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
630: Juli Min, interviewed by Samantha Nickerson!
On this week's show, Samantha Nickerson talks to Juli Min about reverse-chronology narratives and the captivation of surprises in following characters over decades.
629: Li-Young Lee (interviewed by Chrissy Kolaya)!
On this week’s show Chrissy Kolaya talks to Li-Young Lee about his latest collection of poems, The Invention of the Darling. Together they explore the rooms of poetry, the systems of the human imagin…
628: Kent Wascom!
On this week’s show, John King talks to the novelist Kent Wascom about the continuation of the Woolsack legacy in his new novel, The Great State of West Florida. We discuss the vibrantly chaos of Flo…
627: David McLoghlin!
On this week’s show, Johnj talk to the poet David McLoghlin about his newest collection of poems, Crash Centre, and history, religion, rugby, boarding school, trauma, and exiting the comforts of meta…
626: Ian Patterson, interviewed by Chelsea Alice (Redux)!
Chelsea Alice interviewed Ian Patterson back on episode 589, but they had much more to talk about, so here is another round of frank, literary conversation, this time about translating Charles Fourie…
625: Daniel Handler!
In this week’s show, John talks with Daniel Handler about the absurd fun of stress-testing reality, the joys of listening to Sun Ra & Prince, the efficacy of writing on ordinary writing pads, and the…
624: Ann Hood!
After discussing World War I with Michael Korda on episode 622, this week I speak with Ann Hood about her newest novel, The Stolen Child, which features a storyline about artists during World War I. …
Replay: Episode 278 with Brittany Perham
Thanks to Brian Salmons for bumpering this replay episode.
623: Nicholson Baker!
In this week’s show, John talks with Nicholson Baker about the potential sorrows of writing, the drive to discover joy, and the need to explore other creative endeavors besides writing.
622: Michael Korda!
In this week’s show, John talks with prose writer Michael Korda about telling the historical stories of the poets of World War I.
621: Tyler Mills!
In this week’s show, John talks with Tyler Mills about her extraordinary multimedia memoir, a poetic people’s history of America’s secretive relationship to the atomic bomb.
620: A Discussion of Asteroid City, with Jared Silvia!
In this week’s show, John talks with Jared Silvia about the 2023 film, Asteroid City, and look at how Wes Anderson and co-writer Roman Coppola counterbalances surges of emotion with layers of artific…
619: Jessie Ren Marshall!
In this week’s show, John talks with Jessie Red Marshall about her extraordinary short story collection, Women! In! Peril! The topics discussed include how story collections are like mixtapes, how th…
618: A Book Discussion of Kenneth Patchen's Memoirs of a Shy Pornographer, with Nick Georgoudiou!
In this week’s show, John and Nick Georgoudiou discuss Kenneth Patchen's surreal postmodern novel, Memoirs of a Shy Pornographer, before a small crowd gathered at the Kerouac Project of Orlando.
617: Marie Mutsuki Mockett!
In this week’s show, John talks to Marie Mutsuki Mockett about her exquisite new novel, The Tree Doctor, which leads us to the topics of Japanese literature, The Tale of Genji, and how the ancient wo…
616: A Book Discussion of George Saunders's A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, with Rachael Tillman!
On today's show, Rachael and I discuss George Saunders's discussion of seven short stories by Russian authors. Since Saunders's book is the result of teaching these stories in MFA craft courses over …
615: Diane Seuss!
This ep. features a conversation with Pulitzer prize-winning poet Diane Seuss about her latest book of verse, Modern Poetry. With bursts of internal rhyme about thorny subjects, Modern Poetry awaits …
Replay: Episode 570 with Kathleen Rooney
Thanks to Brian Salmons for bumpering this replay episode.
614: Celeste Ng & Ben Fountain, interviewed by Samantha Nickerson!
On today’s show, Samantha Nickerson interviews the fiction writers Celeste Ng and Ben Fountain!
613: Jamel Brinkley and M. Evelina Galang!
On #613, Chelsea Alice speaks with Jamel Brinkley about his new short story collection Witness, plus John King speaks with M. Evelina Galang about her new short story collection, When the Hibiscus Fa…