Almost Live At Mellow Pages

In this episode we get to hang out with publisher and mad genius Giancarlo DiTrapano of Tyrant Books. We rap about almost everything anyone would ever want to talk about---growing up weird, finding one's self, the publishing industry, cluster headaches and miracle cures, psilocybin, West Virginia, dogs, and love in its many varied and wonderful forms. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did in making it. Giancarlo is love. This will be the last episode of Almost Live at Mellow Pages for the next while. In doing this show, we've been able to spend a lot of time getting to know writers/publishers/editors we really love and wanted to speak to, and the common thread throughout has been putting in time and work. Both Eric and myself have books coming out in 2015, and we realize we both have some of our own work to get down to doing. We hope you've enjoyed this run of shows, and we hope to be back sooner rather than later.

In this episode, we sit around and ramble with the incredibly kind Cari Luna, author of The Revolution of Every Day, current resident of Portland, New Yorker for life. We talk about what it's like to pull up stakes and move the circus of life to a new city, the history of squatters in NYC, the process of putting together a book on the subject and then getting to know and be a part of that community, gentrification[obviously], and how she does her magick. Cari is goddamn wonderful. Pretty sure y'all will fall in love with her like we did.

In this episode we get to hang out and talk with Jamie Iredell, author of Prose. Poems. A Novel., The Book of Freaks, I Was a Fat Drunk Catholic School Insomniac, and the forthcoming Last Mass. If you don't know Jamie, we're not sure where you've been living or what you've been reading, because Jamie is incredible and his writing is something you should be reading. We talk AWP and what it's like to attend conferences of that size, small presses and the future of publishing, the books he has coming soon and the process behind them, and all sorts of other stuff. You could do worse than to seek out Jamie's books and devour them.

In this episode, we get to know Mark Doten, senior editor at Soho Press and author of the forthcoming novel The Infernal. We talk about all sorts of inside baseball publishing stuff with Mark, not to mention working in plenty of craft talk as well. Mark is a joy to talk with and an endless well of knowledge. Look out for his book when it drops.

In this episode, we get to hang out and talk with Lauren Quinn, writer, educator and all-around woman of the world. Lauren's writing has appeared in places like Guernica, Huffington Post, The Rumpus, and many others. Lauren is a friend of the show and has a unique perspective on living abroad and learning how to write and she talks about her decision to make her way back to America to continue with her education, among other things. Plenty of great stuff to dig into. Enjoy.

Oh boy. In this episode we hang out with the wonderful and kind Zachary Lipez, who has had words all over the internet in places like Hazlitt, Noisey, the revamped MySpace, The Talkhouse, and many others. Lipez is becoming one of the most well-enjoyed voices out there in the ones and zeros of music writing, and his background as former vocalist in the sadly defunct Freshkills informs that writing. We talk with Zack about how he ended up writing for Noisey, the art of criticism, Twitter activism, political correctness, Williamsburg then and now, the derogatory and unnecessary use of the word "hipster," his new musical project Publicist UK, and so much more. Zack is one of the brightest and best we know. Check him out. We know you'll dig him.

In this episode we talk with Dan Magers, author of PARTYKNIFE, a book of poems. We talk about anxiety, what went into building/producing/birthing PARTYKNIFE, running a small chapbook press, experimenting with forms, competitiveness, what got the juices flowing to inspire, and lots of other fun as hell stuff. Dan is a good dude and if you ever get that chance to see him read or talk with him, we suggest you do so.

In this episode we sit down with Leigh Stein, author of the novel The Fallback Plan, a book of poems, Dispatch From The Future, and co-host of the reading series[with Sasha Fletcher] The Book Report. We talked with Leigh about writing memoir, dealing with trauma/grief and how that affects the process of writing, her new venture called BinderCon, standing up to online misogyny in the literary community, and a gang of other things--including Civil War reenactments. We can safely say this: Leigh is rad, and you should check out everything she does. 

In this episode we hang out with Courtney Maum, author of I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You, Celebrity Book Review columnist for Electric Literature, and all-around lady of letters. We talk about the long and tough road to getting a book published, how to immerse oneself into a literary scene, how to keep laughing, and what it's like to live in three places at one time. There is a lot of good advice for everyone in this episode. We hope you dig Courtney as much as we do.

Do you love the internet? Do you love books? In this episode, we hang with someone who loves both more than anyone you could ever hope to meet, Buzzfeed Books' managing editor, Isaac Fitzgerald. We talk about his career path from The Rumpus to McSweeney's and his move across America to New York City and Buzzfeed. We had a great time with Isaac and we know you will have a great time, too. Pop open a cold something and enjoy.

In this episode, we sit down with the wonderful Chelsea Hodson, author of Pity the Animal, which is available in print from Future Tense Books/Scout Books and is now also available as a Kindle Single. We run the gauntlet with Chelsea, talking about her unique voice and her influences and being someone from the desert and the art of omission as a writing tool. Dig in, this one is meaty and lovely.

In this episode we have a wonderful talk with poet Mike Bushnell, author of the just-out OHSO, a sprawling and beautiful book of poetry that will infect the heart and consciousness. We rap about performance and how Mike has developed his very unique voice and style and Mike gives us all a taste as he reads from OHSO. If you ever get the chance to see Mike perform, we highly suggest you do so.  

In Episode 11, we spend some time with the relentless and charming D. Foy, author of Made to Break. We talk about booking your own book tour and all of the things that go into that kind of stew, traversing America by car solo, psychic abilities, and about staying true to your artistic vision irrespective of obstacles. 

In Episode 10, we hang/rap/laugh/explore with poet/publisher/all-around good dude Mike Young. Mike runs Magic Helicopter Press and has been an integral part of moving indie publishing/writing from ones and zeros into paper and hands. Mike was in town for a thing and we were so stoked he came and spent an afternoon with us at Mellow Pages. Mike even took a request from Eric and sings us all a song. Mike's newest book, Sprezzatura, is on the cusp of release from Publishing Genius.

In this episode we get to hang with Elissa Schappell–all-around literary powerhouse/rabble rouser, book editor at Vanity Fair, and co-founder/Editor-At-Large of Tin House. We talk about her beginnings as a writer and the path she's navigated to get to the place she's at, places she's lived, as well as how she has managed to overcome some personal issues and be the awesome human being she is today. This is a doozy of an episode, so make yourself a nice cool drink and settle in and enjoy.

Luckily for Eric and my fool self, Juliet Escoria happened to be in town to do a couple of readings and we were able to hang out/sit down/tell jokes/rap with her. Her book BLACK CLOUD came out earlier this year from Civil Coping Mechanisms, and it is a monster. We talked about the process of writing a book to getting it into meaty paws and recovery and teaching and exposed Eric's lack of a goth past.

In this episode, we get to know Lucy K. Shaw, founder of Shabby Doll House. We talk about how she has been able to use the internet to help her find her voice and her community and to build a magazine from the ground up. We had a really great time with Lucy and hope you will, too.

This episode finds us hangin' and rappin' with the wonderful Erika Anderson, curator of the Renegade Writers reading series in Crown Heights. We talked about all sorts of madness, including Erika's experience after publishing a very personal essay in The New York Times. Dig her. We sure do.

Our first out of town guest! Eric and I got to hang out with the infamous Jim Ruland while he was in town for Book Expo America. Jim has been running his reading series Vermin on the Mount for ten years in Los Angeles and San Diego. He co-wrote the book "Giving the Finger" with Scott Campbell Jr., of Deadliest Catch fame, and also has a novel--"Forest of Fortune"--forthcoming from Tyrus Books. Jim was a rad guest and we talked about a ton of stuff. Enjoy. 

If you don't know Teebs, you're about to. Eric and I sat down with one of the hardest working and most genuinely love-filled poets in America, who just so happens to live in Bushwick, Tommy Pico. We cover a ton of ground in this episode--from Tommy's early years on a reservation to his arrival in NYC and the beginnings of his growth as a human being and as a writer. We really hope you enjoy this as much as we did. Talking to Teebs is a lovely thing.