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Podcast Archive
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Episode 22 (13 April 2025) — We talk about various writing-related topics, like AWP Los Angeles, the importance of letting creative work develop organically, using Kickstarter and other fundraising sites to support one’s publishing projects. The featured short story is “Vivarium” by Ashley Wurzbacher, published in Southern Humanities Review (57.4). (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Episode 21 (30 March 2025) — We discuss the technology needed to make video and audio productions; the value of using experimental techniques in one’s creative work; the importance of following writers’ guidelines; and other related topics. The featured story is “Some Specifics about Thirty-three Years of Existence, by J.N.” by Michael Aliprandini, published in Columbia Journal (58). (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Episode 20 (16 February 2025) — The co-hosts discuss their favorite novels and novelists; the importance of historical accuracy when writing fiction; how projects have a tendency to become larger and more complex than when first conceived; and other writing-related topics. The featured story is “Lost Cat” by Mark Brazaitis, published in Pembroke Magazine. (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Episode 19 (13 January 2025) — Among the topics covered are who is reading and writing fiction nowadays (and who ought to be); ethical issues surrounding the use of AI to create narratives; and how tightly structured a short story should be. The featured story is “My Left Hand, Unholy” by Sanjana Thakur, published in Michigan Quarterly Review. (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Bonus Episode 4 (25 December 2024) — Co-host Ted Morrissey delivered remotely the lecture “Psychoanalytic Criticism and the Creative Writer” to students and faculty at the University of Modern Languages in Islamabad, Pakistan, Nov. 19, 2024. He was asked to speak as both a psychoanalytic critic and as a writer of novels and short stories. The lecture and Q&A were not recorded live in their entirety, so Ted has subsequently recorded his lecture as a bonus episode. (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Episode 18 (19 December 2024) — Topics include the final stages of bringing a book through the press to completion; the importance of a book’s cover design working in harmony with the subject of the book; how writers may commit to their writing process in various productive ways; and how to write an effective author bio. The featured story is “Wild and Strong and Completely Fearless” by Sally DeWind, published in Bennington Review. (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Episode 17 (21 November 2024) — Among the topics discussed are the role of the unconscious mind in creating narrative texts; how to go about finding places to send one’s work; the positive effects of having work accepted for publication; and the inevitability of readers interpreting pieces in ways that the writer didn’t have in mind. The featured story is “The Girl Goes Missing” by Courtney Craggett, published in Booth. (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Episode 16 (17 October 2024) — In this Halloween-themed episode a range of writing-related issues is discussed, including working out the sequencing of pieces in a collection of stories, poems, etc.; how best to use allusions depending on the protagonist/author relationship; why we’re often drawn to sympathize with the monster in a work of horror; our deep-seated fear of Gothic spaces; and more. The featured story is “Yellow Rock” by Jo Gatford, published in The Fiction Desk‘s New Ghost Stories IV anthology. (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Bonus Episode 3 (2 October 2024) — Co-host Ted Morrissey did a reading at Lincoln Land Community College as part of LitFest 2024. He read an excerpt from his translation-in-progress of the Old English poem Beowulf. His version is titled “On the Whale Road: A New & True Translation of the Poem Known as ‘Beowulf.'” In addition to the reading itself, he briefly discusses the poem and his longstanding interest in it. (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Episode 15 (26 September 2024) — Topics include aspects of live theater, options for presenting material to an audience, and the line between fiction and nonfiction. The featured story is “Little Miss Charlevoix” by Thomas Heise, published in SAND Journal. (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Episode 14 (15 August 2024) — We discuss the relationship between the manuscript page and the printed page, experimental techniques, incorporating graphic elements with text, and other writing-related topics. The featured story is “Night Watch” by Mathew Goldberg, published in Boulevard. (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Episode 13 (23 July 2024) — In our one-year anniversary episode we discuss the fine line between fiction and nonfiction; the need for experience to incubate before being turned into fiction; the many permutations of revisionist storytelling; and other writing-related topics. The featured story is “The Looking Glass of Arthur Gordon Pym” by Frank Meola, published in Azure. (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Episode 12 (25 June 2024) — We discuss having more ideas for projects than one has time to write, and how does one decide which project to focus on; the importance of mastering the short story before attempting to write a novel; the changing marketplace for publishing fiction; unconscious influences; and more. The featured story is “Double First Cousins” by Jean Ross Justice (1924-2016), part of The Unsung Masters Series (edited by Ryan Bollenbach and Kevin Prufer). (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Episode 11 (20 May 2024) — We talk about the importance of validation for a writer; who writers imagine their audience to be; editorial practices; and the challenges to establishing a wide readership, among other topics. The featured story is “The Green Coat” by Richard Mirabella, published in Story. (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Episode 10 (16 April 2024) — We discuss the differences between reading a text and hearing it vocalized by the author; the enjoyment of giving live readings; the challenges of writing flash fiction; as well as other topics. The featured story is the flash piece “And the Academy Award Goes to … Eileen Chuntza” by Simon Lowe, published by EX/POST Magazine. (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Bonus Episode 2 (27 March 2024) — This bonus episode is the book launch for the novel The Strophes of Job by podcast co-host Ted Morrissey. The Strophes of Job is a prequel to Crowsong for the Stricken (winner of an International Book Award and an American Fiction Award, as well as a Kirkus Reviews Best Indie Book of 2017). In addition to discussing the background of the new novel, the author reads Strophe III, “The Falseness of Prophecy,” originally published by The Whisky Blot. Visit tedmorrissey.com for further information. (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Episode 9 (21 March 2024) — We talk about writers’ need to make themselves vulnerable for the sake of their art; when and why to break narrative “rules”; and the advantages of employing free indirect discourse. The featured story is “Bear Hunting” by Brekan Blakeslee, published in SAND journal. (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Bonus Episode 1 (13 March 2024) — In this bonus episode, Twelve Winters hosts a reading by J. D. Schraffenberger and Grant Tracey. Jeremy reads from his chapbook of poems American Sad (Main St. Rag), and Grant reads from his Hayden Fuller Mystery Neon Kiss (Twelve Winters). There is a Q&A afterward. (YouTube — Spotify — Apple)
Episode 8 (28 February 2024) — In our February 2024 installment of the podcast, we discuss the AWP Conference in Kansas City; the Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture; the changing nature of literary production and scholarship, including because of AI; and blending real historical and autobiographical details with fictional material. The featured story is “Isesu, Nice to Asses You. Ha-Ha!” by Allie Zenwirth, published in Bennington Review. (YouTube – Spotify – Apple)
Episode 7 (11 January 2024) — We discuss the importance of letting a project develop of its own accord; the layering of narrative elements; effective character description; as well as other writing-related topics. The featured story is “Radio Sky” by Bryn Chancellor, published in Ecotone. (YouTube – Spotify – Apple)
Episode 6 (7 December 2023) — We talk about the visual representation of text on a printed page, the writing workshop experience (both for teachers and students), and how trauma affects the creative process. The featured work is “Once Again I Fall into My Family Grave,” a prose poem by Sophia Stid, winner of the 2021 Barthelme Prize, published in Gulf Coast. (YouTube – Spotify – Apple)
Episode 5 (30 November 2023) — We discuss factors that affect whether a piece of writing is selected for publication or not; the need to develop a “rhino hide” given the vicissitudes of the writing life; and why some authors remain popular while others fall out of favor. The featured story is “Mythology” by Chi Siegel, published in New Ohio Review. (YouTube – Spotify – Apple)
Episode 4 (12 October 2023) — This episode is Halloween-themed, so we discuss Gothic literature and modern takes on the classic tropes, like the haunted house, both in books and film. We mention works by Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King, Toni Morrison, and others. Our featured story is “The Man Who Could Summon Ocean White Fish” by Michael Loyd Gray, published in The Waiting Room journal from Nervous Ghost Press. (YouTube – Spotify – Apple)
Episode 3 (15 September 2023) — We talk about theme and meaning in fiction, cultural influence on narrative conventions, and the editorial process when selecting material to publish. The featured story is “Romance Language” by Lacy Arnett Mayberry, recently published in Boulevard. (YouTube – Spotify – Apple)
Episode 2 (24 August 2023) — We focus on authorial identity, including an author’s online presence through websites and social media. The featured story that we discuss is “Tears, or It Doesn’t Count” by Quinn Forlini, recently published in Sycamore Review. (YouTube – Spotify – Apple)
Episode 1 (17 July 2023) — We discuss the importance of setting in storytelling, and the literary significance of the short story form. The featured story that we discuss is “Runaway Nation” by Laura Schmitt, recently published in Nimrod International Journal. (YouTube – Spotify – Apple)
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