Ursa Short Fiction Podcast Returns with the 20th Anniversary Celebration of ZZ Packer’s Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

Ursa Short Fiction, named by Apple Podcasts as one of its "Shows We Love" for 2022, is returning for Season Two on March 29, with a very special episode celebrating the 20th anniversary of DRINKING COFFEE ELSEWHERE, the acclaimed short story collection by ZZ Packer that has inspired so many writers and kicked off a renaissance for short fiction. 

Co-hosts Deesha Philyaw (THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES) and Dawnie Walton (THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV) go in-depth with Packer about the origin of her collection and the writers who inspired (and continue to inspire) her own work. 

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DEESHA: So many of our interviews and stories have led us to this very exciting moment. In all of the conversations we've had here on Ursa Short Fiction, there are a few books and a few writers who keep coming up over and over again as a source of inspiration. So many of us read these stories and it opened us up to what was possible with short fiction.

DAWNIE: I know exactly what you mean, and I also know exactly who you're talking about.

DEESHA: That's right. Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, by ZZ Packer, first published in 2003. We are now here celebrating the 20th anniversary of this wonderful collection by talking to ZZ Packer. We're gonna learn about her journey as a writer and who inspired her work, which in turn, inspired so many of us.

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Ursa Short Fiction is returning with a star-studded list of writers — including Nafissa Thompson-Spires, Dantiel W. Moniz, Jonathan Escoffery, Sidik Fofana, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, and Denne Michele Norris, among many others — as well as both original audio stories and modern classics. 

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Today, we’d like to introduce you to the new podcast from The Podglomerate, Missing Pages. Missing Pages is an all-new investigative podcast hosted by world-renowned literary critic and publishing insider Bethanne Patrick. 

In its first season, Missing Pages uncovers the power struggles, mistaken identities, and unfathomably bad behavior within the secretive world of book publishing. Learn about the untold story behind alleged Harvard plagiarist Kaavya Viswanathan and the web of lies told by the author of The Woman in the Window.

Each episode brings in authors, experts, publishing insiders, and a circus of NYC media elites to tell the real story; unfit for print. Missing Pages is available now. Listen here or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Tommy Davidson reads an excerpt from "Living in Color," backed by an original Storybound remix with sound design and arrangement by Jude Brewer.

Tommy Davidson started his career as a stand-up comedian in Washington DC, and since then, he's done it all. His standup career has led him to share bills with the likes of Patti LaBelle and Kenny G, and he was a cast-member on the hit show "In Living Color," also starring Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey, and Damon Wayans. He's done three specials for Showtime and appeared on Disney's "The Proud Family" and Spike Lee's "Bamboozled." His book, "In Living Color," released in 2020, details his journey in show business and how he found success.

​Support Storybound by supporting our sponsors:

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Storybound is hosted by Jude Brewer and brought to you by The Podglomerate and Lit Hub Radio. Let us know what you think of the show on Instagram and Twitter @storyboundpod.

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This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our manage.com/subscribe/post?u=a3da57251c024955428e72bcc&id=abeea0a423">newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. 

Since you're listening to Storybound, you might enjoy reading, writing, and storytelling. We'd like to suggest you also try the History of Literature or Book Dreams.

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Daniel Abraham reads an excerpt from "Age of Ash," backed by an original Storybound remix with sound design and arrangement by Jude Brewer.

Daniel Abraham is the author of the critically acclaimed "Long Price Quartet," "The Dagger and the Coin series," and the "Kithamar Trilogy." He writes with Ty Frank as James S.A. Corey, and as MLN Hanover. He has been nominated for the Nebula and World Fantasy awards, and won the Hugo award and International Horror Guild award.

​Support Storybound by supporting our sponsors:

• Norton: "Fencing with the King" and "The Family Chao" are available wherever books are sold.
• Acorn.tv is the largest commercial free British streaming service with hundreds of exclusive shows from around the world. Try acorn.tv for free for 30 days by going to acorn.tv and using promo code Storybound.
• Storyworth: Save $10 on your first purchase at Storyworth.com/Storybound

Storybound is hosted by Jude Brewer and brought to you by The Podglomerate and Lit Hub Radio. Let us know what you think of the show on Instagram and Twitter @storyboundpod.

***

This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our manage.com/subscribe/post?u=a3da57251c024955428e72bcc&id=abeea0a423">newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. 

Since you're listening to Storybound, you might enjoy reading, writing, and storytelling. We'd like to suggest you also try the History of Literature or Book Dreams.

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Imogen Binnie reads an excerpt from "Nevada," backed by an original Storybound remix with sound design and arrangement by Jude Brewer.

Imogen Binnie is the author of the novel "Nevada," which won the Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award and was a finalist for the 2014 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction. In 2022, "Nevada" was reissued by FSG Books. A writer for several television shows and a former columnist for Maximum Rocknroll, she lives in Vermont with her family.

​Support Storybound by supporting our sponsors:

• Norton: "Fencing with the King" and "The Family Chao" are available wherever books are sold.
• Acorn.tv is the largest commercial free British streaming service with hundreds of exclusive shows from around the world. Try acorn.tv for free for 30 days by going to acorn.tv and using promo code Storybound.
• Storyworth: Save $10 on your first purchase at Storyworth.com/Storybound

Storybound is hosted by Jude Brewer and brought to you by The Podglomerate and Lit Hub Radio. Let us know what you think of the show on Instagram and Twitter @storyboundpod.

***

This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our manage.com/subscribe/post?u=a3da57251c024955428e72bcc&id=abeea0a423">newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. 

Since you're listening to Storybound, you might enjoy reading, writing, and storytelling. We'd like to suggest you also try the History of Literature or Book Dreams.

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Vauhini Vara reads an excerpt from "The Immortal King Rao," backed by an original Storybound remix with sound design and arrangement by Jude Brewer.

Vauhini Vara started as a journalist, working as a technology reporter at the Wall Street Journal and later launching, editing and writing for the business section of the New Yorker’s website. Since then, her writing has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Harper’s, The New Republic, Businessweek, Fortune, and elsewhere. She is a contributor to Wired and can sometimes be found working as a story editor at the New York Times Magazine. She has also edited for the website of the Atlantic and for the nonprofit Fuller Project.

Her debut novel, "The Immortal King Rao" (W.W. Norton), is an American Booksellers Association Indies Introduce selection, and New York Magazine’s Vulture, Esquire, Oprah Daily, the Times of India, and the Observer are among some publications that named it one of their most-anticipated books of the year. Her story collection, "This is Salvaged," is due out in 2023.

​Support Storybound by supporting our sponsors:

• Norton: "Fencing with the King" and "The Family Chao" are available wherever books are sold.
• Acorn.tv is the largest commercial free British streaming service with hundreds of exclusive shows from around the world. Try acorn.tv for free for 30 days by going to acorn.tv and using promo code Storybound.
• Storyworth: Save $10 on your first purchase at Storyworth.com/Storybound

Storybound is hosted by Jude Brewer and brought to you by The Podglomerate and Lit Hub Radio. Let us know what you think of the show on Instagram and Twitter @storyboundpod.

***

This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our manage.com/subscribe/post?u=a3da57251c024955428e72bcc&id=abeea0a423">newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. 

Since you're listening to Storybound, you might enjoy reading, writing, and storytelling. We'd like to suggest you also try the History of Literature or Book Dreams.

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Benjamín Labatut reads an excerpt from "When We Cease to Understand the World," backed by an original Storybound remix with sound design and arrangement by Jude Brewer.

Benjamín Labatut is a Chilean author born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in 1980 who spent his childhood in The Hague, Buenos Aires and Lima, before settling in Chile. His first book of short stories, "Antarctica" starts here, won the 2009 Caza de Letras Prize in Mexico, and the Santiago Municipal Prize, in Chile. His second book, "After the Light," consists of a series of scientific, philosophical and historical notes on the void, written after a deep personal crisis. "When We Cease to Understand the World" was published in September 2021.

​Support Storybound by supporting our sponsors:

• Norton: "Fencing with the King" and "The Family Chao" are available wherever books are sold.
• Acorn.tv is the largest commercial free British streaming service with hundreds of exclusive shows from around the world. Try acorn.tv for free for 30 days by going to acorn.tv and using promo code Storybound.
• Storyworth: Save $10 on your first purchase at Storyworth.com/Storybound

Storybound is hosted by Jude Brewer and brought to you by The Podglomerate and Lit Hub Radio. Let us know what you think of the show on Instagram and Twitter @storyboundpod.

***

This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our manage.com/subscribe/post?u=a3da57251c024955428e72bcc&id=abeea0a423">newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. 

Since you're listening to Storybound, you might enjoy reading, writing, and storytelling. We'd like to suggest you also try the History of Literature or Book Dreams.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Soraya Nadia McDonald reads her essay "Wandering In Search of Wakanda," with sound design and music composition from Marco Pavé.

Soraya Nadia McDonald is the senior cultural critic for Andscape (formerly known as The Undefeated). She writes about film, television, and the arts. She is the 2020 winner of the George Jean Nathan prize for dramatic criticism, a 2020 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism, and the runner-up for the 2019 Vernon Jarrett Medal for outstanding reporting on Black life.

Marco Pavé ’s has opened for Mobb Deep, Waka Flocka Flame, and Young Dolph and worked with GRAMMY Award-winning producers like Carlos Broady. Pavé's work has been written up in outlets like The Source, The Root, and MTV News. His latest album, "Requiem for the Enslaved," is available now wherever you listen to music.

​Support Storybound by supporting our sponsors:

• Norton: "Fencing with the King" and "The Family Chao" are available wherever books are sold.
• Storyworth: Save $10 on your first purchase at Storyworth.com/Storybound

Storybound is hosted by Jude Brewer and brought to you by The Podglomerate and Lit Hub Radio. Let us know what you think of the show on Instagram and Twitter @storyboundpod.

***

This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our manage.com/subscribe/post?u=a3da57251c024955428e72bcc&id=abeea0a423">newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. 

Since you're listening to Storybound, you might enjoy reading, writing, and storytelling. We'd like to suggest you also try the History of Literature or Book Dreams.

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Dan Chaon reads an excerpt from his new book "Sleepwalk," backed by an original Storybound remix with sound design and arrangement by Jude Brewer.

Dan Chaon is the author of three novels: "You Remind Me of Me," "Await Your Reply," and "Ill Will." He's also published three short story collections and has been featured in several anthologies, including "Best American Short Stories" and "The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses."

Caregiver's (Lindsey Bitson) new track Everything was released in 2021 and her new album is set for release in 2022.

​Support Storybound by supporting our sponsors:

• Norton: "Fencing with the King" and "The Family Chao" are available wherever books are sold.
• Acorn.tv is the largest commercial free British streaming service with hundreds of exclusive shows from around the world. Try acorn.tv for free for 30 days by going to acorn.tv and using promo code Storybound.
• Storyworth: Save $10 on your first purchase at Storyworth.com/Storybound

Storybound is hosted by Jude Brewer and brought to you by The Podglomerate and Lit Hub Radio. Let us know what you think of the show on Instagram and Twitter @storyboundpod.

***

This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our manage.com/subscribe/post?u=a3da57251c024955428e72bcc&id=abeea0a423">newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. 

Since you're listening to Storybound, you might enjoy reading, writing, and storytelling. We'd like to suggest you also try the History of Literature or Book Dreams.

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Lidia Yuknavitch reads her powerful short story “Street Walker," from her collection "Verge," with sound design and music composition from Whiston & Warmack.

Lidia Yuknavitch is the National Bestselling author of the novels "The Book of Joan" and "The Small Backs of Children," winner of the 2016 Oregon Book Award's Ken Kesey Award for Fiction as well as the Reader's Choice Award, the novel "Dora: A Headcase," and a critical book on war and narrative, "Allegories Of Violence" (Routledge). Her widely acclaimed memoir "The Chronology of Water" was a finalist for a PEN Center USA award for creative nonfiction and winner of a PNBA Award and the Oregon Book Award Reader's Choice. "The Misfit's Manifesto," a book based on her recent TED Talk, was published by TED Books, and her new collection of fiction, Verge, was released in 2020. Lidia’s new novel, "Thrust," is forthcoming from Riverhead Books on June 28th, 2022.

She has also had writing appear in publications including Guernica Magazine, Ms., The Iowa Review, Zyzzyva, Another Chicago Magazine, The Sun, Exquisite Corpse, TANK, and in the anthologies "Life As We Show It (City Lights)," "Wreckage of Reason (Spuytin Duyvil)," "Forms at War (FC2)," "Feminaissance (Les Figues Press)," and "Representing Bisexualities (SUNY)," as well as online at The Rumpus.

Whinston & Warmack are a songwriting duo who perform in the Pacific Northwest.

​Support Storybound by supporting our sponsors:

• Norton: "Fencing with the King" and "The Family Chao" are available wherever books are sold.
• Acorn.tv is the largest commercial free British streaming service with hundreds of exclusive shows from around the world. Try acorn.tv for free for 30 days by going to acorn.tv and using promo code Storybound.
• Storyworth: Save $10 on your first purchase at Storyworth.com/Storybound

Storybound is hosted by Jude Brewer and brought to you by The Podglomerate and Lit Hub Radio. Let us know what you think of the show on Instagram and Twitter @storyboundpod.

***

This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our manage.com/subscribe/post?u=a3da57251c024955428e72bcc&id=abeea0a423">newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. 

Since you're listening to Storybound, you might enjoy reading, writing, and storytelling. We'd like to suggest you also try the History of Literature or Book Dreams.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices