[Originally released on December 10, 2015 as ep. 3.] Kelsey Pinckney is a lot of things–author, publisher, lachrymose birthday gal–and she’s our first guest to have ever run into a person outside a tattoo parlor on Friday the 13th while riding a new bicycle. Kelsey’s story “Crying on My Birthday” was a hit at Spillers № 2, and here she tells us what it takes to slap an issue of her literary journal Four Chambers together and why all her narrators are alternate-reality Kelseys.

[Originally released on July 24, 2016 as ep. 31.] Matt Bell possesses a slew of writing insights, and he’s not shy about cracking open his notebook to share. After closing out Spillers № 4 in fine style with his short story reading, we bind the author and ASU creative writing professor to a chair until he tells us about getting his start far away from the New York publishing support system, how hair boxes played a prominent role in pre-Tinder dating, and why it’s imperative for literary communities to connect with each other.

Author and educator and all-around kind human being Erin Stalcup tackles heavy subjects in her writing, so believe her when she says she’s a serious sort. After closing out Spillers № 6 in fine style with her elegant short story reading, Erin sits across the interview table to reveal why she prefers to write from inside her characters’ skulls, how her dream job is teaching convicted felons, and why literary success for one is success for both when you’re married to a fellow writer.

Author and ASU creative writing program assistant director Jenny Irish is quick to turn the spotlight on her students, and that only makes her shine as an educator. On the heels of her Spillers short story reading, Jenny chats about the reason her public readings are a rarity, how the ASU writing program eschews student competition in favor of support, and why poetry–poetry!–is capturing the interest of the freshman set.

Humorist, writer, and Spillers co-host Brian Dunn may have twice turned his back on stand-up comedy, but he still brings the funny in his writing. After reading his humorous short story at Spillers № 6, Brian fields the questions for a change, chatting with Robert on subjects ranging from McSweeney’s Internet Tendency’s acceptance algorithm to the role of art in turbulent times to whom you might attract by attending a typewriter roundup wearing your favorite Hunter S. Thompson t-shirt.