyaw, and Mark Armstrong

                                Associate Producers: Marina Leigh & Ashawnta Jackson

                                Episode Editor: Kelly Araja

                                Special thanks to Cleyvis Natera

                                Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

                                Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join

                                33 min
                              • [Free Teaser] Member Exclusive: Ask the Agents! PJ Mark and Danielle Chiotti on Getting Published

                                Deesha and Dawnie sit down with their own agents, Danielle Chiotti and PJ Mark, to chat about the publishing industry. What does it mean to be a white agent representing authors of color? What are the gold standards for blurbing? Where are the best places to find an agent and what are some common red flags with scammy “agents”? They discuss the significance of the agent-author connection, the questions that an author should ask of a potential agent, as well as what makes an agent say “hell yes” to a pitched book. 


                                To hear the full episode, become an Ursa Member in Apple Podcasts or at ursastory.com/join. 


                                Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned

                                • Brian Broome
                                • Nicole D. Collier
                                • Tyriek White
                                • Joseph Earl Thomas
                                • Eileen Myles
                                • In West Mills (De’Shawn Charles Winslow)
                                • Decent People (De’Shawn Charles Winslow)
                                • Co-Parenting 101 (Deesha Philyaw and Michael D. Thomas)
                                • The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You (Maurice Carlos Ruffin)


                                  More from Deesha and Dawnie:

                                  • The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
                                  • The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton)


                                    Produced by Ursa Story Company 

                                    Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton

                                    Executive Producers: Dawnie Walton, Deesha Philyaw, and Mark Armstrong

                                    Associate Producer: Marina Leigh

                                    Episode Editor: Kelly Araja

                                    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

                                    Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join

                                    23 min
                                  • Rion Amilcar Scott: ‘It Has to Be Fun, It Has to Be Funky’

                                    Deesha and Dawnie chat with Rion Amilcar Scott, sharing stories, craft advice, 90’s hip-hop references, and how experience as parents, as teachers, and as lovers of music can inform the writing process. 

                                    They discuss their reactions to elements of their work playing out in real life, and call for not forgetting the joys and humor of the Black experience that coincides with the tragedies. Rion talks about his generative and drafting process—his beginnings and endings, the structure and limitations of flash and short fiction, the revision process, and his playfulness and improvisation as an approach to the work. 

                                    Support our show by becoming an Ursa Member: ursastory.com/join

                                    Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned

                                    • The World Doesn’t Require You (Rion Amilcar Scott)
                                    • Insurrections (Rion Amilcar Scott)
                                    • August Wilson
                                    • “The N****r Knockers” (Rion Amilcar Scott, Tyrant Books, 2017)
                                    • “Percy And The Fire Plums” (Rion Amilcar Scott, McSweeney’s 64: The Audio Issue)
                                    • Heavy (Kiese Laymon)
                                    • The Sellout (Paul Beatty)
                                    • Percival Everett
                                    • Mark Twain
                                    • Heads of the Colored People (Nafissa Thompson-Spires)
                                    • Walking on Cowrie Shells (Nana Nkweti)
                                    • “David Sherman, The Last Son of God” (Rion Amilcar Scott, Midnight Breakfast, Issue 8)
                                    • Eugenia Tsutsumi
                                    • Rising of a Legend (Review by Jessica Sequeira, berfrois, 2016)
                                    • “Special Topics in Loneliness Studies” (Story from The World Doesn’t Require You by Rion Amilcar Scott)
                                    • “A Loudness of Screechers” (Rion Amilcar Scott, Barrelhouse)
                                    • Edward P. Jones
                                    • Ernest Hemingway
                                    • “Klan” (Story from Insurrections by Rion Amilcar Scott)
                                    • Poets and Writers
                                    • To Sir, With Love (E.R. Braithwaite)
                                    • Between The World And Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
                                    • Night of the Living Rez (Morgan Talty)
                                    • Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest (Hanif Abdurraqib)
                                    • Mitchell S. Jackson
                                    • The Invisible Man (H.G. Wells)
                                    • The Women of Brewster Place (Gloria Naylor)
                                    • Winesburg, Ohio (Sherwood Anderson)
                                    • Miguel Street (V.S. Naipaul)
                                    • Drinking Coffee Elsewhere (ZZ Packer)
                                    • Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self (Danielle Evans)
                                    • Sula (Toni Morrison)


                                      Listening List:

                                      • “Foe Life” (Mack 10)
                                      • Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (Outkast)
                                      • “One More Chance” (The Notorious B.I.G.)
                                      • “Triumph” (Wu-Tang Clan ft. Cappadonna; special shoutout to Inspectah Deck’s opening verse)
                                      • “The End” (The Doors)
                                      • “Riders on the Storm” (The Doors)
                                      • “Winter Warz” (Wu-Tang Clan; special shoutout to Cappadonna’s verse)
                                      • A Tribe Called Quest
                                      • “Straight Outta Compton” (N.W.A.)
                                      • Rakim
                                      • GZA
                                      • Chuck D
                                      • Andre 3000
                                      • “Name Callin’ Pt. 1” (Queen Latifah)
                                      • “Talk to Me” (Foxy Brown)
                                      • E-40
                                      • Kendrick Lamar
                                      • Books Are Pop Culture (Reggie Bailey and Akili Nzuri)


                                        More from Deesha and Dawnie:

                                        • The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
                                        • The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton)


                                          Produced by Ursa Story Company 

                                          Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton

                                          Executive Producers: Dawnie Walton, Deesha Philyaw, Mark Armstrong

                                          Associate Producer: Marina Leigh

                                          Episode Editor: Kelly Araja


                                          Author Bio:

                                          Rion Amilcar Scott is the author of the story collections The World Doesn’t Require You and Insurrections, which was awarded the 2017 PEN/Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction and the 2017 Hillsdale Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He teaches creative writing at the University of Maryland, College Park. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Kenyon Review, and Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020, among other publications.

                                          Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

                                          Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join

                                          58 min
                                        • [Free Teaser] Member Exclusive: 'Sonny's Blues,' by James Baldwin

                                          In this special Member Exclusive episode, Deesha and Dawnie kick off a recurring feature we call Iconic Stories — starting with James Baldwin’s ‘Sonny’s Blues,’ first published in 1957 in the Partisan Review.  They discuss the prevalent themes of family and brotherhood, loss, drug addiction, and music, as well as the broader social and political contexts of Baldwin’s fiction and nonfiction. 

                                          Deesha Philyaw: “James Baldwin is the writer that made me want to be a writer.”

                                          To get access to the full episode, become an Ursa Member: ursastory.com/join

                                          Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned

                                          • “Sonny’s Blues” (James Baldwin)
                                          • Going To Meet The Man (James Baldwin)
                                          • Daddy Was A Number Runner (Louise Meriwether)
                                          • Go Tell It On The Mountain (James Baldwin)
                                          • If Beale Street Could Talk (James Baldwin)
                                          • Between The World And Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
                                          • The Fire Next Time (James Baldwin)
                                          • “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” (Joyce Carol Oates)
                                          • Toni Morrison
                                          • His Name Is George Floyd (Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa


                                            Listening List:

                                            • Charlie Parker


                                            More from Deesha and Dawnie:

                                            • The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
                                            • The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton)


                                              Produced by Ursa Story Company 

                                              Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton

                                              Executive Producers: Deesha Philyaw, Dawnie Walton, and Mark Armstrong

                                              Associate Producer: Marina Leigh

                                              Episode Editor: Kelly Araja

                                              Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

                                              Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join

                                              17 min
                                            • Story: ‘Telling Stories,’ by T.E. Wilderson

                                              Deesha and Dawnie introduce an Ursa original audio production of “Telling Stories” by T.E. Wilderson, published in The Account magazine in 2021, and narrated by Jordan Cobb. 

                                              Eighth grader, P’Mona, is sarcastic, witty, and a pathological liar. Taking place over the course of a day, the story follows P’Mona attempting to simultaneously navigate the world and cope with a difficult home life. 

                                              Be sure to stick around at the end of the story to hear from T.E. Wilderson in her own words, discussing the themes of the story, her advice to writers, and her inspirations for “Telling Stories” and the character of P’Mona.

                                              Support Our Show with a contribution: ursastory.com/join


                                              Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned

                                              • “Telling Stories” (The Account magazine)
                                              • T.E. Wilderson Publications

                                              • More from Deesha and Dawnie:

                                                • The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
                                                • The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton)


                                                  Produced by Ursa Story Company 


                                                  Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton

                                                  Story performed by Jordan Cobb

                                                  Author interview by Marina Leigh

                                                  Executive Producers: Dawnie Walton, Deesha Philyaw, and Mark Armstrong

                                                  Associate Producers: Marina Leigh & Ashawnta Jackson 

                                                  Episode Editor: Kelly Araja


                                                  About the Author

                                                  T. E. Wilderson is a New Orleans-born, African American writer, editor, and teaching artist currently living in the Midwest. Her short stories have appeared in F(r)iction, Notre Dame Review, Roanoke Review, Crack the Spine Anthology XVII, The Louisville Review, The Tishman Review, Still: The Journal, Cobalt Weekly, The Account: A Journal of Prose, Poetry, and Thought, and Coolest American Stories 2023, among others. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Spalding University and is a 2019 McKnight Foundation Writing Fellow.


                                                  About the Narrator

                                                  Jordan Cobb is a New York City-based writer and actress, with a focus on live stage and voiceover. Her work spans fiction podcasts such as Bloody Disgusting's Dead Space: Deep Cover and No Such Thing Production's Primordial Deep, to bestselling audiobooks like Kalynn Bayron's This Poison Heart and Tigest Girma's Immortal Dark. For more information, visit jordanvcobb.com.

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                                                  Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join

                                                  54 min
                                                • S.A. Cosby on the Art of the Thriller

                                                  In the spirit of Halloween, Deesha and Dawnie dig into thrillers, mysteries, and suspense with acclaimed crime fiction writer S.A. Cosby, author of the New York Times bestseller Razorblade Tears and Blacktop Wasteland, and the forthcoming novel, King of Ashes. 

                                                  Cosby talks about his early inspirations in the horror and suspense genres, and he explains how he began to use genre to craft stories that reflected his own experiences as a Black writer from the South.

                                                  Cosby also offers advice to emerging writers and helps demystify the publication process, as co-editor of The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2024 anthology.  

                                                  Support our show: ursastory.com/join


                                                  Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned

                                                  • Razorblade Tears (S.A. Cosby)
                                                  • Blacktop Wasteland (S.A. Cosby)
                                                  • The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2024 (co-edited by S.A. Cosby and Steph Cha)
                                                  • Heaven (First Book in Casteel Series) (V.C. Andrews)
                                                  • Gabino Iglesias
                                                  • Catriona Ward
                                                  • Bunnicula (James and Deborah Howe)
                                                  • The Celery Stalks At Midnight (James and Deborah Howe)
                                                  • Goosebumps (series) (R.L. Stine)
                                                  • “The Tell-Tale Heart” (Edgar Allan Poe)
                                                  • The Hardy Boys (series) (Franklin W. Dixon)
                                                  • The Three Investigators (series) (Robert Arthur Jr. and Mary Virginia Carey)
                                                  • “The Black Cat” (Edgar Allan Poe, Poe Stories, originally published 1845)
                                                  • “The Cask of Amontillado” (Edgar Allan Poe)
                                                  • Encyclopedia Brown (series) (Donald J. Sobol)
                                                  • Carrie (Stephen King)
                                                  • “The Animal Fair” (Robert Bloch)
                                                  • Clark Ashton Smith
                                                  • Algernon Blackwood
                                                  • ‘Salem’s Lot (Stephen King)
                                                  • A Thousand Acres (Jane Smiley)
                                                  • “King Lear” (William Shakespeare)
                                                  • Before The Mango Ripens (Afabwaje Kurian)
                                                  • The Human Stain (Philip Roth)
                                                  • Red Dragon (Thomas Harris)
                                                  • Thuglit
                                                  • Steph Cha
                                                  • “The Funeral Suit” (Bobby Mathews, Frontier Tales, 2023)
                                                  • “My Savage Year” (Jordan Harper, Southwest Review, Volume 108 Number 3)
                                                  • “Like Babies Crying in the Dark” (S.A. Cosby, Southwest Review, Volume 108 Number 3)
                                                  • “Welcome to the Hammer Party” (Jordan Harper Newsletter)
                                                  • “Scorpions” (Nick Kolakowski)
                                                  • “Just A Girl” (Alyssa Cole)
                                                  • “Slant-Six” (S.A. Cosby)
                                                  • Megan Abbott
                                                  • It (Stephen King)
                                                  • The Dead Zone (Stephen King)
                                                  • All The Sinners Bleed (S.A. Cosby)
                                                  • Kellye Garrett
                                                  • Toni Morrison 
                                                  • Robert Jones Jr.
                                                  • Jack London
                                                  • Dennis Lehane
                                                  • Ernest J. Gaines
                                                  • Alice Walker
                                                  • King of Ashes (S.A. Cosby)
                                                  • The Godfather (Mario Puzo)
                                                  • W. Somerset Maugham
                                                  • Nikki Dolson
                                                  • Watchmen (Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons)
                                                  • The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill)
                                                  • James Baldwin
                                                  • Chester Himes
                                                  • Phillis Wheatley
                                                  • Donald Goines
                                                  • Richard Wright
                                                  • Claude McKay
                                                  • Langston Hughes

                                                  • Listening List:

                                                    Born To Run (Bruce Springsteen)


                                                    Watch List:

                                                    • 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
                                                    • American Masters: John Hammond: From Bessie Smith to Bruce Springsteen 1991 
                                                    • S.A. Cosby on The Daily Show (2023)
                                                    • White Lightning (1973)
                                                    • Rolling Thunder (1977)
                                                    • True Detective

                                                    • More from Deesha and Dawnie:

                                                      • The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
                                                      • The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton)


                                                        Produced by Ursa Story Company 

                                                        Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton

                                                        Executive Producers: Dawnie Walton, Deesha Philyaw, and Mark Armstrong

                                                        Associate Producer: Marina Leigh

                                                        Episode Editor: Kelly Araja


                                                        About the Author 

                                                        S. A. Cosby is an Anthony Award-winning writer from Southeastern Virginia. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Razorblade Tears and Blacktop Wasteland, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, was a New York Times Notable Book, and was named a best book of the year by NPR, The Guardian, and Library Journal, among others. When not writing, he is an avid hiker and chess player.

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                                                        Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join

                                                        1 hr 7 min

                                                      About Ursa Short Fiction

                                                      From the publisher's feed

                                                      We love short stories. Join authors Deesha Philyaw (The Secret Lives of Church Ladies) and Dawnie Walton (The Final Revival of Opal & Nev) for author interviews, book club discussions, and immersive short stories. We celebrate storytelling from some of today's most thrilling writers, with an emphasis on spotlighting underrepresented voices. (Photo credits: Vanessa German / Rayon Richards)

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