Virtual Memories Show 541:
Jonathan Papernick
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Author Jonathan Papernick joins the show to celebrate his fantastic new short story collection, Gallery of the Disappeared Men, and new novel, I am my Beloveds (Story Plant). We talk about his writing life, the weirdness & joy of retracing the footsteps of his characters in Israel, his move into playwriting and how it contrasts with writing novels & stories, and how a failed novel sparked a very successful novella. We also get into his career teaching fiction writing, what he’s learned from teaching, how his students have changed and how he learned to appreciate trigger warnings, and the Tobias Wolff story he uses in virtually all of his fiction-writing classes. Plus, we discuss Judaism, his multi-generation Canadian roots, why he likes living in Providence after leaving Boston, the very embarrassing time he met Margaret Atwood, and more! Give it a listen! And go read Gallery of the Disappeared Men and I am my Beloveds!
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About our Guest
Jonathan Papernick was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. He is the author of the acclaimed short story collection The Ascent of Eli Israel, another collection, There is no Other, and the new Gallery of The Disappeared Men, as well as the novels The Book of Stone and I Am My Beloveds. His work has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal and has been translated into Spanish and Italian. He has taught fiction writing at Emerson College since 2007 and serves as Senior Writer-in-Residence in the Department of Writing, Literature and Publishing. He has two sons and lives with his wife in Providence, RI.
Follow Jonathan on Twitter, Bluesky and Instagram.
Credits: This episode’s music is Fella by Hal Mayforth, used with permission from the artist. The conversation was recorded at Jonathan’s home on a pair of Blue enCORE 200 microphones feeding into a Zoom PodTrak P4 digital recorder & interface. I recorded the intro and outro on a Heil PR-40 Dynamic Studio Recording Microphone feeding into a Zoom PodTrak P4. All processing and editing done in Adobe Audition CC. Photo of Jonathan by . . . him? Photo of me & Jonathan definitely by him. It’s on my instagram.