Best Vellum Podcasts (2024)

1
Marguerite Young, "Miss MacIntosh, My Darling" (Deep Vellum Publishing, 2024) 57:42

2h ago57:42

57:42

In this episode I'm joined by Dalkey Archive's editorial director, Chad W. Post. We discuss the republication of the late Marguerite Young's cult-classic work of fiction, Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (Dalkey Archive Press, 2024). A colossal novel of over 1,000 pages, a kaleidoscopic cast of characters, permanent opium-induced hallucinations, a sprawl…

1
Ari Gautier, "Nocturne Pondicherry" (Hachette India, 2024) 1:01:54

22m ago1:01:54

1:01:54

A postman struggles to deliver the last letter on his last day of work. A prostitute elopes with the auto rickshaw driver who arranged clients for her. An inspector discovers the dead body of the boy he had an altercation with the previous evening. In Nocturne Pondicherry (Hachette India, 2024), Ari Gautier peels back the layers of human emotions u…

1
Sara Johnson Allen, "Down Here We Come Up" (Black Lawrence Press, 2023) 29:09

22m ago29:09

29:09

In Sara Johnson Allen's novel Down Here We Come Up (Black Lawrence Press 2023), Kate Jessup’s mother lures her back home to North Carolina. Jackie Jessup is a con-artist, always working a scheme, always taking what she wanted, and she taught Kate to do the same. Now she’s dying, and Kate is estranged and living far away in Boston. Kate, her mother,…

1
F. J. Watson, "Lies of the Flesh" (Polygon, 2024) 46:13

1h ago46:13

46:13

When evil stalks the land, who can you trust? Autumn 1314. In the aftermath of the Scottish victory at the Battle of Bannockburn, the villagers of Warcop wait desperately for the return of loved ones. When brothers Wat and Rob Dickinson bring news of the death of their companion, Adam Fothergill, as they fled home, there is no one to mourn him. But…

1
Francis Stevens, "The Heads of Cerberus and Other Stories" (MIT Press, 2024) 40:43

1h ago40:43

40:43

When three people in Philadelphia inhale dust developed by a scientist who has discovered parallel universes, they are transported into an interdimensional no-man's-land that is populated by supernatural beings. From there, they go on to an alternate-future version of Philadelphia—a frightening dystopian nation-state in which citizens are numbered,…

1
S J. Naudé, "Fathers and Fugitives" (Europa, 2024) 44:56

1h ago44:56

44:56

Daniel is a worldly and urbane journalist living in London. His relationships appear to be sexually fulfilling but sentimentally meager. A young gay man with no relationships outside of sexual ones, he can seem at once callow and, at times, cold to the point of cruel with his lovers. Emotionally distant from his elderly, senile father, Daniel nonet…

1
Etherized: Anne Enright in a Novel Dialogue Conversation (Paige Reynolds, JP) 44:46

1d ago44:46

44:46

Anne Enright, writer, critic, Booker winner, kindly made time back in 2023 for Irish literature maven Paige Reynolds and for John Plotz in his role as host for our sister podcast, Novel Dialogue. In this conversation, she reads from The Wren, The Wren and says we don’t yet know if the web has become a space of exposure or of authority. We can be su…

1
Scott Nadelson, "Trust Me" (Forest Avenue Press, 2024) 20:36

1h ago20:36

20:36

Today I talked to Scott Nadelson's novel Trust Me (Forest Avenue Press, 2024). After his divorce, Lewis moves into the cabin he bought as a vacation home towards the end of his marriage. It’s in the foothills of the Cascade mountains, a forty-five-minute drive from his twelve-year-old daughter’s school and his tedious government job in Salem, Orego…

1
Rachel Kushner, "Creation Lake" (Scribner, 2024) 58:19

3h ago58:19

58:19

Creation Lake (Scribner, 2024) is a novel about a secret agent, a thirty-four-year-old American woman of ruthless tactics, bold opinions, and clean beauty, who is sent to do dirty work in France. "Sadie Smith" is how the narrator introduces herself to her lover, to the rural commune of French subversives on whom she is keeping tabs, and to the read…

1
45: Ep. 45 - Breaking Ties 1:09:05

3h ago1:09:05

1:09:05

The agents take shifts watching over their sleeping companions, and have some life-changing conversations while they're at it. Spar gets to know a relentless foe; Vellum gets to know himself. Ila Alexei is Agent Kaolin Vellum and our artist Essay Mnktl is Agent Merim Felspar and our editor Jordan Quiverns is everyone else and our GM Subscribe to ou…

1
Nicholas Molbert, "Altars of Spine and Fraction" (Curbstone Press/Northwestern UP, 2024) 53:20

1h ago53:20

53:20

Nicholas Molbert's Altars of Spine and Fraction (Curbstone Press/Northwestern UP, 2024) follows its protagonist through the joys and dangers of childhood on the rural Gulf Coast, through familial loss, and into adulthood. Refusing to romanticize what has been lost, Molbert instead interrogates how nostalgia is most often enjoyed by those with the p…

1
Before and After the Book Deal 1:02:50

1d ago1:02:50

1:02:50

Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about publishing but were too afraid to ask. Before and After the Book Deal: A Writer’s Guide to Finishing, Publishing, Promoting, and Surviving Your First Book (Catapult, 2020) by Courtney Maum is a funny, candid guide about breaking into the marketplace. Cutting through the noise, dispelling rumors and remain…

1
Peter Rose, "The Good War of Consul Reeves" (Blacksmith Books, 2024) 50:15

1d ago50:15

50:15

Macau was supposed to be a sleepy post for John Reeves, the British consul for the Portuguese colony on China’s southern coast. He arrived, alone, in June 1941, his wife and daughter left behind in China. Seven months later, Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor, invaded Hong Kong, and made Reeves the last remaining British diplomat for hundreds of miles, …

1
Mary Jones, "The Goodbye Process" (Zibby Books, 2024) 28:51

3d ago28:51

28:51

In her stunning debut short story collection, The Goodbye Process (Zibby Books, 2024), Mary Jones uses her distinctive voice to examine the painful and sometimes surreal ways we say goodbye. The stories--which range from tender and heartbreaking to unsettling and darkly funny--will push you out of your comfort zone and ignite intense emotions surro…

1
Ayelet Tsabari, "Songs for the Brokenhearted: A Novel" (Random House, 2024) 26:34

10d ago26:34

26:34

Zohara flies from New York to Israel for her mother’s funeral. She’d already been through a tough year; a divorce from her American husband and trouble getting started on her doctoral dissertation at NYU. As she clears out the house where she grew up, Zohara finds tapes of her mother singing Yemenite songs in Arabic, and evidence of a secret romanc…

1
Madeline Martin, "The Booklover's Library" (Hanover Square Press, 2024) 35:28

3d ago35:28

35:28

The Booklover's Library (Hanover Square Press, 2024) has one of the most dramatic openings I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot of novels. It’s 1931 in Nottingham, England, and seventeen-year-old Emma, ensconced in her father’s bookshop, is engrossed in her favorite novel, Jane Austen’s Emma, when she realizes the building around her has caught fire…

1
Kaliane Bradley, "The Ministry of Time" (Avid Reader Press, 2024) 52:25

7d ago52:25

52:25

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she'll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering "expats" from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible--for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time. She is tasked with working …

1
Chelsea Bieker, "Madwoman" (Little, Brown, 2024) 35:21

10d ago35:21

35:21

Today I talked to Chelsea Biker about her novel Madwoman (Little, Brown, 2024). Clove has gone to extremes to keep her past a secret. Thanks to her lies, she's landed the life of her dreams, complete with a safe husband and two adoring children who will never know the terror that was routine in her own childhood. If her buried anxiety threatens to …

1
Jake Lamar, "Viper's Dream" (Crooked Lane Books, 2023) 50:18

19d ago50:18

50:18

Jake Lamar's novel Viper's Dream (Crooked Lane Books, 2023) is a gritty, daring look at the vibrant jazz scene of mid-century Harlem, and one man’s dreams of making it big and finding love in a world that wants to keep him down. Harlem, 1936. Clyde “The Viper” Morton boards a train from Alabama to Harlem to chase his dreams of being a jazz musician…

1
Maria de Caldas Antão, "My Freedom," The Common Magazine 38:20

14d ago38:20

38:20

Maria de Caldas Antão speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her poem “ My Freedom,” which appears in The Common’s most recent issue. Maria talks about how a casual comment inspired this poem, which explores the idea of freedom, and what it might mean to be free: personally, politically, physically, philosophically. Maria also discusses how…

1
C. Michelle Lindley, "The Nude" (Atria Books, 2024) 39:46

19d ago39:46

39:46

1999: An island off the southern coast of Greece. Art historian Elizabeth Clarke arrives with the intent to acquire a rare female sculpture. But what begins as a quest for a highly valued cultural artifact evolves into a trip that will force Elizabeth to contend with her career, her ambition, and her troubling history. Disoriented by jet lag, debil…

1
Marga Ortigas, "God's Ashes: Apocrypha" (Penguin, 2024) 37:10

27d ago37:10

37:10

Climate change. The refugee crisis. The rise of social media. These big social questions—and others—inspired journalist Marga Ortigas in the creation of her new novel God’s Ashes (Penguin Southeast Asia, 2024) , a piece of speculative fiction set in a very different 2023. A transnational crime unites the book’s characters, rich and poor, on a journ…

1
Terena Elizabeth Bell, "Tell Me What You See" (Whiskey Tit, 2022) 49:13

16d ago49:13

49:13

Terena Elizabeth Bell's Tell Me What You See (Whisk(e)y Tit, 2022), is a collection of ten experimental short stories about coronavirus quarantines, climate change, the January 6th invasion on the US Capitol, and other events from 2020-2021. Written in both word and image, pieces from the collection have been called "inventive and topical and fre…

1
44: Ep. 44 - Time Out 1:17:23

28d ago1:17:23

1:17:23

Content Warning: Survivors guilt Everyone takes a minute to talk things through on a most revealing episode! Vellum delivers a one-hit-kill; Spar and Xbala debate which of their memories is correct; everyone pieces together pieces of the larger puzzle. Ila Alexei is Agent Kaolin Vellum and our artist Essay Mnktl is Agent Merim Felspar and our edito…

1
Sara Farrington, "A Trojan Woman Adapted from Euripides" (Broadway Play Publishing, 2024) 26:27

17d ago26:27

26:27

In a flash of modern warfare (Ukraine? Afghanistan? Vietnam? Poland? Hiroshima? Israel? Gaza?), a mother loses her child. She becomes "A Trojan Woman," compelled to embody every iconic character in Euripides’ classic play. Sara Farrington (Playwright) NYC & NJ based playwright, screenwriter, co-founder of Foxy Films, her theater company w/ Reid Far…

1
"The Threepenny Review": A Discussion with Wendy Lesser 33:49

1M ago33:49

33:49

Today’s spotlight is on the literary magazine The Threepenny Review. I’m joined by the magazine’s founding and current Editor, Wendy Lesser. Wendy Lesser is the author of twelve nonfiction books and one novel; her latest book, entitled Scandinavian Noir: In Pursuit of a Mystery, came out from Farrar Straus & Giroux in May 2020. She has received awa…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Vellum Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide