MARSTON HEFNER is the author of High School Romance (CLASH Books, 2022).
Currents, an Interview Series with Brian Alan Ellis (Episode 97: Joseph Fasano)
JOSEPH FASANO is an American novelist, poet, and songwriter. His novels include The Swallows of Lunetto (Maudlin House, 2022) and The Dark Heart of Every Wild Thing (Platypus Press, 2020), which was named one of the “20 Best Small Press Books of 2020.” His books of poetry include The Crossing (2018), Vincent (2015), Inheritance (2014), and Fugue for Other Hands (2013). His honors include the Cider Press Review Book Award, the Rattle Poetry Prize, seven Pushcart Prize nominations, and a nomination for the Poets Prize.
Six Ridiculous Questions: Chris Kelso
The guiding principle of Six Ridiculous Questions is that life is filled with ridiculousness. And questions. That only by giving in to these truths may we hope to slip the surly bonds of reality and attain the higher consciousness we all crave. (Eh, not really, but it sounded good there for a minute.) It’s just. Who knows? The ridiculousness and question bits, I guess. Why six? Assonance, baby, assonance.
“Horror By Vibes Only”: Simon Jacobs on Writing “String Follow”
As a tremendous admirer of the uncanny in fiction, I ended up devouring Simon Jacobs‘s new novel String Follow. It’s a story of youthful suburban anomie, punk scenes, and class divides — all told from the perspective of a sinister and inhuman force that’s making its way through a small town. I talked with Jacobs about the process of writing the novel, the role punk plays in his work, and how he’d classify this decidedly unclassifiable book — among other subjects.
Currents, an Interview Series with Brian Alan Ellis (Episode 96: Garrett Cook)
GARRETT COOK is the Wonderland Award-winning author of Archelon Ranch (Legumeman Books, 2009), A God of Hungry Walls (Deadite Press, 2015) and the upcoming Charcoal (CLASH Books, 2022). His experiences with queerness, dysmorphia and CPTSD inform weird and grotesque fiction full of cognitive dissonance and mindfuckery of all sorts.
Revisiting Literary Scandals in Podcast Form: Bethanne Patrick on Making “Missing Pages”
If you’ve ever wanted to listen to a deep dive into literary history, it’s currently a great time to do precisely that. The new podcast Missing Pages joins a few other notable audio productions — including Penknife and Once Upon a Time…At Bennington College — offering immersive trips into tangled narratives of literature and publishing. I spoke with host Bethanne Patrick about the making of Missing Pages and how the team behind it decided what narratives they’d focus on for the show’s inaugural season.
Currents, an Interview Series with Brian Alan Ellis (Episode 95: Nicola Maye Goldberg)
NICOLA MAYE GOLDBERG is the author of the novels Other Women (Sad Spell Press, 2016) and Nothing Can Hurt You (Bloomsbury, 2020). Her poetry has appeared in New York Tyrant, Spectra Poets, Forever Magazine, and elsewhere. Her short fiction has appeared in The Drunken Canal, Joyland, Vogue, Expat Press, and Winter Tangerine. She lives in New York City and teaches at Columbia University.
Currents, an Interview Series with Brian Alan Ellis (Episode 94: David Simmons)
DAVID SIMMONS is the author of Ghosts of East Baltimore (Broken River, 2022). He lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with his wife and daughter.