S6 Ep. 8: Live from Writers for Readers in Kansas City: Alexander Chee on Editing Best American Essays 2022

fiction/non/fiction

Writer and editor Alexander Chee joins hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell live from the annual Writers for Readers gala in Kansas City to discuss editing Best American Essays 2022. Chee talks about what makes a strong essay and how he curated the volume, as well as how his training as a speed reader stood him in good stead as he made his selections. He also comments on specific pieces by Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Anthony Veasna So, Ryan Bradley, Vauhini Vara, Erika J. Simpson, and others.

Writers for Readers is an ongoing partnership between the Kansas City Public Library and the University of Missouri’s MFA Program in Creative Writing. Funds raised support the Maya Angelou Book Award and enable graduate students to teach writing classes at the library.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected Readings:

Alexander Chee

• The Best American Essays 2022 (Ed.)
• How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
• Edinburgh
• The Queen of the Night

Others:

• Annie Dillard
• Jamaica Kincaid
• David Foster Wallace
• Hilton Als
• Susan Sontag
• Cynthia Ozick
• Edward Hoagland
• Robert Atwan
• Elizabeth Hardwick
• Darryl Pinckney
• Diaries of Mavis Gallant
• Dmitri Nabokov
• Vladimir Nabokov
• Black Folk Could Fly by Randall Kenan
• James Baldwin
• Joan Didion
• Anne Carson
• Edwidge Danticat
• Brian Doyle
• Franklin Burroughs
• Gerard Manley Hopkins
• Maya Angelou
• Alex Marzano-Leznevich
• Erika J. Simpson
• Ryan Bradley
• Kaitlyn Greenidge
• Gary Shteyngart
• Christopher Leonard
• “Ghosts” by Vauhini Vara
• “When World of Warcraft is an Escape – and a Memorial” by Tanner Akoni Laguatan
• “Baby Yeah,” by Anthony Veasna So
• Fiction/Non/Fiction, Season 5 Episode 10: “How on Earth Do You Judge Books?” Susan Choi and Oscar Villalon on the Story Behind Literary Awards

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