Doggerel Diaries: Ben & Matthew's Literature Program
Ben and Matthew are American writers from Sharkey, KY and Albuquerque, NM, respectively, who live in Germany and talk about fiction, the writing and publishing process, and art and culture in general. Sometimes they get overly excited (in a positive sense), sometimes they are on the attack. Though, hopefully, they are more often than not insightful.
Shannon Sanders Interview
Ben and Matthew speak with writer Shannon Sanders. Shannon is the author of Company, a short story collection that came out in October of last year. Apart from her new book, the conversation hits on the writing process, character connections and literary worlds in collections and the dynamics of being a host and being a guest. Plus, at the end Matthew and Ben pick their favorite stories in the collection.Â
Winter Reading and Resolutions
After hibernating all January and most of February, Ben and Matthew return with winter reading recommendations and writing resolutions for the new year.
Top Five Little Lit Mags
In this episode, Ben and Matthew each list five small literary magazines that they're reading right now.Â
The Alchemy of Collections
What makes a good collection of short stories? If it's a connection, what is that connection and how does it bind the individual pieces? Should they even be connected at all though? Ben and Matthew take apart the great short story collection in this Halloween episode, ending, or maybe arriving, at an experimental jumping-off point. This one may need a second round ...
Martha Anne Toll Interview
Last fall, Martha Anne Toll published the novel Three Muses, which won the Petrichor Prize and was a finalist in the Gotham Book Prize; you can also read her reviews on NPR, The Washington Post and many other outlets. This fall, we the opportunity to speak to her about her novels, her short stories, how she wrote them, how some writers lean toward novels, others toward short stories, and a lot more.
Writing Conferences, Language Gripes and Where You at, Kentucky?!!
Whether you think they're fun, supportive retreats perfect for honing your craft or just naked careerism, awkwardness and the commoditization of art , writing conferences are a fundament of modern writing. We discuss how to get in, why they help and also why they hurt and go into a few personal experiences. Plus, writing gripes, what we're listening to and Ben's mad at his home state of Kentucky.
Character Draft
Ben and Matthew select 10 characters from stories covered on the podcast, then take turns picking them in a character draft. Whose team has more literary clout? Which one would win on a basketball court? Below are the characters, although not in the order they were drafted.
Enid from Alice Munro’s “Love of a Good Woman”Billie in Dantiel Moniz’s “Necessary Bodies”Narrator in Roberto Bolano’s “Sensini”Eric from Jamel Brinkley’s “Everything the Mouth Eats”Narrator in Thom Jones’s “The Pugilist at Rest”Tar Cutler in Chris Offutt’s “Old of the Moon”Woodrow L. Cunningham in Edward P. Jones’s “...Surprise 2! What Are You Working On?
Writing's always about that next big project. This time Ben and Matthew ask each other about what they're working on next. In the process, they discuss what ties literary worlds together, encounter Trojan horses and ask if narrators are always wiser than their portrayals of their younger selves?
Surprise! Favorite Travel Books
In this episode, Matthew comes with a surprise topic: favorite travel books. He and Ben then discuss their favorite travel books, what it's like coming home when living abroad and how valuable Orwell's rules of writing are.
In Albuquerque
Matthew's back home in Albuquerque, so we talked about "Nemecia" by fellow New Mexican Kirstin Valdez Quade, and took a dive into the 505 (Albuquerque): what is it like returning home and does that affect what you write about?
