Benjamin Niespodziany [Host: Michael Wheaton]

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Michael Wheaton interviews Benjamin Niespodziany.

Benjamin Niespodziany is the author of the poetry collection No Farther Than the End of the Street  (Okay Donkey Press), the novella in one act plays Cardboard Clouds (X-R-A-Y), and two chapbooks. His work has been featured in Fence, Crazyhorse, Fairy Tale Review, Salt Hill, and other journals. He also runs the record label and blog Neon Pajamas.

Michael Wheaton is the publisher of Autofocus Books and producer of this podcast.

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PART ONE, topics include:

-- music and music marketing in Chicago

-- his instrumental label Neon Pajamas

-- writing about music in the Sound Cloud era

-- growing up as a listener and a reader

-- a special interest in concept albums

-- moving from journalism to poetry and flash

-- working at a library after time in the Peace Corps

-- starting to write more and publish poetry and flash

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PART TWO, topics include:

-- the novella in one-act-plays Cardboard Clouds

-- language as performance and boxing yourself in

-- influential books for the stage play format

-- a circus-like aesthetic

-- sound being everything

-- his first poetry collection No Farther Than the End of the Street

-- writing autobiographically without writing autobiographically

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PART THREE , topics include:

-- writing from first and second vs third person

-- books as concept albums

-- publishing his books with presses associated with favorite journals

-- accumulating writing after finding obsessions

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Podcast theme music provided by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex. Here's more of his project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.

The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.