Barn Burning: Short Stories Barn Burning
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Classic & modern short stories. Stories will save us.
Are you a writer? Want to have your story read on an episode of Barn Burning? Contact us: BarnBurningPodcast@gmail.com.
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14. In a Grove (Rashomon Part II), by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Who murdered the samurai? Was it the notorious thief Tajomaru? Was it the samurai's heartbroken wife? Or did he leave a message telling us who the real killer was? In a dark story about an inscrutable world, Akutagawa asks what is truth, what do we believe, and what stories do we tell ourselves?
CW: sexual assault
Translator: Takashi Kojima
Are you a writer and want to have your short story on the podcast? You can reach me at barnburningpodcast@gmail.com
Happy reading! -
13. Tickle Torture, by Thomas H. McNeely
Hello, Barn Burners! I met acclaimed writer Thomas H. McNeely at Inprint in Houston to record him reading his story, Tickle Torture. The story is from his collection, Pictures of the Shark, which I read and recommend for its powerful and relatable depictions of a tumultuous childhood.
In a starred review, Kirkus has called Thomas H. McNeely's book, Pictures of the Shark: Stories "an emotionally taut and often haunting collection." An East End Houston native, McNeely has published short stories and non-fiction in The Atlantic, Texas Monthly, Ploughshares, and many other magazines and anthologies. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Wallace Stegner Program at Stanford University, and the MacDowell Colony. His stories have been short-listed for the Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and O. Henry Award anthologies. He currently teaches in the Stanford Online Writing Studio and at Emerson College, Boston. His website is www.thomashmcneelywriter.com and he can be found on Twitter @thmcneely.
Are you a writer and want to have your short story on the podcast? You can reach me at barnburningpodcast@gmail.com! -
12. Muriel vs. the Hunger, by Lannie Stabile
Welcome back to Barn Burning! After an extended hiatus, the Barn Burning short story podcast is back with a killer episode about hamsters, motherhood, and grief. I was honored to have on writer-poet @LannieStabile to read and discuss her story "Muriel vs. the Hunger," which was published in Sledgehammer Lit in November 2021.
Lannie Stabile (she/her), a queer Detroiter, is the winner of OutWrite’s 2020 Chapbook Competition in Poetry and a back-to-back semifinalist for the Button Poetry Chapbook Contest. Lannie was also named a 2020 Best of the Net finalist. Her debut poetry full-length, Good Morning to Everyone Except Men Who Name Their Dogs Zeus, was published in 2021 by Cephalopress. Her fiction debut, Something Dead in Everything, is out now with ELJ Editions. Find her on Twitter @LannieStabile and her website, www.lanniestabile.com.
Are you a writer and want to have your short story on the podcast? You can reach me at barnburningpodcast@gmail.com! -
11. Tornado Watch, by Wendy J. Fox
Welcome back to Barn Burning, a short story podcast! I had the great pleasure of speaking with writer Wendy J. Fox about her story Tornado Watch, from her forthcoming collection of interconnected stories, What If We Were Somewhere Else? The book comes out in November 2021 and you can pre-order a copy here: https://bookshop.org/a/1986/9781951631055. You can also find Wendy at her website: https://www.wendyjfox.com/
Are you a writer and want to have your story on the podcast? You can reach me at barnburningpodcast@gmail.com!
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10. Seagull-Leviathan-Spaniel, by Kieran Wyatt
I was honored to have British writer Kieran Wyatt share three short stories on the Barn Burning Podcast, 'Seagull' 'Leviathan' & 'Spaniel', which first appeared in The Art of Everyone. We talked on UK Mother's Day about liminal places, magical realism, and the Camel Derby.
Kieran Wyatt lives on the Fylde Coast. He is co-chair of GenSex (@GenSexResearch), an interdisciplinary research group, asking probing questions about gender and sexuality. His work has been published by Eunoia Review, The Art of Everyone, Small Leaf Press, Fevers of the Mind, and others. He graduated from Edge Hill University in 2018 with honours in Creative Writing. You can find him on Twitter at @Kinz_Wyatt.
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9. The Big Balloon, by J. Edward Kruft
Today I had the pleasure of reading J. Edward Kruft's story "The Big Balloon," followed by a wide-ranging conversation with Joe about MFA programs, character motivation, and the #FlashFiction format.
"The Big Balloon" appeared in the June 2020 issue of Door is a Jar Magazine and you can find it on his website.
J. Edward Kruft received his MFA in fiction writing from Brooklyn College, and has been a Best Small Fictions nominee. His stories have appeared in Jellyfish Review, MoonPark Review and Typehouse Literary Magazine, among others. He is a Virgo, and as such, while working at a storied fast food chain, he made an impassioned but reasoned argument against polyester uniforms given their proximity to the fry machine. He was fired. Originally from the very west of Washington state, he now lives in the very west of Queens, NY and Sullivan County, NY with his husband, Mike, and their adopted Siberian Husky, Sasha.
If you're a writer and would like to have your story read on Barn Burning, please email me at barnburningpodcast@gmail.com, or find me on Twitter at @barnburnpodcast. Read on, fellows barn-burners!