Book Fight

This modernist classic was a listener pick, and also kind of gross. We talk about unlikeable narrators, depravity, stabbing women with forks, and the Spanish Revolution. In our second segment we consider how a writing instructor should respond to unsettling student work, and how to give students creative freedom while respecting the sensitivities of others in the workshop.

Tom talks to fan favorite Katherine Hill, author of The Violet Hour, about AWP burnout, getting old, kissing, dogs, creepy dudes, and confrontational panels.

Mike gives updates from Philly on what he's doing while not attending AWP, and talks to Lee Klein, author of Thanks and Sorry and Good Luck, about Austrian authors and The Silver Linings Playbook.

Tom talks with writer (and longtime friend of Barrelhouse) Erin Fitzgerald about flash fiction, fanfic, and unlikeable characters.

Tom talks with Hobart editor Aaron Burch, for some reason.

Tom reports from the floor of the AWP conference in Seattle. He talks to Tom Williams, author of Don't Start Me Talkin', about conference-goers' book buying habits, and his favorite parts of AWP. Also, Barrelhouse editor Dave Housley joins in to talk slam poetry vs. spoken word, and attending panels vs not attending panels.

Welcome to the first of our AWP 2014 special reports. Well, not "our," since Mike is still in Philly. Tom chats with Barrelhouse editor Joe Killiany about the best and worst parts of AWP, travel woes, Sherman Alexie, William Faulkner, and beard maintenance.

On this week's episode we discuss a recent essay in the Chronicle of Higher Education--"How Iowa Flattened Literature," by Workshop grad Eric Bennet--and whether we agree with the various charges it levels against Iowa specifically and the project of teaching creative writing more generally. We also answer a listener question about how to select the journals to which you submit your work, and whether there are special considerations for as-yet-unpublished writers.

Another listener pick: the 1958 novel that would become the first James Bond movie only four years later. We discuss the book's imperialist politics, Fleming's choice to employ dialect for the Jamaican characters, and "the mound of Venus." In the second half of the show we debut a new feature, Fan Fiction Corner, in which we delve deeply into the world of James Bond slash-fic and Tom gets kinda grossed out.

This week we're tackling another question about copyright, piracy, and digital publishing. Specifically: How do libraries fit into the mix? We also talk about the effects both self-publishing and indie publishing are having on the major publishers, we read a couple more Lee Klein rejections, and Mike is asked to explain his love of the movie Pitch Perfect.