Tk With James Scott

In our first episode recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference in the summer of 2022, Alexander Chee (How to Write an Autobiographical Novel) talks to James about his career, being the most photographed author in history, the late Randall Kenan, and Courtney Love. Plus legendary editor and founder and President of Words Without Borders, Alane Mason.  Apply to the Sewanee Writers' Conference by March 15!  Buy Alexander Chee's books!  Buy Black Folk Could Fly: Selected Writings by Randall Kenan!  Check out Words Without Borders! Check out Bea Troxel's music!  Produced/ Mixed by Ryan Shea.  Subscribe! Rate! Enjoy!  Instagram: tkwithjs  Twitter: @JamesScottTK tk with js at g mail dot com 

In our fourth and final episode recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference in the summer of 2021, Elena Passarello (Animals Strike Curious Poses) tells James about sleeping in Elvis's teenage bedroom, getting advice from long-haul truckers, and having screams sent to her. Plus the legendary Mary Flinn of Blackbird.  Apply to the Sewanee Writers' Conference by March 15!  Buy Elena's books!  Check out Blackbird!  Check out Bea Troxel's music!  Produced/ Mixed by Ryan Shea.  Subscribe! Rate! Enjoy!  Instagram: tkwithjs  Twitter: @JamesScottTK tk with js at g mail dot com   

Only the great Carl Phillips could warrant an episode all to himself. Recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference in 2021, James and Carl discuss assembling a collection, enjoying feeling lost, letting go of the argument, and putting a wedge between yourself and the unbearable.  Sewanee Writers' Conference 2022 Applications due March 15!  Buy Carl's books at indie bookstores.   Music courtesy of Bea Troxel.  Produced/ Mixed by Ryan Shea.  Insta: tkwithjs / Tw: @JamesScottTK / https://tkpod.com

The third summer of conversations recorded at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference (2021) continues with M.O. Walsh (The Big Door Prize), who gives a writing tip James has used ever since, then chats about writing a novel you like, being under the influence of John Prine, and writing one of the greatest cocktail scenes ever. Plus, independent editor and member of the collective 5E Editors, Liz Van Hoose.      Sewanee Writers' Conference 2022 Applications due March 15!  Buy M.O. Walsh's books.  Work with Liz Van Hoose or 5E Editors.  Music courtesy of Bea Troxel.  Produced/ Mixed by Ryan Shea.  Insta: tkwithjs / Tw: @JamesScottTK / https://tkpod.com

The third summer of conversations recorded at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference (2021) opens with the brilliance of Katie Kitamura (Intimacies, A Separation), who talks to James about pushing back on expectations, writing things you don't think you can, having your best reader in your own house, and the ghosts of edits past. Plus, the also brilliant author (The Office of Historical Corrections) and The Sewanee Review Editor-at-Large Danielle Evans.      Sewanee Writers' Conference 2022 Applications due March 15!  Subscribe to The Sewanee Review.  Buy Katie and Danielle's books from independent booksellers.  Music courtesy of Bea Troxel.  Produced/ Mixed by Ryan Shea.  Insta: tkwithjs / Tw: @JamesScottTK / https://tkpod.com

The second summer of conversations recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference continues with playwright Rachel Bonds, who tells James about finding her voice in a one-act, using jealousy as a job coach, being on the writing treadmill, and recognizing the struggles of those close to us. Plus, actor and Performing Prose co-founder Sean McIntyre.      http://www.sewaneewriters.org/ 2020 Applications due March 15! - Rachel Bonds   Rachel and James discuss:  Olivier Sultan (agent)  St. Andrew's-Sewanee School  Lisa D'Amour  Barack Obama  James Agee  George Saunders  Jennifer Egan  Kevin Wilson  - Sean McIntyre: https://www.performingprose.com/ Sean and James discuss:  THE SOPRANOS  Drew Barrymore  Middlebury College  Steve Yarbrough  Jim Shepard  ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare  THE SIMPSONS  LES MISERABLES music by Claude-Monet Schonberg "Master of the House"  Emily Nemens  Tim O'Brien  SEINFELD  BREAKING BAD  THE GOAT, OR WHO IS SYLVIA by Edward Albee  Dan O'Brien  Marilyn Nelson  SLINGS AND ARROWS  Kea

The second summer of conversations recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference continues with Tim O'Brien, who tells James about winning the National Book Award, writing THE THINGS THEY CARRIED while on a break from another book, not leaving a sentence until it's finished, being a father, knowing death, and recognizing the maybeness of it all. Plus, Missouri Review editor Speer Morgan.      http://www.sewaneewriters.org/ 2020 Applications due March 15! - Tim O'Brien  Buy Tim's books: Buy Tim O'Brien's Books From Independent Booksellers Tim and James discuss:  Sewanee Writers' Conference  Dan O'Brien  Christine Schutt  THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP by John Irving  THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER by John Cheever  Lizzie Borden  Jack the Ripper  "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor  "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" by Joyce Carol Oates  WAR AND PEACE by Leo Tolstoy  THE BIBLE  BILLY BUDD, SAILOR by Herman Melville  Wyatt Prunty  Emily Nemens  Ernest Hemingway  - Speer Morgan: https://www.missou

The second summer of conversations recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference begins with James speaking with Marilyn Nelson, who has written poetry in many forms and for many audiences. Marilyn tells James about her fears of being pigeonholed as well as her love of musicality, embodying voices, and finding a way forward. Plus, Copper Canyon Executive Editor Michael Wiegers.      - Marilyn Nelson: https://marilyn-nelson.com/ Buy Marilyn's books: Shop your local indie bookstore for Marilyn Nelson Marilyn and James discuss:  Andrea Davis Pinkney Igor Stravinsky  Maurice Manning  Wyatt Prunty Childcraft Books  Sara Teasdale  Gwendolyn Brooks  Linda Ronstadt "Songs for My Father"  Norton's Anthology of Children's Literature  Stephen Roxburgh Front Street Publishing Augusta Savage  - Michael Wiegers: https://www.coppercanyonpress.org/authors/michael-wiegers/ Copper Canyon Press: https://www.coppercanyonpress.org/ Michael and James discuss:  The New York Times  Goodreads  Amazon Michiko Kakutani  Ocean Vuong  RAIL

Kevin Wilson's fifth book, the novel NOTHING TO SEE HERE, is a perfect combination of everything that made his previous work so singular: the humor and edge of THE FAMILY FANG, the intensity of his short fiction, and the heart and earnestness of PERFECT LITTLE WORLD. He and James talk depicting basketball, writing being fun and versatile, keeping it short, and lacking a radar for weirdness. Plus, Ecco executive editor Zachary Wagman.   - Kevin Wilson: https://www.wilsonkevin.com/ Buy NOTHING TO SEE HERE: Buy NOTHING TO SEE HERE Kevin's work mentioned: "Blowing up on the Spot", PERFECT LITTLE WORLD, TUNNELING TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, THE FAMILY FANG, Buzzfeed essay: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kevinwilson/i-cant-save-my-son-from-the-anxiety-ive-passed-on-to-him.  Kevin and James discuss:  PLOUGHSHARES  Laura van den Berg  Lee Boudreaux  Harry Potter  The Southern Voices Festival  "A to B" from A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan  Caki Wilkinson  Latina Davis  Kim Woodley  Grundy County 

Calvin Hennick jokingly calls his memoir, ONCE MORE TO THE RODEO, "every thought I've ever had," and the book touches on fatherhood, manhood, race, family, alcohol, baseball, and countless other topics, all considered on a road trip to his childhood hometown with his young son. He talks to James about having the memoir roundly rejected until it won the Pushcart Press Editor's Award, walking around naked in front of the reader, and not solving all of the world's problems. Plus, the legendary Bill Henderson of Pushcart Press. - Calvin Hennick: https://twitter.com/calvinhennick?lang=en Buy ONCE MORE TO THE RODEO: Buy ONCE MORE TO THE RODEO Calvin and James discuss:  The Chunky Monkeys  THE BOSTON GLOBE MAGAZINE Grub Street Boston Red Sox  Adam Jones  Baltimore Orioles Curt Schilling  Fenway Park  GET OUT dir by Jordan Peele  Cooperstown, NY  Baseball Hall of Fame  PLEASANTVILLE dir by Gary Ross  Jackie Robinson Millicent Bennett Grand Central Publishing  Pushcart Editor's Prize  Bill Henderson  APOCALYPSE NOW di

Two incredible authors discuss their debuts. First, Elizabeth Chiles Shelburne tells James about her Tennessee-set HOLDING ON TO NOTHING (Blair), reading while driving (?), Dolly Parton, time machines, and two beer guitars. Then Amy Kurzweil on her depiction of three generations, including her grandmother surviving the Holocaust, in FLYING COUCH: A GRAPHIC MEMOIR (Black Balloon Books). They go over the deceptive naïveté of comics, how she learned to depict her story, and the inside dirt on NEW YORKER cartoons.   - Elizabeth Chiles Shelburne: http://ecshelburne.com/ Buy HOLDING ON TO NOTHING: Buy HOLDING ON TO NOTHING Elizabeth and James discuss:  Blair Publishing  Amherst College  James Patterson  TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee  THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY  Mark Barr  The Novel Incubator at Grub Street  Lisa Borders  Michelle Hoover  FREEDOM by Jonathan Franzen  "Little Sparrow" by Dolly Parton  "Down in the Valley" by The Head and the Heart  Grand Ole Opry  TRAMPOLINE by Robert Gipe  ROMEO AND JULIET by Willia

Between his work as an ad writer and software developer, Mark Barr worked on a classic tale set in 1930s Tennessee that would become his debut novel, WATERSHED. He talks to James about being a Southern voice, identifying as a meat-and-potatoes stylist, setting quotas for his writing, breaking problems down into their smallest components, and fudging the details. Then, Tavia Gilbert discusses being an audiobook narrator.  - Mark Barr: https://www.readmarkbarr.com/ Buy WATERSHED: Buy WATERSHED Mark and James discuss:  Southern Independent Booksellers Association  The Charles Frazier Cold Mountain Series Fund  Meg Reid  Betsy Teter  Malaprop's Bookstore/ Cafe  THE PRETTIEST STAR by Carter Sickels  CBGBs  THE NEXT GREATEST THING: FIFTY YEARS OF RURAL ELECTRIFICATION IN AMERICA by Richard A. Pence and Patrick Dahl  New Coke  Harry Potter  The Engineering Library and UT-Austin  Tennessee River Falstaff Karmann Ghia  Raytheon  Scholastic Book Club  THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH by Norton Juster  Terry Brooks  B. Dalton Book

The latest novel from Alix Ohlin, DUAL CITIZENS, depicts the lives of two sisters as they navigate family, art, love, and life. She tells James about the depicting the whoosh of time, rewatching Hitchcock's VERTIGO, recommitting yourself, establishing patterns, putting things into your basket, and missing wolf licenses. Plus, Alix's friend and agent, Amy Williams.     - Alix Ohlin: https://alixohlinauthor.com/ Buy DUAL CITIZENS: Buy DUAL CITIZENS from indie bookstores. Buy Alix's other books: Buy Alix Ohlin's books from independent booksellers Alix and James discuss:  The Neopolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante  Alice Munro  VERTIGO dir by Alfred Hitchcock Jimmy Stewart REALITY BITES dir by Ben Stiller  Winona Ryder  Bread Loaf Writers' Conference  Daniel Johnston  Henry Darger  Tony Gilroy  "What Writers Really Do When They Write" by George Saunders: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/04/what-writers-really-do-when-they-write Margot Livesey  Michael Ondaatje  Walter Murch  THE CONVERSATIONS: WALTER MURC

It started as a short story in grad school, but Gabriel Urza kept coming back to what would eventually be his novella THE WHITE DEATH: AN ILLUSION. He talks to James about feeling like a child in the face of magic, having trouble extricating past from present, portraying the ambiguity of the supernatural, working through your problems when writing, and reading that's like eating a bag of chips. Plus, Tyler Glauz-Todrank from Bear Pond Books in Montpelier, VT on fall releases.    - Gabriel Urza: http://gabrielurza.com/ Buy THE WHITE DEATH: AN ILLUSION: http://nouvellabooks.com/the-white-death-by-gabriel-urza/ Gabriel and James discuss:  Charles Dickens  ANGELS & DEMONS by Dan Brown  Kurt Vonnegut  The Ohio State University  "Fantasy for Eleven Fingers" by Ben Fountain  the Magic Castle  "Eisenheim the Illusionist" by Steven Millhauser Jeff Mcbride Mt. Hood  Sewanee Writers' Conference  Bread Loaf Writers' Conference  Annie Hartnett  Hannah Tinti  Loch Ness  Claire Vaye Watkins THE THIRD HOTEL by Laura van

It took Amanda Goldblatt eight years to write her debut novel, HARD MOUTH. The result is a brilliantly inventive work combining style with emotional impact and classic storytelling. She and James talk about their long friendship, cutting the apocalypse, summoning (or not) imaginary beings, making rules for novels, and remembering the books they read as kids. Plus, Amanda's agent from Frances Goldin Literary Agency, Caroline Eisenmann.  - Amanda Goldblatt: https://amandagoldblatt.com/ Buy HARD MOUTH: Buy HARD MOUTH from your local indie bookstore! Amanda and James discuss:  Washington University  THE CUPBOARD  Eugene Pallette  Caroline Eisenmann  Turner Classic Movies  POND by Claire-Louise Bennett  MY MAN GODFREY  HATCHET by Gary Paulsen  THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON by Johann David Wyss Harry Potter THE HUNGER GAMES  E.T.  J Dilla  VOX  Notorious B.I.G.  Andre 3000  MF Doom  Talib Kweli  Kerri Webster  Gordon Lish  Gary Lutz  Amy Hempel  Sam Lipsyte  Christine Schutt  "The Sentence is a Lonely Place" by Gary L

The debut novel by Miciah Bay Gault, GOODNIGHT STRANGER, is an intoxicating mix of mystery and grief set in a sandy, salty place. And sexy triplets. She tells James about adjusting the level of magic, breaking the rules, sagging middles, writing as an act of faith, and facing the threat of writing something new. Plus, publicist Laura Gianino.   - Miciah Bay Gault: https://www.miciahbaygault.com/ Buy GOODNIGHT STRANGER: Buy GOODNIGHT STRANGER from an Indie Bookstore Miciah and James discuss: Jenni Ferrari-Adler  Union Literary  Daniel Torday  John Cheever  Shirley Jackson  THE X-FILES  Fox Mulder  Dana Scully  POPEYE dir by Robert Altman  Harry Nilsson  WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE by Shirley Jackson  THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt  THE HUNDRED-YEAR HOUSE by Rebecca Makkai  - Laura Gianino  Laura and James discuss:  Park Row Books  Harlequin Enterprises  Harper Collins  Laura Brown  THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW  THE BOSTON GLOBE  PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY  BOOKLIST  LIBRARY JOURNAL  SHELF AWARENESS  KIRKU

In reporting several food articles, Kevin Alexander found the same stories coming up again and again: genius chefs opened one-of-a-kind restaurants in places like Portland and San Francisco, and in the on-rush of attention struggled to maintain their excellence. In short, we lived through a golden age of American cuisine that is now already over. This era is captured is Alexander's captivating BURN THE ICE. Plus, former Esquire editor and current agent, David Granger.  - Kevin Alexander:  Buy BURN THE ICE: Buy BURN THE ICE from your local indie bookstore.   - http://tkpod.com / tkwithjs@gmail.com / Twitter: @JamesScottTK Instagram: tkwithjs / Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tkwithjs/

A random sign for free dogs inspired Mary Miller to drop a manuscript she'd been researching and create the character of Louis McDonald, Jr. for her hilarious and heartbreaking novel, BILOXI. She tells James about feeling indebted to her characters, teaching herself to write, looking in holes with her dog, needing to find joy, and reading with John Grisham. And bologna. And feet licking. Plus a chat with Bennet Johnson from Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, MI.  - Mary Miller: http://www.maryumiller.net/ BUY BILOXI: Buy BILOXI from an Indie Bookseller ALSO BY: BIG WORLD, THE LAST DAYS OF CALIFORNIA, ALWAYS HAPPY HOUR  Mary and James discuss:  Frederick Barthelme Jerry Seinfeld  THE MOTEL LIFE by Willy Vlautin  THE OFFICE  THE MOVIEGOER by Walker Percy  THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt  Books-A-Million ZOETROPE ON WRITING by Stephen King  BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott  Elizabeth Ellen  Aaron Burch  Square Books  Lemuria Book Store  Bennet Johnson  Literati Bookstore Parnassus Books John Evans  Richard Howorth Li

Christian Kiefer had great reservations about writing his beautiful new book, PHANTOMS. He tells James how he found the story, and the steps he took to tell it. They also talk about capturing bear consciousness, being haunted by one's own work, finding joy in music and writing, and those troublesome flugelhornists. And then our old friend Christopher Boucher discusses his new novel, BIG GIANT FLOATING HEAD.  - Christian Kiefer: https://www.facebook.com/christian.kiefer.9/ Buy PHANTOMS: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780871404817 Also by: THE INFINITE TIDES, THE ANIMALS, ONE DAY SOON TIME WILL HAVE NO PLACE LEFT TO HIDE.  Christian and James discuss:  Matt Salesses  MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden  SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS by David Guterson  Jamil Zaki  Deena Drewis  Nouvella Books  ORIENTALISM by Edward Said  CULTURE AND IMPERIALISM by Edward Said  NOTHING EVER DIES by Viet Thanh Nguyen  Vintage Contemporaries  Tobias Wolff  Robert Stone  Richard Ford  Tim O'Brien  SOPHIE'S CHOICE by William Styron  ABSA

A night spent drinking and writing about his parents' divorce uncovered an urgent need in Stanford professor Jamil Zaki to author THE WAR FOR KINDNESS: BUILDING EMPATHY IN A FRACTURED WORLD. He and James talk about how empathy can literally grow parts of the brain, hating the term hard-wired, facing the problems of the world today, and (sigh) STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. Plus Michael Nye returns to talk about reviving and relaunching STORY.  - Jamil Zaki: https://profiles.stanford.edu/jamil-zaki Buy THE WAR FOR KINDNESS: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780451499240  Jamil and James discuss:  STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION  Deanna Troi  The Good Samaritan  Princeton  Manchester United  Liverpool  Allen Iverson  Bill Nye Borderlinks  Life After Hate  WRECK-IT RALPH Contact Theory  Angela King THE NEW YORK TIMES  Defensive dehumanization  Amanda Cook  Gareth Cook  Bread Loaf Writer's Conference  Carl Sagan   - Michael Nye: http://mpnye.com/ Subscribe to STORY: https://www.storymagazine.org/ Michael and James