GrottoPod

Veronica Kornberg author of Strange Gift has a conversation with Brandy Collins about the life and expectations of poetry. We learn some new terms, what types of poems there are and how Veronica navigates creating her favorite forms of poetry. Order Strange Gift here

Crossover Episode! The I Have Questions hosted by Brandy Collins and The Grotto Pod have crossed over this interview with author of Blood Slaves and Blood Rising, Markus Redmond. His books reimagine vampire by adding an origin story set during the early days of American slavery blending the story with supernatural horrorBrandy and Markus talk about his transitioning from the movie industry, how he still had to "show up on the page". Markus gives some inside tips on working in publishing, the 88 query letters he sent and self care when writing horror fiction.https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/shop/blood-slaves-9781496753182/

Welcome back! Its a new season of Grotto Pod as Doug Henderson and Brandy Collins talk transitions. Brandy Collins is a journalist who has written for SF Gate, Oaklandside, and Non-Profit Quarterly to name a few. She's host of "I Have Questions podcast hosted by Brandy Collins" and creator of "Someone's Auntie" on Substack. Brandy will co-hosting and taking the reins in some of this seasons Grotto Pod episodes.

Lewis Buzbee, Doug Henderson and T. K. Rex discuss the craft of books, and why we still love bookstores, even after (especially after) working at them.Lewis Buzbee’s most recent novel is Diver. He is also the author of The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop, Blackboard, After the Gold Rush, Fliegelman’s Desire, as well as three award-winning books for younger readers, Steinbeck’s Ghost, The Haunting of Charles Dickens, and Bridge of Time. His essays, poems, stories, and interviews have appeared in Lit Hub, Lit Stack, GQ, The New York Times Book Review, Paris Review, ZYZZYVA, Black Warrior Review, Best American Poetry, and elsewhere. A former bookseller and publisher, he’s taught writing in the San Francisco Bay Area for a long time now.Other stuff we talked about in the episode:Nadine GordimerDog Eared Books in San Francisco, CaliforniaGreen Apple Books in San Francisco, CaliforniaMonterey Bay AquariumGrotto Nights at the Library, May 27 (the panel that Doug and T. K. are going to be on in May at the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch, 6pm)Bookshop.org

Shingai Njeri Kagunda, T. K. Rex and Doug Henderson discuss editing fiction publications, the triumphant return of Fantasy Magazine, and creating space for underrepresented writers.Shingai Njeri Kagunda (they/she) is an Afrosurreal/futurist storyteller from Nairobi, Kenya with a Literary Arts MFA from Brown. Shingai’s work has been featured in The Best American Sci-fi and Fantasy 2020 and 2023 editions, Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction in 2021, and Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2020. They have work in Omenana, Fantasy Magazine, FracturedLit, Khoreo, Baffling Magazine, Lightspeed, Psychopomp, Frivolous Comma and several anthologies including Africa Risen, Will This Be A Problem, and Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction. Their debut novella, & This is How to Stay Alive, won the Ignyte Award for best novella in 2022. Their short story "Air to Shape Lungs", was chosen in 2023 for the Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy list and anthology. Their essay "Black Futurisms vs. Systems of Domination" was nominated for the 2025 British Science Fiction Association award, and their newly released novelette, We Who Will Not Die, was named Locus Recommended Reading. Shingai is the co-founder of Voodoonauts Summer Writing Workshop, a creative writing teacher, an eternal student, and a lover of all things soft and Black.Other stuff we talked about in the episode:Fantasy MagazinePodcastleVoodoonauts Afrofuturist collective & workshop& This Is How To Stay AliveIgnyte Awards - centering the contributions and experiences of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) in Speculative FictionFIYAH Magazine - speculative fiction by and about Black people of the African DiasporaLet the Star Explode - short story by Shingai Njeri KagundaHi From Shelling Point - story story by T. K. Rex, in Utopia MagazineArley Sorg - Co-Editor of Fantasy MagazineRooted & Written, BIPOC conference at the Writers GrottoThe Nebula AwardsBritish Fantasy Awards#PublishingPaidMe - link to the Vox explainerYvette Lisa NdlovuSheree Renée ThomasSuyi Davies OkungbowaNana Kwame Adjei-BrenyahJust Keep Writing podcastFeminist Theory: From Margin to Center - a 1984 book about feminist theory by bell hooks

Nina Schuyler, Susan Kaye Quinn, Doug Henderson and T. K. Rex discuss writing climate fiction and one central theme: hope. How to have it, how to write it, and why it’s more important than ever.Nina Schuyler’s short story collection, In This Ravishing World, won the W.S. Porter Prize and the Prism Prize for Climate Literature and was published in July 2024. Her novel, Afterword, won the 2024 PenCraft Book of the Year in Fiction, the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award for Science Fiction and Literary, and the PenCraft Spring Seasonal Book Award for Literary and Science Fiction. Her novel, The Translator, was shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing and won the Next Generation Indie Book Award for General Fiction. Her novel, The Painting, was shortlisted for the Northern California Book Award. Her books, How to Write Stunning Sentences and Stunning Sentences: A Creative Writing Journal are bestsellers. Her short stories have been published by Zyzzyva, Chicago Quarterly Review, Fugue, Nashville Review, and elsewhere, and have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She teaches creative writing for Stanford Continuing Studies, The Writing Salon, and Book Passage. Susan Kaye Quinn is an environmental engineer turned author, writing and publishing speculative fiction since 2011. Lately, she writes hopeful climate fiction, trying to change the narratives that are destroying the world. You can find her short fiction in Reckoning, Solarpunk Magazine, and Grist's recently released Metamorphosis collection of solarpunk stories. All her short fiction and novels are on her website, https://susankayequinn.com/. She's the host of the Bright Green Futures podcast, stories to build a better world: https://brightgreenfutures.substack.com/Other stuff we talked about in the episode:The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoë SchlangerSongs of the Humpback WhaleSounds of Nature by Karen BakkerHow to be Animal by Melanie ChallengerGlide Memorial volunteer programThe Great Derangement by Amitav GoshtThe Hopepunk Panel at Watertown Public LibraryObject oriented ontologyThe Overstory by Richard Powers"Mazes" short story by Ursula LeGuinMetamorphosis: Climate Fiction for a Better FutureThe Great Mississippi Tea CompanyGristBright Green Futures Anthology

Cynthia Gomez, M. M. Olivas, Doug Henderson and T. K. Rex discuss monsters, middles, invented towns, whose fear gets centered in horror, and counternarratives.Stuff we talked about in the episode:Sundown in San Ojuela by M. M. Olivas (Mara)The Nightmare Box and Other Stories by Cynthia GómezMara's websiteCynthia's websiteBrent Lambert (author)Gordon White (author)Nancy Kress (author)Steven Graham Jones  (author)¡Sangronas! Un Lista de Terror by M. M. Olivas (short story in Uncanny Magazine)Barbara Kingsolver (author)Doug's book, The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-Fi- & Fantasy Role-Playing ClubMetamorphosis: Climate Fiction for a Better Future (anthology with T. K.'s story)Our fundraiser for the 30th anniversary of the Writers Grotto

Margaret Juhae Lee, Doug Henderson and T. K. Rex discuss the differences between history and memoir, memoir and autobiography, research and worldbuilding, fiction and memory, plus generative writing, being a Taurus, internal reward systems, and putting yourself in the story.Stuff we talked about in the episode:Margaret's book Starry FieldWriting Day WorkshopsThe Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative by Vivian Gornick

Roberto Lovato, Doug Henderson and T. K. Rex discuss scarlet macaws, breaking down structural inequality in publishing, and Rooted & Written—the first tuition-free professional conference for Writers of Color in the United States.Stuff we talked about in the episode:Applying to Rooted & WrittenCristina Rivera GarzaMalcolm Harris Palo Alto Roberto’s book Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas The Prince of Evolution (book about Peter Kropotkin) by Lee Alan DugatkinMutual Aid, A Factor of Evolution by Pëtr KropotkinViet NguyenTa-Nahisi CoatesChaco CanyonSusan ItoJesus SierraAditi MalhotraUNLV MFA 

Jonathan Escoffery, Celeste Chan, and T. K. Rex discuss education without a safety net, the intersection of racism, capitalism and belonging, ticking clocks and how to break them, finding Jamaican patties in the Bay Area, the intimacy of the second person, and needing the fear.Stuff we talked about in the episode:If I Survive You - novel by Jonathan EscofferyApex snap judgment panelsPaul Beatty Percival EverettMat JohnsonNicole Dennis-BennMarlon JamesJennine Capó CrucetToni MorrisonNella LarsenLangston HughesZora Neal HurstonFrederick DouglassThe Wallace Stegner FellowshipA Lucky Man - novel by Jamel BrinkleyBoston Writers of ColorThe Loft - Minneapolis-based org for writersThe Booker PrizesJonathan's recommendations for Jamaican patties in the Bay Area:CalabashMinto’s Jamaican Juice BarLevel 13