Unknown Words With Matthew Anderson

The character of today's story jumps headlong into a culture he only knows as a spectator: the drag queen show. He is an outsider and feels like a fraud for it, yet this is how he feels not only to the drag queens, but to almost everyone in his life. He decides to prove himself to the world in one motion, through one spectacular show and transformation. Nothing ever goes wrong in putting it all on one big, last bet, right?   Conversation Topics: storytelling, movies, writing, fiction, literature, Blockbuster, movie theaters, short stories, Saul Williams, reading, horror, scifi, collaboration, graphic novel, novella, novel, Stay, travel, Spokane, Washington, regional writing, Inception, Zombeavers.    Joseph's story, "One More Drag Queen", was originally published at Zygote in my Coffee. He has also been published in Riverlit, The Inlander, and has a book forthcoming from University of Hell Press.  You can find more of Joe's writing at his website. You can also check out his podcast, Extremist Movie Debate, wh

Many boys, myself included, were like Albert and Hamilton, the boys of today's story by Shane Jimenez. But the death of one's parent is traumatic at any age, and the way Albert and his friend go about handling it leans heavily toward the extreme. It is a coming of age story that doesn't know or care about what age it will actually reach; these boys don't know what they want to hurt, they just know they want to hurt something. Childhood can certainly be rough and messy, and Shane's story is an examination of just how far untended, young masculinity can go.   Conversation Topics: Planet of the Apes, scifi, jobs, writing, literature, teaching, creative writing, books, zombies, dystopian lit, work, childhood, Las Vegas, boys, boyhood.   Today's story was originally published by Writing Tomorrow.  Shane has published work in the Denver Quarterly, Rain Taxi, The Greensboro Review, Los Angeles Review of Books and elsewhere.  He has two collections of fiction, Rue The Day and It Can Be That Way Still.  You can also f

Eric is a fellow audio storyteller. You can hear his work at Crows Nest Radio. He is also involved with Superthank, another radio show/podcast/live event series, so he is a busy man. Fortunately, he has found time to write. Today's story is a job interview, but, it quickly becomes apparent that the candidate either doesn't care about the job, or there is no job at all. It is a movingly funny parody of the absurd process almost all of us have been forced to become familiar with.  Conversation Topics: jobs, interview, Google, Louis Sachar, fiction, writing, kids, fatherhood, X-Ray Radio, podcasting, journalism, Portland, kids lit.  Read todays story at Medium.com.   Today's music by Lifeformed - twitter & facebook The intro & outro music by  MUSH - twitter & facebook   If you would like to submit writing to, and perhaps be on the show, send any fiction, narrative non-fiction, and poetry between 1,000 and 4,000 words to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show on Facebook Twitter Instagram

Calvero is a poet whose work veers from place to place. It is crass, even silly one moment, then the next, it is nestling into a tender spot you never thought it would fit in. His metaphors become characters, his plots are hyperbole, but his characters seem to always find their way back to the familiar, somtimes touching or painful places, and I think you'll be surprised by where your sympathies lie. Calvero has a book of poetry available, Someday I'm Going to Marry Katy Perry from University of Hell press.  His work has appeared in Hobart, Metazen, Unreality House, Salt Hill Journal and pressboardpress.  You can follow him on Twitter (@CalveroHasCats) and on his tumblr, www.calveropoetry.tumblr.com.   Music by: Kidswaste - facebook & twitter MUSH - facebook & twitter   If you would like to submit work to the show, between 1,000 and 4,000 words, send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.comFacebook Twiter Instagram

Episode #16 with poet, Calvero, will be here tomorrow. Since there's been a slight delay, I thought I could at least give you all a little more than usual. Tomorrow's full episode will have three poems from Calvero as well as our conversation, so for today, here's one more: "My Beached Whale Mother."Find more of Calvero's work at calveropoetry.tumblr.com. Follow him there, and on Twitter @CalveroHasCats   Find Unknown Words on: Facebook Twitter (@unknownwordspod) Instagram (@unknown_words_podcast)   And as always, you can reach the show to submit writing or music or just say hello at: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com

The character of today's story, Win, has found himself in some very hard times. However, he sees an omen of just how much worse things can truly become, and he remembers that he always has choices. Craig Buchner's story is a gritty depiction of what kind of desperation poverty can breed and his lean and pointed writing captures the casual nature of this common doom. Today's story is a darker one, but it is also a vivid look at where our choices and our circumstances can take us.  Craig's story first appeared in Hobart Magazine. Find more of his work at his website. Conversation Topics: writing, Portland, Asheville, NC, Ron Rash, reading, poverty, homelessness, plasma donation, mental illness, jobs, short stories, storytelling, surrealism, choices, William Kennedy, Ironweed, literature, nursing, helping, teaching, Denis Johnson.   Music by: Red Giant MUSH   If you would like to submit a work of fiction, narrative non-fiction, or poetry between 1,000 and 4,000 words, please send it to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail

The writing of today's guest, Zulema Renee Summerfield, manages to be quirky and funny but avoid the ironic bitterness often thought to be attached to her kind of humor. She manages to make Mark Zuckerberg, the subject of her story, small and vulnerable and human in a way we often forget people like him always are. While presented in a package of the fantastical, the sentiments between this almost quantum-Zuckerberg and his friend will certainly ring familiar. Today's story originally appeared in The Heavy Feather Review. You can find more of her work at her website. Her book, Everything Faces All Ways at Once, is available in print here and available on Amazon Kindle here.     Conversation Topics: Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, Stephen King, writing, process, submissions, 50 Shades of Grey, habit, persistence, novels, trauma, past, history, childhood, editing, revision, plot, fame, celebrity, money.    Music by: salami rose joe louis MUSH   If you would like to submit a work of fiction, narrative non-fiction, or

Ambiguity is almost a character form in Ben Nardolilli's poetry. It reoccurs, it antagonizes, and is even victimized by the reader. It occurs in the forests, swirling around alien telephone poles, it emits from a boastful, personals ad, it tortures the poet as some unfaithful shade of a memory. And after all his poems, Ben can still write a detective novel about a pop artist. His work has appeared in Yes Poetry, Grey Sparrow Journal, Quail Bell Magazine, & Rabbit Catastrophe Review. He has a chapbook of poetry entitled "Common Symptoms of an Enduring Chill Explained" published by Folded Word Press. Ben's writing website.   Poems featured this episode: (4:00) - Soliloquy in Late May (10:33) - Dull & Confused (18:00) - Personals Ad #18 (24:07) - We May Abandon (30:07) - Empower Lines (43:39) - No Chance for a Sequel   Conversation Topics: DC, Arlington, NYU, writing, narrative, literature, poetry, fiction, submissions, noir, music, detective, crime novel, history, losers, confederacy, nazis, empire, de

Today's story, "The Potential Energy of Mr. English", by our guest, Johnny Day, walks a fine line between childhood absurdity and a darker, more violent reality. Much Johnny's fiction steps into the surreal and the fantastical, and it is all hypnotically entertaining. Conversation Topics: writing, short story, fiction, Murakami, mystery, Japan, bullying, hierarchy, teaching, novels, PTSD, veterans, trauma, war, medicalization, depression, anxiety, fairy tale, scifi, Ohio, non-fiction, narrative, screenwriting, scriptwriting, dialogue. Read today's story and more of Johnny's work at his website.    Music by: MUSH ludwig danson   If you would like to submit a work of fiction, narrative non-fiction, or poetry between 1,000 and 4,000 words, submit it to:  unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show on Facebook, Twitter @unknownwordspod, and Instagram @unknown_words_podcast.   

Braden is the show's first poet and his work has varied focuses, but it always maintains a strange and beautiful, outward facing interest in the world. From the small wars between ghost crabs and seagulls, the obstinate poverty of Detroit, and the chasm of unsaid words to a beautiful woman on a train, Braden Bell's poetry is always intriguing.  Conversation Topics: poetry, writing, scriptwriting, treatments, Norway, travel, Detroit, Portland, revitalization, poverty, gentrification, typewriters, letter writing, structure, Charles Bukowski, William Burroughs, nostalgia. Read Braden's work at Exquisite Corpse, The Commonline Journal, and systemdetroit.com.    Music by: MUSH ludwig danson   If you would like to submit a literary short story or narrative non-fiction between 1,000 and 4,000 words, or works of poetry, please submit to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show on Facebook and Twitter. 

Today’s episode features two pieces by writer, Olivia Olivia. Her stories are directly connected, share their characters, and are both raw and personal in their depiction of growing up. They’re also really funny. Follow Olivia and see more of her work at: www.oliviawrites.com Her essay for Salon that we talk about can be read here.  "Donkey Kong in Trouble" first appeared on The Rumpus.  Conversation Topics: feminism, livejournal, Roxanne Gay, salon, rumpus, jezebel, npr, tumblr, pop culture, writing, fiction, friends, childhood, coming of age, race, ethnicity, storytelling, comedy, el salvador, immigrant families.   Music by svävande - soundcloud.com/svavande Intro & Outro themes by MUSH - soundcloud.com/mushmusic   If you would like to submit a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words, works of poetry, or music to the show, email:unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com Follow the show on:www.facebook.com/unknownwordspodcastTwitter @unknownwordspod unknownwordspodcast.tumblr.com   

 In today's episode, we have two stories from writer, Chris Paul: “A Picture Painted Quickly” and “A Statue on the Corner”. Chris has been living in Vietnam for the past year, and his stories of an inexplicable violence and of a guilty compassion paint a portrait of a sometimes chaotic, but always rich and interesting country.   Conversation Topics: writing, poetry, the hobbit, ho chi minh city, history, vietnam war, manchester, england, reading, childhood, teaching, language, english, future aspirations.    Read today's stories and Chris' other work on his blog.   All of this episode's music is by MUSH. SoundCloud Facebook   If you would like to submit a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words, works of poetry, or music to the show, please email: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   Follow the show on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. Hear Matthew with Dean on the Science Fiction Film podcast here!    

The first musicians episode of Unknown Words features the band Teach Me Equals, a duo whose music radio host Alastair St. Hill coined the term "scrape-rock" to describe. Orchestral. Chamber-rock. Cinematic. Punk with a cello and violin. These musicians can be described in many ways because they are many things. Their debut album, "Knives in the Hope Chest", will be available everywhere September 16th. Conversation Topics: classical music, Wagner, inspiration, influence, St.Vincent, cello, violin, guitar, biography, history, nature, tour, songwriting, collaboration, musical families, film, expression. Listen to them on SoundCloud and YouTube and follow them on Facebook and Twitter and www.teachmeequals.com.   If you have a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words that you'd like to submit, or are a musician who'd like to be featured, send your work to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   You can also follow the show on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Kyle Albasi's story "It's Still Good", is a story that takes the gravity of death and the weight of living in a future that one can live hundreds of years, and makes you laugh.   Purchase Kyle's work here, and today only (8/25/2014) get it free.    Conversation Topics: film, writing, screenwriting, adaptation, scifi, science fiction, futurism, short story, suicide, chuck palahniuk, philadelphia, literature, music, suffering.   All of the music in this episode was made by MUSH His SoundCloud and his Facebook   If you have a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words that you'd like to submit, or are a musician who'd like to be featured, send your work to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com You can also follow the show on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. 

I'm currently a tired southerner recording in Idaho. The next full episode will be released on August 25th.    All of the music in this episode was made by MUSH His SoundCloud and his Facebook   If you have a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words that you'd like to submit, or are a musician who'd like to be featured, send your work to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com   You can also follow the show on Facebook and Tumblr. 

Prisoners, Revenge, & Hiatus Today there is no guest writer, instead, because of life and all its circumstances, you get to hear a story of mine. One man is a prisoner in a southern chain gang and the other is a young police officer watching over him. The two men have a history of violence together that is bound to resurface. Topics: life, career, change, stress, scheduling, folk music, nerd out loud, rethink pink, #fortheloveofpod   Music by MUSH here. Music by Jeremy Ross here.    You can read today's story at my own writing blog here.

Today's story, "Smelling the Weather", by a writer we'll call John, is about the death of a young man's close friend. For the first time, he is forced to very intimately face what death is, what grieving is, and what it is that death actually takes away.  Conversation topics: writing, loss, poetry, life experiences, career, nursing, phillipines, nashville, immigration, typhoon pablo, songwriting, critiques, editing, revising. Read this episode's story and "John's" other work here: http://writingforreddit.blogspot.com  All of the music in this episode was made by MUSH His SoundCloud and his Facebook   If you have a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words that you'd like to submit, or are a musician who'd like to be featured, send your work to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com You can also follow the show on Facebook and Tumblr. 

Ankur Bhanderi's story, "Jonathan", centers on a young boy with the immense and inadvertent power to make anything he speaks true and real. Problems ensue. Conversation topics: fantasy, fiction, genre, nerd shit, unity game engine, literature, writing, promotion, Neil Gaiman, young adult lit, the twilight zone, writing workshop, being a critic, english degrees.   Check out "Jonathan" and the rest of Ankur's stories in his collection, "There Was Once":www.amazon.com/dp/B00B8BA9FG   All of the music in this episode was made by MUSHwww.soundcloud.com/mushmusicwww.facebook.com/mushmusic If you have a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words that you'd like to submit, or are a musician who'd like to be featured, send your work to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com

Today, our story is Clay Lomneth's non-fiction piece, "Paul and Michelle". Clay had a chance encounter with a homeless couple and followed them as they went about their daily routine of gathering what they could to get by while trying so desperately to love one another. Conversation topics: poverty, homelessness, love, intimacy, ethics, morality, autism, truth, writing, journalism, photography, mystery, tana french, joe nesbo.   Read Clay's story and his other writing at:claylomneth.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/t…nd-michelle/ His photos of Michaelynn, a young girl with autism, and her family can be found here: cnnphotos.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/31/gi…s-i-love-you/   All of the music in this episode was made by MUSH@mushmusicwww.facebook.com/mushmusic If you have a story between 1,000 and 4,000 words that you'd like to submit, or are a musician who'd like to be featured, send your work to: unknownwordspodcast@gmail.com

Here it is, the first episode. Today, Amanda Kaye Stein's short story, "Fixed", revolves around a woman's shattered relationship and her difficult return to an unforgiving sister. Melinda Dubbs' "Transubstantiation" is a surreal, dream-like story of an enigmatic woman's penance and one man's obsessive fascination with her. Conversation topics: Feminism, women writers, domestic abuse, young adult literature, gender roles, writing process, art, flash fiction, poetry, sexuality, repression, Catholicism, goals.   Check out and purchase Amanda Kaye Stein's visual artwork here: www.etsy.com/shop/AmandaKayeSteinShe also works as a freelance writer and visual artist you can contact on guru here: www.guru.com/freelancers/amanda…estein_writing_art Read Melinda Dubb's "Transubstantiation" here: fuckfiction.net/?s=transubstantiationand read some of her other work at www.melindadubbs.wordpress.com All of the music in this episode was made by MUSHwww.soundcloud.com/mushmusicwww.facebook.com/mushmusic   If you have a story