The Drunken Odyssey with John King: A Podcast About the Writing Life
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.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 71 minutes
- Episodes
- 694
- Years Active
- 2012 - 2025
434: Nick Flynn!
Episode 434 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if…
433: Darin Strauss!
Darin Strauss and I discuss the utility of outlines, the utility of abandoning outlines, love, pain, stream-of-consciousness, love, Lucille Ball, Fred Trump, Coney Island, the semiotic intimacy of te…
432: Kyle Eagle!
This week, I talk to podcaster Kyle Eagle about music and everything.
431: TDO After Dark #1 with Vanessa Blakeslee
In this week's show, Vanessa Blakeslee and I discuss two online pieces on the subject of sex writing, and the conversation roves from there.
430: Jared Silvia!
In this week’s show, I talk to writer, musician, and producer Jared Silvia about the connections between music and writing, the history of synth-pop, and the role of randomness and patterns to exp…
429: Lindsay Ellis!
Photo by Emily VanDerWerf.
In this week’s show, I talk to novelist and video essayist Lindsay Ellis about science fiction; the structure of novels; exploring character interiority; alien invasion nar…
428: David James Poissant
In this week’s show, I talk to my friend David James Poissant about novel-writing, sex scenes, The X-Men, graphic art, focus, and many other things.
This episode is sponsored by the excellent people …
427: Bruce Janz!
In this week’s show, I talk to my friend, the philosopher Bruce Janz, about how to calm our monkey brains in the time of the pandemic, and what the pandemic can teach us about life before the pandemi…
426: Scott Hoffman!
In this week's show, I talk to my friend, the historian Scott Hoffman, about the evolution of Purdue's Outfest, Chicago Pride, Austin Pride, Queerbomb, Orlando pride, respectability politics, and …
425: Mixtape 13: Tender Ballads for Subhuman Lovers (2005)
NOTES
This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.
TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account,…
424: Ronan Ryan!
Photo by David Whitaker.
In this week's show, I talk to novelist Ronan Ryan about the dramatic uses of gallows humor, how loss teaches us about our priorities, how elusive reality is, and how to matc…
423: Protest (Interview with Alexander Pate)
This week, my intern, Alexander Pate, and I discuss the Salisbury, NC protests that he has participated in, and discuss this point in history.
Heavy activity around a confederate statue with an angel…
422: Discussion of Scott Pilgrim, with Michael Merriam!
Episode 422 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if…
421: Didier Ghez!
This week I talk with Disney historian Didier Ghez about the joys of research and forging one's own path as a historian.
420: Tom Papa!
This week I talk with comedian, actor, sourdough aficionado, and essay writer, Tom Papa!
TEXTS DISCUSSED
419: Mike Oronato!
On this week's show, I speak with Mike Onorato, Vice President of Publicity at Smith Publicity, about how publicity works behind the scenes for writers, and how COVID-19 is affecting the books bus…
418: A Discussion of Joseph Campbell's Hero with 1,000 Faces
Vanessa Blakeslee and I discuss the classic of comparative mythology, Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces. While this is a work of scholarship not directly intended for creative write…
417: Jason Z. Morris!
This week I talk with the novelist Jason Z. Morris about structuring a novel, learning the confidence to write a novel, how the peer review process in science helps in receiving creative writing crit…
416: Kimiko Hahn!
This week I talk with the poet Kimiko Hahn about the mysteriousness of objects, the mourning involved in memory, the strange penchant of Dr. Chevalier Quixote Jackson, and discovering the scheme of a…
415: Emily Brandt!
This week I talk with poet EmilyBrandtabout her new book Falsehood by After Hours Press. We delve into her personal connection with the poems and her growth from taking a poetry class as a one-off to…