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In this episode, we do our best to just talk about Austin's new book and how music plays into it! But in the classic Textual Healing style, we get into very weird tangents. Cover bands. Four Lokos. Painting Nails. Taylor Swift. Fun playlist ideas. Everything. Austin Davis is a poet and activist. He is the founder AZ Hugs For the Houseless. Austin is the author of LOTUS & THE APOCALYPSE, among other books. His writing has been widely published in dozens of literary journals and magazines including Pif Magazine, After the Pause, Philosophical Idiot, Soft Cartel, and Collective Unrest. You can find Austin on Twitter @Austin_Davis17 and on Instagram @austinwdavis1. Here is his website: https://msha.ke/austindavis/ Check out articles about his activism and writing on LitHub: https://lithub.com/poetry-is-a-form-of-love-austin-davis-on-bridging-art-and-activism-with-az-hugs-for-the-houseless/ NPR: https://www.knau.org/knau-and-arizona-news/2022-03-03/poet-austin-davis-finds-solace-in-art-with-lotus-the-apocalypse Maudlin House: https://maudlinhouse.net/circles-and-self-care-an-interview-with-austin-davis-about-lotus-the-apocalypse/ SODA & TELEPATHS: https://sodaandtelepaths.com/austin-davis-lotus-the-apocalypse/ There were a few times when our mics got cut off and we had to restart certain parts of our conversation. Only one of those times is left in the episode for the sake of context. Taylor Swift context.
Today I am joined by Graham Irvin. Graham is from North Carolina. His first book LIVER MUSH is forthcoming from Back Patio Press. Follow him on Twitter @grahamjirvin. In this episode, Graham and I discuss three of his short stories: Not Going Home published in Back Patio Press, The Gap published at Philosophical Idiot, and Time Passes Faster at Sea published in X-Ray Lit magazine. I highly recommend reading all three stories. In this episode we also discuss online communities, the complexity of every person, violent jobs and the various genres of autobiographical writing. Is there a writer you think deserves more readers/who is publishing exciting work? Email me at leftthehoseonpod@gmail.com to let me know. You can also follow me on Instagram @left_the_hose or Twitter @left_the_hose and send me a DM. Self-nominations are also welcome. For what I'm reading, check out my blog. Thank you to Matt Rouch for the outro music.
MANHATTAN — Harold, 22, is a writer, standup, and boxer. He grew up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Steubenville, Ohio. He read Absalom, Absalom! in the fortnight following the death of his paternal grandfather, about a month ago. I read it around the same time, six months after the death of my paternal grandfather. A lotta dad stuff in this ep. Apologies for this extended Faulky bender I'm on. This the last one for now. If you haven't read the book, the 20 min intro could be a good overview to maybe coax you into cracking it. If you have, I mean, shit, fuckwittit. Outro song: "untitled 02 | 06.23.2014." by kendrick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GghFQ8ryEU Sean Thor Conroe is a writer and carpenter living in Harlem. Bars in X-R-A-Y, Soft Cartel, Back Patio, Expat Lit; forthcoming in Philosophical Idiot, BULL Lit. http://twitter.com/stconroe http://instagram.com/seanthorconroe http://1storyhaus.com
JERSEY CITY — In the second part of 2666 (2004) by Bolaño, Amalfitano, a philosophy professor losing his mind, tries to understand the secrets of the universe through an esoteric geometry book. But instead of reading it, he hangs it on a clothesline, outside, and watches it get rained on—blasted by the elements. Bud Smith’s writing embodies this idea: he out here, in the world, working at his oil refinery job, making art around his life rather than the other way around. I linked with him at his spot last weekend in Jersey City to talk about Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying (1930), which I happened to be reading when I saw, via Twitter, that he too was reading it. Faulkner also worked manual labor for a time—as an operator as a chemical plant, while writing this book. Bud Smith is the author of Teenager (Tyrant Books, 2019), Double Bird (Maudlin House, 2018), WORK (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2017), Dust Bunny City (Disorder Press, 2017), Calm Face (House of Vlad, 2016), among others. He works heavy construction building and destroying chemical plants, refineries, and generating stations. He’s on Twitter @bud_smith https://twitter.com/Bud_Smith. Here is a list of his stories online: https://neutralspaces.co/bud_smith/. He is currently writing a serialized weekly series called Good Luck, from The Nervous Breakdown. Intro song: "when i die" by yamz https://soundcloud.com/yeums/when-i-die Sean Thor Conroe is a writer and carpenter living in Harlem. Bars in X-R-A-Y, Soft Cartel, Expat Lit; forthcoming in Philosophical Idiot, BULL Lit, Back Patio. https://twitter.com/stconroe https://instagram.com/seanthorconroe https://1storyhaus.com
HARLEM-SYDNEY — Yo so I fucked with this book heavy. Obviously initially for the hype surrounding its backstory—homie Nico going to war, getting fucked up, getting hooked on opioids, robbing banks, getting caught, going to jail, still in jail now! (till 2020 i think) But the thing is it's written mad well too, on some Denis Johnson voice-driven type shit. Not to mention how in he goes, merking himself for all the wild shit he did. Not to mention how well it captures the petty drug trade in a bleak midwestern spot like outer Cleveland, where it's set. Just fire, all around, this one. Shouts out Gian from Tyrant Books and all the other editors who brought this thing to the world. Tren W. aka Based Mountain is a writer and poet and editor living in Sydney. "Cor Blimey!" by Tren: https://paintbucketmagazine.blogspot.com/2019/08/cor-blimey.html Intro song: "when i die" by yamz https://soundcloud.com/yeums/when-i-die Sean Thor Conroe is a writer and carpenter living in Harlem. Bars in X-R-A-Y, Soft Cartel, Expat Lit; forthcoming in Philosophical Idiot, BULL Lit, Back Patio. https://twitter.com/stconroe https://instagram.com/seanthorconroe https://1storyhaus.com
Big Bruiser Dope Boy has been writing for ten years. This is his first book. He lives in Colorado. He’s been published in Burningword, Deluge, Fanzine, Fluland, Hobart, New York Tyrant Magazine, Philosophical Idiot, Tragickal, Witch Craft Magazine, and Word Riot. He tweets @bigbruiserdopeb. Tune in for gay af poetry, Biggie love, & daydrinking.
Kat Giordano is a poet (1%) and massive millennial crybaby (99%) from Pennsylvania. She co-edits Philosophical Idiot and works for a law firm somehow. She is also the author of many highly embarrassing social media meltdowns. Her poems have appeared in Occulum, Ghost City Review, Awkward Mermaid, The Cincinnati Review, Rat's Ass Review, and others. Her debut full-length poetry collection, The Poet Confronts Bukowski’s Ghost, is available now.
Linzi Garcia can be found frolicking through sunflower fields, cemeteries, and bars across the states. She has been featured in "Treading Unique Paths: Young Writers Anthology" (VerbalEyze Press, 2016), "50 Haikus: Issue #12" (Prolific Press, 2017), and on the "Philosophical Idiot" poetry website (November, 2017). Her work will also be featured in the upcoming Blue Hour anthology. Linzi Garcia's first poetry collection "Thank You" was published by Spartan Press KC in 2018 If you're lucky, you can even find a haiku of hers in the gumball machine at The Raven Book Store in Lawrence, KS or perhaps hidden in a nook in a tree near you.Linzi currently resides in Lindsborg, KS, with Littleton, CO as her next home base. Wherever she lives, she's dreaming of Lawrence Ferlinghetti and New Orleans. She is always looking for invitations to new places where she can absorb new poetry, perspective, incomparable experiences, and quality whiskey. Follow the adventures of Linzi Garcia on Facebook @linzi.garcia.5 and Instagram @linzithelion