Let's Deconstruct a Story Kelly Fordon

Hi Everyone,

We're a little late with this episode and it's all my fault! As I mentioned in my May 1st blog post (sign up here for updates), for the first time in four years, I conducted an amazing interview with Sheila Kohler and forgot to hit record on Zoom. Sheila--the most gracious person on Earth--forgave me for wasting 45 minutes of her time and agreed to re-record the episode.

Thank you to Sheila for sitting down with me twice!

After I recovered from the shame, I realized this might be a great boon for readers. I loved Cracks—the short story, the novel, and the movie! You will find links to all three below. It was fascinating to talk about Sheila's adaptation from short story to novel and to hear about the making of the movie and the decision to set the movie in England rather than South Africa.

I hope you have had time to read the short story and the novel. What did you think of the movie? Let me know if you have any follow-up questions or comments. I would love to hear.

Here are the links: Content Warning: Sexual Assault

Cracks, the short story, by Sheila Kohler

Cracks, The Novel by Sheila Kohler, available at Bookshop and Amazon.

Cracks, The Movie



In other news...

I am taking a sabbatical from the podcast this summer to rest, regroup, and figure out what direction to take this show in in the future. I love doing it, but every now and then, I think it's a good idea to reevaluate and hone in on what has been valuable and what parts need to go.

My first guest in the fall is Tim Tomlinson. Although I will be talking to him about one of his short stories, he has a new book coming out this month. It looks terrific! Check out kellyfordon.com for a picture of the cover and publication information from Nirala.

Cheers!

Kelly

Sheila Kohler Bio:

Sheila Kohler was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, the younger of two girls. Upon matriculation at 17 from Saint Andrews, with a distinction in history (1958), she left the country for Europe. She lived for 15 years in Paris, where she married, did her undergraduate degree in literature at the Sorbonne, and a graduate degree in psychology at the Institut Catholique. After raising her three girls, she moved to the USA in 1981, and did an MFA in writing at Columbia.

In the summer of 1987, her first published story, “The Mountain,” came out in “The Quarterly” and received an O.Henry prize and was published in the O.Henry Prize Stories of 1988. It also became the first chapter in her first novel, “The Perfect Place,” which was published by Knopf the next year.

Knopf also published the first volume of her short stories, “Miracles in America,” in 1990.

Kohler has won two O.Henry prizes for “The Mountain” 1988 and “The Transitional Object” 2008. She has been short-listed in the O.Henry Prize Stories for three years running: in 1999 for the story, “Africans”; in 2000 for “Casualty,” which had appeared in the Ontario Review; and 2001 for “Death in Rome,” a story which had appeared in The Antioch Review. “Casualty” was also included in the list of distinguished stories in The Best American Short Stories of 2001.

In 1994 she published a second novel, “The House on R Street,” also with Knopf, about which Patrick McGrath said, in “The New York Times Book Review: ” “Sheila Kohler has achieved in this short novel a remarkable atmosphere, a fine delicate fusion of period, society and climate.”

In 1998 she published a short story, “Africans,” in Story Magazine, which was chosen for the Best American Short Stories of 1999, was read and recorded at Symphony Space and at The American Repertory Theatre in Boston and was translated into Japanese. It was also included in her second collection of stories,” One Girl,” published by Helicon Nine, which won the Willa Cather Prize in 1998 judged by William Gass.

In 1999 she published her third novel, “Cracks,” with Zoland, which received a starred review from Kirkus, wa

Hi Everyone,

This month, we are discussing “The Progress of Love” by Alice Munro. I’m joined on the podcast by Keith Hood, One Story’s 2024 Adina Talve-Goodman Fellow. Keith read the version of the story available in Alice Munro’s collection (1st person POV) and I read the New Yorker version. I suggest reading both as we had a great discussion about POV and narrative distance and Alice Munro’s decision to switch POV. Please find the stories here:

The Progress of Love from Alice Munro’s collection or her Selected Stories is available for purchase on Amazon or Bookshop.

The New Yorker Version typed by Kelly is available at kellyfordon.com for the month of April, with possible typos. After April, please purchase a subscription and support good writing at The New Yorker here.

As always, I’d love to hear any suggestions for upcoming guests and/or possible stories for review. We always appreciate ratings, reviews, or donations (see the donation button on this page). If you have any ideas, comments, or additional insights into this story, please message me on the Let’s Deconstruct a Story Facebook Page. I’d love to add additional comments to this page (below) so check back over time for more insights.

I hope you enjoy the show!

Kelly

Let’s Deconstruct a Story on Apple

Let’s Deconstruct a Story on Spotify

ARTICLES AND BOOKS REFERENCED IN THIS PODCAST

“Switchback Time” by Joan Silber“The Long-Clock Story” by Amy GustineThe Mookes and The Gripes thoughts on “The Progress of Love.”Tantalizing Silences: Articulating Pain in “.The Progress of Love”

The Erotics of Restraint: Essays on Literary FormDouglas Glover (Author

Guest, Keith Hood:

Mostly true stuff even though not true of me. A Google search reveals that someone who shares Keith Hood’s name is a Compliance Director in Hoboken, NJ, a Senior Military Advisor in Washington D.C., and Managing Director of Warner Financial Services in the UK where a different Keith Hood established a thriving photographic business. Other Keith Hoods have experience in the medical field as dentist, periodontist, plastic surgeon, and ophthalmologist. A Keith Hood MD has written numerous articles in medical journals including, “Hematomas in Aesthetic Surgery.”(Again, I’m not that Keith Hood although I’ve written lots of short stories and essays (see Publications) but I’ve never written any medical articles. I don’t even have a college degree. I have never been a male or female prostitute, an operas singer or athlete. Despite rumors to the contrary, I have never been a staff writer for Star Trek: The Next Generation (although I tried my damnedest). Countless LinkedIn profiles say of various Keith Hoods that he is “an all-around splendid person.” For more on this Keith Hood, visit his website ⁠here. ⁠

Podcast Host Kelly Fordon:

Kelly Fordon’s latest short story collection, I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020), was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her 2016 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind (WSUP), was an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, an Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House (Kattywompus Press, 2019), was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. It was later adapted into a play by Robin Martin and published in The Kenyon Review Online. She is the author of three award-winning poetry chapbooks and has received a Best of the Net Award and Pushcart Prize nominations in three different genres. She teaches at Springfed Arts in Detroit and online.

Hi Everyone,

I'm thrilled to host Cara Blue Adams today on the podcast. We talked about her stellar short story, "Vision," available from Joyland Magazine. I met Cara years ago at the Kenyon Writers Workshop (which I highly recommend by the way...) so it was great fun to reconnect on the podcast.

Cara's work was recommended by Vincent Perrone, who is a part owner of the co-op bookstore, Book Suey, in Hamtramck, MI, so he joined us for the podcast as well. See his bio below, and please consider buying from Bookshop or even directly from Book Suey to support local bookstores!

Enjoy the show and see you on April 1st!

Kelly

Cara Blue Adams is the author of the interlinked story collection You Never Get It Back (University of Iowa Press, 2021), named a New York Times Editors’ Choice and awarded the John Simmons Short Fiction Prize, judged by Brandon Taylor, who calls it “a modern classic.” The collection was shortlisted for the Mary McCarthy Prize and longlisted for the Story Prize. Over twenty-five of her stories appear in magazines like the Granta, The Kenyon Review, Epoch, American Short Fiction, and Electric Literature, and her nonfiction appears in Bookforum and The Believer.

She has received the Kenyon Review Short Fiction Prize, the Missouri Review William Peden Prize, and the Meringoff Prize in Fiction, along with a 2018 Center for Fiction Emerging Writer fellowship and selection as a Pushcart Prize Notable. She has also received support from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the VCCA, the Lighthouse Works, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Cara earned a B.A. in English Language and Literature from Smith College and an MFA from the University of Arizona. Originally from Vermont, she has lived in Boston, Tucson, Montreal, Maine, South Carolina, and Baton Rouge. She is a former coeditor of The Southern Review. Currently, she is an associate professor in the MFA program at Temple University and lives in Brooklyn and the Hudson Valley.

Purchase Cara's book at Book Suey (link above) or Book Shop or Amazon.

My co-host:

Vincent James Perrone is the author of the poetry collection, Starving Romantic (11:11 Press, 2018), the microchap, Travelogue For The Dispossessed (Ghost City Press, 2021), and a contributor to the anthology, Collected Voices in the Expanded Field (11:11 Press, 2020). His recent and forthcoming work can be found in Pithead Chapel, New Flash Fiction Review, TIMBER, Storm Cellar, and A Common Well Journal. Vincent lives in Detroit where he teaches at Wayne State University. He reads for Conduit and is a member-owner of the co-op bookstore, Book Suey.



#shortstories

#creativewriting

#joylandmag

#kenyonreview

#booksuey

Hi Everyone,

We had so much fun discussing Leigh Newman's short story, "An Extravaganza in Two Acts," available here from Electric Literature. You are going to learn so much about writing historical fiction. Leigh is a hoot! The conversation moved at a clip, so I have some discussion notes for you below.

Also, check out the bonus question one of my earlier guests, award-winning author and Pulitzer-prize nominated journalist Desiree Cooper, sent to Leigh after we recorded the podcast.

We have a new Let's Deconstruct a Story Facebook page and Instagram page. I'd love to see you there. Please like or follow it if you have a chance, and feel free to post questions, comments, or suggestions for future guests.

Here's a link to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, and Audible.

Next month, I'll be talking to Cara Blue Adams about her short story, "Vision," available here. You might consider buying Cara Blue Adams' book, You Never Get it Back, from Bookshop because my co-host for that podcast, Vincent Perrone, is part owner of Book Suey in Hamtramck, and all sales that roll through Bookshop next month will support his store.

Happy reading!

Kelly



PS: Do you have trouble sleeping? If so, I highly recommend Nothing Much Happens, Bedtime Stories for Grown-ups by Kathryn Nicolai. Apparently, Kathryn also lives in Michigan. I don't know her, but I'm obsessed with these bedtime stories because they are designed to put you to sleep, and her voice is very soothing, but they are also wonderful. If you are in the mood for delightful, feel-good stories, check them out here.

PSS: I have to give one television show a plug...I was listening to a podcast featuring a former classmate from Kenyon, and she suggested a Swedish show called The Restaurant. IT IS SO GOOD. It's winter here in Detroit, and bleak bleak bleak, so I figured, like me, you might want to light some candles and curl up with a good drama. This one is cutting into my reading time, which is the highest praise from me. Let me know what you think!!



Leigh Newman: Leigh Newman's collection Nobody Gets Out Alive (Scribner) was long-listed for the National Book Award for Fiction and The Story Prize. Her stories have appeared in the Paris Review, Harper’s, Best American Short Stories 2020, Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023, Tin House, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, One Story and Electric Literature, and have been awarded a Pushcart prize and an American Society of Magazine Editors’ fiction prize. Still Points North (Dial Press), her memoir about growing up in Alaska, was a finalist for the National Book Critic Circle’s John Leonard prize. In 2020, she received the Paris Review’s Terry Southern Prize for “humor, wit, and sprezzatura."

Newman's essays and book reviews have appeared in The New York Times, Bookforum, Vogue, O The Oprah Magazine, and other magazines. When not writing, she looks after her two dogs, two kids, and one cat. Goals include: goats and more chickens.



Podcast Host: Kelly Fordon’s latest short story collection, I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020), was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her 2016 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind (WSUP), was a Michigan Notable Book, an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, an Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House (Kattywompus Press, 2019), was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. It was later adapted into a play by Robin Martin and published in The Kenyon Review Online. She is the author of three award-winning poetry chapbooks and has received a Best of the Net Award and Pushcart Prize nominations in three different genres. She teaches at Springfed Arts in Detroit.

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to Let's Deconstruct a Story! This month I'm talking to Jai Chakrabarti about his wonderful story, "A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness." Please find the link to the story at www.kellyfordon.com, It's best to read it before tuning into the podcast.

Next month, I'll be talking to Leigh Newman about her story, "An Extravaganza in Two Acts," also available via a link on my website. If you have any questions for Leigh, feel free to contact me, and I will pass them along.

Also, I've switched over to Let's Deconstruct a Story accounts on both Facebook and Instagram. Please follow us here:

Facebook

Instagram

#letsdeconstructastory

Cheers!

Kelly

Jai Chakrabarti:

O. Henry and Pushcart Prize winner Jai Chakrabarti is the author of the novel A Play for the End of the World (Knopf ’21), which earned him the National Jewish Book Award for debut fiction. The novel was also recognized as the Association of Jewish Libraries Honor Book, a finalist for the Rabindranath Tagore Prize, and long-listed for the PEN/Faulkner Award.

Chakrabarti is also the author of the story collection A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness (Knopf), which was included in several end-of-year lists, including The New Yorker’s Best Books of 2023. His short fiction has been published in Best American Short Stories, Ploughshares, One Story, Electric Literature, A Public Space, Conjunctions, and elsewhere and performed on Selected Shorts by Symphony Space.

Beyond fiction, Chakrabarti’s nonfiction has been widely published in journals such as The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Writer’s Digest, Berfrois, and LitHub. He was an Emerging Writer Fellow with A Public Space and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College. Despite his literary pursuits, Chakrabarti is also a trained computer scientist.

Born in Kolkata, India, he currently lives in New York with his family and is a faculty member at Bennington Writing Seminars.



Your Host:

Kelly Fordon’s latest short story collection, I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020), was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her 2016 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind (WSUP), was a Michigan Notable Book, an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, an Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House (Kattywompus Press, 2019), was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. It was later adapted into a play by Robin Martin and published in The Kenyon Review Online. She is the author of three award-winning poetry chapbooks and has received a Best of the Net Award and Pushcart Prize nominations in three different genres. She teaches at Springfed Arts in Detroit and online, where she runs a fiction podcast called “Let’s Deconstruct a Story.” http://www.kellyfordon.com

Hi Everyone!



Welcome to Let's Deconstruct a Story! This month I'm talking to Katherine Vaz about her wonderful story, "Our Lady of the Artichokes." Please read the story (available at www.kellyfordon.com/blog) before tuning into the podcast.



Also, please check out the link to her fantastic new novel Above the Salt which I read and adored. Sometimes I wish this was also a podcast about novels, but we do offer a brief preview of the book during our discussion. Purchase options are available below.



Next month I'll be talking to Jai Chakrabarti about his story, "A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness," also available via link on my website. If you have any questions for Jai, feel free to contact me and I will pass them along.



Have a wonderful holiday season. I'll be reaching out to my subscribers (here) in two weeks with some end-of-the-year recommendations and then we'll see you on January 1st for Jai Chakrabarti.



Cheers!



Kelly

P.S. You can purchase Katherine Vaz's amazing new book here on Bookshop or here on Amazon.



Upcoming Class: I'm offering a "Let's Deconstruct a Story" workshop in January. More details here.