In this week’s episode, I talk to the historian Julian Chambliss,

Dmetri Kakmi writes about how reading Paul Bowles’s The Sheltering Sky taught him how to write about psycho-geographic dis-associations.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Check out Julian Chambliss's site here.

Check out John Sims' site devoted to the Confederate flag project.

Check out the news coverage of the Flag Funerals Project by (in order of decreasing journalistic competence) WESH, WKMG Local 6, and WFTV.

Read The Association for the Study of African American Life and History's statement about the Massacre at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church here.

In this week’s episode, I talk to fiction writer Shane Hinton,

plus Sayantani Dasgupta writes about how Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea changed her life.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Tuesday, June 16th, is Bloomsday. Celebrate wherever you are by listening again to a bang-up, in-studio, Bloomsdaying production on episode 104,

or if in NYC celebrate the day on which Ulysses is set in person with Colum McCann, Aedin Moloney, and quite probably Chris Booth at Ulysses Folk House.

In this week’s episode, I talk to fiction writer and poet Stacy Barton,

plus Shawn Whittington writes about how The Hobbit changed his life.

In this week’s episode, I talk about Longinus's "On the Sublime," with Vanessa Blakeslee,

Plus LindaAnn Loschiavo writes about how Louisa May Alcott's Little Women changed her life.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

New York Classical Theatre's production of The Taming of the Shrew, which is free, will wander its way across Central Park (Thurs through Sun, May 26 - June 28), Prospect Park (Tues. & Wed., June 23, 24, 30 & July 1), and Teardrop/Battery Park City (Wed, July 8, Fri through Sun, July 10, 11 & 12).

On June 14, come celebrate The Drunken Odyssey’s 3rd birthday on a monorail line pub crawl.

In this week’s episode, I interview the poet Cailtin Doyle,

plus Jeremy Da Cruz writes about reading James Joyce's "Eveline" on Amtrak.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

In Orlando, check out Wordier Than Thou, the open mic night that is roving across Florida. On Wednesday, May 27, it's at Stardust Coffee and Video.

On June 14, come celebrate The Drunken Odyssey's 3rd birthday on a monorail line pub crawl.

A teacher in South Windsor, Connecticut was forced to resign after allowing his class to listen to Allen Ginsburg's "Please Master."

Episode 153 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

In this week’s episode, I interview the iconoclastic Disney author Leonard Kinsey,

plus Terry Barr writes about leaning not to teach The Catcher in the Rye.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

In this week’s episode, we have a roundtable discussion of Kattenstoet, the Belgian cat holiday that may or may not be a retroactive apology for medieval atrocities against felines.

Present for this discussion were Teege Braune, Lisa Roney, and Jared Silvia.

[embed]https://vimeo.com/40029049[/embed]

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Alicia Ostriker's "The Orange Cat."

In this week’s episode, I talk to comedian, podcaster, and now, author, Greg Proops,

plus Rochelle Spencer writes about the liberating politics of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

 NOTES

Read Teege Braun's review of Greg Proops's comedy special, Live at Musso and Frank, here.

In this week’s episode, I talk to the fantasy, science fiction, and nonfiction writer Melissa Crandall,

Plus Síofra Shaman Skye shares a letter she wrote to J.D. Salinger.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

[embed]https://youtu.be/hJFtCfHDFfw[/embed]

Check out Melissa Crandall's blog, The Caretaker's Wild Ride, here.

NOTES

Check out more about Wilson Santos’ Dominican Republic project, including how to donate, here.

In this week’s episode, I talk to the memoirist, Chelsey Clammer,

plus Susan Brennan shares her poetry sequence, Chromoluminarism, based on the last days of the pointillist, George Seraut.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

If you live in the city beautiful (Orlando, in case you don't know), come out to see a great show and support a great cause on May 1st.

Check out Jennifer Hoppe-House’s Bad Dog, playing at Orlando Shakespeare Theater through May 3rd.

On May 8th, experience Poetry-O-Rama on the historic Wonder Wheel in Coney Island. Be sure to buy tickets in advance.

In this week’s episode, I talk to the playwright Jennifer Hoppe-House, whose extraordinary debut play is experiencing its world premiere at Orlando Shakespeare Theater,

plus Lori D'Angelo writes about discovering The Scarlet Letter as a teenager, and reading it in a way probably not endorsed by her high school curriculum.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Check out Jennifer Hoppe-House’s Bad Dog, playing at Orlando Shakespeare Theater through May 5th.

In this week’s episode, I talk to the poet Scott Bailey,

plus Chad W. Lutz writes about Stephen King's novella "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption."

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

The music accompanying Chad W. Lutz's essay was "Crater" by The Spanish Donkey.

Check out Jennifer Hoppe-House's Bad Dog, playing at Orlando Shakespeare Theater through May 5th.

In this week’s episode, I host a roundtable discussion with Vanessa Blakeslee, David James Poissant, and Boris Fishman, in which we critique the essay collection, MFA vs. NYC,

Plus J. Bradley reads a selection from his new prose poem book, A Wild Swing of the Knife.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Buy It is a Wild Swing of the Knife here.

Patrick Hawkins (Episode 145) and his fellow Geeks of Comedy will be performing at Megacon on April 10th and 11th in Orlando. Check out here for more info.

In this week’s episode, I engage in an epic, manic conversation about the creative appeal and history of comic books and superhero storytelling with Patrick Hawkins.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Four important panels that John came across early in his reading life:

from The Incredible Hulk #182.

NOTES

Patty Hawkins is a geek theorist & humorist which is politer and more marketable than calling himself a fatuous gasbag who has seen & read far too much media involving capes, swords & ray guns. He makes no claims other then speaking the truth as he sees it about geek culture without sucking up or snarking down.

Sometimes he succeeds.

He is the producer & host of Come Get ∑ [pronounced 'come get sum'] a new TV/webcast set to debut in 2015 focusing on geekdom as a social culture instead of an exploited clichéd demographic of basement dwellers & cosplayers.

He is one of the founding members & manager of The Geeks Of Comedy, a touring confederation of geek comedians who hack into all facets of fandom & fanDUMB with blistering honesty & self-effacement instead of lame ass Aquaman jokes.

He is also Patrick The Uneducated Critic and reviews films at his own caprice when they roll over on his Netflix queue (YES I'm one of the weirdoes that still pays to get the damn discs mailed to me).

He is a contributing panelist on the MarkWho42WHOniverse, a Dr. Who discussion podcast that bridges the generational gaps between Whovians which is not as easy as it sounds...

In his day jobs his is co-owner of TyFy Studios, an audio production facility, an Ideator at Ideas To Go, & is an Equity actor for Walt Disney World.

Go back and listen to Patrick perform some geek comedy as part of The Drunken Odyssey's Nerd Love live show back on episode 47.

In this week’s episode, I talk flash fiction, mythology, Cosmopolitan, the meeting of graphic and written art, and experimental writing with the fabulous Katie Farris,

plus Jesse Back writes about his spiritual, romantic, and personal evolution through Will Durant's The History of Philosophy.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

The music used with "Forgetting Christianity" is “Bleached Beach” by Noveller, a one person band, that band being the amazing Sarah Lipstate.

The music at the start and finish of this episode was "Rising East" and "Chaotica" by The Bambi Molesters, an amazing surf rock band out of Croatia. "Rising East" is from their 2010 album, As the Dark Wave Swells, and "Chaotica" is from their 2004 album, Sonic Bullets: 13 From the Hip.

In this week’s episode, I share a recording of a live event featuring Boris Fishman reading from his novel, A Replacement Life

and your humble host reading poetry.

Texts Discussed

Read the New Yorker profile of Merle Haggard here.

In this week’s episode, I catch up with Lisa Roney, who has just released her creative writing textbook, Serious Daring, and a poetry chapbook, The Best Possible Bad Luck,

plus, Liz Haberkorn writes about Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, starvation, and eating disorders.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Rest in peace, Michael Brachfeld.

This week, it's this writing podcast's third mixtape.

In this week’s episode, I talk to the memoirist, novelist, and journalist Marya Honrbacher,

plus J.J. Anselmi reads his personal essay, "Atrophy,"

and I offer a tribute to the late Philip Levine.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Read Marya Hornbacher's wonderful Smithsonian profile of Oscar Peterson here.

NOTES

J.J. Anselmi's "Atrophy" first appeared online in Cleaver Magazine.

Rest in peace, Philip Levine.

Read Aaron Belz's discussion of his correspondence with Philip Levine here.

Check out Orlando Shakes’ wonderfully colorful production of Merry Wives, which runs from February 4 to March 7, 2015.

This week features our third annual Erotic Poetry Night,

with moi and The Drunken Odyssey All-Stars:

Danielle Kessinger

Teege Braune

Genevieve Anna Tyrrell

Anna King

Erica Dawson.

Many thanks to our most excellent venue,

In this week’s episode, I talk to the novelist Darcey Steinke,

plus I share a spoken word poem by Wilson Santos, and a brief interview about his crowdfunding project for literacy in the Dominican Republic.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkrDE5oYjRs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPhp5M3n0O0

NOTES

Check out more about Wilson Santos' Domican Republic project, including how to donate, here.

Check out Orlando Shakes' wonderfully colorful production of Merry Wives, with runs from February 4 to March 7, 2015.

Michael Chabon is a lyricist for Mark Ronson's new album, Uptown Special, as covered by The Guardian.

Harper Lee's lost novel, Go Set a Watchman, will be published later this year. The Atlantic reports on the story of its discovery. In an attempt to allay fears of Lee's competence, she has apparently released a statement through her lawyer, saying, "“I’m alive and kicking and happy as hell with the reactions to ‘Watchman,’ ” according to The New York Times.

Episode 137 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

In this week’s episode, I talk to Annemarie Ní Churreáin about Irish literature, poetry, and the call of nature,

plus Will Garland reads his essay, The Art of Telling a Story About Southern Family Living in a Small Southern Town.

NOTES

The music used with The Art of Telling a Story About Southern Family Living in a Small Southern Town is “Color Cave” by Noveller, a one person band, that band being Sarah Lipstate. Check out the link for more info on her upcoming show at The Tinnitus Music Series in Brooklyn.

Orlando Shakespeare Theaters production of The Merry Wives of Windsor begins this week.

Episode 136 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

In this week’s episode, I talk to Walter Mosley about crime fiction, characterization, the subconscious work of the writer, and the radical aesthetics of Amiri Baraka,

and I also talk to Petra Mason about Bettie Page, Bunny Yeager, and the legacy of pin up culture.

Plus, Rose Tran reads her personal essay, "Intermission."

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

For more information about the Terribly Girly studio, check out their website.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtSNufs8BWw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6LPeq7pbxs

_______

Episode 136 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

In this week’s episode, I talk about James Wood's How Fiction Works with Vanessa Blakeslee,

Plus Amy Penne writes about how David Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster and Other Essays changed her life.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsbKT50ud04

NOTES

On Tuesday, January 20th, 7 P.M., Leslie Salas will lead a workshop on imagery at the Orlando Public Library, Herndon Branch.

On Saturday, January 24th, 11 A.M., J. Bradley will host a love poem workshop at the Orlando Public Library.

In this week’s episode, I share another Miami BookFair International interview, this one with fiction writer and poet Stuart Dybek,

and I also talk to the poet Denise Duhamel,

plus Jim Ross writes about how Moss Hart's Act One changed his life.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

In Orlando, come hear me, Kimberly Lojewski, Robert Metcalf, and Tiffany Razzano read prose at There Will Be Words on January 13th.

On Tuesday, January 20th, 7 P.M., Leslie Salas will lead a workshop on imagery at the Orlando Public Library, Herndon Branch

On Saturday, January 24th, 11 A.M., J. Bradley will host a love poem workshop at the Orlando Public Library.

On Saturday, January 24th, 7 P.M., come hear Boris Fishman read from his novel, A Replacement Life, and me read poetry at the Gallery at Avalon Island.

In this week’s episode, I share another Miami BookFair International interview, this one with writer and filmmaker John Waters.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

 NOTES

In Orlando, come hear me, Kimberly Lojewski, Robert Metcalf, and Tiffany Razzano read prose at There Will Be Words on January 13th.

On Tuesday, January 20th, 7 P.M., Leslie Salas will lead a workshop on imagery at the Orlando Public Library, Herndon Branch

On Saturday, January 24th, 11 A.M., J. Bradley will host a love poem workshop at the Orlando Public Library.

On Saturday, January 24th, 7 P.M., come hear Boris Fishman read from his novel, A Replacement Life, and me read poetry at the Gallery at Avalon Island.

In this week’s episode, I interview novelist and memoirsit Joanna Rakoff,

and then talk once again with the poet Tony Hoagland,

plus Brittany McIntyre writes bravely about how a book I never expected to learn more about changed her life.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Carlton Melton's "Country Ways" accompanied Brittany McIntyre's essay.

In Orlando, come hear me, Kimberly Lojewski, Robert Metcalf, and Tiffany Razzano read at There Will Be Words on January 13th.

Learn more about J. Bradley's love poem workshop at the Orlando Public Library here.

Check out the dreamy surf rock of The Bambi Molesters.

This week’s episode got a bit out of hand. Jared Silvia tells me that, for legal reasons, this needs to be called a radio play.

Anyway, I talk to Santa, have an interview you have to hear to believe--maybe you still won't believe it--plus

I replay Melissa Crandall's personal essay about A Christmas Carol.

NOTES

Pre-order Nathan Holic’s new novel, The Things I Don’t See, here for only $6.

In this week’s episode, I interview author and editor Jaquira Díaz.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Read Jaquira Díaz's "Cami" at Story South.

Read Jocelyn Bartkevicius's "Out of the Garden" at The Missouri Review.

NOTES

Pre-order Nathan Holic's new novel, The Things I Don't See, here for only $6.

In this week’s episode, I present a rambunctious reading honoring Repeal Day, which I think might be one of the twelve days of Christmas.

The Drunken Odyssey All Stars on this occasion included Dianne Turgeon Richardson, Tod Caviness, Anna King, Jared Silvia, Sam Slaughter, Danita Berg, Matt Peters, Teege Braune, and Vanessa Blakeslee.

Episode 128 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

In this week’s episode, I interview the musician, Michael Hearst.

Plus Danita Berg reads her essay, "A Note on my Skin."

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Watch Whoopie Golberg's one-woman Broadway show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CDSak1Pcbs

The music accompanying Danita Berg's essay is Carlton Melton's "Smoke Drip," from their album Photos of Photos.

Read Madison Bernath's review of Miami Bookfair International here.

Daniel Handler (who sometimes when he writes is known as Lemony Snickett) made a remarkably dense joke about self-consciousness about racial stereotypes after Jacqueline Woodson won the National Book Award Young People's Literature Prize for her book, Brown Girl Dreaming. Handler was not nearly self-conscious enough to know that Woodson's allergy to watermelon was precisely psychological in nature as a reaction to racism. Read Jacqueline Woodson about this event here at The New York Times. To read about Handler's appropriate apology, read this story in The Washington Post.

Here is Jacqueline Woodson's acceptance speech for this award:

[embed]https://vimeo.com/112642169[/embed]

Here is a link to the Indiegogo campaign for We Need Diverse Books.

_______

Episode 128 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

Episode 126 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

In this week’s episode, I talk about Horace's Ars Poetica with Vanessa Blakeslee,

plus Sam Slaughter talks about the ignominious beginning of Two Drunken Writers Brewery.

 NOTES

At 3 P.M., on Tuesday, November 18, the memoirist and novelist Marya Hornbacher will read at the University of Central Florida. Get info here.

Congrats to Tiffany Razzano, on the successful launch of Florida Bookstore day!

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

The music accompanying Ian Rogers's Essay is The Lovely Moon's "And We Danced Into the Night."

The music in the introduction ("Central Coast Swing")and conclusion ("Baia") of this episode was by the immortal Croatian surf rock band, The Bambi Molesters.

This week is a live show for Horror Movie Poetry Night, starring The Drunken Odyssey All Stars.

On this occasion, The Drunken Odyssey All-Stars included:

Amy Watkins (The Walking Dead)
Vincent Crampton Dr. Josef Heiter (The Human Centipede)
Anna King (The Silence of the Lambs)
Drew Johnson (The Shining)
Jeff Shuster (The Blair Witch Project)
Melanie Neale (Jaws)
Teege Braune (Werewolves)
Karen Price (Rosemary's Baby)
Stephanie Rizzo (Gremlins)

On this week's show, I present a discussion of and readings from work that resulted in the companionship of Lord Byron, his physician John Polidori, and the Shelley's during the Year without a Summer, in which a ghost story challenge was undertaken.

Mary Shelley

John William Polidori

Lord Byron

Notes

Please give thanks to the amazing talents and efforts of this episode's two readers:

Chris Booth

August Evans

In this week’s episode, I share a recording of a Halloween show in Jesse Bradley's prose reading series, There Will Be Words, in which I was a reader.

The There Will Be Words Fourth Annual Flash Fiction Spooktacular featured

KAREN BEST
KEITH GOUVEIA
MATT PETERS
JOHN KING
WHITNEY HAMRICK
BRETT PRIBBLE
TEEGE BRAUNE
JARED SILVIA

Karen Best (Photo by Leslie Silvia).

In this week’s episode, I talk about Douglas Glover's Attack of the Copula Spiders with Vanessa Blakeslee,

plus Sam Slaughter writes about how Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son changed his life.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

In this week’s episode, I interview Pat Rushin, who authored the screenplay for the new Terry Gilliam film, The Zero Theorem, which opens in the U.S.A on September 19th,

Plus Craig-Paul Moreau writes about Randy Shilts's And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Check out where The Zero Theorem will be playing in the U.S.A. here.

Check out "My parents helped me to lose my virginity,” the new personal essay in The Guardian by Boris Fishman (Episode 107).

In this week’s episode, I interview Stephen Corey, Editor-in-Chief of The Georgia Review,

Photograph by William Walsh.

Plus August Evans writes about Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Margaret Atwood if the first entrant into the Future Library Project, with work to be printed in 2214, from trees in a forest planted this year (reported in a Guardian story by Alison Flood).

Congrats to Bookmark It‘s first six months! In Orlando, check it out at theEast End Market.

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

Plus Clint Peters writes about how reading Montaigne changed his life.

NOTES

Check out David James Poissant's wonderful story collection, The Heaven of Animals.

According to NPR, Robert Hass has won the Wallace Stevens prize.

According to The Guardian, Doris Lessing willed 3,000 books to a library in Harare, Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, Florida Polytechnic is opening with a library that has zero print books (Guardian).

Also according to The Guardian, Martin Amis's controversial new book, Zone of Interest, is having some publishing difficulties.

I incorrectly called Bullets and Burgers a shooting range, when according to The Times, Burgers and Bullets is the name of the tour guide service that brings people to a shooting range about 25 miles outside of Vegas, in Arizona, where a nine year-old girl accidentally shot her shooting instructor with an Uzi after he set the gun to repeater action.

On this week’s show, I talk to fiction writer and ghost writer extraordinaire, Maya Sloan.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

 NOTES

Learn more about the Kerouac House here.

On this week’s show, I talk to the poet Sarah Grieve,

plus Rose Tran writes about what Sherman Alexie taught her about humor.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

On this week’s show, I talk to Vanessa Blakeslee about what Aristotle's Poetics can teach us about fiction writing today,

Plus Kevin Bray writes about reading John Gardner's On Becoming a Novelist.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

This new project--discussing relevant books about the craft of storytelling--is a continuation of a long defunct feature of the show. Two years ago, Jaroslav Kalfař and I discussed Stephen King's On Writing on episode 6 and John Gardner's The Art of Fiction on episode 2.

Quoting George Orwell in an shockingly Orwellian way, Amazon has undertaken a weird counter-compaign to the Authors United movement, according to David Streitfield in The Times. Check out the statement from Authors United that led to this counter-campaign.

On this week’s show, I talk to the Trio Award-winner Iris Jamahl Dunkle,

plus Jeffrey Ethan Lee reads his essay, "The Poet's Mother's Deathbed Conversion" at Fergie's Pub in Philadelphia.

Books Discussed

 NOTES

If in Philly, check out the Moonstone Poetry Series, at Fergie's Pub.

My friends Jared Silvia and Ryan Rivas are new hosting a new show, Functionally Literate Radio, on WPRK.

On this week’s show, I talk to Ryan Rivas and Nathan Holic about the publication of Forget How You Found Us: 15 Views of Orlando, Volume III,

plus I share readings from stories by Karen Best, Matt Peters, and Jonathan Kosik from the collection.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Learn about the great youth programs offered by Page 15 in Orlando.

Amazon is having a bad quarter, according to The New York Times.

Next month, Third Man Books, the new print publishing wing of Third Man Records, will release an anthology called Language Lessons, Volume 1.

Quentin Tarantino will be filming The Hateful Eight after all, according to Kurt Russell and the L.A. Times.

Check out the amazing surf rock revival of The Bambi Molesters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=expdxldXIa4

On this week’s show, I talk to writer, teacher, and advocate Pauline Hawkins,

plus Caitlin McDonnell writes about discovering her urge to teach, from a night spent in jail, in "The Capacity of Language to Make Us Less Alone."

NOTES

Harper Lee has contested any participation or approval in Marja Mills's new biography of her, according to The Guardian.

To learn more about Pauline Hawkins' radical way of teaching George Orwell's Animal Farm, read her blog here.

This episode proudly features the music of The Intoxicators.

On this week’s show, I talk to the publisher of Beating Windward Press, Matt Peters,

Plus Stephen Scully writes a memoir essay about meeting two baseball legends.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

The British children's book author Allan Ahlberg refused a lifetime achievement award due to its being sponsored by Amazon, according to The Guardian.

On this week’s show, I talk to the fiction writer Boris Fishman,

Plus Lisa Korthals shares her essay about reading Lolita as a child.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

On this week’s show, I talk to the poet and essayist Nicole Callihan,

plus Maureen Vance writes about Jane Eyre.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

According to The Guardian, British publishers and the Society for Authors (a trade union for UK writers) are trying to push back against Amazon’s fierce demands for more power in the book industry. They liken Amazon's terms to a form of "assisted suicide."

According to The Times, Barnes and Noble will spin off its Nook division as a separate company from its traditional bookseller endeavors.

Carlton Melton's "Spiderwebs" accompanies Maureen Vance's "Jane and Me." This song is available on the album Always Even.

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

On this week’s show, I talk to fiction writer and memoirist-extraordinaire Alden Jones,

plus Peter Demarco writes about discovering Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

According to The Guardian, Salman Rushdie has won the PEN/Pinter award for 2014.

Also according to The Guardian, Quentin Tarantino and Matt Wagner will collaborate on a Django/Zorro crossover comic book.

On this bonus episode, I guide listeners through a lovely tour of Ulysses on today, which is Bloomsday.

TEXT DISCUSSED

NOTES

Check out Black 47's music here, or wherever you buy music. "I Got Laid on James Joyce's Grave" appears on Trouble in the Land.

On this week’s show, I talk to the fiction writer and poet Alan Michael Parker,

Plus Andrew Gretes offers his "Ode to Zorba."

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Davis Sedaris talked about the Amazon/Hachette battle to Parnassus Books, a bookstore in Tennessee. 

On this week’s show, my friends Teege Braune of In Boozo Veritas fame, Sean Ironman of Heroes Never Rust fame, Jeff Shuster, who is the Curator of Schlock, and Dianne Turgeon Richardson join me for a roundtable discussion of Donald Duck on his 80th birthday.

 TEXTS DISCUSSED

On this week’s show, I talk to the poet Erica Dawson,

Plus Nicole Callihan reads her memoir essay, "The Week in News."

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Nicole Callihan's "The Week in News" originally appeared on The Well and Often Press.

Nicole Callihan's poetry collection, Superloop.

NOTES

Jeremy Greenfield, in an article for The Atlantic, has explored the continuing struggle between Amazon.com and the Hachette publishing group.

The Peyton James Freeman Prize for nonfiction essays is now accepting submissions. There is no reading fee, and the contest is being judged by Cheryl Strayed.

Horoscopes penned by my signature character Guy Psycho are now available online at The Newer York's site.

On this show, I eulogized Bunny Yeager and Maya Angelou.

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

On this week’s show, I talk to the fiction writer Kseniya Melnik,

Plus Matt Berman writes about Jean Craighead George's My Side of the Mountain.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

On this week’s show, I talk to the fiction writer Kelly Luce,

Plus Nicole Callihan meditates on motherhood, sustenance, autism, and language in "Notes Toward: Babies, Bananas, Boxes."

TEXTS DISCUSSED

 NOTES

Nicole Callihan's "Notes Toward: Babies, Bananas, Boxes" first appeared on River and Sound Review.

According to The Guardian and Publishers Weekly, some members of South Carolina's state legislature is trying to punish its state universities that support gay and lesbian culture. For more information about the protest over this, check out the website of Writers Speaking Out Loud.

Congratulations to Laura Van Den Berg for her story O-Pah-Locka (published in the southern review), and for Dylan Landis for her story, “Trust” (published in Tin House) for winning O'Henry Prizes for 2014. Laura was my guest on episode 91, and Dylan was my guest on episode 48.

On this week’s show, I talk to the fiction writer and historian of Florida attractions Lu Vickers,

Plus Joe Marchia writes about Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood.

 TEXTS DISCUSSED 

NOTES 

Check Out our new videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7Cg6lFnfl4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH1nXs9hWeY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2jeezvsixU

Check out this indiegogo crowd-sourcing effort to bring St. Mark’s Bookshop to a new home in the East Village.

Sheman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is given away to students in an Iowa district in which the novel is banned from schools.

On May 13th, I will participate in The Best of There Will Be Words 2013 show. If you're in Orlando, join us.

Episode 96 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 present Rick Moody's recent reading at the University of Central Florida.  TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Check out this indiegogo crowd-sourcing effort to bring St. Mark’s Bookshop to a new home in the East Village.

On this week’s show, I talk to the poet Eleanor Lerman,

Plus Alden Jones writes about her time working in Cuba.

 TEXTS DISCUSSED 

Check out episode 48 to hear Eleanor Lerman's essay about Leonard Cohen's Spice Box of Earth.

NOTES 

Check out the indiegogo crowd-sourcing effort to bring St. Mark’s Bookshop to a new home in the East Village. Endorsed by this show and Anne Waldman.

I recommend Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s production of Julius Caesar, playing until April 20th.

Check out Beating Windward Press’s call for essays for its forthcoming essay collection, The Things They Did For Money: How Writers, Artists, and Creatives Support the Habit.

On this week’s show, I talk to Bob Contant and Terry McCoy, the owners of St. Mark's Bookshop,

Plus Dan Lauer writes about identity and New York City.

NOTES 

Check out the indiegogo crowd-sourcing effort to bring St. Mark's Bookshop to a new home in the East Village. Endorsed by this show and Anne Waldman.

I recommend Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s production of Julius Caesar, playing until April 20th.

Check out Beating Windward Press’s call for essays for its forthcoming essay collection, The Things They Did For Money: How Writers, Artists, and Creatives Support the Habit.

Episode 93 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 multidisciplinary wonder that is J. Bradley,

Plus Molly Gleeson writes about reading Anthony Trollope while teaching in Saudia Arabia.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

 Hear J. Bradley read his "You + Me = Awwwwwww Yeah" + "Pussycat Interstellar Naked Hotrod Mofo Ladybug Lust Blaster" by Derrick Brown on the second erotic poetry live show of The Drunken Odyssey.

NOTES 

I recommend Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s production of Julius Caesar, playing until April 20th.

Check out Beating Windward Press’s call for essays for its forthcoming essay collection, The Things They Did For Money: How Writers, Artists, and Creatives Support the Habit.

In England, authors are protesting a new measure that prohibits inmates from getting access to books in the mail (BBC).

Beckett once directed his own plays, in performances featuring San Quentin inmates.

Here's an image of the Chronic City finale poster.

On this week’s show, I talk to fiction writer Laura Van Den Berg,

Plus Will Dowd reads two poems.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

I recommend Orlando Shakespeare Theater's production of Julius Caesar, playing until April 20th.

Check out Beating Windward Press's call for essays for its forthcoming essay collection, THE THINGS THEY DID FOR MONEY: HOW WRITERS, ARTISTS, AND CREATIVES SUPPORT THE HABIT.  

On this week’s show, my friends Teege Braune of In Boozo Veritas fame, Matt Peters, Jared Silvia, and my brother James King join me for a wooly discussion of St. Patrick's Day. Much was consumed.

My red face was sunburn. The angle of my head, weariness.

On this week’s show, I talk to fiction writer David James Poissant,

Plus Max Bakke writes about Nick Hornby's High Fidelity.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Read David James Poissant's "I Want to be Friends with Republicans" here.

NOTES

OST's William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar can be seen from March 19 - April 20, 2014. Go here for more details.

On this week’s episode of the world's greatest writing podcast, I talk to fiction writer John Henry Fleming,

Plus James Sanders writes about reading The Autobiography of Malcom X.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

The VIDA count for 2013 is now available.

Orlando now has a new independent bookshop: Bookmark It, at the East End Market in Winter Park (3201 Corrine Drive).

Find Burrow Press’s releases here, & check out the discounted subscription rate.

If you live in Orlando, do come to Vanessa’s book release party.

On this week’s show, I talk to fiction writer Vanessa Blakeslee,

And Anthony Seidman writes about James Thompson's The City of Dreadful Night.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

If you live in NYC, check out this wonderful event with my friends Gilbert King (episode 60) and my fellow NYU alum, Maaza Mengiste. RSVP is required.

Find Burrow Press’s releases here, & check out the discounted subscription rate.

If you live in Orlando, do come to Vanessa's book release party.

On this week’s show, I talk to fiction writer and memoirist Kevin Sampsell,

Plus Kevin Bray writes about finding Men on Divorce.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

Find Burrow Press's releases here, & check out the discounted subscription rate.

On this week’s show, I talk to the musician Rich Millman from the band Carlton Melton,

Plus Kelsey Liebenson-Morse writes about reading Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

The Florida Writers’ Conference goes from February 13th-15th, ending with the Florida premiere of Terry Giliam’s new film, written by Pat Rushin, The Zero Theorem. Click here to learn how to register for the conference.

Read Beating Windward’s call for essays for its forthcoming anthology, The Things They Did for Money: How Writers, Artists, and Creatives Support the Habit.  

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.

On this week’s show, I talk to the journalist Lynn Waddell,

Plus D. S. Jones writes about how the Charles Bukowski's Post Office changed his life.

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

According to The Guardian, the short list for the Hatchet Awards has been announced.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

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

and my interview with Koren Zailckas,

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

TEXTS DISCUSSED

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.

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

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

TEXTS DISCUSSED

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!

The venue (photo by Leslie Salas)

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

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

Ah (photo by Leslie Salas)

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

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

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

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)

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

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.

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

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

NOTES

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

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.

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

Geoffrey Kent (Petruchio)

And Deanna Gibson (Kate)

John Ahlin (Baptista)

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

TEXTS DISCUSSED

 NOTES

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

Get tickets here.

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

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

TEXTS DISCUSSED

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.