Hemmed in by what she ‘should’ be writing, Clare Beams turned a corner by freeing herself to write what would become the title story in her phenomenal collection WE SHOW WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED. James was fortunate enough to edit one of Clare’s stories for ONE STORY, and they discuss that experience as well as putting her collection together, how she ignored advice to maintain a consistent level of weird, and exploring the limitlessness of short fiction. Plus Emily Smith, publisher at Lookout Books, describes the unique program at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Clare Beams

Clare and James discuss:

Columbia University

“The School” by Donald Barthelme

Kelly Link

Aimee Bender

Alice Munro

Hannah Tinti

Annie Hartnett

HAYDEN’S FERRY REVIEW

ECOTONE

LOOKOUT BOOKS

THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY

THE NEW YORKER

ONE STORY

Beth Staples

Emily Smith

Erin Kottke

BINOCULAR VISION by Edith Pearlman

PEN: Robert Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction

Young Lions Fiction Award

Lookout Books

Emily and James discuss:

The Sewanee Writers’ Conference

Michelle Brower

ECOTONE

National Endowment for the Arts

Association of Writing Programs

David Gessner

Jeff Sharlet

The Publishing Laboratory

Stanley Colbert

THE BOTTLE CHAPEL AT AIRLIE GARDENS: A TRIBUTE TO MINNIE EVANS

BACKYARD CAROLINA by Andy Wood

THE HATTARASMAN by Ben Dixon MacNeill

BINOCULAR VISION by Edith Pearlman

GOD BLESS AMERICA by Steve Almond

Beth Staples

Anna Lena Phillips Bell

Melissa Crowe

BELOIT POETRY JOURNAL

HONEY FROM THE LION by Matthew Neill Null

South Arts

“Granna” by Clare Beams

“We Show What We Have Learned” by Clare Beams

Ben George

WHEN ALL THE WORLD IS OLD: POEMS by John Rybicki

RIVER BEND CHRONICLE by Ben Miller

MADRAS PRESS

Sumanth Prabhaker

Corinne Manning

THE JAMES FRANCO REVIEW

PLOUGHSHARES

REDIVIDER

ONE STORY

INSURRECTIONS by Rion Amilcar Scott

After a series of tragedies, Hannah Tinti figured out what she truly cares about, and in doing so, rediscovered the spark in her writing, resulting in her brilliant and immensely entertaining new novel, THE TWELVE LIVES OF SAMUEL HAWLEY. She and James discuss finding community in the lonely business of writing, immediately knowing which pieces of a book belong, using roadsigns to create tension, and having the audacity to write about whales. They also discuss Hannah’s incredible work in co-creating and editing the literary magazine ONE STORY.

Hannah Tinti

Hannah and James Discuss:

Daniel Wallace

American Short Fiction

Sewanee Writers’ Conference

Maribeth Batcha

“Villanova” by John Hodgman

NYU

Writers House, A Literary Agency

Devin Emke

THE AREAS OF MY EXPERTISE by John Hodgman

THE BOSTON REVIEW

ATLANTIC MONTHLY

C. Michael Curtis

THE NEW YORKER

HARPER’S

PLOUGHSHARES

THE PARIS REVIEW

McSWEENEY’S

Samuel French

THE KENYON REVIEW

TIN HOUSE

GRANTA

REDIVIDER

“World’s End” by Clare Beams

Victor Kiam

The One Story Debutante Ball

The Fray

Margo Rabb

“Fear Itself” by Katie Coyle

“The Strings Attached” (unfortunately not entitled “Banjo”) by James Scott

ANIMAL CRACKERS by Hannah Tinti (2004, The Dial Press)

Winston Churchill

LENNY

Hedgebrook Writers in Residence Program

Alfred Hitchcock

Annie Hartnett

50 Cent

Greg Mollica

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Matthew Cheney

Jim Shepard

E.L. Doctorow