The brilliant and wonderful and deeply kind Carrie Byrd is with us in the Podfort today and wow do we have a big ole lesbian crush on her. This is an exceptionally special conversation that you’ll want to revisit over and over again. Centering on Loser of the Year, Carrie’s debut novel, which drops in the Summer 2024, Carrie talks to us all about writing fire queens, having a goal of liberation rather than merely representation in her writing, and how her ethnoreligious identity influences her and her writing. We then get into writing good sex well. Next Carrie teaches us about developmental temporality, and we talk about what it means to write a realistic and worthy happily ever after that understands pain and joy live together. We dig deep into how shame and repression are touchstones of queerness in American culture, the role of art in freeing ourselves from that shame and repression, and how the job of the artist is to write into the hard stuff. Finally, Carrie talks about what it is like to be married to another writer and the joys of creating together. This episode is so special. It made me (Macon) a better writer and thinker and person. It also made me want to sit at Carrie’s feet and let her be my great mentor. Do yourself a favor and GET INTO IT!!

Carrie’s Big Three Books:

Emily of New Moon by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Coffee Will Make You Black by April Sinclair

The Promise of Happiness by Sara Ahmed

Carrie’s Big Three Albums:

Fetch the Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple

Wasteland, Baby! by Hoizer

The Loneliest Time by Carly Rae Jepsen

Carrie’s Big Three Poems:

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop

Flirtation by Rita Dove

Since You Asked by Carl Phillips

Find Carrie: Instagram, Twitter, Website, BlueSky, Threads

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