{"id":35262,"date":"2024-06-07T08:06:23","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T12:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/?p=35262"},"modified":"2024-06-07T08:06:23","modified_gmt":"2024-06-07T12:06:23","slug":"alex-jennings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/2024\/06\/07\/alex-jennings\/","title":{"rendered":"Dig into duck with Alex Jennings in Episode 227 of Eating the Fantastic"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a different world, I’d be in Pasadena right now for the Nebula Awards conference, but in this world, I’ve just survived two consecutive weekends of conventions — first Balticon<\/a>, then StokerCon<\/a> — and there’s such a thing as too much fun, even for an extrovert like me. So instead, I’m at home, inviting you to take a seat at the table with the first of three guests I hosted while in Baltimore — Alex Jennings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jennings is the\u00a0winner of the 2023 Compton Crook Award for his\u00a0debut novel, The Ballad of Perilous Graves<\/em>.\u00a0His writing has appeared in Fantastic Stories of the Imagination<\/em>, Electric Velocipede<\/em>, Strange Horizons<\/em>, Uncanny Magazine<\/em>, Fantasy Magazine<\/em>, New Suns<\/em>, and Current Affairs<\/em>, and many other venues. Some of his short fiction was published in the 2012 collection Here I Come and Other Stories<\/em>. <\/p>\n

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He also writes a regular speculative poetry review column for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction<\/em>\u00a0titled “Chapter and Verse.”\u00a0In 2022, he was the inaugural recipient of the Imagination Unbound Fellowship at Under the Volcano, a writing retreat held annually in Tepoztlan, Mexico. He is also an instructor of fiction and popular fiction at The University of Southern Maine\u2019s Stonecoast MFA program.<\/p>\n

We discussed his dream which commanded him to move to New Orleans (plus his brother’s dream which supported that decision), how writing his debut novel transformed him into the kind of person he needed to be in order to write his debut novel, how Octavia Butler invited him into the field, which artist he wishes would draw the comic book adaptation of his novel The Ballad of Perilous Graves<\/em>, what China Mi\u00e9ville taught him at Clarion about the deadly nature of “second order cliches,” how joy is revolutionary in and of itself, the way his experience as a standup comedian helps him help you care about the multiple POVs of his novel, which issue of Uncanny X-Men<\/em> was the first comic book he ever read, the nature of his quasi-mystical approach to writing, and much more.<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s how you can join us at Thai Arroy<\/a> — <\/p>\n

1) Subscribe at Apple Podcasts<\/a> — or wherever<\/a> you choose to consume your podcasts — where I hope you’ll be tempted to sample a few of the 226 previous episodes.<\/p>\n

2) Listen via the RSS feed of http:\/\/eatingthefantastic.libsyn.com\/rss<\/a> on the device of your choice.<\/p>\n

3) Or simply use the embed below.<\/p>\n