The Drunken Odyssey with John King: A Podcast About the Writing Life

Hosted ByJohn King

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.


All Episodes

653: Dobby Gibson, interviewed by Chrissy Kolaya!

On this week’s show  talks to about his latest poetry volume, Hold Everything, now out with Graywolf Press.

652: Jonathan Lethem!

In this week’s show, John speaks with Jonathan Lethem about the pull of Brooklyn and obsession, the craft of guiding the reader through unusual storytelling, and bold balancing acts as storytellers.

651: The Drunken Odyssey Takes Over Loose Lips for December 2024!

This episode features a Drunken Odyssey takeover of Orlando’s longest-running, and also only, current-events inspired reading series.

650: C. Michelle Lindley!

In this week’s show, John speaks with debut novelist C. Michelle Lindley’s, whose The Nude is a page-turning literary meditation on the madness of the commerce of art and labor and relationships and all sorts of things.

649: Ezza Ahmed!

On #649, John speaks with recent writer-in-residence at the Kerouac Project of Orlando, the poet Ezza Ahmed.

648: Yuval Sharon!

In this week’s show, John talks to opera director Yuval Sharon about the past and perhaps future rebirths of opera, while advocating for the relevance of this provocative art form. Yuval’s new book, A New Philosophy of Opera, is lucid, persuasive,…

647: Billy Collins!

On this week’s show, John King talks to the two-time former poet laureate Billy Collins about his latest collection, Water, Water, and how, if the window doesn’t open up for the composition of poetry, once should strive to find a trampoline in the…

646: Charles Bock!

On #646, John talks to Charles Bock about his extraordinary new memoir, how to make grief readable, the everyday struggles of writing and publishing, and the sacred perfection of the film of The Princess Bride.

645: Schloctoberfest 2024 #4

On #645, Jeff Shuster and John King delve into two miraculously trashy John Waters films from the 1970s, Pink Flamingos (1972) and Desperate Living (1977), to cap off our annual Schloctoberfesting.

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