The Drunken Odyssey with John King: A Podcast About the Writing Life

On this week’s show, I present my interview with Edwidge Danticat,

Edwidge Danticat

and my interview with Koren Zailckas,

Koren Zailckas

plus Samantha Stemler writes about Neil McKenna's The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Claire of the Sea Light

Mother Mother

Fury

Smashed

The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde

NOTES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5I_3co-6Dw

The Drunken Odyssey now has a youtube channel.

According to the Kids' Right to Read Project, 2013 has been a record year for attempts to ban books in libraries in schools. The Diary of Anne Frank, you know, is too pornographic for American children to be exposed to. This was reported in The Guardian.

The Heaven of Animals, the forthcoming collection from friend-of-the-show David James Poissant, is available for pre-order. Please support the launch of his book, which is wonderful reading.

The Heaven of Animals

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_78.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:13pm EDT

On this week’s show, my friends Teege Braune of In Boozo Veritas fame, Ryan Rivas of Burrow Press fame, Nathan Holic of American Fraternity Man fame, and MFA candidate Dianne Turgeon Richardson join me along the monorail line for a pub crawl across the Magic King resorts at Walt Disney World.

monorail

Ryan Rivas, Diane Turgeon Richardson, moi, Nathan Holic, and Teege Braune on the Polynesian's monorail station.
A stanchion at the Polynesian Resort, this tiki appears to be licking its torch.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Walt Disney

15 Views of Orlando 1

The Uses of Enchantment

The Devils Race Track

Celebration USA

Bright Lights Big City

NOTES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANlOFyhZJSI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f100XgX2apY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLCHg9mUBag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV24-cU4wz8

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_77.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 11:31pm EDT

On this week’s show, I present my interview with the poet Richard Blanco,

John King interviewing Richard Blanco (photograph by Tammy Taylor)

Plus Kenneth Nichol's writes about reading Tom Perrotta's Joe College.

Kenneth Nichols

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Looking for the Gulf Motel

For All of Us One Today

The Dancing Wu Li Masters

Joe College

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_76.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 12:39pm EDT

On this week’s show, I present TDO’s Repeal Day party, starring Robert Cassanelo, Mark Pursell, Hunter Choate, Leslie Salas, Anna King, Dan Lauer, and Teege Braune!

City Fish

The venue (photo by Leslie Salas)

2013-12-05 20.24.20 Preshow

Robert Cassanello, preparing to read the opening piece (photo by Leslie Salas)

2013-12-05 20.55.57 Mark

Mark Pursell on his long ago teetotaling days (photo by Leslie Salas)

2013-12-05 20.37.57 Pint

Ah (photo by Leslie Salas)

2013-12-05 21.20.14 Hunter

Hunter reads a ghost story told over vodkas (photo by Leslie Salas)

2013-12-05 20.52.55 Crowd

City Fish was a wonderful location (photo by Leslie Salas)

Anna

Anna King versifies on drinking Granadas at the Marriot Marquis (photo by Leslie Salas)

2013-12-05 21.29.07 Dan

Dan Lauer about a binge with the owner of the Murder Museum (photo by Leslie Salas)

On my third drink, I am finally smiling (photo by Leslie Salas)

On my third drink, I am finally smiling (photo by Leslie Salas)

2013-12-05 21.45.13 Madison

Madison Bernath contemplates a world in which the repeal never happened (photo by Leslie Salas)

2013-12-05 21.50.25 Teege

Teege takes it home (photo by Leslie Salas)

NOTES

The Heaven of Animals, the forthcoming collection from friend-of-the-show David James Poissant, is available for pre-order. Please support the launch of his book, which is wonderful reading.

The Heaven of Animals

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_75.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 2:12pm EDT

On this week’s show, I interview the legend Nikki Giovanni,

Nikki Giovanni

plus Peter Biello writes about reading Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.

Peter Bielo by Oliver Parini

NOTES

Peter Biello’s essay on The Road featured “Found Children” from Carlton Melton’s Pass it On.

Repeal Day Poster.jpg

The Heaven of Animals, the forthcoming collection from friend-of-the-show David James Poissant, is available for pre-order. Please support the launch of his book, which is wonderful reading.

The Heaven of Animals

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_74.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 12:32am EDT

On this week’s show, I interview fiction writer Matt Bell,

Matt Bell

plus Rose Tran writes about encountering Matt Bell's How They Were Found.

Rose Tran

TEXTS DISCUSSED

In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods

Cataclysm baby

How They Were Found 2

NOTES

On December 5th, at 7 P.M., The Drunken Odyssey will host a live reading in honor of Repeal Day, which marked the signing of the 21st amendment, thus ending prohibition. See the facebook event.

The Heaven of Animals, the forthcoming collection from friend-of-the-show David James Poissant, is available for pre-order. Please support the launch of his book, which is wonderful reading.

The Heaven of Animals

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_73.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 11:01pm EDT

Episode 72: We Drink!

On this week’s show, My friends Teege Braune of In Boozo Veritas fame, Matt Peters of Windward Press, and MFA candidate Diane Turgeon Richardson join me to discuss matters literary and drinkerly.

Teege Braun and Matt Peters

Diane Turgeon Richardson

Plus Dave Patterson writes about how Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451 transformed him.

Dave Patterson

TEXTS DISCUSSED

60th anniversary edition

Bukowski On drinking

Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation

NOTES

Carlton Melton's song "Use Your Words" from their album Country Ways accompanied Dave Patterson's "A Pleasure to Burn."

photo

Laurie Anderson's Remembrance of Lou Reed appears in Rolling Stone.

Teege Braune's eulogy for Lou Reed appeared in In Boozo Veritas #13.

This weekend Playfest is happening at Orlando Shakespeare Theatre.

playfest

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_72.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 12:53am EDT

On this week’s show, I answer some mail with my friend, David James Poissant,

David James Poissant

Plus Dan Lauer writes about a unique book that changed his life.

Dan Lauer

 NOTES
R.I.P., Oscar Hijuelos.

The Heaven of Animals, the forthcoming collection from friend-of-the-show David James Poissant, is available for pre-order. Please support the launch of his book, which is remarkable fucking reading.

The Heaven of Animals

Orlando Shakespeare Theater presents Dracula: The Journal of Jonathan Harkerfrom October 9 – November 10, 2013.

Dracula

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_71.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 11:38am EDT

On this week’s show, I talk to the fiction writer Tessa Mellas,

Tessa Mellas1

Plus Todd Sentell writes about Huckleberry FinnA Good Man is Hard to Find, and the Near Death of Literature.
Todd Sentell

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Lungs Full of Noise

A Good Man is Hard to Find

NOTES

The Heaven of Animals, the forthcoming collection from friend-of-the-show David James Poissant, is available for pre-order. Please support the launch of his book, which is remarkable fucking reading.

The Heaven of Animals

Orlando Shakespeare Theater presents Dracula: The Journal of Jonathan Harkerfrom October 9 - November 10, 2013.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js56KlfJoGY

The Drunken Odyssey's review of this production will appear next week.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_70.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 12:28pm EDT

On this week’s show, I share the latest installment of Functionally Literate, the reading series hosted by Jared Silvia, and this time featuring Nathan Holic and Lindsay Hunter!

FL_9-21_web

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_69.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 12:08am EDT

Episode 68 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

On this week’s show, I talk to the fiction writer Kristiana Kahahauwila,

Kristiana-Kahakauwila-credit-Brandon-Ng

Plus Graham Hillard reads his memoir essay, "Physical Education."

Graham Hillard

TEXTS DISCUSSED

This is Paradise

NOTES
Graham Hillard's "Physical Education" first appeared in the journal Sports Literate.

The Heaven of Animals, the forthcoming collection from friend-of-the-show David James Poissant, is available for pre-order. Please support the launch of his first book!

 

The Heaven of Animals

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_68.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 11:55am EDT

On this week’s show, I talk to the fiction writer Lindsay Hunter,

DSC06188

Plus David Dadurka writes about Lewis Carroll.

Dave Dadurka mug 2

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Dont Kiss Me

Daddy's

15 Views

Alice

NOTES

North Carolina school board has voted to ban Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man.

The Heaven of Animals, the forthcoming collection from friend-of-the-show David James Poissant, is available for pre-order. Please support the launch of his first book!

The Heaven of Animals

 Episode 67 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_67.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 2:59pm EDT


On this week’s show, I talk to the novelist Kalliope Lee,

Kalliope Lee

plus Scott Hoffman talks about John Demos's The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America.

Scott Hoffman

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Sunday Girl

The Unredeemed Captive

NOTES

Until Tuesday, September 17th, 8 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, you can get a free ebook of Sunday Girl by going to smashwords, searching for Sunday Girl, and entering the code  CV74V.

play-tops-taming

The Taming of the Shrew runs September 11th through October 6th at Orlando Shakespeare Theater. Get tickets here.

An author's first duty is to let down his country.

--Brandon Behan.

See my Pinupalooza photos here.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_66.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 5:33pm EDT

On this week’s show, I talk to three of the stars of Orlando Shakespeare Theatre's production of The Taming of the Shrew.

Lowndes Center Red Carpet

Geoffrey Kent (Petruchio)

Kent_Geoffrey

And Deanna Gibson (Kate)

Gibson_Deanna

John Ahlin (Baptista)

John Ahlin

And J. Bradley talks about being haunted by The Cure.

Jesse Bradley

TEXTS DISCUSSED

William Shakespeare Complete Works NOTES

play-tops-taming

OST's The Taming of the Shrew runs September 11th through October 6th.

Get tickets here.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_65.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 6:58pm EDT

On this week’s show, I talk to the novelist Francesca Lia Block,

Francesca Lia Block
Photo by Nicolas Sage

Plus I share Alise Hamilton's essay about Francesca (originally from Ep. 7)

Alise Hamilton 2

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Love in the Time of Global Warming

Girl Goddess Number Nine

 NOTES
Posthumous novels by J. D. Salinger are forthcoming, possibly, maybe.
Seamus Heaney has died.

Special thanks to Doug Nevel!

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_64.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 6:02pm EDT

On this week’s show, I talk to the poet Tim J. Myers,

Tim Myers

Plus Dan Lauer explains the impact Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia had on him.

Dan Lauer

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Dear Beast Loveliness

Swimming to Cambodia

Impossible Vacation

The Heaven of Animals

NOTES

Walter Pater: "All art constantly aspires towards the condition of music" (From The School of Giogione).

Think about helping Beating Windward Press fund new art for its Doc Voodoo pulp fiction series. The swag is considerable, like this t-shirt.

DocVoodooT

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_63.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:08pm EDT

Episode 62 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is here.

On this week’s show, I answer some mail with my friend, David James Poissant,

David James Poissant

Plus Jared Silvia reads his amazing new essay, "City of Ghosts."
Jared Sylvia
TEXTS DISCUSSED

Archy and Mehitabel

Fun Home

 

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh

NOTES

• Think about helping Beating Windward Press fund new art for its Doc Voodoo pulp fiction series. The swag is considerable, like this t-shirt.

DocVoodooT

• Members of Pussy Riot! are serving time in a Russian jail for the charge of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred." What they did was perform "Mother of God, Drive Putin Away" in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. While these women are rightly venerated as warriors of free speech, and the phrase "Free Pussy Riot!" is now famous as a movement. What I learned this week, though, is that besides all of that, their music also happens to be fucking wild and should be respected by anyone who has an ear for punk.

Listen to their EP, Kill the Sexist.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/Oxe3N43La7Q]

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_62.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 1:18pm EDT

This week, I interview my friend, the fiction writer Chad Benson, who also happens to be a rock musician called Quinn W. Shagbark,

chad

plus Jesse Duthrie talks about John Barth's The Floating Opera.

Jessie Duthrie

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Live at the Mint

Ill Shoot You Ac

The Floating Opera

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/61609421]

NOTES

If you are writing in Denver, check out the Lighthouse Writer's Workshop.

lighthouse writers workshop

Read about Quinn W. Shagbark in Slate.

On Tuesday, August 13th, at Urban ReThink in downtown Orlando, I will read with

JOSEFINE KLOUGART,

DAN LAUER, &

DREW JOHNSON

in Jesse Bradley’s series, There Will Be Words, which was just named the best reading series in Orlando by Orlando Weekly.

Two days later, I will be reading an art-inspired piece in this event:

AvalonGalleryPoster

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_61.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 5:20pm EDT

On Episode 60 of The Drunken Odyssey, I interview the Pulitzer Prize-winning non-fiction writer Gilbert King,

Gilbert King

Plus Monty Joynes discusses coming across Talks and Dialogues by J. Krishnamurti

Monty Joynes

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Devil in the Grove

Talks and Dialogues with J Krishnamurti

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_60.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 1:08pm EDT

Episode 59 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature, is here!

On this week’s show, I talk to the fiction writer Alissa Nutting,

Alissa Nutting cr Aaron Mayes

Plus Graham Liddell talks about reading What is the What.

Graham Liddell

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Tampa

Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls

What is the What

NOTES

Margaret Atwood has penned a libretto about the life of Pauline Johnson, according to The Guardian.

Booksmatter has reposted Jonathan Lethem's essay "The Squandered Promise of Science Fiction."

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_59.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 12:51am EDT

On this week's show, I talk to the poet Philip Raisor,

Philip Raisor

Plus Melissa Crandall brings us some Xmas in July!

Melissa Crandall and Holly

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Hoosiers the Poems

Swimming in the Shallow End

Outside Shooter

Tuned and Under Tension

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_58.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 11:47pm EDT

On this week’s show, I share a Functionally Literate event I participated in back in May with Monica Wendel and Philip Deaver.

Functionally Literate

This was an accidental DO reunion, since Monica was a guest on episodes 5  and 49,  and Philip was a guest on episode 35. Alas, Enid Schumer could not attend.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_57.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 3:32pm EDT

On this week’s show, I talk to the essayist and novelist Chuck Klosterman,

Chuck Klosterman

Plus John McCaffrey discusses Leo Durocher's Nice Guys Finish Last.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

BOOKS DISCUSSED

I Wear the Black Hat

Downtown owl

Killing Yourself to Live

SexDrugsandCocoaPuffs

Nice Guys Finish Last

NOTES

On July 9th, Mattew Peters will read prose at There Will be Words in Downtown Orlando.

See our kickstarter campaign to travel to Weeki Wachee Springs to interview Lu Vickers about Florida literature and the world famous Weeki Wachee mermaids. We reached our goal on day 1, but we welcome your continued contributions to keep the show going strong!

WeekiWachee

The Drunken Odyssey Deeply Recommends

season2013_coriolanus2

When I complained that Britney Spears was in Esquire back in the early paleolithic days of 2004, I confess I didn't dwell sufficiently on what Chuck Klosteman's article said about her cognitive dissonance, although his words were competing with Britney Spears's anatomy at the time.

Esquire

On May 14th, 1988, Atlantic Records held a 40th Anniversary Concert during which, in my infallible opinion, and it pained me to say this, Debbie Gibson outplayed Led Zeppelin. Want to disagree? Watch the footage:

Debbie Gibson

Led Zeppelin

For the record, Jason Bonham was drumming, although I don't this Hindenburg of a performance can be blamed on him.

According to a Times profile, Alice Munro is retiring.

According to The Guardian, Neil Gaiman is writing a new Sandman series.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_56.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 1:22am EDT

On this week’s show, I talk to the philosopher Bruce Janz,

Bruce Janz

Plus Robert Jacobs shares his Facebook posts.

Rob Jacobs

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Check out Keith B. Harder's Children of Icarus series here.

Leonard Cohen Anthem

NOTES

See our kickstarter campaign to travel to Weeki Wachee Springs to interview Lu Vickers about Florida literature and the world famous Weeki Wachee mermaids. We reached our goal on day 1, but anything over that will go into the show.

Weeki-Wachee-Mermaids

The Drunken Odyssey hath done Rumfest the Ninth.
Matthew Peters, Captain Morgan, and John King were drunken Odyssians on June 21st.
Matthew Peters, Captain Morgan, and John King were drunken Odyssians on June 21st.

On July 9th, Matt Peters will read prose at There Will be Words in Downtown Orlando.


Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_55.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 10:04am EDT

On this week’s show, I share the live Bloomsday event!

Bloomsday 2013

NOTES

See our kickstarter campaign to travel to Weeki Wachee Springs to interview Lu Vickers about Florida literature and the world famous Weeki Wachee mermaids.

Weeki-Wachee-Mermaids

Richard Peabody, our guest on episode 45, has a new audio book of poems available through Eat Poems.  Sample the poems, then pay what you wish for the download!

Nylon Soul

On Saturday, June 22, from 5 to 8, The Drunken Odyssey will sink anchor here:

Rumfest-Banner-300x120

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_54.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 3:09pm EDT

Episode 53 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

On this week’s show, I talk to Cheryl Strayed,

Cheryl Strayed

Plus I share the piece that first made me read Cheryl Strayed’s work, Deborah Weaver’s essay about Wild.

Debbie Weaver

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Wild

Torch

Tiny-Beautiful-Things1

Mentors Muses Monsters

NOTES

On June 22, The Drunken Odyssey will be here:

Rumfest-Banner-300x120

Recent reports about the National Security Agency’s PRISM data collection program have apparently lead to a spike in sales of George Orwell’s 1984 (although PRISM is really only  a minor example of the erosion not only of our privacy, but our reality, according to the philosopher Peter Ludlow).

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_53.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 6:43pm EDT

On this week’s show, I talk once again to Nathan Holic, who first appeared on this show all the way back on episode 1,

Nathan Holick

Plus Drew Perlmutter discusses the Cannes Film Festival,

Drew Perlmutter

Plus Nicholas Brown discusses Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove.

Nicholas Brown

Texts Discussed

American Fraternity Man

Lonesome Dove 1

NOTES

flyer

Bloomsday 2013

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_52.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 12:21am EDT

On this week’s show, I answer some mail with my friend, David James Poissant,

David James Poissant

Plus Cathy Day Addresses The Man Who Called Her On the Phone Asking for Advice About How to Get Published.

Cathy Day

Notes

Cathy Day's essay first appeared on her blog, right here.

If you are in Central Florida on June 16th, come celebrate Bloomsday with us!

Bloomsday 2013

Book Fight's Exceedingly Accurate Blurb:

The Drunken Odyssey with John King: A Podcast About the Writing Life is a supernova, an interstellar jamboree of colors and lights, like the twirling dresses of a troupe of champion folk dancers, like being imprisoned in Ace Freeley’s amp, throbbing like the veins in Jehovah’s hard-on.  You can look, but you can’t touch, and also, you can’t look, because if you do, you will turn to stone, and your guts will turn to marble.”

According to The Times, there was controversy over the spelling of the word that won the national spelling bee championship.  Is this anti-semitic orthography?

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_51.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:03am EDT

On this week’s show, I talk to the memoir writer David Sedaris,

David Sedaris

plus Pamela Skjolsvik discusses David Sedaris’s Me Talk Pretty One Day,

Pamela Skjolsvik
and Adriana Lecuona writes about Ursula K. Le Guin's "Those Who Leave Omelas."

Texts Discussed

Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk

Me Talk Pretty One Day

The Unreal and the Real Volume 2

Notes

Sedaris autograph
David's inscription in my copy of Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.
Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_50.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 2:12pm EDT

On this week’s show, I interview my friend, the poet Monica Wendel, who is in residency at The Kerouac House,

Monica Wendel Imprint Show

Photo by Ashley Inguanta

plus Chelsey Clammer writes about Marya Hornbacher’s Madness.

Chelsey Clammer

Texts Discussed

The Dharma Bums

On the Road

No Apocalypse

Madness

Notes

Two great Orlando events are coming up this week:

1. On Wednesday, May 22, 7 PM, the fiction writer Colin Winnette will be reading in the sOFT eXPOSURE reading series.  Get details here.

2. On Saturday, May 25th, please come to Monica’s farewell reading at The Kerouac House.  Get details here.

See the Glossary’s Film of David Foster Wallace’s This is Water.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_49.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 12:42pm EDT

Episode 48 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing, literature, and drinking, is here!

On this week's show, I interview the fiction writer Dylan Landis

Dylan Landis

plus the poet Eleanor Lerman writes about Leonard Cohen's Spice Box of Earth.

Eleanor Lerman

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_48.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 3:04pm EDT

Episode 47 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing, literature, and drinking, is now available.

This week, it's a great live event!

TheDrunkenodyssey1

Notes

If you live in Central Florida, come to the next event in Jared Sylvia's Functionally Literate series, despite the fact that I am reading there.

Functionally Literate

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_47.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 11:06pm EDT

Episode 45 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing, literature, and drinking, is available.

This week, I talk to the poet Terry Ann Thaxton,

Terry Ann Thaxton

Plus Madison Bernath reviews 360 GLAZED DONUT VODKA!

Madison Bernath

Texts Discussed

Getaway Girl

The Terrible Wife

360 Glazed Donut Vodka

15-views-cover-full

Notes

Madison's review of 360 Glazed Donut Vodka first appeared on McSweeney's Internet Tendency.

Wikipedia decides that women aren't "American novelists," according to this Times story.

I'll be reading with Philip Deaver, Monica Wendel, and Enid Schumer on May 11th at the Timucua Arts White House.

Functionally Literate

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_46.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:13pm EDT

On Episode 45 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing, literature, and drinking, I talk to Richard Peabody, the editor of Gargoyle Magazine,

Richard Peabody

Plus Kirsten Holt reads a beautiful elegy.

Kirtsen Holt

Texts Discussed

Last of the Red Hot Magnetos

Gargoyle 58 cover

great gatsby

On the Road
Daisy Buchanon's Daughter
Devil in the Grove
Notes

The music for Last Call was “Night Flight” by the band Carlton Melton.

The 2013 Pulitzer Prize Winners.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_45.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 3:43pm EDT

Episode 44 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing, literature, and drinking, is npw available.

This week, I talk to the poet and VIDA's co-founder Erin Belieau,

Erin Belieu

Plus Julie Henderson discusses Clive Barker's The Thief of Always.

Julie Henderson

Texts Discussed

VIDA

Notes

Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s Titus Andronicus runs through April 28.

Titus

Pablo Neruda's body is being exhumed, after his poetry was last month desecrated by a Kentucky Senator.

Ireland mints a James Joyce coin.  Textual scholars are already at work discrediting the text.

Music for this week’s essay provided by Steven McClurg.

TheDrunkenodyssey2

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_44.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 2:41pm EDT

On episode 43 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing, literature, and drinking, I talk to the poet Lillian-Yvonne Bertram,

Lillian Yvonne Bertram

Plus James Best discusses Gatsby.

James Best

Texts Discussed

Carlton Melton's Photos of Photos.

Photos Of Photos

Notes

Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s Titus Andronicus runs through April 28.

titus andronicus

Music for this week’s essay provided by Carlton Melton.

Daybreak

Princess Parizade

TheDrunkenodyssey1

Grrr: Amazon buys Goodreads.com.

The Tequila Worms have generously offered their album Cantina as a free download.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_43.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:38am EDT

Episode 42 is here.

This week, I talk to Stephen Elliott and Isaac Fitzgerald of The Rumpus Stephen Elliot/Isaac Fitzgerald

plus Astrid Cooke writes about Stephen King's The Stand.

Astrid Cook

Texts Discussed

Happy Baby

The Adderall Diaries

The Rumpus

About Cherry

Isaac Fitzgerald's Why I Agreed to be a Bend-over Boyfriend.

The Stand

Things Fall Apart

Notes

Orlando Shakespeare Theater's Titus Andronicus runs through April 28.

titus andronicus

Music for this week's essay provided by Zelda Re-orchestrated.

Chinua Achebe, Literary Titan, dies at 82.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_42.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 4:50pm EDT

Episode 41 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing, literature, and drinking, is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

On this week’s show, I talk to the poet and teacher Emily Brandt,

Emily Brandt

Plus Denise Falcone talks about Nabokov's Ada.

Denise 1

Texts Discussed

The Inside Colocation blog.

Ada

I love the ad-free dictionary aggregator, wordnik.

The New Yorker Rejects Itself.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_41.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 9:17pm EDT

On episode 40, I talk to the poet Tony Hoagland,

Tony Hoagland

Plus Bob Lamb Explains How Ernest Hemingway saved him from Rendition.

Bob Lamb

Texts Discussed

Sweet Ruin

Donkey Gospel

What Narcissism Means to MeReal Sofistikashun

Unicorproated Persons in the Late Honda Dynasty

Stupid HopeArt Matters Hemingway

Complete Stories of Hemingway

Show Notes

This episode begins with a limerick written and read by Chris Booth, in honor of our pal Steve Kelly:

Just a few, and Steve's eyes 'gan to wander;
Then day next he was mute and a-ponder:
When he saw where he woke,
In sad tones, thus he spoke:
"It's Absinthe makes the heart to grow fonder."
Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_40.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 11:25am EDT

Episode 39 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing, literature, and drinking, is now available.

On this week’s show, I talk to Rick Moody,

Rick Moody

James Best explains why he isn't afraid of sharks,

James Best

Plus I talk to the playwright and actor Charlie Bethel about his current one man show of The Odyssey.

Charlie Bethel's Odyssey

Texts Discussed

On Celestial Music

The Four Fingers of Death

DemonologyThe Ring of Brightest Angels

Notes

The Drunken Odyssey will be making a pub crawl in Boston this Friday.

AWP Conference

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_39.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 12:48am EDT

On this week’s show, I talk to the fiction writer Matthew Pitt,

Matthew Pitt

plus Pamela Skjolsvik discusses David Sedaris’s Me Talk Pretty One Day.

Texts Discussed

Attention Please Now

Me Talk Pretty One Day

great gatsby

Ishmael Reed’s WSJ blog about Django Unchained.

Kirtsen Holt’s new poem, Taxonomy.

Richie Havens’s “Freedom”

Notes:Othello

Orlando Shakespeare Theatre presents Othello, now through March 16th.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_38.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 3:27pm EDT

On this week’s show, I talk to the poet Steve Davenport,

Steve Davenport

Joe Conley plums Cormac McCarthy's Child of God,

Joe Conley

Plus I answer some mail...

Texts Discussed:

Overpass

Uncontainable NoiseDavenport Nine Poems and Three Fictions

Child of God

Laurence Sterne and the Visual Imagination

Print

Notes:

Othello

Orlando Shakespeare Theatre presents Othello, now through March 16th.

Winter with the Writers

Throughout February, Rollins College will be hosting its annual author series, Winter with the Writers.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_37.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:08pm EDT

On this week’s show, The Drunken Odyssey All-Stars & I get erotic, poetically speaking...

Here are the ancestral German kissing dolls shown off by Lisa Claire Roney on the show!

The Drunken Odyssey All-Stars

______________________________

Vanessa Blakeslee

Tod Caviness

Genevieve Tyrrell

Anna King

Ryan Rivas

Kirsten Holt

Susan Lilley

Plus

A letter from James Best,

A limerick from Christopher Booth,

and show & tell with Lisa Claire Roney!

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_36.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 5:48pm EDT

Episode 35 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing, literature, and drinking, is available.

On this week’s show, I talk with my friend Philip F. Deaver, who happens to have won a Flannery O'Conner Award,

Philip Deaver

plus Helena-Anne Htittel discusses Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner.

Helena-Anne Hittel

Texts Discussed:

silent_retreats

How Men Pray

15Views_small

The Kite Runner

Richard III

Notes

Throughout February, Rollins College will be hosting its annual author series, Winter with the Writers.

Orlando Shakespeare Theatre presents Othello, now through March 16th.  Get the Groupon here.

In other Shakespeare news, Richard III's remains were found underneath a parking lot. I'm not making this up--it's in The Times.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_35.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 12:57pm EDT

Episode 34 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing, literature, and drinking, is here!

On this week’s show, I talk Shakespeare with Stephen Burdman, the artistic director of New York Classical Theatre,

Stephen Burdman

New York Classical Theatre

Plus Bronte Bettencourt talks about Lestat.

Bronte Bettencourt

Texts Discussed:

HamletThe Vampire Lestat

Notes

Laurence Olivier's screenplay adaptation of his never-filmed Macbeth has been found, according to The Guardian.

Barnes and Noble will be closing 20 stores a year for the next decade, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_34.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 6:02pm EDT

Episode 33 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing, literature, and drinking, is available on iTunes, or right here for download.

On this week’s show, I interview noted reviewer Chauncey Mabe,

Chauncey Mabe

Plus Adam Soldolfsky reads from Panorama-orama.

Adam Soldofsky

Notes

Chauncey Mabe's now defunct but still evergreen blog for the Florida Center for the Literary Arts.

Amazon cannot underprice books in France, as reported in The New York Times.

Books and Books, the best independent in South Florida.

Orlando Cultural Events

This week, the Zora Neale Hurston Festival is underway.

Attend The Drunken Odyssey's Evening of Erotic Poetry on February 8th.

Throughout February, Rollins College will be hosting its annual author series, Winter with the Writers.

Orlando Shakespeare Theatre presents Othello, now through March 16th.

Episode 33 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing, literature, and drinking, is available on iTunes, or right here for download.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_33.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 7:14pm EDT

Episode 32 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing, literature, and drinking, is now available.

On this week’s show, I interview novelist Terry Cronin,

Terry Cronin

And Jean Davis offers one amazing essay about Write is a Verb.

Jean Davis

Texts Discussed

Skinvestigator Part 1: Tramp Stamp

Skinvestigator Part 2: Rash Guard

Skinvestigator Part 3: Sunburn

Students of the Unusual

Write is a Verb

Notes

Susan Lilley will be reading from her new book of poems, Satellite Beach, on Thursday, January 24th, at Rollins College.  For more info, click here.

Show contributor Alise Hamilton (episode 7) discusses bingers and plodders, and the merits of the former as writers, at Bill and Dave's Cocktail Hour.

A history of the Coppertone sign.

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_32.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 12:20pm EDT

On this week's show, I interview novelist Grant Ginder,

Grant Ginder

Plus Tim J. Myers discusses Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are,

Tim Myers

Texts Discussed

Driver's Education
This is How it Starts
Where The Wild Things Are
This is How You Lose Her
Notes
The Drunken Odyssey has its first video posting!  Presenting Martin Amis at Miami Bookfair International (the video version of episode 26).

vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/57195594 w=500&h=333

Direct download: The_Drunken_Odyssey_Episode_31.mp3
Category:Arts/Culture/Writing -- posted at: 12:33pm EDT

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