The Drunken Odyssey with John King: A Podcast About the Writing Life
John King
Join author John King for eclectic interviews with writers from a variety of genres, including fiction writing, poetry, memoirs, and journalism. From literature to genre writing to the movies, all writing is up for discussion. In particular, The Drunken Odyssey features discussion of all aspects of the writing process—not just the published manuscript, pristinely presented to the entire literate world, but also the scrawled notes and tortured drafts that lead writers there. In long-form interviews, writers discuss their process and the way that writing has influenced their lives. Besides this interview, each episode also features a short memoir essay from a writer about a beloved book, plus John King responds to listener’s questions and observations about the writing (and the drinking) life.
For more information, see our website at www.thedrunkenodyssey.com.
For more information, see our website at www.thedrunkenodyssey.com.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 22, 2025 • 1h 15min
665: Jaydra Johnson!
In this week's show, John speaks with Jaydra Johnson about her new book, Low: Notes on Art and Trash, and the tensions and connections between class perception, politics, and creation of art.
Mar 16, 2025 • 39min
664: Rigoberto Gonzales & Richard Blanco!
On today’s show, I speak with the poet and editor Rigoberto Gonzales about the curation of the Library of America anthology of Latino Poetry. Then Richard Blanco reads "Como Tú," his poem that is collected in that anthology, and he and I catch up a little bit.
Mar 8, 2025 • 1h 4min
663: A Discussion of Bill Knott's Corpse and Beans, with Rachael Tillman.
0On #633, Rachael Tillman and I discuss the surreal paradoxes and sullen joys of Bill Knott's debut collection of poetry, The Naomi Poems: Corpse and Beans, which was recently reprinted by Black Ocean Press.
Mar 1, 2025 • 1h 1min
662: Rufi Thorpe & Susan Minot (Interviewed by Samantha Nickerson)
On today’s episode, Samantha Nickerson speaks with fiction writer Rufi Thorpe about her striking novel Margo's Got Money Problems. In this episode, you learn about more than just Margo's money problems. Samantha and Rufi discuss Only Fans, wrestling, creating characters, and motherhood’s thorny identity. Samantha then speaks to Susan My-Nutt about erotic obsession, alienation, hyper-thinking, and the presentation of dialogue without quotation marks as they appear in her new novel, Don’t Be a Stranger.
Feb 22, 2025 • 1h 12min
661: Kathy Fish!
In this episode, John interviews the notable flash fiction writer Kathy Fish about the anxious nuances of that medium and genre. Is flash fiction just a very short story, with all the rules of fiction at work? Or is flash fiction a less traditional, immersive fictional happening that takes somewhere between the length of a flash of lightning and the length of time needed to smoke a cigarette? The complicated answer is yes and yes in this delightful conversation recorded at The Kerouac Project of Orlando.
Feb 15, 2025 • 55min
660: A Discussion About John D. MacDonald, with Andrew Gulli and Maynard MacDonald
In this episode, John discusses the career of crime novelist John D. MacDonald (1916-1986) in light of a new posthumous short story, “The Accomplice.” In this interview, John speaks with with Andrew Gulli, editor of The Strand Magazineabout the rigors and ethos of editing and publishing and MacDonald’s son and literary executor Maynard about propagating a great writer’s legacy without compromising that writer’s standards despite the lucrative promise of a classic literary character like Travis McGee.
Feb 8, 2025 • 1h 2min
659: Duy Đoàn!
In 659, John talks to poet Duy Đoàn about his latest collection, Zombie Vomit Mad Libs, the poetic provocations of horror films, and experimenting with erasure and fragmentation.
Feb 1, 2025 • 1h 20min
Replay: Episode 99: Kseniya Melnik (2014)!
In this week’s replay episode, John talks with fellow classmate, the fiction writer Kseniya Melnik.
Jan 25, 2025 • 1h 6min
658: Denise Duhamel!
In this week's show, John talks to the delightful poet Denise Duhamel about the nuts and bolts of poetry, the construction of themed collections, Barbie, and other matters of literary interest.
Jan 19, 2025 • 1h 14min
657: Daniel Handler, Griffin Dunne, and Ridley Pearson!
This week’s show collects three interviews with prose writers Daniel Handler, Griffin Dunne, and Ridley Pearson in joyful, fun conversations conducted last November at Miami Book Fair.
