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
273: Jason Croft!
On this week’s show, I catch up with Jason Croft about the continuing evolution of pin up and burly-q culture, Bunny Yeager's legacy, the awesomeness of Medusirena, writing for pulp magazines, the j…
272: Henry Hughes!
On this week’s show, I talk to the poet and memoirist Henry Hughes about how to get over rejection, poetry, the freedom of ekphrastic work, memoirs, and fishing,
Plus Todd Boss reads his poem, "One…
271: Mixtape #9 (Summer Overtime Blues)
In this week’s episode, I curate more blues music that has sustained me in this summer of working too hard.
270: The Slam Summit!
In this week’s episode, I talk with Curtis X. Meyer and Caleb Zachary Matthews about the Slam Nationals that Team Orlando will be attending, the upsides and downsides of Slam Poetry, plus they perfor…
269: A Craft Discussion of Robert Paul Lamb’s Art Matters with Vanessa Blakeslee!
In this week’s episode, I talk with Vanessa Blakeslee about Robert Paul Lamb’s Art Matters: Hemingway, Craft, and the Creation of the Modern Short Story. Five years in, TDO finally devotes a show t…
268: Kathleen Rooney!
On this week’s show, I talk to the poet and novelist Kathleen Rooney about the flaneur as geographic narrator of imaginative space, the aesthetic pleasures of walking, writing about New York City, …
267: A Discussion of Stanley Elkin's The Magic Kingdom, with Orlando author Nathan Holic!
On this week’s show, I talk to my friend Nathan Holic, who is an Orlando writer and editor of the 15 Views of Orlando anthology series. While in situ at The Contemporary Resort, we discuss the stres…
266: Shasta Grant!
On this week’s show, I talk to fiction writer, Shasta Grant, the Kerouac House resident from the spring of 2017.
NOTES
Shasta's chapbook is now available from Split Lip Press.
On June 16th, I am ho…
265: Todd Boss!
On this week’s show, I talk to Todd Boss, whose new book, Tough Luck, includes a poem sequence inspired by the disaster of the I-35W Bridge's collapse in Minneapolis, plus Malcolm Kelly reads his …
264: A Craft Discussion of Jhumpa Lahiri''s In Other Words with Vanessa Blakeslee!
In this week’s episode, I talk with Vanessa Blakeslee about Jhumpa Lahiri’s experiment in becoming an Italian writer, In Other Words.
263: Missy Barnes, Lena Barker, and Nicholas D'Allesandro!
On this week's show, I talk to Missy Barnes, Lena Barker, and Nicholas D'Allesandro about their production of Urinetown.
NOTES
Follow the Annie Russel theatre here.
Check out Episode 119 for Sam Slau…
261: Sarah Gerard!
Episode 261, I interview the prose writer Sarah Gerard about her essay collection, Sunshine State, and her novel, Binary Star.
260: Jaroslav Kalfař!
260 shows equals a fifth anniversary, I've decided, so it was a pleasure to talk to someone who was here at the very beginning. Jaroslav Kalfař was my occasional co-host to talk about craft books, du…
258: A Star Wars Roundtable!
On Episode #258, I am joined by Julian Chambliss, Dianne Turgeon Richardson, Tod Caviness, and Kevin Hutchinson to talk about Star Wars in honor of May the 4th. We talk about the questionable genius …
257: A Craft Discussion of Margaret Atwood's In Other Worlds with Vanessa Blakeslee!
In this week’s episode, I talk with Vanessa Blakeslee about Margaret Atwood's In Other Worlds and The Handmaid's Tale.
256: Getting Published in Lit Mags!
In this week’s episode, I shut up and let Ephraim Scott Sommers, Vanessa Blakeslee, and David James Poissant discuss how to get published in lit mags, plus Tiffany Fussell discusses how The Secret Ga…
255: Holly Tavel!
In this week’s episode, I talk to fiction writer Holly Tavel about the urge to experiment in fiction, the need to subvert grand narratives, and the joys of the avant-garde and children's schlock and …