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
233: A Craft Discussion About David Foster Wallace’s E Unibus Plurim: Television and U.S. Fiction with Vanessa Blakeslee!
In this week’s episode, I talk with Vanessa Blakeslee about David Foster Wallace’s “E Unibus Plurim: Television and U.S. Fiction.”
TEXTS DISCUSSED
Read David Foster Wallace’s 1993 essay “E Unibus P…
231: Craig Pittman!
In this week’s episode, I talk to the journalist and nonfiction writer, Craig Pittman.
TEXTS DISCUSSED
NOTES
- On November 8th, come hear me, Gelndaliz Camacho, Rachel Kolman, and Whitney Hamrick …
228: HP Lovecraft readings
On this week’s show, I present a quartet of readings from HP Lovecraft: "The Beast in the Cave," "The Tree," "Beyond the Wall of Sleep," and "From Beyond." Our readers are Chris Booth,
Elise McKenn…
227: HP Lovecraft Roundtable!
In this week’s episode, I and my inestimable guests have a fine conversation about Lovecraft and his bizarre tales and his rather strange life and his exceptionally unfortunate opinions
The participa…
224: Another Craft Discussion About Virgina Woolf with Vanessa Blakeslee!
In this week’s episode, I talk with Vanessa Blakeslee about Virginia Woolf’s "Modern Fiction" and "Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown,"
plus Mingzhao Xu writes about Diana Gabaldon's Outlanders series chang…
223: Vu Tran!
In this week’s episode, I talk to the novelist Vu Tran about the appeal of detective fiction, the importance of literary substance over style, the problem with femme fatale characters, the Iowa MFA e…
222: Ryler Dustin!
In this week’s episode, I talk to the poet and novelist Ryler Dustin near the end of his residency at the Kerouac House in Orlando, after a weeklong tour of weddings.
We speak about the horrors of w…
Episode 221: There Will Be Fan Fiction 2!
In this week’s episode, I share There Will Be Fan Fiction 2, a special edition of Jesse Bradley’s prose reading series, There Will Be Words.
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Episode 220: Sam Slaughter!
In this week’s episode, I talk to my friend, fiction writer Sam Slaughter, who I met back in 2014, when he wrote a little something about Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son for the show. We talk about his sh…
Episode 218: Todd James Pierce!
In this week’s episode, I talk to historian and creative writer Todd James Pierce,
plus Heather Whited reads her essay, "The General."
NOTE
Check out the Disney History Institute.…
Episode 217: A Discussion Of Charles Bukowski's On Writing, with Vanessa Blakeslee!
In this week’s episode, I talk with Vanessa Blakeslee about On Writing, a book of selections from Charles Bukowski's letters,
plus poet Henry Hughes writes me a letter about his own correspondence w…
Episode 216: J. Bradley
In this week’s episode, I talk to J. Bradley about his new novel, Jesus Christ, Boy Detective,
plus Tom McAllister reads his essay, "A Brief History of World Travel, Part 6."
TEXTS DISCUSSED
NOTES
…
Episode 215: Lisa Wolpe!
In this week's episode, I interview actor and author Lisa Wolpe about her one woman show, Shakespeare and the Alchemy of Gender, plus Mistie Watkins reads her essay "Why I Write."