Podcast appearances and mentions of Alexander Chee

Celebrated poet and author Ocean Vuong discusses his new novel, The Emperor of Gladness. It follows the relationship between a young man and an elderly woman who meet after the man's suicide attempt. Vuong will be speaking tonight at St. Joseph's University with Alexander Chee.

Outward's Bryan Lowder and Christina Cauterucci talk to Alden Jones, editor of the new anthology, Edge of the World. With essays from Alexander Chee, Daisy Hernández, Edmund White, and more, the collection makes clear that queer travel writing isn't just overdue—it's transformative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Outward's Bryan Lowder and Christina Cauterucci talk to Alden Jones, editor of the new anthology, Edge of the World. With essays from Alexander Chee, Daisy Hernández, Edmund White, and more, the collection makes clear that queer travel writing isn't just overdue—it's transformative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Outward's Bryan Lowder and Christina Cauterucci talk to Alden Jones, editor of the new anthology, Edge of the World. With essays from Alexander Chee, Daisy Hernández, Edmund White, and more, the collection makes clear that queer travel writing isn't just overdue—it's transformative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Outward's Bryan Lowder and Christina Cauterucci talk to Alden Jones, editor of the new anthology, Edge of the World. With essays from Alexander Chee, Daisy Hernández, Edmund White, and more, the collection makes clear that queer travel writing isn't just overdue—it's transformative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Outward's Bryan Lowder and Christina Cauterucci talk to Alden Jones, editor of the new anthology, Edge of the World. With essays from Alexander Chee, Daisy Hernández, Edmund White, and more, the collection makes clear that queer travel writing isn't just overdue—it's transformative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Jason Blitman sits down with bestselling author Fredrik Backman (My Friends) to discuss his love of films, why he could win a Taylor Swift lyric competition, and the exact moment he recalls where his humor originated. Fredrik shares why he doesn't call himself an "author," how he's struggled with confidence, and much more. Jason is then joined by Guest Gay Reader Erika J. Simpson (This is Your Mother), who discusses her recent reading, while Jason explains why experiencing her memoir was particularly unique.Fredrik Backman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Us Against You, Anxious People, The Winners, My Friends, as well as two novellas and one work of nonfiction. His books are published in more than forty countries. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children. Connect with him on Facebook and X @BackmanLand and on Instagram @Backmansk.Erika J. Simpson is a Southern girl living in Denver, Colorado, with her partner and their black cat. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Kentucky and is the recipient of the 2021 MFA Award in Nonfiction. Her essay “If You Ever Find Yourself” was published in Roxane Gay's The Audacity and featured in Best American Essays 2022, edited by Alexander Chee. This Is Your Mother is her debut memoir, and she also writes fiction for the page and screen.SUBSTACK!https://gaysreading.substack.com/ BOOK CLUB!Use code GAYSREADING at checkout to get first book for only $4 + free shipping! Restrictions apply.http://aardvarkbookclub.com WATCH!https://youtube.com/@gaysreading FOLLOW!Instagram: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanBluesky: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanCONTACT!hello@gaysreading.com

Notes and Links to Alexander Chee's Work          Alexander Chee is the bestselling author of the novels Edinburgh and The Queen of the Night, and the essay collection How To Write An Autobiographical Novel, all from Mariner Books. A contributing editor at The New Republic and an editor at large at VQR, his essays and stories have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, T Magazine, The Sewanee Review, and the 2016 and 2019 Best American Essays. He was guest-editor for The Best American Essays of 2022.    He is a 2021 United States Artists Fellow, a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow in Nonfiction, and the recipient of a Whiting Award, a NEA Fellowship, an MCCA Fellowship, the Randy Shilts Prize in gay nonfiction, the Paul Engle Prize, the Lambda Editor's Choice Prize, and residency fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the VCCA, Leidig House, Civitella Ranieri and Amtrak.    He is a full professor of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College and lives in Vermont. Buy How To Write an Autobiographical Novel   Alexander's Website   Book Review for How To Write an Autobiographical Novel from The New York Times   At about 2:00, Alexander details his Amtrak residency, later written about in The New Yorker At about 6:00, Alexander outlines some interesting characters that he met during his Amtrak residency  At about 12:00, Alexander reflects on a book project inspired by an interesting encounter with a former detective and British and American sensibilities  At about 16:30, Pete shares his own Amtrak story, possible fodder for essays and short stories, as Alexander remarks on “immediate friendship”  At about 18:50, Alexander talks about upcoming novel and short story projects and the process of picking a title; he recounts how he arrived at his essay collection's title, through a Buzzfeed publication  At about 26:30, Alexander highlights Kirkus Review naming How to Write an Autobiographical Novel one  At about 27:35, Alexander gives background on his essay collection's cover photo At about 34:10, Alexander talks about the composition of the previous essay collection and his upcoming one, with regards to placement and focuses on his “rose garden”- “The Rosary”-essay's development At about 39:00, Alexander responds to Pete's questions about the order of the essays in the collections and any throughlines-Garnette Cadogan and Naomi Gibbs are shouted out At about 43:40, Alexander talks about a manuscript that he has been working At about 44:45, Pete is complimentary of Alexander's “The Rosary” essay, and Alexander tells a story of an interested and poignant conversation with   At about 48:00, Pete shouts  At about 49:00, Pete and Alexander talk about the essay collection's first piece, and Alexander talks about being “Alejandro from Oaxaca” for a short time-he references Yiyun Li's powerful essay, “To Speak is to Blunder” At about 55:10, Pete compliments Alexander's powerful advocacy work and asks him about perspective and time, and how Alexander looks back at the essays from the collection so many years later (for some of the essays) At about 1:02:00, In talking about modern protest and activist culture, mutual aid, etc., Alexander shouts out Sarah Thankam Mathews' powerful All This Could Be Different At about 1:04:30, Alexander discusses a dynamic class that he has mentored at Dartmouth At about 1:05:30, Alexander responds to Pete's questions about what fiction allows him to do with his writing At about 1:06:30, Alexander reflects on ideas of catharsis in his writing      You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow Pete on IG, where he is @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where he is @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both the YouTube Channel and the podcast while you're checking out this episode.       Pete is very excited to have one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. His conversation with Episode 270 guest Jason De León is up on the website this week. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review.     Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl      Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting Pete's one-man show, his DIY podcast and his extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!    This month's Patreon bonus episode will feature an exploration of the wonderful poetry of Khalil Gibran. Pete has added a $1 a month tier for “Well-Wishers” and Cheerleaders of the Show.    This is a passion project, a DIY operation, and Pete would love for your help in promoting what he's convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.    The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.     Please tune in for Episode 282 with Emely Rumble, a licensed clinical social worker, school social worker, and seasoned biblio/psychotherapist who specializes in bibliotherapy, the use of literature and expressive writing to heal. Pub Day and episode air day are April 29 for her wonderful book, Bibliotherapy in The Bronx.

Notes and Links to Désirée Zamorano's Work      Born and raised in Los Angeles, Désirée Zamorano is the previous author of novels like The Amado Women and Human Cargo. Zamorano heavily focuses on the issues of invisibility, injustice and inequity in her books while also teaching linguistic and cultural diversity at Cal State Long Beach.     Buy Dispossessed   Désirée's Website   Article about Dispossessed for Pasadena Weekly At about 3:10, Desiree gives ordering information for The Dispossessed and her social media and contact information   At about 4:30, Desiree talks about an exciting 2026 publication    At about 5:10, Desiree gives background on her early reading and language life, and how her identity has been shaped throughout the years, influenced by family and larger societal forces   At about 8:40, Pete and Desiree discuss connections between American racism in different times and the events that inspired her own book   At about 10:00, Desiree provides feedback on seeds for her book   At about 12:30, Desiree talks about formative and informative books and writers from her childhood and adolescence    At about 13:35, Desiree shouts out Kate Atkinson and David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas and other contemporary favorites   At about 14:35, the two explore the book's opening note, and Desiree shares stunning (or not stats) about Mexican and Mexican-American “repatriation” in the 1930s and 1940s    At about 16:00, Desiree talks about Manzanar and Japanese incarceration and coalitions who have fought to have the ugly history of the incarceration shared   At about 17:25, The two discuss the book's opening scene at the beach and the book's inciting incidents   At about 18:40, Desiree gives background on her reasoning for making the book's opening so action-packed and connections to a chilling quote   At about 19:50, Pete and Desiree chart Manuel's first years after his parents are taken, and characters and situations that govern Manuel's life   At about 23:15, Desiree responds to Pete's questions about Manuel's surrogate mother, Amparo and depictions of Christianity with connections to Desiree's own family   At about 26:00, The two discuss reasons as to why Manuel decides to leave high school    At about 28:10, Desiree gives background on sundown towns and talks about misconceptions of racism in our country's history and all needing to “do the work” to understand    At about 31:15, Pete recounts a stunning (or not so stunning) fact about racism in CA and Rodney King   At about 31:55, Desiree responds to Pete's questions about depictions of Latino soldiers, particularly in WWII   At about 33:25, Pete and Desiree discuss Manuel's early work experience, and Desiree expands upon union histories, especially in LA   At about 36:00, Decade of Betrayal, Anything but Mexican and Whitewashed Adobe are discussed as thorough and key research used by Desiree for the book   At about 37:30, Pete asks Desiree about important touches in the book, and she provides important histories of whiteness in American and how birth certificates were filled out   At about 41:00, The two discuss the impending razing of Chavez Ravine in the book, and hope and hopelessness for Manuel-Desiree references another great book with great research, From Out of the Shadows by Vicki Ruiz    At about 44:30, Desiree responds to Pete's question about crafting a emotional and good man in Manuel    At about 47:00, Pete is highly complimentary of the ways that Desiree uses light touches and writes about fatherhood and motherhood so honestly   At about 50:00, Pete asks Desiree how she knew the book was finished     You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow Pete on IG, where he is @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where he is @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both the YouTube Channel and the podcast while you're checking out this episode.       Pete is very excited to have one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. This week, his conversation with Episode 270 guest Jason De León is up on the website. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review.     Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl      Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting Pete's one-man show, his DIY podcast and his extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!    This month's Patreon bonus episode will feature an exploration of the wonderful poetry of Khalil Gibran.    Pete has added a $1 a month tier for “Well-Wishers” and Cheerleaders of the Show.    This is a passion project of Pete's, a DIY operation, and he'd love for your help in promoting what he's convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.     The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.     Please tune in for Episode 281 with Alexander Chee, who is the bestselling author of the novels Edinburgh and The Queen of the Night, and the essay collection How To Write An Autobiographical Novel. He was the 2021 US Artists Fellow and Guggenheim Fellow in Nonfiction, and he is full professor of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth.     The episode airs on April 22.

Notes and Links to Kevin Nguyen's Work       Kevin Nguyen is the features editor at The Verge, previous senior editor at GQ; has written for New York Magazine, The New York Times, The Paris Review and elsewhere the author of New Waves and the novel Mỹ Documents, which has today, April 8, as Pub Day. Buy My Documents   Kevin Nguyen's Website Book Review for My Documents in Los Angeles Times   At about 1:20, Kevin talks about his mindset and feedback around My Documents as the book nears Pub Day At about 3:00, Kevin provides info on his publishing company, places to buy his book, and book launch events, as well as social media/contact info At about 6:15, Kevin gives background on his language and reading history  At about 9:50, Kevin charts the reading and writers who put him on the path to becoming a writer himself  At about 13:15-Tracy O'Neill and Alexander Chee shout outs! At about 14:55, Kevin shouts out some beloved contemporary writers like Vauhini Vara, Jon Hickey, Darrell Campbell,  At about 17:25, Kevin gives a summary of the book and describes seeds for his book, with “echoes” of Japanese incarceration during WWII, among other catalysts  At about 19:05, Kevin responds to Pete's questions about John McCain's connections to the book and its epigraph At about 21:35, The two trace the book's exposition and the narrator's grandmother's choices in emigrating from Vietnam At about 24:20, Kevin talks about Ursula's experiences in the book and connections to second-generations from immigrant families and passing down family stories  At about 26:05, Kevin waxes poetic on Babe: Pig in the City, and its connections to the book At about 30:00, Kevin talks about building characters who are well-rounded At about 31:10, the two trace Jen and Alvin and formative experiences in the book, including Alvin's being pushed into learning more Asian-American history At about 34:20, Kevin responds to Pete's questions about expectations subverted   You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow Pete on IG, where he's @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where he's @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both the YouTube Channel and podcast while you're checking out this episode.       Pete is very excited to have one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. His conversation with Episode 265 guest Carvell Wallace is up on the website this week. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review.     Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl      Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting Pete's one-man show, DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content! This month's Patreon bonus episode will feature an exploration of the wonderful poetry of Khalil Gibran. Pete has added a $1 a month tier for “Well-Wishers” and Cheerleaders of the Show.    This is a passion project of Pete's, a DIY operation, and he'd love for your help in promoting what he's convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.    The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.     Please tune in for Episode 279 with Jon Hickey, a member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Chippewa Indians, whose short stories have appeared in numerous journals such as Virginia Quarterly Review and the Massachusetts Review, among others. His highly-anticipated novel, Big Chief, is out today, April 8.  The episode airs today, April 8.  

This is the is the sixth and final episode in a series of episodes on How To Live in 2025, focusing on the thoughts, feelings, and actions we need to thrive, develop,  create, and resist. In other words, tools that don't merely deaden us in the frantic pursuit of survival, but that assist us in nourishing ourselves, each other, and the world, all together.This time, the theme is READand my guest is ALEXANDER CHEE.At the end of this episode, the exercise is a little different. First we do a reading for you, the listener, in the world and its anxieties and challeneges. We consider what they are, how to approach them, and how not to approach them. Then, Alex and I do a reading for what you could be reading... We draw a tarot card and let it give book recommendations.Alex the author of three books, most recently his essay collection How To Write An Autobiographical Novel, and also two novels, Edinburgh and The Queen of the Night.

“We do a lot of writing alone, in our own space. But writing is not a solitary practice. The business of writing requires a community.” –Angelique Stevens In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Angelique talk about what her writing life is like in the decade since she first took Rolf’s Paris class, with the ambition of becoming a travel writer, and how her travel book transformed into something different (2:00); how Angelique gave herself permission to write about herself in an honest way, and what craft lessons have helped her writing (8:00); and Angelique’s reading habits as a writer, her writing process, and how she came to think of herself as a writer (23:00). Angelique Stevens‘ is creative writing professor whose nonfiction has been published in Best American Essays two years in a row (2022, edited by Alexander Chee and 2023 edited by Vivian Gornick), Granta, LitHub, The New England Review, and a number of anthologies. Notable Links: Paris Writing Workshops (Rolf’s annual writing classes) Zapatistas (political group in in Chiapas, Mexico) Bootstrapping myth (narrative about self-starting process) Haudenosaunee (Iroquois indigenous people from the Northeast U.S) Zora Neale Hurston (American writer) Toni Morrison (American novelist) Melissa Febos (American writer) Honor, by Thrity Umrigar (book) The Situation and the Story, by Vivian Gornick (book) A Little Devil in America, by Hanif Abdurraqib (book) The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel's 2017 album Lumber. Note: We don't host a “comments” section, but we're happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

This time, just in time for Black Friday, we bring you 8 amazing titles! Amazing! Peter talks about: The Change by Whoopi Goldberg: https://hpldencore.mylibrary.us/iii/encore/record/C__Rb2363826 Dirt Cheap Survival Retreat by R.D. Creekmore Meagan talks about: How to write an autobiographical novel : essays by Alexander Chee: https://hpldencore.mylibrary.us/iii/encore/record/C__Rb2144516 Alien: Thaw by Declan Shalvey, writer ; Andrea Broccardo, artist ; Tríona Farrell & Ruth Redmond, color artists ; VC's Clayton Cowles, letterer: https://hpldencore.mylibrary.us/iii/encore/record/C__Rb2357888 We also briefly discuss: Kids Shenanigans by Klutz Press From Below by John Grover: https://www.hoopladigital.com/ebook/from-below-a-short-story-john-grover/17123378 Lackadaisy by author & artist Tracy J. Butler: https://hpldencore.mylibrary.us/iii/encore/record/C__Rb2351399 A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole: https://hpldencore.mylibrary.us/iii/encore/record/C__Rb2365728

I'm joined today by author and witch Michelle Tea to chat about her newest book, Modern Magic. We talk all about growing up as a goth witch in the 80s, finding your own ritual groove in your practice, playfulness in witchcraft, and more! Find the Book: ⁠Modern Magic⁠ An enchanted sibling to the cult classic Modern Tarot, Modern Magic: Stories, Rituals, and Spells for Contemporary Witches, by professional tarot reader and feminist Icon, Michelle Tea provides a fascinating, magical history of spiritual traditions from around the world—giving all the tools, spells, and rituals to navigate our stressed-out lives. Witty, down-to-earth, and wise, Tea bewitches us with personal tales about crafting her magical practice and coming into her own. She pairs enchanting stories from her days as a goth teen in Massachusetts with insights from her experiences as an adult to share her observations about the world as well as her vision for what it could be. Modern Magic gives us the tools to tap into a stronger, distinctive magic that lies within us, one that incorporates queer, feminist, anti-racist, intersectional values.  About Michelle: ⁠Website⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠X⁠ Michelle Tea is the author of over a dozen books, including the cult-classic Valencia, the essay collection Against Memoir, and the speculative memoir Black Wave. She is the recipient of awards from the Guggenheim, Lambda Literary, and Rona Jaffe Foundations, PEN/America, and other institutions. Knocking Myself Up is her latest memoir. Tea's cultural interventions include brainstorming the international phenomenon Drag Queen Story Hour, co-creating the Sister Spit queer literary performance tours, and occupying the role of Founding Editor at DOPAMINE Books, a Los Angeles-based, non-profit press that publishes work by edgy, emerging queer writers. In addition to helming the imprints Sister Spit Books at City Lights Publishers, and Amethyst Editions at The Feminist Press, Tea produced and hosted the popular Your Magic podcast, wherein she read tarot cards for Roxane Gay, Alexander Chee, Phoebe Bridgers and other artists, as well as the live tarot show Ask the Tarot on Spotify Greenroom and Instagram. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/witch-wednesdays/support

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 2, 2024 is: incandescent • in-kun-DESS-unt • adjective Incandescent has literal and figurative meanings. Its literal meanings relate to heat and light; it describes something that is white or glowing because of great heat, and also something (like a light bulb) that produces bright light when heated. In figurative use, incandescent relates to several kinds of brilliance. Something or someone described as incandescent can be very impressive, successful, or intelligent, or simply happy and lively. In British English, incandescent can also describe someone or something feeling or showing great anger. // The invention of the incandescent bulb in the 19th century ushered in the age of electric lighting. // However much we were inclined to dislike her, it was hard not to be charmed by her incandescent smile and wit. See the entry > Examples: “Chang was 31 years old in 1998 when she debuted with Hunger. The reviews were raves, the praise, incandescent. The New York Times profiled her two years after publication as if to observe just how extraordinary the collection and the reviews had been. The critics said often that Chang was writing about lost homelands but you will see that these are stories mostly about the new homeland, not lost at all. These are mostly stories about America, about people who gave up everything to move here only to learn they would need to give up even more.” — Alexander Chee, foreword to Hunger (25th Anniversary Edition) by Lan Samantha Chang, 2023 Did you know? Incandescent first came to light in the English language toward the end of the 1700s, at a time when scientific experiments involving heat and light were being conducted on an increasingly frequent basis. An object that glowed at a high temperature (such as a piece of coal) was deemed incandescent. By the mid-1800s, the incandescent lamp—aka the lightbulb—had been invented; it contains a filament which gives off light when heated by an electric current. Figurative uses of incandescent soon followed, and today someone with a brilliant way with words may be said to have an “incandescent wit,” while someone positively beaming with joy may possess an “incandescent smile.”

The highs are staggeringly high and the lows are catacomb-ically low in this episode where Meagan and Peter bring a total of 8 books to the table, discuss 4 in-depth, and briefly cover the other 4 because, eh, why not? What, you've got somewhere to be, you can't listen for another 10 minutes? Meagan's Books: The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee: https://hpldencore.mylibrary.us/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1399082 On the Subject of Blackberries by Stephanie M. Wytovich: https://hpldencore.mylibrary.us/iii/encore/record/C__Rb2359835 Big by Vashti Harrison: https://hpldencore.mylibrary.us/iii/encore/record/C__Rb2327706 Alpha's Origins by Ilona Andrews: https://hpldencore.mylibrary.us/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1408097 Peter's Books (as a note, Peter managed to read NOTHING available from HPLD, but many of the books discussed ARE available on Prospector): Gooflumps: Stay out of the bathroom by R.U. Slime Overlord book one by Kugane Maruyama Top 10 Games You Can Play In Your Head by Bartholomew, J. Theophrastus and Sam Gorski Rabbitskin by Catturd

Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon chat with writer Alexander Chee, author of Edinburgh, The Queen of the Night, and How to Write an Autobiographical Novel. The three writers talk about their journeys in the publishing industry, and what success has meant to each of them, specifically in regards to money. They discuss Chee's essay, “My Inheritance Was My Father's Last Lesson To Me,” where he writes about his relationship to money, how it changes over time, and what the relationship between anxiety, money, and body looks like.  Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays (Alexander Chee) “How to Unlearn Everything” (Alexander Chee, Vulture 2019) Edinburgh (Alexander Chee) The Queen of the Night (Alexander Chee) Other Peoples' Husbands (forthcoming by Alexander Chee) “When Horror is the Truth-Teller” (Alexander Chee, Guernica 2023) “My Inheritance Was My Father's Last Lesson To Me, And I Am Still Learning It” (Alexander Chee, Buzzfeed 2018) Damon Young “Storycraft: Point of Telling” (Junot Diaz, StoryWorlds 2023) Jesus' Son (Denis Johnson) The Children's Hospital (Chris Adrian) The War: A Memoir (Marguerite Duras) Sarah Schulman The Book of Love (Kelly Link) Enter Ghost (Isabella Hammad) Notes from an Island (Tove Jansson) The Moomins and the Great Flood (Tove Jansson) Same Bed Different Dreams (Ed Park) Listening List: Luther Vandross Favorite Albums of Each Year (Hanif Abdurraqib, Medium, 2016 - 2023) CCFX Lil Nas X Yeah Yeah Yeahs Omar Apollo Billie Eilish Nicki Minaj Japanese Breakfast Angel Olsen U.S. Girls Wet Leg More from Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon:  The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw) Heavy (Kiese Laymon) Long Division (Kiese Laymon) How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: Essays (Kiese Laymon) Ursa Short Fiction podcast (Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton) Produced by Ursa Story Company in partnership with Reckon.  Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Kiese Laymon Show Producers: Dawnie Walton & Mark Armstrong Associate Producer: Marina Leigh Episode Editor: Kelly Araja Reckon Editor In Chief: R.L. Nave Reckon Deputy Editor: Michelle Zenarosa Audience Director: Katie Johnston Creative Strategist: Abbey Crain Sr. Social Producer: Sid Espinosa

This week on Black & Published we're introducing you to a new show that we love, Reckon True Stories hosted by acclaimed authors Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon. Guests for Season One include writers Roxane Gay, Imani Perry, Alexander Chee, Minda Honey, Hanif Abdurraqib, and Samantha Irby. Reckon True Stories is a celebration of new and classic nonfiction – the essays, journalism, and memoirs that inspire us, that change the world, and help us connect with each other. Show credits: Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Kiese Laymon Show producers: Dawnie Walton & Mark ArmstrongAssociate producer: Marina LeighEpisode editor: Kelly ArajaProduced by Ursa Story Company in partnership with Reckon News. Reckon Editor In Chief: R.L. NaveUrsa Executive Producers: Dawnie Walton, Deesha Philyaw, and Mark ArmstrongSupport the Show.Follow the Show: IG: @blkandpublished Twitter: @BLKandPublished Follow Me:IG: @nikesha_elise Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise Website: www.newwrites.com

Dawnie Walton and Deesha Philyaw introduce us to Reckon True Stories, a brand new podcast hosted by Deesha and acclaimed author Kiese Laymon, dedicated to all things nonfiction. Listen, then follow the show in your favorite podcast so you don't miss an episode: https://link.chtbl.com/truestories Guests for Season One include writers Roxane Gay, Imani Perry, Alexander Chee, Minda Honey, Hanif Abdurraqib, and Samantha Irby. Produced in partnership with Reckon. We'll also have more episodes of Ursa Short Fiction coming this fall! Sign up for email updates: https://ursastory.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join

Reckon and Ursa Story Company are proud to present Reckon True Stories, a new podcast hosted by acclaimed authors Deesha Philyaw (The Secret Lives of Church Ladies) and Kiese Laymon (Heavy, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, Long Division), all about the stories we tell and how they impact our culture.  Guests for Season One include writers Roxane Gay, Imani Perry, Alexander Chee, Minda Honey, Hanif Abdurraqib, and Samantha Irby.  Reckon True Stories is a celebration of new and classic nonfiction – the essays, journalism, and memoirs that inspire us, that change the world, and help us connect with each other.

Subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon to listen to this premium episode, and all of our bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/knowyourenemy Matt and Sam gab about "The Incomparable Mr. Buckley," a new PBS documentary on William F. Buckley Jr., which features Matt Sitman (!) as a talking head — along with a rogue's gallery of KYE friends and former guests: Perlstein, Tanenhaus, Tait, Gage, Burns, the whole gang... What do we make of the doc? Is it a whitewash? Is it too credulous about the conservative movement? Does it "get" Buckley, the man? (Does anyone?) And what does Buckley have to do with Donald Trump? This was a lot of fun. Good ol' KYE classico.Sources Cited:Barak Goodman, "The Incomparable Mr. Buckley," PBS (2024)Rick Perlstein, "An Implausible Mr. Buckley," American Prospect, April 17, 2024.Alexander Chee, "Mr. and Mrs. B," Apology Magazine, Jan 1, 2014.Ross Douthat, "'We're On Our Way Home Now, Duckie!'" Atlantic, Feb 2008Nicholas Buccola, "The Fire Is upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America," Princeton U Press, Oct 2019.Sam Adler-Bell, "The Conservative and the Murderer," New Republic, March 7, 2022Previously on KYE:Buckley vs. Vidal (2020)Buckley for Mayor (w/ Sam Tanenhaus) (2021)The Conservative and the Convict (w/ Sarah Weinman) (2022)In Search of Anti-Semitism (w/ John Ganz) (2023)

In today's flashback, an outtake from Episode 400, my conversation with author Alexander Chee. This episode first aired on February 16, 2016. Chee is the author of the bestselling novels The Queen of the Night and Edinburgh, and the essay collection How to Write an Autobiographical Novel.  He is an associate professor of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College. He is a contributing editor at The New Republic, an editor at large at The Virginia Quarterly Review, and a critic at large at The Los Angeles Times. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch @otherppl Instagram  TikTok Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last November, I had Alexander Chee on the show. And in preparation for his interview, I read The Best American Essays 2022. I came across an essay titled “Ghosts.” This essay stood out from the rest of the anthology because it seemed to have 9 iterations. When I read further, I was baffled at the idea that a writer had used Artificial Intelligence to produce prose. Even more intriguing was the fact that AI had helped this writer create a beautiful meditation on grief. After reading it a bit more closely, I realized that it wasn't necessarily the AI that was the driving factor of this piece, but rather that the author was pushing back against the response that the AI was giving her and using that as a catalyst for poetic reflection. After reading this, I knew I had to read everything she'd written. In addition to the essay Ghosts, Vauhini Vara is the author of the novel THE IMMORTAL KING RAO. This novel was recently listed as the finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, amongst many other accolades.  Vauhini also has a book coming out on September 26th titled THIS IS SALVAGED. And in addition to her creative work, she has been a tech reporter, writing in The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, NYT Magazine, and WIRED.  I wanted to speak to Vauhini because while AI is all the rage right now, it seems that many of us don't really know how to talk about it. AI's ubiquity, brought on by the launch of CHAT GPT at the end of last year, has clear implications, economically, and culturally, but what are those implications? And how strongly will they influence the future. THE IMMORTAL KING RAO tells a generational story of a family coconut grove in India, and the subsequent founding of a multinational tech corporation that goes on to rule the world. As someone who's covered almost two decades of technological development and also spent 13 years imagining a technocratic future and all its ramifications, Vauhini is the perfect person to give us a read about the intersection of art and technology. We sat down in Early August to speak about her novel, as well as recent developments in Artificial Intelligence, and finally her moving collection of stories.  From an artist attempting to bring the Bible to life, to telemarketers discovering intimacy, THIS IS SALVAGED truly packs a punch and is out today.  Vauhini's Website The Immortal King Rao This is Salvaged Recommendations The Night Parade - Jami Nakamura Lin

This summer's extreme heat has contributed to disasters around the world--but some of them are hard to see. On this week's On the Media, why extreme heat is one of the most challenging climate disasters for reporters to cover. Plus, the story of how historical fiction became the unexpected darling of the literary world. 1. Jake Bittle [@jake_bittle], staff writer at Grist, on this year's scarily hot summer and the impacts of extreme heat. Listen. 2. OTM producer Eloise Blondiau [@eloiseblondiau] takes a deep dive into how historical fiction became a rich resource for reckoning with our past, feat: Alexander Manshel, assistant professor of English at McGill University [@xandermanshel], and novelists Alexander Chee [@alexanderchee] and Min Jin Lee [@minjinlee11]. Listen. 3. Tiya Miles [@TiyaMilesTAM], professor of history at Harvard University and author of All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake, on rediscovering lost histories. Listen. Music:Misterioso - (Monk) - Kronos QuartetNon Pusc SofirPrincipio di VirtuGoing Home - Hank Jones, Charlie HadenThe Beatitudes - Kronos QuartetTilliboyo - Kronos QuartetTraveling Music - Kronos Quartet

For this week's episode, I spoke to the super intelligent, and absolutely wonderful, Parini Shroff. Parini Shroff is author of the 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction long-listed novel, The Bandit Queens - a book which The New York Times has called “a radically feel-good story about the murder of no-good husbands by a cast of unsinkable women.”I loved The Bandit Queens, which is full of dark humour and wit, unforgettable characters, a fast plot and it tackles so many important themes and issues such as patriarchy, caste, class, race, domestic abuse and so much more. On this episode, we go behind the scenes of the book, as Parini talks about her inspiration and writing process. We talk about justice, revenge, female rage, and so much more. Parini Shroff received her MFA from the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied under Elizabeth McCracken, Alexander Chee, and Cristina García. She is a practicing attorney and currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bandit Queens is her debut novel.I hope you love this episode as much as I enjoyed speaking to Parini :)As always, I'd love to hear from you. Connect with me on social media:www.instagram.com/readwithsamiawww.instagram.com/thediversebookshelfpod Support the show

Episode 188 Notes and Links to Kavita Das's Work       On Episode 188 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Kavita Das, and the two discuss, among other things, her early trajectory towards becoming a writer, formative and transformative writers and writing, how writing her first book and working in social change led her to write Craft and Conscience, and ideas of history, forgotten histories, personal narrative, writing about emotional issues, the power of anthology and writing being in conversation with other writing, writing as political, and ideas of power.      Kavita Das worked in social change for close to fifteen years, addressing issues ranging from community and housing inequities, to public health disparities, to racial injustice. Although Kavita remains committed to social justice issues, she left the social change sector to become a full-time writer and to tell the life story of Grammy-nominated Hindustani singer Lakshmi Shankar through her first book Poignant Song: The Life and Music of Lakshmi Shankar  (Harper Collins India, June 2019).    At the root of both her writing and social change work is Kavita's desire to provoke thought and engender change by recognizing and revealing the true ways in which culture, race, and gender intersect especially when it comes to societal inequities. Kavita has been a regular contributor to NBC News Asian America, Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Rumpus. In addition, her work has been published in WIRED, Poets & Writers, Catapult, LitHub, Tin House, Longreads, Kenyon Review, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, CNN, Guernica, McSweeney's, Fast Company, Quartz, Colorlines, Romper, and elsewhere. She was nominated for a 2016 Pushcart Prize.     Kavita created the popular “Writing About Social Issues” nonfiction seminar, which inspired her second book, Craft and Conscience: How To Write About Social Issues,  and has taught at the New School and Catapult, along with being a frequent guest lecturer. Her essays on social issues have been included in two creative writing textbooks. Kavita received a B.A. in Urban Studies from Bryn Mawr College and a M.B.A. in Marketing from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A native New Yorker, Kavita and her husband, Om try to keep up with their toddler, Daya and Harper, their hound.     Buy Craft and Conscience: How to Write About Social Issues   Kavita Das' Website   Review of Craft and Conscience from Hippocampus Magazine   At about 2:55, Kavita shares social media/contact info and places to buy her work, as well as discussing where to connect with her over writing and writing classes   At about 5:25, Kavita discusses her early journeys involving language, reading, imagination, and searching for a diversity of books and characters     At about 8:45, Kavita shares her first impressions upon reading some of the chill-inducing greats, such as James Baldwin, and seeing literature for the first time as personal   At about 9:50, Pete and Kavita highlight her writing about her experience with a cleft palate, and she connects the last chapter to the first chapter and Orwell's writing, as well as her own rationale in writing as she does and what lessons she has learned through her life that informed    At about 16:40, Kavita reflects on the influences that Bengali and Tamil have had on her and her writing   At about 19:25, Kavita shares an indicative saying from Tamil   At about 21:10, Kavita responds to Pete's questions about seeds for the book and why she chose to make it an anthology   At about 23:30, Kavita homes in on how her first book influenced Craft and Conscience   At about 27:45, Kavita details writer's workshops and classes and experiences that helped her solidify her writing and teaching skills and philosophies    At about 30:10, Kavita remembers her learning and early emphasis on honing her writing craft in using her knowledge base in conjunction with what makes compelling reading    At about 33:00, Pete lays out the book's structure and highlights Mira Jacob's and Kavita's Introduction, which leads Kavita to expand upon why the book took the form of anthology   At about 36:20, Pete cites the resonant epigraph from Jericho Brown, and homes in on Chapter One and connections between writing and politics   At about 38:20, Kavita expands on ideas of craft and culture and their connections     At about 39:55, Pete highlights a meaningful quote from Christiane Amanpour-”being truthful and not neutral” and Kavita discusses the “key distinction for [her]” and underlines Kaitlyn Greenidge's powerful piece in the anthology   At about 42:20, Pete references James Baldwin's evolving philosophy on his writing topics and what how he chronicled culture    At about 45:55, The two discuss the often-lacking forethought that governs well-meaning writers' work   At about 51:10, Pete notes the anecdote from the book about Alexander Chee choosing not to write a story, and Kavita muses about his thought process and wishes more writers stepped back a bit before writing a piece/book   At about 53:55, The two discuss objectivity and subjectivity and the connection between readers/writers/subjects-they cite great works by Garnette Cadogan, Jaquira Diaz, and Kavita (writing on Jyoti Singh)   At about 57:40, Kavita recounts a chance meeting with her editor, the legend Roxane Gay   At about 58:55, The two discuss the power of writing-Pete and Kavita fanboy over Cadogan's work-in inviting empathy; Kavita also cites the powerful “My Body is a Confederate Monument” by Caroline Williams   At about 1:03:45, Pete cites thought-provoking pieces from Dunbar Ortiz and Imani Perry and he and Kavita point to the importance of context and family histories in the pieces;    At about 1:05:30, Kavita underlines the importance of “power” as a common theme in the collection and discusses the culture need and often unwillingness to really engage on tough cultural histories    At about 1:08:20, Kavita keys in on textbooks and education and the ways in which they have sometimes been purposefully lacking in material/insights     At about 1:10:30, Societal change and its connection to uncomfortable writers and writing is discussed    At about 1:13:10, The “how” is discussed-that is, the book's featuring important craft ideas, including the power of “hybrid” writing that combine data-driven and personal writing   At about 1:16:05, Pete references José Antonio Vargas and Yashica Dutt as someone personally-affected and how they took their    At about 1:19:10, The two discuss Nicole Chung's thought-inducing piece from the anthology    At about 1:22:10, Pete compliments the piece from the anthology on “tolerance” written by Kavita and she reflects on the word's shifting meaning for her   At about 1:25:10, Kavita continues to reflect on the implications of power and repressed histories and complicity and exciting new explorations of these issues, including work by Crystal Z. Campbell   At about 1:30:15, The two discuss the book's present impact and future implications    You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I'm @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I'm @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you're checking out this episode.    Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl     Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!    NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast    This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I'd love for your help in promoting what I'm convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.    The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.    Please tune in for Episode 189 with Andrés Reséndez. He is a historian at the University of California, Davis, and in 2017, he won the Bancroft Prize in American History and Diplomacy for The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America.     The episode will air on June 27.

This episode asks the age old question: What the Hell is an Em Dash? As the first punctuation mark Annar and Claire cover in the WTH series, it is a fan favorite among contemporary writers, as evidenced by this tweet from author Alexander Chee: “Em-dash is the ‘just belt it and go' of punctuation. Thus my devotion to it.” There's even a (particularly nerdy) Distracted Boyfriend Meme circulating the web.  So what distinguishes an em dash from other dashes? Why do poets in particular have such a fondness for it? Why is she so flirty and fun? In this episode, the Host team gets to the bottom of these questions and find: more questions, of course! But also, lot's of great insight into how writers have come to affectionately use this hip punctuation mark.  These are the books discussed in this episode: Final Harvest by Emily Dickinson Sho by Douglas Kearney  To the Realization of Perfect Helplessness by Robin Coste Lewis  

In Episode 120, Gen and Jette dive into the latest book club pick and talk all things writing with The Writing Life by Annie Dillard. This one has been on Gen's list for a while and the consensus it that it should be required reading for any writer or artist. Show Notes You can sign up for Gen's writing and yoga retreat here: Fort Erie July 17-20 & The June Motel in PEC September 8-10 Our next episode is all about Canadian authors because we gotta get that CanCon. But sincerely Canada has some really incredible writers and we can't wait to talk about them. And the next book club selection is The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder. Read along with us this May & June so you know what's going on when we talk about it on July 5! Other books and authors mentioned How to Write and Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee (listen to the episode) Paper Houses by Dominique Fortier, translated by Rhonda Mullins (listen to the episode) A Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm (listen to the episode) Henry David Thoreau Jack London Don't forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We'd love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!

Woodstock Bookfest will be live and in person this weekend in Woodstock, New York. The festival features an amazing line-up of writers including: Neil Gaiman, Abigail Thomas, Alexander Chee, Mark Whitaker, Gail Straub, Ann Hood, and Amy Ferris -- just to name a few. The festival will open with a Story Slam and end with its signature panel: Memoir-A-Go-Go! Festival Founder Martha Frankel is here with details.

In our first episode recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference in the summer of 2022, Alexander Chee (How to Write an Autobiographical Novel) talks to James about his career, being the most photographed author in history, the late Randall Kenan, and Courtney Love. Plus legendary editor and founder and President of Words Without Borders, Alane Mason.  Apply to the Sewanee Writers' Conference by March 15!  Buy Alexander Chee's books!  Buy Black Folk Could Fly: Selected Writings by Randall Kenan!  Check out Words Without Borders! Check out Bea Troxel's music!  Produced/ Mixed by Ryan Shea.  Subscribe! Rate! Enjoy!  Instagram: tkwithjs  Twitter: @JamesScottTK tk with js at g mail dot com 

A billion dollar defamation lawsuit has given the public an unprecedented view into the inner workings of Fox News. On this week's On the Media, how the network's election falsehoods reveal the company's commitment to profit over truth. Plus, the story of how historical fiction became the unexpected darling of the literary world. And, how a historian grapples with gaps in our historical record. 1. Andrew Prokop [@awprokop], senior politics correspondent at Vox, and David Folkenflik [@mjs_DC], media correspondent for NPR News, on the latest revelations in Dominion Voting Systems' lawsuit against Fox News. Listen. 2. OTM producer Eloise Blondiau [@eloiseblondiau] takes a deep dive into how historical fiction became a rich resource for reckoning with our past, feat: Alexander Manshel, assistant professor of English at McGill University [@xandermanshel], and novelitsts Alexander Chee [@alexanderchee] and Min Jin Lee [@minjinlee11]. Listen. 3. Tiya Miles [@TiyaMilesTAM], professor of history at Harvard University and author of All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake, on rediscovering lost histories. Listen.

In 2013, novelist and memoirist Dani Shapiro published her craft/memoir Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life. This year, the book celebrates its 10th anniversary with a re-release and new foreword. Dani joined Marrie Stone in 2013 to talk about it (their interview can be found here), and joins her again to revisit it. They talk about that intervening decade and what's happened in Dani's life and career since the book's first publication. Dani discusses what aspects of Still Writing are truer today than before, how her thinking has evolved around issues such as dealing with distractions, self-sabotage, writerly authority, memoirs versus novels, and much more. (In the interview, she recommends an essay by Alexander Chee that can be found here.) Dani uses her own experiences across her many novels and memoirs to shed light on the writing process, its many hardships, and great gratifications. For more information on Writers on Writing and additional writing tips, visit our Patreon page. To listen to past interviews, visit our website. (Recorded on February 23, 2023) Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Co-Host: Marrie Stone Music and sound design: Travis Barrett

Hi there, Today I am delighted to be arts calling writer and filmmaker Tara Stillions Whitehead! About our guest: A native Southern Californian, alumna of University of Southern California's historic School of Cinematic Arts, and graduate of San Diego State University's MFA writing program, Tara Stillions Whitehead (https://tarastillionswhitehead.net) is a filmmaker and writer teaching in Central Pennsylvania. After working as a DGA assistant director and then as assistant to the executive producers of two number one prime time television shows, Tara left Hollywood to pursue projects that subvert celebrity worship and the dangerous narratives promoted by mainstream American media. Tara's writing has been published in or is forthcoming from various award-winning journals, magazines, and anthologies, including cream city review, The Rupture, Fairy Tale Review, Gone Lawn, PRISM international, Chicago Review, Pithead Chapel, Jellyfish Review, and Hobart. She is Assistant Professor of Film, Video, and Digital Media Production at Messiah University, where she is also faculty for the renowned Young Writers Workshop, and has given public lectures on monsters, media, and film. Tara's essay, “The Mother Must Die and Other Lies Fairy Tales Told Me,” published in Fairy Tale Review, was designated as a notable essay in the Best American Essays 2022 anthology, edited by Alexander Chee. Her stories were included in Wigleaf's Top 50 in both 2021 and 2022, and she has been nominated for Best of the Net, Best Small fictions, the Pushcart Prize, and the AWP Intro Journals Award. Tara is the author of three books: the hybrid chapbook, Blood Histories (Galileo Press), and two full-length story collections–The Year of the Monster, which will be released by Unsolicited Press in September 2022, and They More Than Burned, from ELJ Editions in August 2023. Check out Tara's latest publications! The Year of the Monster (Unsolicited Press 2022) https://www.unsolicitedpress.com/store/p384/theyearofthemonster.html Blood Histories (Galileo Press 2021) https://freegalileo.com/product/blood-histories-by-tara-stillions-whitehead/ They More Than Burned (ELJ Editions 2023) https://elj-editions.com/they-more-than-burned/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MrsWhitehouse74 Thanks for taking the time to catch up on the podcast, Tara! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro (cruzfolio.com). If you like the show: please consider reviewing the podcast and sharing it with those who love the arts, or are starting their creative journey! Your support truly makes a difference, so check out the new website artscalling.com for the latest episodes! Go make a dent: much love, j

Writer and editor Alexander Chee joins hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell live from the annual Writers for Readers gala in Kansas City to discuss editing Best American Essays 2022. Chee talks about what makes a strong essay and how he curated the volume, as well as how his training as a speed reader stood him in good stead as he made his selections. He also comments on specific pieces by Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Anthony Veasna So, Ryan Bradley, Vauhini Vara, Erika J. Simpson, and others.  Writers for Readers is an ongoing partnership between the Kansas City Public Library and the University of Missouri's MFA Program in Creative Writing. Funds raised support the Maya Angelou Book Award and enable graduate students to teach writing classes at the library.  To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/ This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf. Selected Readings: Alexander Chee The Best American Essays 2022 (Ed.) How to Write an Autobiographical Novel Edinburgh The Queen of the Night Others: Annie Dillard Jamaica Kincaid David Foster Wallace Hilton Als Susan Sontag Cynthia Ozick Edward Hoagland Robert Atwan Elizabeth Hardwick Darryl Pinckney Diaries of Mavis Gallant Dmitri Nabokov Vladimir Nabokov  Black Folk Could Fly by Randall Kenan James Baldwin Joan Didion Anne Carson Edwidge Danticat Brian Doyle Franklin Burroughs Gerard Manley Hopkins Maya Angelou Alex Marzano-Leznevich Erika J. Simpson Ryan Bradley Kaitlyn Greenidge Gary Shteyngart Christopher Leonard “Ghosts” by Vauhini Vara “When World of Warcraft is an Escape – and a Memorial” by Tanner Akoni Laguatan “Baby Yeah,” by Anthony Veasna So Fiction/Non/Fiction, Season 5 Episode 10: “How on Earth Do You Judge Books?” Susan Choi and Oscar Villalon on the Story Behind Literary Awards Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of X-Ray Vision, Jason Concepcion and Rosie Knight ingest some heart-shaped herb! Starting in the Airlock (1:58), Jason and Rosie dive deep (deeep) into the waters of Talocan, the streets of Boston, and, of course, the jungles of Wakanda for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, recapping the film and discussing breakout performances, Shuri's character arc, and more. Then, in a return of the Omnibus (54:22) Jason – with Rosie's Footnotes™ – unpacks the origins of Afrofuturism in and out of comics. In the Hive Mind (1:13:08), X-Ray Vision is thrilled to welcome Eve L. Ewing – author, academic, poet, and writer of the acclaimed Ironheart comics – to discuss how comics led to her birth, the joys and struggles of writing, attempting to draw, seeing Riri Williams come to life on screen, and much more.Tune in every Friday and don't forget to Hulk Smash the Follow button!Follow Jason: twitter.com/netw3rkFollow Rosie: IG, Letterboxd, IGN author page, Nerdist author pageJoin the X-Ray Vision DiscordFollow Crooked: twitter.com/crookedmediaThe Listener's Guide for all things X-Ray Vision!Check out more of Eve's amazing work at her website!Ironheart Vol. 1: Those With Courage – By Eve L. Ewing, Luciano Vecchio, Kevin Libranda, and more.Jan Švankmajer – Czech multimedia artist, whose work has included stop motion animation.How to Write an Autobiographical Novel (2018) – Written by Alexander Chee. Available here.‘The Case for Reparations' (2014) – An essay by Ta-Nehisi Coates for The Atlantic.The Bear (2022) – An FX on Hulu series created by Christopher Storer set in a flailing Italian Beef sandwich shop in Chicago.Reginald Hudlin – Director, screenwriter, comic-book writer, producer and more, known for a multitude of projects alongside his brother Warrington.Ms. Marvel Team-Up (2019) – Written by Eve L. Ewing, pencils and inks by Joey Vazquez, colors by Felipe Sobreiro, letters by Clayton Cowles.And for those of you interested in learning more about Afrofuturism, the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture will be launching a major exhibition on the subject in March, 2023. Put it on your calendars.

Alexander Chee is the author of two novels, Edinburgh, and The Queen of the Night and one collection of essays called How to Write an Autobiographical Novel. He was also the editor for the 2022 edition of The Best American Essays Anthology, which was just published by HarperCollins. Alexander has the uncanny ability to methodically examine his own psyche while making connections that surprise both his reader and himself. His writing is guileless and he is simultaneously able to control his prose while allowing his thoughts to meander, leading to an often shocking, but infinitely exciting reading process. He's always in complete control, but simultaneously at the mercy of his creative muse. Most of the conversations thus far on Cultural Mixtapes have illuminated a certain aspect of the creative process, and examined the reasons and drive behind art-making. In addition to doing that, this conversation contains a sort of “meta-commentary” on how we examine our own processes and express them in writing. Note: Towards the end of the conversation I keep wrongly referring to an interview Alexander gave to Guernica Magazine. I later correct it to an essay that he wrote for the magazine. Here is that essay. Alexander's Website The Best American Essays 2022 Recommendations Lost in the City - Edward P. Jones Asymmetry - Lisa Halliday Dancer from the Dance - Andrew Holleran Cannons

This week, Liberty and Danika discuss White Horse, The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, and more great books. Follow All the Books! using RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify and never miss a book. And sign up for the weekly New Books! newsletter for even more new book news. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. For a complete list of books discussed in this episode, visit our website. BOOKS DISCUSSED ON THE SHOW: White Horse by Erika T. Wurth The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson The Best American Essays 2022 edited by Alexander Chee, Robert Atwan The Best American Food Writing 2022 by Sohla El-Waylly, Silvia Killingsworth The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2022 by Jess Walter, Steph Cha The Best American Science And Nature Writing 2022 by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Jaime Green The Best American Science Fiction And Fantasy 2022 by Rebecca Roanhorse, John Joseph Adams The Best American Short Stories 2022 by Andrew Sean Greer, Heidi Pitlor DPS Only! by Velinxi The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet Small Game by Blair Braverman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're back!!! Welcome to a new series about grieving and life from The Mash-Up Americans. Grief, Collected is where we explore how grief moves through our bodies, our families, and our communities — and why we need to feel it all in order to transform our future. Launching November 15 — with new episodes every Tuesday and new meditations every Friday. Grief, like joy, is one of our human conditions. Yet it is the one we, as Americans, are the least willing to confront, even as it becomes more and more essential to do so. We prize pushing forward, but maybe it's time to pause. As we emerge from the catastrophic losses of the pandemic — and wrestle with the regular traumas of modern life — how do we heal ourselves to plant seeds for our future? What wisdom can we call upon to create hope for a more introspective, joyful, and honest culture? We're talking to leading psychologists, researchers, musicians, and authors, including George Bonnano, Natalia Skritskaya, Daniela Gesundheit, Alexander Chee, Linda Thai, Dorothy Hollinger, Wendy Macnaughton, Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, and adrienne maree brown. bit.ly/meet-grief-collectedSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Author Ingrid Rojas Contreras joins us again to talk about our book club selection How to Write An Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee. Our discussion of this essay collection covers the artists' relationship to critical reviews, and how much day jobs and everyday life inform art. We also ask, how important is truth to fiction, and what constitutes a life well-lived? You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' Website: https://thestackspodcast.com/2022/08/31/ep-230-how-to-write-an-autobiographical-novelBe sure to listen all the way to end of the episode to find out what our September book club pick will be!Connect with Ingrid: Instagram | Twitter | WebsiteConnect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | SubscribeSUPPORT THE STACKSJoin The Stacks Pack on PatreonAthletic Greens - visit atheleticgreens.com/thestacks to get a free one-year supply of vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase.Missing Pages - subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.Purchasing books through Bookshop.org or Amazon earns The Stacks a small commission. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Award-winning novelist Mohsin Hamid joins this episode of The Stacks to talk about his newest book The Last White Man. We discuss what inspired the story, his exploration of how whiteness works through fiction, and the ongoing conversation between a reader and the author. We also get into Mohsin's monastic writing rituals, his elite professors, and how his writing fills a need in his understanding of life.You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' Website: https://thestackspodcast.com/2022/08/24/ep-229-mohsin-hamidThe Stacks Book Club selection for August is How To Write An Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee. We will discuss the book on August 31st with Ingrid Rojas Contreras.Connect with Mohsin: WebsiteConnect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | SubscribeSUPPORT THE STACKSJoin The Stacks Pack on PatreonAthletic Greens - visit atheleticgreens.com/thestacks to get a free one-year supply of vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase.Missing Pages - subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.Libro.Fm – use promo code THESTACKS to get 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 and to support your favorite independent bookstore.Purchasing books through Bookshop.org or Amazon earns The Stacks a small commission. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we're joined by entrepreneur and author Marisa Renee Lee, whose book Grief is Love: Living with Loss offers a framework for healing after tragedy. We discuss grief's connection to capitalism and white supremacy, and how our relationship with love is connected to our relationship with loss. We also ask, how can we help people who are grieving, and why are Americans so bad at it? You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' Website: https://thestackspodcast.com/2022/08/17/ep-228-marisa-renee-leeThe Stacks Book Club selection for August is How To Write An Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee. We will discuss the book on August 31st with Ingrid Rojas Contreras.Connect with Marisa: Instagram | Twitter | WebsiteConnect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | SubscribeSUPPORT THE STACKSJoin The Stacks Pack on PatreonCare/of - go to TakeCareOf.com and enter code stacks50 for 50% off your first order.Missing Pages - subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.Purchasing books through Bookshop.org or Amazon earns The Stacks a small commission. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emmy Award winner W. Kamau Bell and bestselling author Kate Schatz visit The Stacks to discuss their joint effort Do the Work!: An Antiracist Activity Book. They break down how the process of co-writing, how they decided to write for white audiences, and explain why we need an adult activity book for antiracism in the first place. We also ask, what do we do when we mess up; what makes a good apology?You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' Website: https://thestackspodcast.com/2022/08/10/ep-227-w-kamau-bell-and-kate-schatzThe Stacks Book Club selection for August is How To Write An Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee. We will discuss the book on August 31st with Ingrid Rojas Contreras.Connect with W. Kamau: Instagram | Twitter | WebsiteConnect with Kate: Instagram | Twitter | WebsiteConnect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | SubscribeSUPPORT THE STACKSJoin The Stacks Pack on PatreonCare/of – visit TakeCareOf.com and enter code stacks50 for 50% off your first order.Patreon - go to patreon.com/thestacks for insider access and pick the tier that works for you, for as little as $5 a month.Purchasing books through Bookshop.org or Amazon earns The Stacks a small commission. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week's episode is Eva and Katryn's most personal yet, as they describe writing their own stories from their specific perspectives and intersections. Eva talks about being mixed race (while being--direct quote: “pale as the beacons of Gondor”) and honoring her culture on her own terms, while Katryn explores intersectionality and being “bi-everything.” Helpful note: Eva and Katryn say the word “complicated” roughly five thousand times, so please exercise caution if you turn it into a drinking game. *Content warnings: Race, ableism, micro-aggressions, bullying. Sources Eva talks about seeking positive and authentic Latinx and mixed-race representation, and names both Adam Silvera for his books and Nina LaCour for her personal statements on being mixed and white passing. Katryn has written a few essays on the personal topics covered in this episode. Here's one recent one on the power of books as we're growing up. Here's one resource where you can find sensitivity/authenticity readers for your to-be-published work. A link to the reddit post that covers the ever problematic Sweet Valley High. This week's quotations are from Alexander Chee and Lillie Lainhoff Follow us on Instagram: @evadeslaurbooks @katrynwrites @writewhereithurtspod *Tune in next time for another episode powered by broken hearts, belly laughs (and bourbon). Don't forget to RATE, REVIEW, and SUBSCRIBE wherever you listen

We're joined today by novelist and essayist Ingrid Rojas Contreras, whose new book The Man Who Could Move Clouds combines memoir with rich storytelling and an excavation of family and Colombian history. We discuss magical realism as a nonfiction genre, why it's useful to believe in ghosts, and ask the question, what responsibility do we owe to our pasts?You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' Website: https://thestackspodcast.com/2022/08/03/ep-226-ingrid-rojas-contrerasThe Stacks Book Club selection for August is How To Write An Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee. We will discuss the book on August 31st with Ingrid Rojas Contreras.Connect with Ingrid: Instagram | Twitter | WebsiteConnect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | SubscribeSUPPORT THE STACKSJoin The Stacks Pack on PatreonLibro.Fm – use promo code THESTACKS to get 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 and to support your favorite independent bookstore.Patreon - go to patreon.com/thestacks for insider access and pick the tier that works for you, for as little as $5 a month.Purchasing books through Bookshop.org or Amazon earns The Stacks a small commission. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jordan talks with Michelle Tea about her new memoir (Knocking Myself Up), making the decision to get pregnant, her tarot practice, and creating a queer family. MENTIONED: The Rider-Waite Tarot Valencia by Michelle Tea XOJane.com Buddhism Michelle Tea is the author of over a dozen books, including the cult-classic Valencia, the essay collection Against Memoir, and the speculative memoir Black Wave. She is the recipient of awards from the Guggenheim, Lambda Literary, and Rona Jaffe Foundations, PEN/America, and other institutions. Knocking Myself Up is her latest memoir. Tea's cultural interventions include brainstorming the international phenomenon Drag Queen Story Hour, co-creating the Sister Spit queer literary performance tours, and occupying the role of Founding Director at RADAR Productions, a Bay Area literary organization, for over a decade. She also helmed the imprints Sister Spit Books at City Lights Publishers, and Amethyst Editions at The Feminist Press. She produces and hosts the Your Magic podcast, wherein which she reads tarot cards for Roxane Gay, Alexander Chee, Phoebe Bridgers and other artists, as well as the live tarot show Ask the Tarot on Spotify Greenroom. For more Thresholds, visit us at www.thisisthresholds.com Be sure to rate review and subscribe on your fav platform! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

DISASTERAMA: Adventures in the Queer Underground 1977 to 1997, is the true story of Alvin Orloff who, as a shy kid from the suburbs of San Francisco, stumbled into the wild, eclectic crowd of Crazy Club Kids, Punk Rock Nutters, Goofy Goofballs, Fashion Victims, Disco Dollies, Happy Hustlers, and Dizzy Twinks of post-Stonewall American queer culture of the late 1970s, only to see the “subterranean lavender twilit shadow world of the gay ghetto” ravished by AIDS in the 1980s. Includes an introduction by Alexander Chee (How to Write an Autobiographical Novel.In Disasterama, Orloff recalls the delirious adventures of his youth—from San Francisco to Los Angeles to New York—where insane nights, deep friendships with the creatives of the underground, and thrilling bi-coastal living led to a free-spirited life of art, manic performance, high camp antics, and exotic sexual encounters, until AIDS threatened to destroy everything he lived for.In his introduction, award-winning essayist and novelist Alexander Chee notes, "There's a strange love I have for these times that can be hard to explain. How can I love what I lived through from a time that was as ‘bad' as that? But as I read this, and those days came into view again, what I think of that love now is that there was a beauty to the beauty you found then that was made the more fierce by the horror of what was happening. If you could still find the worth of your life, still find sex, love, friendship, your own self-worth amid these attempts by the state at erasure and the ravages of the AIDS epidemic, then it had the strength of something forged in fire."Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/houseofmysteryradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sarah Weinman's new book—Scoundrel: How a Convicted Murderer Persuaded the Women Who Loved Him, the Conservative Establishment, and the Courts to Set Him Free—is a gripping true crime story, and perhaps the tale of an ill-fated love triangle.  It also is a story about William F. Buckley, Jr., who defied expectations to show mercy to a death-row prisoner, Edgar Smith, after finding out that he supposedly read National Review. In this episode, Weinman joins Matt and Sam to talk about this fascinating, half-forgotten episode from a key period in Buckley's life and career—how Smith and Buckley met; what Buckley did for him; the role played by Sophie Wilkins, Smith's editor at Knopf, in what happened; and the sad ending toward which it all careened.Sources:Sarah Weinman, Scoundrel: How a Convicted Murderer Persuaded the Women Who Loved Him, the Conservative Establishment, and the Courts to Set Him Free (Ecco Press, February 2022)Sam Adler-Bell, "The Conservative and the Murderer," New Republic, March 7, 2022Christopher Buckley, Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir (Twelve Books, May 2009)Garry Wills, "Daredevil," Atlantic, July/August 2009Sophie Wilkins, trans., The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil (1930, 2017)Alexander Chee, "Mr. and Mrs. B," Apology Magazine, Winter 2014...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon for access to all of our bonus episodes!

Cultural constraints kept Alexander Chee's grandmother from pursuing Chinese Calligraphy until late in life. Alex created the Yi Dae Up Fellowship in her name to help give women writers of Asian descent the chance she didn't get.

It's the end of our ‘experimentation' capsule of episodes and Jordan is joined in the studio by Thresholds producer Drew Broussard for a grab-bag of outtakes, audience questions, and more. MENTIONED: Sheila Heti asks Jordan a question she's never been asked before Alexander Chee recommends some books, music, and more to get a person through stressful times Jordan tells Drew about a poem by Jericho Brown that knocked her over Advice for what to do when the writing gets hard We'll be back March 23rd! For more Thresholds, visit us at www.thisisthresholds.com Be sure to rate/review/subscribe! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we're rebroadcasting our absolute GEM of an episode from Season 1, featuring Food 4 Thot Zaddy-Auntie Alexander Chee! Zaddy Chee graced us with his presence in-studio for a TIMELESS episode we'll never forget! Looking for the show notes? Everything we talk about each episode — books, shows, sex toys, resources — can finally be found in our *free* Substack. Or, if you wanna support the pod, become a Zaddy or Queen Mother subscriber and get even juicier content while becoming a patron of our work