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PODCAST

Let"s Deconstruct a Story

Let"s Deconstruct a Story: A podcast for the story nerds! Aspiring writers need to understand the components of a good story before they can write one. Choices of POV, plot, setting, and tone are crucial. In each episode, I"ll be interviewing a writer about one of their own stories, which will be available for listeners to read for free on my website before they listen. www.kellyfordon.substack.com and letsdeconstructastory.substack.com letsdeconstructastory.substack.com

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All Episodes

35:53

Let's Deconstruct a Story featuring 'Pemi Aguda

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2026/04/01

Hi Everyone, I’m so happy to share ‘Pemi Aguda’s short story, “Manifest,” with you. Please read the story before you listen to the podcast, because there will be spoilers!Read “Manifest” here on Granta (or here: https://granta.com/manifest/).Let’s Deconstruct a Story is available here on Substack, as well as Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.Bio: ‘Pemi Aguda is from Lagos, Nigeria. She has an MFA from the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan. Her short stories

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48:37

Let's Deconstruct a Story featuring Toni Ann Johnson

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2026/03/01

Welcome to Let’s Deconstruct a Story!How this works:Read the story carefully. This is important because the interview will contain spoilers.During this session, we will talk with the author about their personal process and analyze craft elements: plot, character, setting, dialogue, pacing, and revision.The aim is to learn how the story was built, with the hope that this will help you with your process.Hope you enjoy it.Cheers,KellyToni Ann Johnson will be talking about her story, “Daughtered Out,”

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39:03

Let's Deconstruct a Story featuring Shastri Akella

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2026/02/01

Hi Everyone, During this episode, Shastri Akella discusses his Best American Short Story, “The Magic Bangle.” The podcast episode is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.Please read the story before listening to the podcast episode. It’s available here at The Fairy Tale Review.I hope you enjoy this discussion with Shastri as much as I did!Cheers,KellyPS: As always, I would love to hear about your favorite stories! Please send ideas anytime. Bio: Shastri

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31:55

Let's Deconstruct a Story featuring Maura Stanton

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2026/01/01

Happy New Year!Maura Stanton and I had so much fun discussing “School for Robots.” Please be sure to read the story first before watching this video, and check out more of Maura’s fantastic stories below.Enjoy!KellyBio: Maura Stanton’s Cities in the Sun was the recipient of the Michigan Literary Fiction Award. She is the author of two previous books of stories, Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling, which won the Sullivan Prize, and The Country I Come From. Stanton’s books of poetry include Glacier Wine,

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34:40

Let's Deconstruct a Story featuring Susan Shepherd

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2025/12/01

Hi Everyone,I hope you enjoy this episode, which features Susan Shepherd discussing her Best American Short Story, “Baboons, “ first published in The Kenyon Review. Paid subscribers and Conscious Writers Collective members are welcome to join us for interviews, and I want to thank Paul Delong, in particular, for his question, which is included in this recording. Also, thanks to audio engineer Elliot Bancel for his help with this episode.**Susan recommended a memoir during the interview: The Sheep

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45:00

Katherine Damm discusses her Best American Short...

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2025/10/29

Katherine Damm talks about her story, "The Happiest Day of Your Life." First, be sure to read the story from The Iowa Review. There will be spoilers! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

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43:47

Let's Deconstruct a Story with Deb Olin Unferth

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2025/10/01

Deb Olin Unferth discusses her short story, "Wait Till You See Me Dance" with Kelly Fordon This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

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53:56

Let's Deconstruct a Story with Ananda Lima

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2025/08/01

I spoke with Ananda Lima about her story, Antropófaga! Make sure you read it before you listen. Enjoy the rest of your summer, and happy listening!KellyAnanda Lima is the author of Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil (Tor Books, 2024) and Mother/land (Black Lawrence Press, 2021), winner of the Hudson Prize. Her work has appeared in American Poetry Review, Poets.org, Kenyon Review, Electric Literature, and elsewhere, and is forthcoming in Ghosts of Where We Are From, an anthology of dark fiction by

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55:39

Eli Sparkman talks FLASH!

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2025/06/24

* Here is Eli in a half-trench coat Sheila Heti gave him :)Hi Everyone,Well, the world might be a s%$# show, but at least we still have our stories. Today, I’m featuring the work of the brilliant Eli Sparkman, one of the member-owners of Book Suey in Hamtramck, Michigan. We had so much fun discussing his stories. I hope you enjoy this deep dive as much as I did. This is FLASH, so Eli was able to read three in their entirety before we discuss them; however, I still recommend reading and annotating

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67:45

Erika Krouse, Caitlin Horrocks and Kelly Fordon...

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2025/06/15

Hi Everyone!In this episode of the podcast, Caitlin Horrocks and I interview Erika Krouse about “Jude” from her new collection, Save Me, Stranger. AND THEN…Erika and I interview Caitlin about her story “Better Not Tell You Now.” We had so much fun! And I learned so much about the craft of writing. You will too.Links to both stories are below. Please read before you listen, because we will spoil the endings :) “Jude” is available here at The Colorado Review, Summer 2024.“Better Not Tell You Now” is

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32:54

"Let's Deconstruct a Story" featuring Christie Hodgen

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2025/06/01

Before listening to my interview with Christie Hodgen, please read her story, “Rich Strike,” because the interview is full of spoilers! The story is available for free here on the Story website, thanks to Michael Nye. Please consider subscribing to Story and supporting great literature here.Congratulations to Christie for winning a Pushcart Prize for this story as well.If you would like to read my annotation of the story and some background on the books discussed during our interview, please

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70:26

"Let's Deconstruct a Story" featuring Desiree Cooper

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2025/04/03

My guest today is Desiree Cooper, the 2015 Kresge Artist Fellow. Cooper is a former attorney. She is also a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist and much-beloved community activist. Originally from Virginia, she currently lives in Virginia. BUT she lived in Detroit for decades and will always be an honorary Detroiter!She is much beloved here, and I am honored to call her my friend. Today’s podcast includes four stories from her award-winning flash fiction collection, Know the Mother. Cooper’s

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44:17

"Let's Deconstruct a Story" featuring Cleo Qian

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2025/02/15

Hi Everyone,I had so much fun discussing “Monitor World” with Cleo Qian. In case you missed my earlier posts, “Monitor World” was first published in Shenandoah in 2021, and is available ⁠here.⁠Please read the story before listening to our discussion!Here’s a link to Lucia Berlin, another writer discussed during our interview.Next up on Let’s Deconstruct a Story, paid subscribers will be talking about Ethan Canin’s story, “The Palace Thief,” on Thursday, February 27th at 3 pm.Cleo Qian is a queer

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31:03

"Let's Deconstruct a Story" featuring Lolita Hernandez

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2025/01/24

Archive Update! I’m sending over some videos from 2020, so sorry to inundate your email! This discussion took place in 2020 with Wayne State University Press author, Lolita Hernandez.August 15, 2020I had so much fun this past month deconstructing stories with Desiree Cooper and Laura Thomas; I plan to continue with this format through the fall. Please let me know if you have a new book of short stories out so we can discuss it!Today on the blog, Lolita Hernandez and I will discuss her story,

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33:19

"Let's Deconstruct a Story" featuring David Means

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2025/01/22

Hi Everyone,“The Depletion Prompts” was first published in The New Yorker on October 25, 2021, and is available ⁠here.⁠Here’s a link to two other stories discussed during our interview:Vladimir Nabokov's “Signs and Symbols.”Virginia Woolf’s “The Mark on the Wall.”Next month, I’ll be talking to Cleo Qian about her story, “Monitor World” first published in Shenandoah. Check out our discussion here on Substack!Cheers!KellyPS: All of the podcasts are free, but if you would like to support the podcast,

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35:53

"Let's Deconstruct a Story" featuring Brad Felver

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2024/11/15

Kelly Fordon talks to Brad Felver about his story "Orphans" which was first published in Subtropics and later chosen for The Best Short Stories 2024: The O. Henry Prize Winners by Amor Towles.For more information, and to access a PDF of the story, please visit Let's Deconstruct a Story on Substack.Brad Felver is a fiction writer, essayist, and teacher of writing. His honors include two O. Henry Prizes, the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, the Zone 3

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00:35:51

"Let's Deconstruct a Story" featuring Brad Felver

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2024/11/14

Kelly Fordon talks to Brad Felver about his story "Orphans" which was first published in Subtropics and later chosen for The Best Short Stories 2024: The O. Henry Prize Winners by Amor Towles.For more information, and to access a PDF of the story, please visit Let's Deconstruct a Story on Substack. Brad Felver is a fiction writer, essayist, and teacher of writing. His honors include two O. Henry Prizes, the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, the Zone 3

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00:35:53

"Let's Deconstruct a Story" featuring Brad Felver

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2024/11/01

Kelly Fordon talks to Brad Felver about his story "Orphans" which was first published in Subtropics and later chosen for The Best Short Stories 2024: The O. Henry Prize Winners by Amor Towles.For more information, and to access a PDF of the story, please visit Let's Deconstruct a Story on Substack. Brad Felver is a fiction writer, essayist, and teacher of writing. His honors include two O. Henry Prizes, the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, the Zone 3

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33:29

Let's Talk about Brad Felver's story "Orphans."

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2024/10/25

Hi Everyone, This post is a video recording of my preparation for the interview with Brad next Wednesday. If you enjoy deconstructing stories, please feel free to join me for one of these prep sessions. I’ll be recording again on November 8th as I deconstruct David Means' story, “The Depletion Prompts.” Paid subscribers will have access to the Zoom link for David Means.Paid subscriptions also include the annotations and transcript from this recording today. My interview with Brad Felver about

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00:39:40

"Let's Deconstruct a Story" featuring Sheila Kohler

Let"s Deconstruct a Story ·

2024/05/15

Hi Everyone,We're a little late with this episode and it's all my fault! As I mentioned in my May 1st blog post (sign up here for updates), for the first time in four years, I conducted an amazing interview with Sheila Kohler and forgot to hit record on Zoom. Sheila--the most gracious person on Earth--forgave me for wasting 45 minutes of her time and agreed to re-record the episode. Thank you to Sheila for sitting down with me twice! After I recovered from the shame, I realized this might

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