Podcast appearances and mentions of Stuart Dybek

This week, authors and editors Lauren DeJulio Bell, Rebecca Makkai, and Daiva Markelis discuss their contributions to the collection Growing Up Chicago. This conversation originally took place May 15, 2022 and was recorded live at the American Writers Festival. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME About Growing Up Chicago: Growing Up Chicago is a collection of coming-of-age stories that reflects the diversity of the city and its metropolitan area. Primarily memoir, the book collects work by writers who spent their formative years in the region to ask: What characterizes a Chicago author? Is it a certain feel to the writer's language? A narrative sensibility? The mention of certain neighborhoods or locales? Contributors to the volume include renowned writers Ana Castillo, Stuart Dybek, Emil Ferris, Charles Johnson, Rebecca Makkai, Erika L. Sánchez, and George Saunders, as well as emerging talents. While the authors represented here write from distinct local experiences, some universals emerge, including the abiding influence of family and friends and the self-realizations earned against the background of a place sparkling with promise and riven by inequality, a place in constant flux. The stories evoke childhood trips to the Art Institute of Chicago, nighttime games of ringolevio, and the giant neon Magikist lips that once perched over the expressway, sharing perspectives that range from a young man who dreams of becoming an artist to a single mother revisiting her Mexican roots, from a woman's experience with sexual assault to a child's foray into white supremacy. This book memorably explores culture, social identity, and personal growth through the eyes of Chicagoans, affirming that we each hold the ability to shape the places in which we live and write and read as much as those places shape us. About the speakers: Lauren DeJulio Bell teaches in the Honors College at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She previously taught in the UIC English Department and the Chicago Public Schools district. She serves on the associate board of StoryStudio Chicago and leads a local project (We Are All Chicago), where she engages with the people of Chicago to foster civic engagement, community writing, and artistic endeavors. Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the novels I Have Some Questions for You, The Great Believers, The Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower, as well as the short story collection Music for Wartime. The Great Believers was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and received the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize, among other honors. Makkai is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University, and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago. Daiva Markelis is professor of English at Eastern Illinois University. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in New Ohio Review, Crab Orchard Review, The American Literary Review, Oyez, The Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine, Writing on the Edge, Women and Language, The Chicago Reader, Mattoid, and The Fourth River. Her short stories have been published in The Cream City Review and Other Voices. In 2010, the University of Chicago Press published her memoir, White Field, Black Sheep: A Lithuanian-American Life.

First broadcast on May 07, 1990. Hearing Chopin being played through the pipes of another apartment and a tale about a young girl who died and whose father froze her body in an ice house are among the stories in Stuart Dybek's book, "The Coast of Chicago." Dybek explained that although his stories may seem dream-like, he tries to come up up with stories from some place of reality.

This week, poets Angela Jackson, Johanny Vázquez Paz, Faisal Mohyuddin, and Carlos Cumpián read from and discuss their contributions to the recent collection Wherever I'm At: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry. The following conversation originally took place May 15, 2022 and was recorded live at the American Writers Festival. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME About Wherever I'm At: The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame has partnered with Chicago publishers After Hours Press and Third World Press to produce a definitive collection of poetry by living Chicago poets. "Wherever I'm At: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry" features the work of a widely diverse list of over 160 poets and artists all with strong ties to Chicagoland. With a Foreword by noted scholar Carlo Rotello, the new anthology is edited by Donald G. Evans (executive director of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame) who completed the project begun by the late poet-editor-teacher Robin Metz formerly of Knox College. A dazzling array of voices representing many generations of Chicagoans grace the pages of "Wherever I'm At" including essential poets such as Li-Young Lee, Elizabeth Alexander, Stuart Dybek, Angela Jackson, Tyehimba Jess, Sandra Cisneros, Campbell McGrath, Ana Castillo, Maxine Chernoff, Patricia Smith, Edward Hirsch, Kathleen Rooney, Luis Alberto Urrea, Emily Jungmin Yoon, Luis J. Rodriguez, Elise Paschen, Sterling Plumpp, Marianne Boruch, Haki Madhubuti, Rachel DeWoskin, Ed Roberson, Tara Betts, and Reginald Gibbons, to name a few. The list is exhaustive in its diversity and according to editor Don Evans, deliberately so. This anthology also showcases the incredible visuals of an equally talented group of Chicago artists whose work amplifies the poetic musings throughout.

In this episode, host Douglas Cowie and his guest, Gregory Miller, discuss Stuart Dybek's 1990 book of short stories, The Coast of Chicago. In particular, they place Dybek's depiction of the shifting demographics of the Pilsen neighborhood into broader contexts, and also look at Dybek's lyrical, musical writing style, and the effects it accomplishes.

by Stuart Dybek

Episode 152 Notes and Links to Tommy Dean's Work       On Episode 152 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Tommy Dean, and the two discuss, among other topics, his reading trajectory which started with sports biographies and has branched out in many directions, his start writing in undergrad, his views of flash fiction vs. short shorts, the craft of writing flash fiction, Tommy's recurring themes and development as a writer, and inspiring works by Tobias Wolff and other titans of the trade.      Tommy Dean lives in Indiana with his wife and two children. He is the author of a flash fiction chapbook entitled Special Like the People on TV from Redbird Chapbooks. He is the Editor at Fractured Lit. He has been previously published in the BULL Magazine, The MacGuffin, The Lascaux Review, New World Writing, Pithead Chapel, and New Flash Fiction Review. His story “You've Stopped” was chosen by Dan Chaon to be included in Best Microfiction 2019. It will also be included in Best Small Fiction 2019. His interviews have been previously published in New Flash Fiction Review, The Rumpus, CRAFT Literary, and The Town Crier (The Puritan). Find him @TommyDeanWriter on Twitter.   Tommy Dean's Website   Buy Hollows    A.E. Weisberger Reviews Special Like the People on TV   “Past Lives” Story from Atlas and Alice Magazine-2020   “You've Stopped” from Pithead Chapel   2017 Mini-Interview with Megan Giddings   At about 7:30, Tommy discusses her early reading (a lot of sports and biographies and horror and “heavy genre”) and writing, with the writing mostly coming after undergrad    At about 10:00, the two discuss character as seen in these shared sports biographies   At about 11:30, Tommy describes his love for the library and its easy access to Sports Illustrated/SI for Kids   At about 12:30, Tommy and Pete discuss their shared loves for basketball and baseball, the former especially    At about 14:25, Tommy gives background on how he came to become interested in flash fiction/short shorts   At about 17:20, Tommy responds to Pete's questions about how he has honed his craft   At about 19:00, Tommy describes what it is about flash fiction that appeals to him   At about 19:50, Tommy differentiates between “flash fiction” and “short short”   At about 22:50, Tommy gives some of the formative texts, literary journals (like SmokeLong Quarterly and Vestal Review)  and writers that are classics of the flash fiction forms, like Stuart Dybek, Dan Chaon, Robin Black and “Pine,” and Elizabeth Tallent and her story, “No One's a Mystery”   At about 27:00, Pete recounts the connections between the podcast title and Tobias Wolff's “Bullet in the Brain”   At about 28:30, Tommy discusses the power of flash in its granularity   At about 29:30, The two discuss Hemingway and his “interludes” or works that could be classified as “flash”; they also discuss breaking convention   At about 34:20, Pete corrects himself on the pivotal line that inspired the podcast title   At about 35:10, Pete cites a powerful use of understatement from Elie Wiesel's Night   At about 36:30, Tommy talks about how teaching/editing inform his writing, and vice versa   At about 42:35, Pete quotes interviews with Tommy and Megan Giddings and talks about his “lifejackets” as character    At about 44:00, Pete references powerful opening lines from Tommy and asks about the connections between title and subject matter; Tommy talks about work that became awarded and his process   At about 45:35, Tommy talks about his philosophy of dialogue in flash fiction   At about 47:15, Tommy explains conscious choices in using quotation marks or not   At about 48:30, Pete and Tommy discuss the idea that dialogue to begin a story is fraught; Pete provides an example of a short he wrote that     At about 52:15, Pete highlights a stunning open line from “Past Lives”; Tommy gives real-life connections to the story before reading it   At about 55:45, Tommy describes an “in” for writers involving unique characters   At about 56:45, Tommy talks about his two chapbooks   At about 57:15, Pete reads a review from the first collection and talks about themes of childlessness and craft shared by Hemingway's “Hills Like White Elephants” and Tommy's early writing   At about 59:15, Tommy responds to Pete's questions about development as a writer between his first and most recent collections; he traces his development via “cuts” and themes used    At about 1:03:20, Pete shares a reader's review of Tommy's Hollows and Tommy discusses why he appreciates these particular sentiments   At about 1:05:25, Tommy reads “Baby Alone”   At about 1:14:30, Tommy gives out his social media and contact info, including Alternate Currents and ELJ Editions    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 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!    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 153 with Luivette Resto, a mother, teacher, poet, and Wonder Woman fanatic born in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, and proudly raised in the Bronx. A CantoMundo and Macondo Fellow, and Pushcart Prize nominee, she is on the Board of Directors for Women Who Submit.      The episode will air on November 22.

Laura Kemp is on The Storytellers Laura is a teacher who loves to write about her home state of Michigan. She has a B.A. in Creative Writing from Western Michigan University where she studied under Stuart Dybek. Her multiple short fictions have been widely published as has her poetry. These works, in connection to her impressive number of combine into dually- demanding careers and a wealth of things to talk about. Her work has won numerous awards including an IPPY and an IAN. When not writing, Laura enjoys musical theatre, hiking, swimming, reading and performing with her Celtic band. She also enjoys spending time with her husband and children as well as her dog, two hamsters, two gerbils, ten chickens, two horses and eight (and counting) cats. Find out more about Laura and her work at: www.LauraKempBooks.com Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/groups/2321288757959884 IG- https://www.instagram.com/lkempwrites/ Twitter- https://twitter.com/LKempWrites The Storytellers hosted by Grace Sammon, focuses on individuals who choose to leave their mark on the world through the art of story. Each episode engages guests and listeners in the story behind the story of authors, artists, reporters and others who leave a legacy of storytelling. Applying her years of experience as an educator, entrepreneur, author, and storyteller herself, Grace brings to listeners an intimate one-on-one experience with her guests. Visit Grace at her website www.gracesammon.net. Contact Grace about being a guest on the show, email her at grace@gracesammon.net Follow Grace: On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GraceSammonWrites/ On Instagram https://www.instagram.com/GraceSammonWrites/ On Twitter https://www.twitter.com/GSammonWrites On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-sammon-84389153/ #TheStorytellers #Storyteller #Storytellers # Storytelling #AuhtorInterview #LetsTalkBooks #LeaveYourMark #AuthorLife #StorytellerLife #ArtofStory #AuthorTalkNetwork #BookishRoadTrip #AuthorTalkNetwork #AuthorsOnTheAirGlobalRadioNetwork #author #kamp #camp #celticmusic #michigan #bookseries #stars The Storytellers is a copyrighted work © of Grace Sammon and Authors on The Air Global Radio Network.

Laura Kemp is on The Storytellers Laura is a teacher who loves to write about her home state of Michigan. She has a B.A. in Creative Writing from Western Michigan University where she studied under Stuart Dybek. Her multiple short fictions have been widely published as has her poetry. These works, in connection to her impressive number of combine into dually- demanding careers and a wealth of things to talk about. Her work has won numerous awards including an IPPY and an IAN. When not writing, Laura enjoys musical theatre, hiking, swimming, reading and performing with her Celtic band. She also enjoys spending time with her husband and children as well as her dog, two hamsters, two gerbils, ten chickens, two horses and eight (and counting) cats. Find out more about Laura and her work at: www.LauraKempBooks.com Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/groups/2321288757959884 IG- https://www.instagram.com/lkempwrites/ Twitter- https://twitter.com/LKempWrites The Storytellers hosted by Grace Sammon, focuses on individuals who choose to leave their mark on the world through the art of story. Each episode engages guests and listeners in the story behind the story of authors, artists, reporters and others who leave a legacy of storytelling. Applying her years of experience as an educator, entrepreneur, author, and storyteller herself, Grace brings to listeners an intimate one-on-one experience with her guests. Visit Grace at her website www.gracesammon.net. Contact Grace about being a guest on the show, email her at grace@gracesammon.net Follow Grace: On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GraceSammonWrites/ On Instagram https://www.instagram.com/GraceSammonWrites/ On Twitter https://www.twitter.com/GSammonWrites On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-sammon-84389153/ #TheStorytellers #Storyteller #Storytellers # Storytelling #AuhtorInterview #LetsTalkBooks #LeaveYourMark #AuthorLife #StorytellerLife #ArtofStory #AuthorTalkNetwork #BookishRoadTrip #AuthorTalkNetwork #AuthorsOnTheAirGlobalRadioNetwork #author #kamp #camp #celticmusic #michigan #bookseries #stars The Storytellers is a copyrighted work © of Grace Sammon and Authors on The Air Global Radio Network.

Discussion Notes: Hot Ice This week’s story: Hot Ice by Stuart Dybek  Next week’s story: The Interlopers by H.H. Munro (SAKI)  Rated: Clean Gerald, Andy and Anais discuss “Hot Ice” by Stuart Dybek, a Chicago native who brings the mid-century societal changes to life with the myth of a local saint. Andy identified with the... The post Ep 213: Hot Ice appeared first on Literary Roadhouse.

Discussion Notes: Hot Ice This week’s story: Hot Ice by Stuart Dybek  Next week’s story: The Interlopers by H.H. Munro (SAKI)  Rated: Clean Gerald, Andy and Anais discuss “Hot Ice” by Stuart Dybek, a Chicago native who brings the mid-century societal changes to life with the myth of a local saint. Andy identified with the... The post Ep 213: Hot Ice appeared first on Literary Roadhouse.

Discussion Notes: The Case For and Against Love Potions This week’s story: The Case for and Against Love Potions by Imbolo Mbue  Next week’s story: Hot Ice by Stuart Dybek  Rated: Clean Gerald, Andy and Anais discuss “The Case for and Against Love Potions” by Imbolo Mbue , a story told by an over confident narrator... The post Ep 212: The Case For and Against Love Potions appeared first on Literary Roadhouse.

Discussion Notes: The Case For and Against Love Potions This week’s story: The Case for and Against Love Potions by Imbolo Mbue  Next week’s story: Hot Ice by Stuart Dybek  Rated: Clean Gerald, Andy and Anais discuss “The Case for and Against Love Potions” by Imbolo Mbue , a story told by an over confident narrator... The post Ep 212: The Case For and Against Love Potions appeared first on Literary Roadhouse.

The path to riches is not often associated with journalism, but in the case of George Ade, writing for Chicago newspapers was his road to wealth and fame. Ade, (1866-1944) who was born and raised in Kentland, Indiana, attended Purdue University and then came to Chicago to work as a reporter in the heydays of newspapers. Today George Ade is rarely remembered, with his books out of print, and decades since his musical comedies were performed. But from the 1890s to the early 20th century, he was compared to Mark Twain, a friend of his, and had not just one, but two hit plays on Broadway at the same time. Ade earned so much money from his successful books, plays and syndicated newspaper columns, he built an English Tutor on a 400-acre estate in Indiana, named Hazelden. There Ade threw big parties and was visited there by U.S. Presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Calvin Coolidge. In fact, Taft began his Presidential campaign of 1908 from Hazelden. Ade's name lives on through his philanthropy, like the donation of 65 acres, with fellow alum David E. Ross, to Purdue University, for a football stadium in 1924, which is now known as Ross-Ade Stadium. What was true then about Ade's writing is also true now, and that is Ade's stories are hilarious. His final book “The Old Time Saloon” (1931) is laugh-out-loud funny and a recent edition from the University of Chicago Press is annotated by Bill Savage. Bill Savage, Ph.D. is a professor of English at Northwestern University and our guide through not only the work “The Old-Time Saloon: Not Wet - Not Dry, Just History” and this podcast. Dr. Savage paints a picture of the Chicago Ade knew from the high-class Saloons downtown to the more seedy establishments frequented by his friend, Finely Peter Dunne, whose literary bartender, Martin T. Dooley, delighted a nation with his quips. Writers like Ade and Dunne started out as journalists, and along the way captured the rhythms of speech and the vernacular of the working man, and in doing so gave birth to a new type of literature. A style practiced later by authors such as James Farrell, Nelson Algren, Mike Royko and Stuart Dybek. We hope you will enjoy this dive into Chicago's literary and drinking past. Links to Research and Historic Sources: The book, The Old-Time Saloon by George Ade Chicago writer and author George Ade (1866-1944)Ross-Ade Stadium at Purdue UniversityNorthwestern Professor of English Bill Savage, Ph.D.Hazelden (George Ade House) in Brook, IndianaChicago writer and author Peter Finley Dunne (1867-1937)Mr.Dooley on the Immigration Problem (1898) adapted from the writings of Finley Peter Dunne, performed by Alexander Kulcsar.“Who's Your Chinaman?”: The Origins Of An Offensive Piece Of Chicago Political Slang By Monica EngEra of "Hinky Dink" Kenna and "Bathhouse John” Coughlin from the Encyclopedia of Chicago"Mickey Finn: The Chicago Bartender Who Infamously Drugged And Robbed Patrons With Laced Drinks," By Natasha Ishak Published September 24, 2019The Everleigh Club from WikipediaChicago Daley News Building (Riverside Plaza) from WikipediaDouglas Copeland's novel “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”Straw Hat Ettiquette from the Vintage Dancer websiteLiz Garibay's website: History on Tap"The Dry Season" by Steve Rhodes, published June 22, 2007 in Chicago MagazineThe book, The World Is Always Coming to an End: Pulling Together and Apart in a Chicago Neighborhood (Chicago Visions and Revisions) by Carlo Rotella (2019)Jimmy's Woodlawn Tap from the Chicago Bar Project websiteAmerican novelist and journalist, Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945) in WikipediaWriter, poet, and author, Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)The book Native Son by Richard Wright (1908-1960)Studs Lonigan: A Trilogy by James T. Farrell (1904-1979)American novelist and short story writer Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941) in WikipediaAmerican writer Nelson Algren (1909-1981) in WikipediaChicago: City on the ...

Amanda Filippelli is an internationally renowned editor, writer, book coach, chief architect, and business advisor for many women authorpreneurs. She has worked with several industry titans, such as Stuart Dybek and Mellisa Pritchard. Amanda is also the author of the critically acclaimed book Blue Rooms. Her mission is to help, guide, and teach people how to be a working creative. Moreover, she specializes in helping writers and authorpreneurs realize their authentic voice and thrive as working creatives throughout their niche. In this podcast, we discusss the importance of doing what makes you happy, the drawbacks of always being in a safe place, and demystifying the process. Tune in to learn more about how to take your creative ideas to the next level with Amanda Filippelli. CONNECT WITH AMANDA Website: https://amandafilippelli.com/about Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/editor_amanda/  CONNECT WITH CHRIS Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisbello_    Download my free guide on Productivity Hacks I recommend by visiting: https://chrisbello.com/free  

by Stuart Dybek

Clothespins by Stuart Dybek

Ron Riekki and I had a great conversation about his work, his life, and our common experiences.  He is a Saami, Karelian, Finn, and Greek writer with many writing credits. He's studied with Anne Beattie, John Casey, Jayne Anne Phillips, Anselm Hollo, and Stuart Dybek, to name a few! He also hung out with actor Sean Penn! Do give a listen and learn about this fascinating writer! http://yourartsygirlpodcast.com/episodes https://rariekki.webs.com/ You can order "Posttraumatic" here: https://www.spdbooks.org/Products/9781732336162/posttraumatic-a-memoir.aspx You can order "My Ancestors Are Reindeer Hers and I am Melting in Extinction" here: https://www.amazon.com/Ancestors-Reindeer-Herders-Melting-Extinction/dp/1627202102 "In My Ancestors are Reindeer Herders and I am Melting in Extinction, Ron Riekki presents a collection of non-fiction, short stories, and poetry about the Karelian- and Saami-American experience. In true nomadic fashion, his writing takes the reader to Kuusamo, Utah, Berkeley, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Lake Mohave, Yosemite, Karelia, and a hazmat facility where all the animals on site have been forgotten. A mix of Anselm Hollo, Gregory Orr, Eric Torgersen, and Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Riekki’s writing forces the Saami-American voice to be heard, a voice that some might not even realize exists. It does. Furiously." You can order "Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice" here:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1611863082/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0 You can order "The Many Lives of the Evil Dead" here: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-many-lives-of-the-evil-dead/ Bio:  Ron Riekki is a poet and award-winning screenwriter. He is the author of My Ancestors are Reindeer Herders and I Am Melting In Extinction: Saami-American Non-Fiction, Fiction, and Poetry, U.P.: A Novel, and Posttraumatic: A Memoir. He edited five anthologies: The Way North (Michigan Notable Book), And Here: 100 Years of Upper Peninsula Writing, 1917–2017, Here: Women Writing on Michigan's Upper Peninsula (Independent Publisher Book Award), Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice, and The Many Lives of The Evil Dead: Essays on the Cult Film Franchise. He's published his writing in The Threepenny Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Wigleaf, Spillway, Poetry Northwest, and many other literary journals. Riekki is Saami-American, Karelian-American, and Finnish-American. If he ever got a tattoo, it'd say Sisu. His home is the north. The far north. No, farther than that.

Stuart Dybek is the author of three books of fiction: I Sailed With Magellan, The Coast of Chicago, and Childhood and Other Neighborhoods. Both I Sailed With Magellan and The Coast of Chicago were New York Times Notable Books, and The Coast of Chicago was a One Book One Chicago selection. Dybek has also published two collections of poetry: Streets in Their Own Ink and Brass Knuckles.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stuart Dybek joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss "Miracle Polish," by Steven Millhauser, from a 2011 issue of the magazine. Dybek is a poet and fiction writer, whose story collections include "Paper Lantern: Love Stories" and "Ecstatic Cahoots: Fifty Short Stories." He was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2007.

Kate Walbert joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Pet Milk,” by Stuart Dybek, from a 1984 issue of the magazine.

Gary and Frank catch up and discuss a couple of recent theatrical viewings. First off, we get an inside look at Frank's eastern European trip which took him away from Booth One for a couple of episodes. He tells of his experiences in Warsaw, Krakow, Prague, Vienna and Budapest, how the architecture and city centers have changed, and why Prague is one of the most stunning cities he's ever visited. He is grateful to friend of the show and two-time guest, Stuart Dybek, for his great suggestions for things to do in Prague. He also let us know that Warsaw is booming and beautiful. While on the continent, Frank sampled a Porn Star Martini, ate at iconic local restaurants, and ogled the naked people on building facades in Prague. Other than Vienna, the entire trip was a bargain and the direct flights on LOT between both Warsaw and Budapest & Chicago made travel a breeze. A trip that Frank highly recommends.   The boys visited the Steppenwolf Theatre to view their new main stage show The Roommate, featuring knock-out performances from Ora Jones and Sandra Marquez, both Steppenwolf ensemble members. Written by the up and coming and very talented playwright Jen Silverman and directed by Phylicia Rashad, The Roommate is a comedy/drama centered around two women who become housemates somewhere in Iowa. Gary and Frank share their thoughts and opinions on the play, and suggest that it is perfect summer fare for those seeking a great night out at the theater. The Roommate runs through August 5. We discuss writer-performer Amanda Duarte's Guide to Theater Etiquette. Standing, talking, eating, drinking, clapping and cell phones are among the topics she shares her opinions on in this New York Time Out article. Enjoy. Next up is our take on The Cher Show, which recently had its pre-Broadway tryout here in Chicago at the Oriental Theatre. Containing 35 hit songs and a flurry of thrilling Bob Mackie gowns, this biographical musical gives us three versions of Cher - Babe, Lady and Star - at different points in her life and career. Played by three actresses - Micaela Diamond (in her professional debut), Teal Wicks, and the always amazing Stephanie J. Block - the show is framed as a TV special being made about Cher's life. The three "Chers" interact with each other throughout, even having musical numbers as a trio, something Gary found to be an oddly disconcerting choice by the writers. Nevertheless, the opening night audience was very responsive and cheered wildly at many of the show's high points and at the curtain call. By the way, Jarrod Spector as Sonny is marvelous. Both Frank and Gary feel there is a bit of work to be done by the creative staff prior to the November 1 preview at the Neil Simon Theatre in New York. But they agree that they were highly entertained and that the show has great promise. Especially considering the box office success of the current Summer - The Donna Summer Musical now on Broadway. Kiss of Death: Gillian Lynne - Choreographer of Cats and The Phantom of the Opera The renowned British ballerina who turned choreographer created the sinuous dances in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats. Gillian Barbara Pyrke began dancing at an early age and by 15, was dancing at the Ballet Guild, whose artistic director gave her a new surname. She appeared in films, onstage and on television throughout the 1950s, and choreographed The Roar of the Greasepaint - the Smell of the Crowd in 1965 on Broadway. This past June, the New London Theater, where Cats opened in 1981, was renamed for Ms. Lynne. She was carried to the stage on a golden throne surrounded by dancers from the musical. Gillian Lynne was 92. Read the full NYT obit here.  

We were thrilled to welcome Brett Neveu to the booth just two days after being in the audience for the press opening of his marvelous new play, To Catch A Fish at Timeline Theatre. This production, masterfully directed by Ron OJ Parson, features one of the best ensemble casts we've ever seen, with standout performances by  Geno Walker, Al'Jaleel McGhee, Tiffany Addison, and Linda Bright Clay. We recently saw Al'Jaleel and Linda in Antoinette Nwandu's Breach at Victory Gardens. What a treat to see their work again so soon! Based on a true news story set in Milwaukee, Brett's play is about family and love and explores different types of love in a profound and very moving way. Timeline's 99 seat theatre makes for an intimate experience.  All the seats are good. The show runs through July 1 and is an absolute must see! This play came out of the Playwrights Collective at Timeline, which sounds like a very cool process for the writers. Brett, like our friend and recent guest Stuart Dybek, teaches writing at Northwestern University. He teaches classes in writing plays, television, and films. We are hoping to sit in on a class! Brett is a member of A Red Orchid's ensemble and has done 10 world premieres there. He has been interviewed by Booth One friend and guest, Mark Larson, for his book about Ensemble in Chicago Theatre and shares some of his insights about being part of an ensemble. A Red Orchid's theatre space is quite small and intimate, which sparks Brett's inspiration. As he says, "It challenges the actors and audience to communicate in a dangerous and interesting way." He studied writing at the University of Iowa along with some other amazing playwrights who are his good friends, such as Rebecca Gilman and Naomi Wallace. Brett plays in a band called The Last Afternoons. Multi-talented much? Kiss of Death: Florence Berman:         What a story! Florence Berman and her husband Maurie, started SuperDawg in 1948 as a way to pay the bills as they were going through school at Northwestern. All these years later, it is iconic. And we are happy to report that Brett Neveau and his daughter consider it to be an all-time favorite place. Read her beautiful obit by Maureen O'Donnell here.

Booth One proudly welcomes back to the program writer and teacher Stuart Dybek. Stuart previously appeared on Episode 37, where he spoke about the art of the short story and his approach and inspirations for writing fiction and poetry. During that podcast, Stuart referenced a number of notable stories that have come out of his Northwestern University undergraduate writing course called "Fabulous Fiction." Here is the NU course description: ENG 307 – Advanced Creative Writing: Fabulous Fiction Course Description: Fabulous Fiction focuses on writing that departs from realism. Often the subject matter of such writing explores states of mind that are referred to as non-ordinary reality. A wide variety of genres and sub-genres fall under this heading: fabulism, myth, fairy tales, fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction, horror, the grotesque, the supernatural, surrealism, etc. The aim in 307 is to discern and employ writing techniques that overarch these various genres, to study the subject through doing—by writing your own fabulist stories. Many of these genres overlap. For instance, they are all rooted in the tale, a kind of story that goes back to primitive sources. They all speculate: they ask the question, What If? They all are stories that demand invention, which, along with the word transformation, will be a key term in the course. The invention might be a monster, a method of time travel, an alien world, etc., but with rare exceptions the story will demand an invention and that invention will often also be the central image of the story. In discussing how these stories work we will also be learning some of the most basic, primitive moves in storytelling. To get you going I will be bringing in exercises that employ fabulist techniques and hopefully will promote stories. These time-tested techniques will be your entrances—your rabbit holes and magic doorways—into the figurative. You will be asked to keep a dream journal, which will serve as basis for one of the exercises. Besides the exercises, two full-length stories will be required, as well as written critiques of one another's work. Because we all serve to make up an audience for the writer, attendance is mandatory. This time, Stuart has brought two short stories written by Fabulous Fictions students - "Come Up Here" by Rex Shannon and "Mirror" by Katilin Jennrich - and we offer the rare and thrilling treat of having Stuart reading these works during the episode. First, though, we discuss Frank's recent trip to downstate Illinois where he judged the State Drama Finals in Peoria. While there at the Civic Center, Frank stumbled upon the National Alpaca Show presented by the Alpaca Owners Association. After spending time among these furry animals, Frank is now somewhat of an expert in types and breeds. No souvenirs were brought back, but Frank does have a new-found appreciation for these warm and fuzzy creatures. Gary is happy to say that the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities have been refunded by Congress, despite the efforts of the Trump White House to gut these cultural organizations, which as Stuart says are critical to our humanity. Both endowments saw a slight increase of about $3 million dollars in their funding levels, to about $153 million dollars each for the fiscal year. Great news indeed for these necessary and vital organizations and the art institutions they support. Read more about this story here. Stuart discusses in detail some of the key tenets of his course, including the universal themes of fairy tales along with the use of  magic objects and magic portal concept. He tells us that the active use of "symbolism" be restricted to the reader, not the writer. Stuart believes reading is a separate and equally important art form from writing. As in Episode 37, Stuart talks about "transformation" being a key term in his course and how it is the cornestone of fiction writing.

Pilsen native Stuart Dybek, one of America’s great poets and writers, reminisces with Mayor Emanuel about Chicago’s working-class roots and neighborhoods that he calls “eyes into the City’s soul.”

Do you like food? Do you eat it several times a day in order to survive? Then you will love our new seasonal theme! This fall we'll be reading stories and essays in which food plays a major role. We'll also be talking about a variety of food-related things. This week: What foods are we nostalgic for? What foods make us think of our childhoods? Each of us also brought in a nostalgic snack for a quick taste test. For more, visit us online at bookfightpod.com. 

Gary and Roscoe have long wanted to get award-winning author Stuart Dybek on the show, and now we have! Boy, was it ever worth the wait. Dybek is one of America's finest writers of literary fiction, particularly the short story form. His work has been said to "move easily between the gritty reality of urban decay, and a magical realm of lyricism and transcendence linked to music, art and religion." Read this glowing NYT review of his latest work. The reviewer writes that Dybek is "not only our most relevant writer, but maybe our best." If you haven't read any of his work, do yourself a favor and pick up a volume. Here's his bio. Our show begins with a remembrance of Muhammad Ali and how boxing imagery appears in some of Stuart's writing. Ali transcended sport and also his own innate talent and skill to become something more than just a world-class athlete. He was a world-class human being. Read more here. In 2006, Gary directed a world premiere theatrical adaptation of The Coast of Chicago, a collection of Stuart's short stories. Adapted by Laura Eason and presented by Walkabout and Lookingglass Theatre Companies, as well as our very own producer, Stuart reflects on what an exciting experience that was. Learn why Stuart says, "Music is the defining art for me. Always has been." and what kind of music he writes to. What profession he might have entered if writing hadn't been his true calling. How memory, recollection and imagery play parts in his creative process. And the difference between narrative and associative writing. An avid theatergoer, Dybek loves the risks and real chances that Chicago theater artists take. The city's long history of developing improvisation as an art form is a big part of that risk taking. Shout outs to friends of the show, Improv Olympic and The Second City. More here. Ever been lost in a big city? Stuart used to get lost in Prague but can't any longer, to his regret. But he tells a wonderful story of being lost while searching the Michigan woods for mushrooms. Gary relates a tale about getting lost in Seville, Spain, and coming upon a magnificent street ceremony for the Virgin Mary quite by accident. And Roscoe and his family once found themselves disoriented in the Paris Metro. Dybek cites John Dewey as America's greatest writer of the 20th century with regard to social issues. Because "we all depend on one another's choices." Could that be more topical? Read more about this philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer here. Stuart loves to write about work and working class characters so we recount our worst jobs -Stuart washed helicopters at Midway and worked on a production line in an ice cream factory. Roscoe toiled summers in his youth in a vegetable canning factory. Gary picked grocery orders in a large and steamy warehouse. What's your worst work experience? Finally, we discuss Stuart's Fabulous Fiction course at Northwestern University. Gary and Roscoe are signing up! Stuart talks about the importance of imagery as a jumping off point to any good story, then tells us about a couple of student stories he particularly likes and that have found publication. He promises to come back and read some of their (and his) works on a future show. Kiss of Death - Shirley Bell Cole - Radio Voice of Little Orphan Annie Though Ms. Cole passed in 2010, we thought with her Chicago connection and her involvement in the art of storytelling on the radio, she'd be a fitting conclusion to our conversation with Stuart Dybek. From 1930 to 1940, Shirley Cole lent her high-pitched voice to the spunky, curly-haired Little Orphan Annie, first on WGN and then on national NBC networks. Five days a week she would take the trolley to the radio station for the live broadcast. Imagine! No editing! When Ovaltine (not Shirley's favorite drink) dropped its sponsorship of the program, Ms. Bell's acting career came to an end. Shirley Bell Cole was 89.

In which we discuss "Pet Milk" by Stuart Dybek and "Fisherman" by Nalo Hopkinson, along with, among other things, time, sex, flashbacks, and shame.

Brief Encounters (W.W. Norton)What anthology could unite the work of such distinct writers as Paul Auster, Julian Barnes, Marvin Bell, Sven Birkerts, Meghan Daum, Stuart Dybek, Patricia Hampl, Pico Iyer, Leslie Jamison, Phillip Lopate, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Lawrence Weschler?  What anthology could successfully blend literary forms as varied as memoir, aesthetic critique, political and social commentary, slice-of-life observation, conjecture, fragment, and contemplation?  What anthology could so deeply and steadily plumb the mysteries of human experience in two or three or five page bursts? For the late Judith Kitchen, editor of such seminal anthologies as Short Takes, In Short, and In Brief, "flash" nonfiction—the "short"—was an ideal tool with which to describe and interrogate our fragmented world.  Sharpened to a point, these essays sounded a resonance that owed as much to poetry as to the familiar pleasures of large-scale creative nonfiction.  Now, in Brief Encounters: A Collection of Contemporary Nonfiction, Kitchen and her co-editor, Dinah Lenney, present nearly eighty new selections, many of which have never been published before, having been written expressly for this anthology. Taken together, as a curated gallery of impressions and experiences, the essays in Brief Encounters exist in dialogue with each other: arguing, agreeing, contradicting, commiserating, reflecting.  Like Walt Whitman, the anthology is large and contains multitudes.  Certain themes, however, weave their way throughout the whole: the nature of family, the influence of childhood, the centrality of place, and the role of memory.  In Lynne Sharon Schwartz's "The Renaissance," for example, the author remembers her relationship with her mother, tracing her own adolescent route from intimacy to contempt.  In "The Fan," Eduardo Galeano dramatizes the communal devotions of the soccer fan.  And in "There Are Distances Between Us," Roxanne Gay considers the seemingly impossible and illogical demands of love.  What binds these and many other disparate essays together is the ways in which they enrich, color, and shade each other, the manner in which they take on new properties and dimensions when read in conjunction. Dinah Lenney is the author of The Object Parade and Bigger than Life, and, with Judith Kitchen, edited, Brief Encounters: A Collection of Contemporary Nonfiction. She serves as core faculty in the Bennington Writing Seminars and the Rainier Writing Workshop, and as the nonfiction editor at Los Angeles Review of Books.Emily Rapp Black is the author of Poster Child: A Memoir, and The Still Point of the Turning World, which was a New York Times bestseller. Her work has appeared in Salon, Slate, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, Redbook, O the Oprah Magazine, and other publications. She lives in Palm Springs and teaches in the UCR Palm Desert MFA Program in Writing and the Performing Arts.Chris Daley’s work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Review of Books, DUM DUM ZINE, and The Collagist, where “Thoughts on Time After Viewing Christian Marclay's ‘The Clock’” first appeared. She teaches academic writing at the California Institute of Technology and, as Co-Director of Writing Workshops Los Angeles, offers creative nonfiction workshops for students at all levels. Chris has a Ph.D. in English from the City University of New York Graduate Center. Amy Gerstler is a writer of poetry, nonfiction and journalism. Her book of poems include Scattered at Sea (Penguin, 2015), and Dearest Creature (Penguin, 2009) which was named a New York Times Notable Book, and was short listed for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Poetry. Her previous twelve books include Ghost Girl, Medicine, Crown of Weeds, Nerve Storm, and Bitter Angel, which won a National Book Critics Circle Award in poetry. She was the 2010 guest editor of the yearly anthology Best American Poetry. Her work has appeared in a variety of magazines and anthologies, including The New Yorker, Paris Review, American Poetry Review, Poetry several volumes of Best American Poetry and The Norton Anthology of Postmodern American Poetry. She currently teaches in the MFA Writing Program at the University of California at Irvine.Tod Goldberg is the author of a dozen books, including, most recently, Gangsterland. His nonfiction, criticism, and essays have appeared widely, including in the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and Best American Essays. He lives in Indio, CA where he directs the Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing & Writing for the Performing Arts at the University of California, Riverside. Jim Krusoe has published five novels and two books of stories, Blood Lake and Abductions. His first novel, Iceland, was published by Dalkey Archive Press in 2002. Since then, Tin House Books has published Girl Factory, Erased, Toward You,and Parsifal. Jim teaches writing at Santa Monica College as well as in Antioch's MFA Creative Writing Program. He has also published five books of poems. His latest novel, The Sleep Garden, is due out this winter from Tin House.

Gary recounts the story of Grayson Shepard, who when fishing in the Gulf of Mexico for invasive lion fish, was surprised by a Great White Shark. He somehow wasn't injured, but got some great video of the encounter. check it out on YouTube Roscoe's cultural update: They went to see a semi-staged performance of Mack & Mabel at Porchlight, featuring some gorgeous Jerry Herman songs, such as I Won't Send Roses. read more here FX is developing a 10-episode series called American Crime Story: The People vs. OJ Simpson. It's going to have an amazing cast, with Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Simpson, Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark, and David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian. cast list Our very first guest is renowned Chicago actor, Larry Neumann, Jr. He has appeared in over 75 professional productions, and in just about every theater in Chicago. Here is an amazing "representative" list. He was also part of the cast of the Goodman Production of The Iceman Cometh that traveled to B.A.M. earlier this year. Larry went to college with Gary and Roscoe, and has worked in several productions that Gary has directed. Including a stunning performance in the Walkabout production of Stuart Dybek's The Coast of Chicago at Lookingglass, adapted by Laura Eason. Larry talks about what it's meant to work in the unparalleled Chicago theatre community. And about being naked on stage. Not to be missed. More info and photos can be found on Larry's website. Kiss of Death Sally Forrest: From The Telegraph obit - "Sally Forrest, who has died aged 86, was an actress and dancer who might have languished in the MGM chorus line had she not been “discovered” by the British-born actress and director Ida Lupino." read her fascinating life story P.J. Paparelli, Artistic Director of American Theatre Company. Read this piece by Chris Jones about why PJ Paparelli mattered: PJ Paparelli Gary talks about famed New York Times obituary writer Margalit Fox, and reads from The Paris Review article about her and her work: The Art of the Obituary: An interview with Margalit Fox      

In this week's episode, I share another Miami BookFair International interview, this one with fiction writer and poet Stuart Dybek, and I also talk to the poet Denise Duhamel, plus Jim Ross writes about how Moss Hart's Act One changed his life. TEXTS DISCUSSED NOTES In Orlando, come hear me, Kimberly Lojewski, Robert Metcalf, and Tiffany Razzano read prose at There Will Be Words on January 13th. On Tuesday, January 20th, 7 P.M., Leslie Salas will lead a workshop on imagery at the Orlando Public Library, Herndon Branch On Saturday, January 24th, 11 A.M., J. Bradley will host a love poem workshop at the Orlando Public Library. On Saturday, January 24th, 7 P.M., come hear Boris Fishman read from his novel, A Replacement Life, and me read poetry at the Gallery at Avalon Island.

Stuart Dybek is the guest. He is the award-winning author of several books of fiction and poetry, including Childhood and Other Neighborhoods, The Coast of Chicago, Streets in Their Own Ink, and I Sailed With Magellan. George Saunders says "[Stuart Dybek] somehow manages to conjure up beautiful, detailed imitations of real America, and then infuse them with so much surreal truth that they read like myths or fairy tales. Like the Chicago he often writes about, his work is full of genuine sentiment, and edge, and beauty. One of the most soulful writers in America, and a national treasure." And the Chicago Tribune calls him "A magician comparable to Eudora Welty and Joy Williams." Monologue topics:  Episode 300, wondering if it means anything, writing in coffee shops, guilt.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ZZ Packer reads Stuart Dybek's "Paper Lantern," and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "Paper Lantern" was published in the November 27, 1995, issue of The New Yorker, and was reprinted in "The Best American Short Stories 1996." ZZ Packer is the author of the short-story collection "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere."

Pilsen was a diverse neighborhood in Chicago long before anybody used the word “diversity.” Stuart Dybek and Ana Castillo read poems inspired by their childhoods there.

Mary Karr and Stuart Dybek read from their own work and discuss how writing poetry relates to writing prose.

The Art Institute was surrounded by railyards when it was first built, emblematic of Chicago’s roots in industry and the arts. Stuart Dybek, Lisel Mueller, W.S. Di Piero, and others read.

I Sailed with Magellan (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) Dream and reality are side by side in Stuart Dybek's short stories--but with a twist. As the sexual dreams of his adolescent characters are shaped by reality, those characters are transformed...