Writers Read Their Early Sh*t

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Holy doodle! Jason welcomes one of his oldest & longest-suffering pals for a nostalgia-soaked ramble about high school airbands, role-playing games, pretty good nosebleeds, trying to be Leonard Cohen, & being robbed blind by John Cobra. Roger not only bravely shares some of his high school-era poetry, he turns the table & shares some of Jason's as well. Say goodbye to boring lunch hours: for athletes & weaklings alike this episode is a must. Note: the 'Tarquin' that Jason & Roger mention is a reference to 27th Street Theatre's lavish 1988 production of "Dr Felix Tarquin's Travelling Show of Medicine and Wonderments," which was directed by the genius behind WL Seaton Secondary's drama program, Mr Dave 'Brot' Brotsky; the 432 that Roger refers to (& wrote for) was a satirical bi-weekly publication of the University of British Columbia Science Undergraduate Society. Many thanks to Roger for his time & quips, Wayne Emde for the artwork, Joe Emde for help with the intro, & the deluxe DJ Max in Tokyo for the fab music. Join the early sh*t chat at https://www.facebook.com/WRTESpodcast & on Instagram @writersreadtheirearlyshit. You can also send an email to [email protected]. Many thanks, wherever & whoever & however you are, for listening. 

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"Our mistakes make the best stories, and that's why we should not think of them as failures." In the second of their already legendary chats, Jason & Susan discuss Egyptian typewriters & Italian ranch hands, evolutionary obsequies, reading with Gregory Corso in Amsterdam, vodka made from San Francisco fog, when 'vagina' is the right word, & the awful letting go. There's some poetry, too. Many thanks to Susan for her honesty & generosity, Wayne Emde for the artwork, Joe Emde for help with the intro, & the white-hot DJ Max in Tokyo for the music. Join the early sh*t chat at https://www.facebook.com/WRTESpodcast & on Instagram @writersreadtheirearlyshit. You can also send an email to [email protected]. Many thanks, wherever & whoever & however you are, for listening. 

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Jason welcomes legendary Canadian poet Susan Musgrave and the two get to gabbing—about Leonard Cohen, the House of Carnage, ghosts, grief, stones, Sharon Olds, pre-traumatic stress disorder, how to read poetry, and relearning that the table isn't there—until they run out of time, long before they ever get around to any of Susan's early work. "I've got to go pick up a pizza," she said, "and then I'm going to Ireland." Susan will be back in Part 2 with some early writing, but, in the meantime, here's a beautiful chance to listen to her talk, with characteristic candor and intelligence, about how she bears the weight and how she decides which wolf to feed. Music by the mischevious DJ Max in Tokyo. Join the early sh*t chat at https://www.facebook.com/WRTESpodcast & on Instagram @writersreadtheirearlyshit. You can also send an email to [email protected]. Many thanks, wherever & whoever & however you are, for listening. 

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Jason welcomes under-qualified window-washer Dave Olson & his fantastic beard & beautiful hands for a natter about punching or hugging Dostoevsky, see-through loincloths, meeting REM, borrowing mustard from Allen Ginsberg, dodgy Greyhound stations, working out the writing life math, and how cheerleaders are people too. There's ropey Egyptian history, a savage polemic, the details of hippy teacher Mr Boris's new motorized home, a few bits & Brother Bobs of Dave's early poetry & prose, & Jason getting his Tutankhamun timeline wrong by only 3700 years. An unnerving—if not terrifying—time is guaranteed for all. Check out Dave's creative life archive at https://daveostory.com—much to enjoy there. Music by the outrageous DJ Max in Tokyo. Join the early sh*t chat at https://www.facebook.com/WRTESpodcast & on Instagram @writersreadtheirearlyshit. You can also send an email to [email protected]. Many thanks, wherever & whoever & however you are, for listening. 

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Jason welcomes scarily talented singer-songwriter Amanda Tiffin for a nostalgic chinwag about Amanda's musical origin story, Zimbabwean adventures, Edie Brickell phases, discovering the G augmented chord, Footloose in reverse, squeezing early shit out of annoying roommates, & watching the lights go on. Music by Amanda herself—including a gorgeous voice-&-piano Paul Simon cover—with grace notes from the dangerous DJ Max in Tokyo. Join the early sh*t chat at https://www.facebook.com/WRTESpodcast & on Instagram @writersreadtheirearlyshit. You can also send an email to [email protected]. Many thanks, wherever & whoever & however you are, for listening. 

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Jason welcomes KISS ROOM legend Matt Porter for a bombastic, fire & thunder chinwag about Mr. Mutant, learning to do things by making a fool of yourself, escaping from the apes, Duran Duran videos, The Mask saving the president from an assassin's poison-slathered knife, & having hair like melting toothpaste & legs like a piano. It's all action all the time on WRTES, where minds & early sh*t meet. Music, as always, by the enigmatic DJ Max in Tokyo. Check out THE KISS ROOM wherever you get your podcasts & join the early sh*t chat at https://www.facebook.com/WRTESpodcast & on Instagram @writersreadtheirearlyshit. You can also send an email to [email protected]. Many thanks, wherever & whoever & however you are, for listening. 

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Jason welcomes UBC Creative Writing prof & author of the Hillary Gravendyk Prize-winning poetry collection 'The Silk the Moths Ignore' Bronwen Tate for a barely-rescued-from-oblivion confabulation about inefficiency spaces, poetry in the body, red with flesh in it, tender cringe, soggy memories left out in the rain, picking up Squeed on the highway, & Bronwen dropping her strawberry shortcake. Does it get much better? No. It doesn't. Fab new music from the melodious DJ Max in Tokyo. Join the early sh*t chat at https://www.facebook.com/WRTESpodcast & on Instagram @writersreadtheirearlyshit. You can also send a question, comment, or complaint to [email protected]—though be aware that it may appear in a future episode. Meanwhile: many thanks, wherever & whoever & however you are, for listening.

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Welcome to WRTES Season Two (& it’s a big one). Excitingly expanding the format, Jason welcomes master podcaster and philosopher-pirate Rob Kelly for a freewheeling, ninety-miles-an-hour-down-a-dead-end-street chinwag about the correct way to butter dinner rolls (according to Harlan Ellison), naming your kids after Dylan characters, the adventures of Ace Kilroy, Somerset Maugham’s ‘The Razor’s Edge,’ willy-nilly profanity, and the unexpectedly amatory powers of the word ‘temerity.’ Rob also shares some stories about not really understanding how what you write might be read by real people and offers a few peeks behind Pod Dylan’s enigmatic curtain. A splendid (if occasionally vituperative) time is guaranteed for all. Music by the dreamy DJ Max in Tokyo. Join the early sh*t chat at https://www.facebook.com/WRTESpodcast & on Instagram @writersreadtheirearlyshit. You can also send an email to [email protected]. Many thanks, wherever & whoever & however you are, for listening. It's fab to be back.

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Jason welcomes his long-time literary chum Stephen 'Tom' McKenna for a tender ramble about bludgeoning writers they don't like, ritual suicide in porno detail, movies about writers, Hamnet, stroking flanks, birthdays at Pizza Patio, the Dukes of Hazzard, & how (all evidence to the contrary) reading has made them better people. Jason also shares some very early sh*t, including his plagiarized Hardy Boys 'novel' & an incisive 1978 review of Star Wars. Music by the smouldering DJ Max in Tokyo. Join the early sh*t chat at https://www.facebook.com/WRTESpodcast & on Instagram @writersreadtheirearlyshit. You can also send an email to [email protected]. Many thanks, wherever & whoever & however you are, for listening. Back in September with more of the same, only more so.

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Jason welcomes English songwriter & multi-instrumentalist Andrew Tyrone Rodgers for a jaw about accidentally wearing Lincoln Park t-shirts, DKPs (Duran-KISS Pleasures), fixing holes, revisiting childhood poems, cosmic hot pots, too much pop in the park on a Friday, internet cafés, & losing & finding family members. Music by both Andy & the bombastic DJ Max in Tokyo. Join the early sh*t chat at https://www.facebook.com/WRTESpodcast & on Instagram @writersreadtheirearlyshit. You can also send an email to [email protected]. Many thanks, wherever & whoever & however you are, for listening.

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