Unknown Words with Matthew Anderson

The show is back. Found in close up in  Carmen Brady's poetry are the details we notice when we are disconnected from others. That's not to say her poems are always about disconnectedness, but that void of understanding appears as a character itself at times. The shape created by what we don't understand about one another, when we try and fail to communicate truthfully.  Carmen's poetry has appeared in Metatron, Potluck Mag, Little River Lit mag, Electric Cereal and elsewhere. Her chapbook Eating Alone at Chipotle was published by Bottlecap Press in 2015. You can follow her on Twitter at @therealcbrad   Music by Zhalih MUSH   If you would like to submit fiction, non-fiction, or poetry between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show Twitter Facebook Instagram

It has...been awhile. Sorry about that. But the show is not gone.  In this short episode, I am reading an essay of my own entitled "The Birthday Card Forgeries." I also speak for the first time about my sister and her autism and how I've been led to write more non-fiction.  The next full episode of the show will drop on April 3rd. I'll see you lovely people then. The contest I submitted this essay to is the Missouri Review's Miller Audio Prize. Check it out! You can listen to all the past winners and there are some great entries.  Music by MUSH ludwig danson   Follow the show Twitter Facebook Instagram

Family can be a strange thing. Both pieces by Sunny Bleckinger on today's show, one fiction and non-fiction, explore the complicated feelings that go hand in hand with having a complicated family. In the non-fiction piece he recounts meeting his father after being adopted and out of all contact for 20 years. In addition to their wobbly newfound relationship is the mystery of his mother, a person no one has seen since she kidnapped Sunny and his sister. In the fiction piece, a man does the reuniting for his estranged parents himself. In choosing to take in two very erratic people under one roof, the pressure on the man builds until he finally finds escape, soaring through the sky, as a duck. Literally. You can find Sunny's writing published in Word Riot and Monkeybicycle, as well as on his website. Check out his podcast for the IPRC entitled, The Staple.    Conversation Topics: writing, Amsterdam, literature, short stories, parenthood, kids, family, tennis, surrealism, massage therapy.  Music by Prism Palace MUSH   If you would like to submit fiction, non-fiction, or poetry between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show Twitter Facebook Instagram

We have three stories today from writer/filmmaker, Annabel Graham. Her writing, when fictional and non-fictional, has a way of finding ghosts, a way of tracing their influence on our lives. These can be the spirits of lost loved ones, or the ominous presence of a landscape itself, both having the power to present the world to us in their liking. Her stories on today's show all share the ability, almost paradoxically, to be both mysterious and intimate, leaving the reader affected, but still slightly unsure just how it happened.    Her writing has appeared in Cosmonauts Avenue, Atticus Review, Cutbank Magazine, The Gallatin Review, Corium Magazine, and elsewhere.   Follow Annabel on twitter: @annabeleverest and check out her website.    Conversation Topics: Cannes Film Festival, short film, film making, writing, NYU, screenwriting, non-fiction, family, illness, LA, grief, mourning, personal writing.    Music Zhalih MUSH   If you would like to submit fiction, non-fiction, or poetry, between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show Twitter Facebook Instagram

Nkem Obi-Melekwe creates music under the name Mon Nobi. His songs are dreamy and surreal, sometimes psychedelic; they grow out of the calamity of everyday sounds. Nkem also has his roots in hip hop, and many of his songs oscillate in and out of that region of music. They can sometimes move from trip hop to fully ambient electronic and then into straight, old school beats. He's a young guy, but he's already carved out his own peculiar and ever developing style.  Conversation Topics: music, the South, Asheville, North Carolina, producing, sampling, collaborating, soundcloud, genres, playfulness, screamo, recording, cartoons, Adult Swim, Flying Lotus, Htrk, Phantogram, drawing.    Find his music at: soundcloud.com/monnobi monnobi.bandcamp.com   Follow him on Twitter: @nkemobm   Songs in order played: 1) What But A Blip on a Bell Curve 2) Lykmnd'd 3) Bread & Circuses 4) Houzcat 5) Iris 6) Dwyndwn 7) Why Am I Still Awake? 8) REM Rebound 9) MonoNoAware 10) The Koolaid   If you would like to submit fiction, non-fiction, or poetry between 1,000 and 4,000 words to the show, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show Twitter Facebook Instagram  

This is the first episode where we are catching up with a writer who has already been on the show and seeing where their projects have taken them, what new things they've finished, and where they're going now. We catch up today with Jeff Musillo, guest of episode #25. We talk about everything from the film in pre-production he is working on to his unfinished novel about the modern reincarnation of Jesus and his problematic life.  The next full episode, #30 with music artist Mon Nobi, will be here tomorrow. You can purchase Jeff's new novel, The Eternal Echo, on Amazon in both paperback and e-book formats.  See all of Jeff's paintings on his Instagram, @jmusillo Conversation Topics: writing, screenwriting, film, movies, inspiration, literature, Kurt Vonnegut, Darren Aronofsky, music, film scores, tone.    Music by Mon Nobi MUSH   If you'd like to submit fiction, non-fiction, or poetry to the show, between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show @unknownwordspod Facebook Instagram

It is one grand confession, one grand act of admitting love that the main character of today's story, Marlese, hopes will shift her life back toward the intimacy she once knew. But this confession is for a total stranger. On top of that, her friends are too busy making grilled cheese sandwiches by the dozens for some mysterious purpose to give much advice on love. J.P. Kemmick's story is one that has a premise of soap opera like obsession, but instead, his story takes a much more endearing, and funny turn. This story first appeared in J.P.'s collection of stories, Space City, USA. You can order a copy by emailing him at: orderspacecityusa@gmail.com His writing has appeared in Beechers, A Capella Zoo, Toad, Barrelhouse and elsewhere.    Conversation Topics: writing, moving, literature, reading, surrealism, fabulism, Portland, Karen Russell, female characters   All music by MUSH   If you would like to submit writing between 1,000 and 4,000 words, fiction, non-fiction or poetry, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show: Twitter Facebook Instagram

The flash fictions of Kendra Fortmeyer all share a magical realist quality and a melancholy, yet sometimes sweet, sense of humor. Hear three of her stories on today's episode, spread throughout our conversation that ranged from writing, the (imagined) Carolinas rivalry, Amy Bender, and stories from Kendra's dreams.  Her work has appeared in PANK, Monkeybicycle, The Toast, Five Quarterly and elsewhere. She edits fiction for Broad! Magazine.  Today's stories can be found at Wyvern Lit, People Holding, and Cheap Pop.    Topics: writing, literature, publishing, David Bowie, magical realism, surrealism, teaching, dreams, mermaids, apocalypse, flash fiction, storytelling, influence.    All music by MUSH   If you would like to submit writing, (fiction, non-fiction, or poetry) between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show Twitter Facebook Instagram  

In Mensah Demary's short story, a middle aged man who's left his marriage crumbling encounters a brazen, single young mother, and he begins to question even further what he actually wants.  "Butcher's Block" was first published in PANK magazine.  His fiction has also appeared in Metazen, Monkeybicycle,  and the Safety Pin Review among others. His non-fiction can be found in Salon, Thought Catalog, The Lit Pub and elsewhere.  Mensah is an associate editor with Catapult and the founding editor of Specter Magazine.  Follow him on Twitter @mensah4000   Conversation Topics: writing, literature, memoir, New York, Brooklyn, New Jersey, publishing, middle age, Roxane Gay, mentorship, Maggie Nelson, The Argonauts, non-fiction, essay.     Music by Mon Nobi MUSH   To submit fiction, non-fiction, and poetry between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show @unknownwordspod Facebook Instagram

Today's short story by playwright, Kenneth Hanes, deals with the relatively universal pain of seeing aging loved ones losing their memories and their recognition. However, for the main character of this story, who is a transwoman, this loss is magnified, for not only does her embittered father no longer recognize her, he has lost any understanding at all of who and how she is. Today's story first appeared in The Massachusetts Review.  Music by Ludwig Danson MUSH   If you would like to submit fiction, non-fiction, or poetry between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to the show: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show Twitter Facebook Instagram

Today we have two short stories from Jeff Musillo. They're each conversational, things you are overhearing or being directly told, or even confessed to. While each story centers on damaged men, one of them absurdly, hyperbolically so, they are each darkly funny. Jeff is the author of The Ease of Access, Can You See That Sound, and Snapshot Americana. His new novella, The States is published by Civil Coping Mechanisms and is available this Friday (11/13/2015).     Conversation topics: writing, Nickelodeon, TV, screenwriting, film, publishing, process, Brooklyn, Charles Bukowski, inspiration, learning, failure.    Music by Mon Nobi MUSH   If you would like to submit fiction, narrative non-fiction, or poetry, between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show Twitter Facebook Instagram

In today's short story, "Breakfast Inside the Beltway," a young woman meets an eccentric old southern man whose eccentricities hide a life of real tragedy. Yet, that is exactly what they have in common, for at least one small era in each of their lives.  Christine is a prolific fiction and non-fiction writer. Her writing has appeared in Cosmopolitan, The Feminist Wire, Bustle, The Southeast Review, and elsewhere. She is the editor of Quail Bell Magazine.  Her writing as well as her film and visual artwork can be found at: wordsmithchristine.com   Conversation Topics: writing, literature, film, filmmaking, Stacey Steers, journalism, non-fiction, hustling, marriage, childhood, art.    Music by HXXS - ghettohexes.com MUSH   If you would like to submit fiction, non-fiction, or poetry to the show, between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com Follow the show Twitter Facebook Instagram

The show will return on October 5th with #24 with Christine Stoddard. On this short announcement episode, you will find out where exactly I am and hear a flash fiction piece of my own.  Music by MUSH ludwig danson   Follow the show Twitter Facebook Instagram

The man behind the music of Lifeformed is Terrence Lee. He started out as a video game developer, but his training on the piano slowly pushed him toward creating the musical scores to the games he worked on. From there, Terrence has become a prolific electronic music artist, continually experimenting. His work has appeared on the show before, but in this episode you will get to hear his songs in full, along with the conversation I got to have with him in person.  You can find all of his music here, and learn about the videogame he scored, Dustforce.  You can also check out the documentary about the making of Double Fine's game Broken Age, which Terrence scored, here.   Conversation Topics: music, video games, electronic, programming, Midwest, Cincinnati, Portland, collaboration, creativity, inspiration.   Songs 0:00 - Cobalt Blue 7:03 - Sun Bleach 14:02 - Drown in Thirst 22:45 - Forgotten Tea 29:29 - Chloroplast Skin 40:55 - Warm Cobblestone 50:24 - Paper Pete 59:38 - Breadtime 1:02:20 - Sunquake   If you would like to submit writing to the show, you can send fiction, poetry, and non-fiction between 1,000 and 4,000 words to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show Twitter Facebook Instagram  

Jessica is actually the very first poet, nonetheless female poet, that I ever spoke with about being on the show. Her episode is finally here. Her poetry arcs across the span of her life and loves. It is intimate, it is 1st person, it is inherently close to the chest, but available to be seen. Jessica has led an already storied life and she recounts it, in both her poetry and our conversation, earnestly and with humor, even in the face of tragedy. The poems on today's show appeared in Jessica's first book, The Last Exotic Petting Zoo, and her just released second collection, What Makes An Always.  Find out more about these books, as well as how to get your own at Tayen Lane Publishing.  Find out more about Jessica's scholarship fund here, and contact her for her writing expertise and services here.  Conversation Topics: poetry, writing, art, literature, Toni Morrison, reading, beginnings, novels, Oregon, race, racism, Cherokee, Native Americans, Indians, home, process, marriage, family, tradition, India, Charleston, South Carolina.    The Poems (7:07) - Kitchen Volcanoes (12:44) - Men (17:57) - What The Body Remembers (22:06) - The Lecture (30:18) - Red Delicious (34:24) - Two Days Prior to The Burial (39:12) - Love You More (46:40) - An Anorexia Thing & The Butchery Date (54:41) - Let Me Go Quietly   Music by Zhalih (aka. Hannah Mickunas) MUSH   Donate to the victim's families and to the congregation of the AME Church in Charleston here: www.bidr.co/prayforcharleston   If you have fiction, non-fiction, or poetry you'd like to submit to the show, between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show Facebook Twitter Instagram

Jessica Tyner's poem "Genetically Isolated Since the Ice Age."  It first appeared in her book, The Last Exotic Petting Zoo. You can purchase the book here. Her 2nd book, What Makes An Always, is also forthcoming from the same press, Tayen Lane Publishing.  More of her poetry and our conversation will be available tomorrow on episode #22.   Music by Zhalih Kidswaste   Follow the show Facebook Twitter Instagram

Jeanne Henry is the show's first female poet, and today we hear seven of her poems. On display is her ability to make the ordinary angles and objects of cities conscious and aware and judging. Her poetry is very rooted in its sense of place; it could be mistaken for a sense of doom, but the people in her poems seem aware of where they are and their dilemmas, and are striving to live beyond them.  Find more of Jeanne's work at: www.papermaw.wordpress.com Her poetry has appeared in Prick of the Spindle, Banango Street, Brickplight, Found Poetry Review, and the Josephine Quarterly among others.    Conversation Topics: NYC, New York, poetry, poems, writing, storytelling, moving, California, weather, mental illness, family, conversation, interview, art, reading, literature.    Intro & Outro music MUSH   Other music Ludwig Danson Kidswaste   If you would like to submit ficiton, non-fiction, poetry or other narrative writing between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show Facebook Twitter Instagram

Episode #21 with seven of Jeanne's poems as well as our conversation will be here Monday, the 8th.  Find more of Jeanne's work at www.papermaw.wordpress.com Follow her on twitter @papermaw   Music by MUSH - song = "Omnislash" Lifeformed - song = "Cobalt Blue"   If you would like to submit fiction, non-fiction, poetry or any other narrative writing to the show between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show Facebook Twitter Instagram

Nathan is the now show's 4th poet. His work is concerned with humanity's place in nature and what we mean to one another. In its examination of these broad and even ancient themes, it still manages to find the small and the personal, the concerns of the human.  Find more of Nathan's work at his website.  Find his music here and on his SoundCloud.  His poetry as appeared in Voicemail Poems, OCHO Journal, Potluck Magazine, Souvenir, and is forthcoming in Powderkeg Magazine and Big Big Wednesday.    The poems of today's show: 4:52 - Dismantled 12:36 - Unexplored Unexplored 18:40 - Sick Sense (Read by Nathan) 25:00 - A Black Rat 31:00 - Kindling (Read by Nathan) 37:25 - Fragrant Cloud   42:00 - Summon Summer Storms   Conversation Topics: writing, poetry, songwriting, literature, shaman, spirituality, religion, politics, being political, queer, inspiration, nature, environment.    Music by  ludwig danson Intro & Outro Themes by MUSH   If you would like to submit writing to the show between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show Facebook Twitter Instagram

More of Nathan's poetry can be found at his website. This poem, "I Speak Abyssal Animals," was originally published at Potluck Magazine. Seven more of Nathan's poems as well as our 35 minute conversation will be available Monday, the 18th.  You can follow Nathan on twitter @purry_ and hear the music he performs under the name Purrbot.    Muisc by ludwig danson Kidswaste   If you would like to submit fiction, non-fiction, or poetry between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to the show at: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show Facebook Twitter  Instagram

The character of today's story jumps headlong into a culture he only knows as a spectator: the drag queen show. He is an outsider and feels like a fraud for it, yet this is how he feels not only to the drag queens, but to almost everyone in his life. He decides to prove himself to the world in one motion, through one spectacular show and transformation. Nothing ever goes wrong in putting it all on one big, last bet, right?   Conversation Topics: storytelling, movies, writing, fiction, literature, Blockbuster, movie theaters, short stories, Saul Williams, reading, horror, scifi, collaboration, graphic novel, novella, novel, Stay, travel, Spokane, Washington, regional writing, Inception, Zombeavers.    Joseph's story, "One More Drag Queen", was originally published at Zygote in my Coffee. He has also been published in Riverlit, The Inlander, and has a book forthcoming from University of Hell Press.  You can find more of Joe's writing at his website. You can also check out his podcast, Extremist Movie Debate, which is beautifully self exaplantory.    All of today's music by  MUSH - Facebook & Twitter   If you would like to submit writing to the show, between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com.   Follow Unknown Words on Facebook Twitter Instagram  

Many boys, myself included, were like Albert and Hamilton, the boys of today's story by Shane Jimenez. But the death of one's parent is traumatic at any age, and the way Albert and his friend go about handling it leans heavily toward the extreme. It is a coming of age story that doesn't know or care about what age it will actually reach; these boys don't know what they want to hurt, they just know they want to hurt something. Childhood can certainly be rough and messy, and Shane's story is an examination of just how far untended, young masculinity can go.   Conversation Topics: Planet of the Apes, scifi, jobs, writing, literature, teaching, creative writing, books, zombies, dystopian lit, work, childhood, Las Vegas, boys, boyhood.   Today's story was originally published by Writing Tomorrow.  Shane has published work in the Denver Quarterly, Rain Taxi, The Greensboro Review, Los Angeles Review of Books and elsewhere.  He has two collections of fiction, Rue The Day and It Can Be That Way Still.  You can also find more of his work at his website.    Today's music by  Muscle and Marrow - Facebook Their debut album "The Human Cry" is available now.    Intro and outro music by MUSH - Facebook & Twitter   If you would like to submit writing to the show between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show on Facebook Twitter Instagram    

Eric is a fellow audio storyteller. You can hear his work at Crows Nest Radio. He is also involved with Superthank, another radio show/podcast/live event series, so he is a busy man. Fortunately, he has found time to write. Today's story is a job interview, but, it quickly becomes apparent that the candidate either doesn't care about the job, or there is no job at all. It is a movingly funny parody of the absurd process almost all of us have been forced to become familiar with.  Conversation Topics: jobs, interview, Google, Louis Sachar, fiction, writing, kids, fatherhood, X-Ray Radio, podcasting, journalism, Portland, kids lit.  Read todays story at Medium.com.   Today's music by Lifeformed - twitter & facebook The intro & outro music by  MUSH - twitter & facebook   If you would like to submit writing to, and perhaps be on the show, send any fiction, narrative non-fiction, and poetry between 1,000 and 4,000 words to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show on Facebook Twitter Instagram

Calvero is a poet whose work veers from place to place. It is crass, even silly one moment, then the next, it is nestling into a tender spot you never thought it would fit in. His metaphors become characters, his plots are hyperbole, but his characters seem to always find their way back to the familiar, somtimes touching or painful places, and I think you'll be surprised by where your sympathies lie. Calvero has a book of poetry available, Someday I'm Going to Marry Katy Perry from University of Hell press.  His work has appeared in Hobart, Metazen, Unreality House, Salt Hill Journal and pressboardpress.  You can follow him on Twitter (@CalveroHasCats) and on his tumblr, www.calveropoetry.tumblr.com.   Music by: Kidswaste - facebook & twitter MUSH - facebook & twitter   If you would like to submit work to the show, between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.comFacebook Twiter Instagram

Episode #16 with poet, Calvero, will be here tomorrow. Since there's been a slight delay, I thought I could at least give you all a little more than usual. Tomorrow's full episode will have three poems from Calvero as well as our conversation, so for today, here's one more: "My Beached Whale Mother."Find more of Calvero's work at calveropoetry.tumblr.com. Follow him there, and on Twitter @CalveroHasCats   Find Unknown Words on: Facebook Twitter (@unknownwordspod) Instagram (@unknown_words_podcast)   And as always, you can reach the show to submit writing or music or just say hello at: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com

The character of today's story, Win, has found himself in some very hard times. However, he sees an omen of just how much worse things can truly become, and he remembers that he always has choices. Craig Buchner's story is a gritty depiction of what kind of desperation poverty can breed and his lean and pointed writing captures the casual nature of this common doom. Today's story is a darker one, but it is also a vivid look at where our choices and our circumstances can take us.  Craig's story first appeared in Hobart Magazine. Find more of his work at his website. Conversation Topics: writing, Portland, Asheville, NC, Ron Rash, reading, poverty, homelessness, plasma donation, mental illness, jobs, short stories, storytelling, surrealism, choices, William Kennedy, Ironweed, literature, nursing, helping, teaching, Denis Johnson.   Music by: Red Giant MUSH   If you would like to submit a work of fiction, narrative non-fiction, or poetry between 1,000 and 4,000 words, please send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show Twitter Facebook Instagram

The writing of today's guest, Zulema Renee Summerfield, manages to be quirky and funny but avoid the ironic bitterness often thought to be attached to her kind of humor. She manages to make Mark Zuckerberg, the subject of her story, small and vulnerable and human in a way we often forget people like him always are. While presented in a package of the fantastical, the sentiments between this almost quantum-Zuckerberg and his friend will certainly ring familiar. Today's story originally appeared in The Heavy Feather Review. You can find more of her work at her website. Her book, Everything Faces All Ways at Once, is available in print here and available on Amazon Kindle here.     Conversation Topics: Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, Stephen King, writing, process, submissions, 50 Shades of Grey, habit, persistence, novels, trauma, past, history, childhood, editing, revision, plot, fame, celebrity, money.    Music by: salami rose joe louis MUSH   If you would like to submit a work of fiction, narrative non-fiction, or poetry, please send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show on: Facebook Twitter   Instagram  

Ambiguity is almost a character form in Ben Nardolilli's poetry. It reoccurs, it antagonizes, and is even victimized by the reader. It occurs in the forests, swirling around alien telephone poles, it emits from a boastful, personals ad, it tortures the poet as some unfaithful shade of a memory. And after all his poems, Ben can still write a detective novel about a pop artist. His work has appeared in Yes Poetry, Grey Sparrow Journal, Quail Bell Magazine, & Rabbit Catastrophe Review. He has a chapbook of poetry entitled "Common Symptoms of an Enduring Chill Explained" published by Folded Word Press. Ben's writing website.   Poems featured this episode: (4:00) - Soliloquy in Late May (10:33) - Dull & Confused (18:00) - Personals Ad #18 (24:07) - We May Abandon (30:07) - Empower Lines (43:39) - No Chance for a Sequel   Conversation Topics: DC, Arlington, NYU, writing, narrative, literature, poetry, fiction, submissions, noir, music, detective, crime novel, history, losers, confederacy, nazis, empire, death star, star wars, pop culture, capitalism, process, experience, storytelling, conversation, interview, science fiction, universal truth, albert camus, philosophy, intellectuals, plays, celebrity, capote, hemingway, ira glass   Music by Made in 1985 Intro & Outro music by MUSH   If you would like to submit a work of fiction, narrative non-fiction, or poetry between 1,000 and 4,000 words, submit it to:  unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.   Also  available on SoundCloud and Stitcher. 

Today's story, "The Potential Energy of Mr. English", by our guest, Johnny Day, walks a fine line between childhood absurdity and a darker, more violent reality. Much Johnny's fiction steps into the surreal and the fantastical, and it is all hypnotically entertaining. Conversation Topics: writing, short story, fiction, Murakami, mystery, Japan, bullying, hierarchy, teaching, novels, PTSD, veterans, trauma, war, medicalization, depression, anxiety, fairy tale, scifi, Ohio, non-fiction, narrative, screenwriting, scriptwriting, dialogue. Read today's story and more of Johnny's work at his website.    Music by: MUSH ludwig danson   If you would like to submit a work of fiction, narrative non-fiction, or poetry between 1,000 and 4,000 words, submit it to:  unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show on Facebook, Twitter @unknownwordspod, and Instagram @unknown_words_podcast.   

Braden is the show's first poet and his work has varied focuses, but it always maintains a strange and beautiful, outward facing interest in the world. From the small wars between ghost crabs and seagulls, the obstinate poverty of Detroit, and the chasm of unsaid words to a beautiful woman on a train, Braden Bell's poetry is always intriguing.  Conversation Topics: poetry, writing, scriptwriting, treatments, Norway, travel, Detroit, Portland, revitalization, poverty, gentrification, typewriters, letter writing, structure, Charles Bukowski, William Burroughs, nostalgia. Read Braden's work at Exquisite Corpse, The Commonline Journal, and systemdetroit.com.    Music by: MUSH ludwig danson   If you would like to submit a literary short story or narrative non-fiction between 1,000 and 4,000 words, or works of poetry, please submit to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show on Facebook and Twitter. 

Today’s episode features two pieces by writer, Olivia Olivia. Her stories are directly connected, share their characters, and are both raw and personal in their depiction of growing up. They’re also really funny. Follow Olivia and see more of her work at: www.oliviawrites.com Her essay for Salon that we talk about can be read here.  "Donkey Kong in Trouble" first appeared on The Rumpus.  Conversation Topics: feminism, livejournal, Roxanne Gay, salon, rumpus, jezebel, npr, tumblr, pop culture, writing, fiction, friends, childhood, coming of age, race, ethnicity, storytelling, comedy, el salvador, immigrant families.   Music by svävande - soundcloud.com/svavande Intro & Outro themes by MUSH - soundcloud.com/mushmusic   If you would like to submit a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words, works of poetry, or music to the show, email:unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com Follow the show on:www.facebook.com/unknownwordspodcastTwitter @unknownwordspod unknownwordspodcast.tumblr.com   

 In today's episode, we have two stories from writer, Chris Paul: “A Picture Painted Quickly” and “A Statue on the Corner”. Chris has been living in Vietnam for the past year, and his stories of an inexplicable violence and of a guilty compassion paint a portrait of a sometimes chaotic, but always rich and interesting country.   Conversation Topics: writing, poetry, the hobbit, ho chi minh city, history, vietnam war, manchester, england, reading, childhood, teaching, language, english, future aspirations.    Read today's stories and Chris' other work on his blog.   All of this episode's music is by MUSH. SoundCloud Facebook   If you would like to submit a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words, works of poetry, or music to the show, please email: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. Hear Matthew with Dean on the Science Fiction Film podcast here!    

The first musicians episode of Unknown Words features the band Teach Me Equals, a duo whose music radio host Alastair St. Hill coined the term "scrape-rock" to describe. Orchestral. Chamber-rock. Cinematic. Punk with a cello and violin. These musicians can be described in many ways because they are many things. Their debut album, "Knives in the Hope Chest", will be available everywhere September 16th. Conversation Topics: classical music, Wagner, inspiration, influence, St.Vincent, cello, violin, guitar, biography, history, nature, tour, songwriting, collaboration, musical families, film, expression. Listen to them on SoundCloud and YouTube and follow them on Facebook and Twitter and www.teachmeequals.com.   If you have a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words that you'd like to submit, or are a musician who'd like to be featured, send your work to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   You can also follow the show on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Kyle Albasi's story "It's Still Good", is a story that takes the gravity of death and the weight of living in a future that one can live hundreds of years, and makes you laugh.   Purchase Kyle's work here, and today only (8/25/2014) get it free.    Conversation Topics: film, writing, screenwriting, adaptation, scifi, science fiction, futurism, short story, suicide, chuck palahniuk, philadelphia, literature, music, suffering.   All of the music in this episode was made by MUSH His SoundCloud and his Facebook   If you have a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words that you'd like to submit, or are a musician who'd like to be featured, send your work to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com You can also follow the show on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. 

I'm currently a tired southerner recording in Idaho. The next full episode will be released on August 25th.    All of the music in this episode was made by MUSH His SoundCloud and his Facebook   If you have a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words that you'd like to submit, or are a musician who'd like to be featured, send your work to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   You can also follow the show on Facebook and Tumblr. 

Prisoners, Revenge, & Hiatus Today there is no guest writer, instead, because of life and all its circumstances, you get to hear a story of mine. One man is a prisoner in a southern chain gang and the other is a young police officer watching over him. The two men have a history of violence together that is bound to resurface. Topics: life, career, change, stress, scheduling, folk music, nerd out loud, rethink pink, #fortheloveofpod   Music by MUSH here. Music by Jeremy Ross here.    You can read today's story at my own writing blog here.

Today's story, "Smelling the Weather", by a writer we'll call John, is about the death of a young man's close friend. For the first time, he is forced to very intimately face what death is, what grieving is, and what it is that death actually takes away.  Conversation topics: writing, loss, poetry, life experiences, career, nursing, phillipines, nashville, immigration, typhoon pablo, songwriting, critiques, editing, revising. Read this episode's story and "John's" other work here: http://writingforreddit.blogspot.com  All of the music in this episode was made by MUSH His SoundCloud and his Facebook   If you have a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words that you'd like to submit, or are a musician who'd like to be featured, send your work to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com You can also follow the show on Facebook and Tumblr. 

Ankur Bhanderi's story, "Jonathan", centers on a young boy with the immense and inadvertent power to make anything he speaks true and real. Problems ensue. Conversation topics: fantasy, fiction, genre, nerd shit, unity game engine, literature, writing, promotion, Neil Gaiman, young adult lit, the twilight zone, writing workshop, being a critic, english degrees.   Check out "Jonathan" and the rest of Ankur's stories in his collection, "There Was Once":www.amazon.com/dp/B00B8BA9FG   All of the music in this episode was made by MUSHwww.soundcloud.com/mushmusicwww.facebook.com/mushmusic If you have a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words that you'd like to submit, or are a musician who'd like to be featured, send your work to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com

Today, our story is Clay Lomneth's non-fiction piece, "Paul and Michelle". Clay had a chance encounter with a homeless couple and followed them as they went about their daily routine of gathering what they could to get by while trying so desperately to love one another. Conversation topics: poverty, homelessness, love, intimacy, ethics, morality, autism, truth, writing, journalism, photography, mystery, tana french, joe nesbo.   Read Clay's story and his other writing at:claylomneth.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/t…nd-michelle/ His photos of Michaelynn, a young girl with autism, and her family can be found here: cnnphotos.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/31/gi…s-i-love-you/   All of the music in this episode was made by MUSH@mushmusicwww.facebook.com/mushmusic If you have a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words that you'd like to submit, or are a musician who'd like to be featured, send your work to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com

Here it is, the first episode. Today, Amanda Kaye Stein's short story, "Fixed", revolves around a woman's shattered relationship and her difficult return to an unforgiving sister. Melinda Dubbs' "Transubstantiation" is a surreal, dream-like story of an enigmatic woman's penance and one man's obsessive fascination with her. Conversation topics: Feminism, women writers, domestic abuse, young adult literature, gender roles, writing process, art, flash fiction, poetry, sexuality, repression, Catholicism, goals.   Check out and purchase Amanda Kaye Stein's visual artwork here: www.etsy.com/shop/AmandaKayeSteinShe also works as a freelance writer and visual artist you can contact on guru here: www.guru.com/freelancers/amanda…estein_writing_art Read Melinda Dubb's "Transubstantiation" here: fuckfiction.net/?s=transubstantiationand read some of her other work at www.melindadubbs.wordpress.com All of the music in this episode was made by MUSHwww.soundcloud.com/mushmusicwww.facebook.com/mushmusic   If you have a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words that you'd like to submit, or are a musician who'd like to be featured, send your work to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com