Mining the Dalkey Archive Podcast

A bit longer than the usual podcast, in this episode of Vince Francone and Chad Post’s tour through the Irish section of the Dalkey Archive catalog, you get to hear them go from appreciators to huge fans of Eileen Battersby’s Teethmarks on My Tongue over the course of the conversation. They also discuss some of Vince’s favorite Irish women writers and announce that they’ll be reading Sleepwalker by John Toomey for May’s episode.

The music in this episode is “Winter Beats” by I Break Horses.

You can subscribe to the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and watch us on YouTube.

And be sure to follow our sister podcasts: Two Month Review (Apple, Spotify) and Three Percent (Apple, Spotify) for more book talk!

Get full access to Mining the Dalkey Archive at dalkeyarchive.substack.com/subscribe

On this episode, Norwegian author Edy Poppy and her translator, May-Brit Akerholt, join Chad W. Post and Walker Rutter-Bowman to discuss Edy's first novel, Anatomy. Monotony. (available now) and her short story collection, Coming. Apart. (fall 2025), along with her most recent novel, Iggy. They discuss the connections between these three books, in particular the woman writer (based in part on Edy Poppy's own life) featured in each, who moves from an open marriage through a divorce and beyond. They discuss the nature of translation, what can be more easily written and discussed in different languages, "gaze" in relation to modeling and personal connections, and much more.

You can also watch this episode on YouTube.

The music in this episode is “Les Fleurs” by Minnie Riperton.

You can subscribe to the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Next week we’ll be back with a discussion of Eileen Battersby’s Teethmarks on My Tongue and other Irish women writers.

And be sure to follow our sister podcasts: Two Month Review (Apple, Spotify) and Three Percent (Apple, Spotify) for more book talk!

Get full access to Mining the Dalkey Archive at dalkeyarchive.substack.com/subscribe

On this episode of the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast, Brian Wood joined me to talk with Nicholas Delbanco about his two most recent books: Still Life at Eighty and Reprise: The Collected Stories of Nicholas Delbanco.

They discuss the nature of memoirs, the careful construction of Delbanco’s books and stories, his experiences as a creative writing student and professor, and the evolution of his literary approach.

Reprise is the fourth book of his published by Dalkey Archive, the others being Sherbrookes, Is It Enough, and The Count of Concord. All of these (along with Still Life at Eighty) are available through Bookshop.org and at better bookstores everywhere.

The music in this episode is “Passacaglia in C minor” from the Netherlands Bach Society.

You can subscribe to the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In a few weeks we’ll be back with a discussion of Eileen Battersby’s Teethmarks on My Tongue and other Irish women writers.

And be sure to follow our sister podcasts: Two Month Review (Apple, Spotify) and Three Percent (Apple, Spotify) for more book talk!

Get full access to Mining the Dalkey Archive at dalkeyarchive.substack.com/subscribe

On this episode of the “Mining the Dalkey Archive: Irish Edition,” Tom Flynn (Paratext Publicity, Why Not? Read Alpha Flight with Chris and Tom) joined myself and Vincent Francone (A Book No One Wants) to discuss The Third Policeman, one of Flann O'Brien’s masterpieces.

We talk about the book itself, the use of footnotes (in comparison to how Boylan uses them in Killoyle), Brian O’Nolan/Brian Ó Nualláin/Myles na gCopaleen and names, the reactions of Vince’s students to the book (and how that’s changed since 2020), and ways in which popular culture has helped Flann reach new, younger audiences.

And yes, we talk about the infamous appearance of The Third Policeman on Lost, how that happened, and the way we promoted it to the tune of 15,000 sales.

The music in this episode is, for obvious reasons, “De Selby (Part 1)” and “De Selby (Part 2)” by Hozier.

You can subscribe to the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And be sure to follow our sister podcasts: Two Month Review (Apple, Spotify) and Three Percent (Apple, Spotify) for more book talk!

Get full access to Mining the Dalkey Archive at dalkeyarchive.substack.com/subscribe

On this special episode, Roger Boylan (Killoyle, The Great Pint-Pulling Olympiad, The Adorations) joins Chad and Vince Francone (A Book No One Wants, The Soft Lunacy, Like a Dog) to discuss his life and works, ruminate on Irish humor and the great Flann O’Brien, the use of footnotes to tell a story, and much more.

This is the first in a planned series of episodes talking about Irish books in the Dalkey catalogue. There’s a lot to choose from, although, as teased in this podcast, the next episode will be about The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien.

The music in this episode is “Southern Life (What That Must Be Like)” by Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory.

You can subscribe to the Mining the Dalkey Archive podcast at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And be sure to follow our sister podcasts: Two Month Review (Apple, Spotify) and Three Percent (Apple, Spotify) for more book talk!

Get full access to Mining the Dalkey Archive at dalkeyarchive.substack.com/subscribe

Not the happiest day in which to record a podcast, but Chad, Brian, and Kaija speak their fears and then dive into Melville’s Confidence-Man, talking about grifters, the value of footnotes, and just how modern and amazing Melville’s prose is. They guess at who the “confidence man” might be, the burnt over district of western New York, Mormons, and a lot more.

This week’s music is “All Bets Are Off” by Japandroids.

Next episode will cover Chapters 10-19 of The Confidence-Man. You can find the full reading schedule here.

You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. Please rate and review! It helps more than you know.

Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Get full access to Mining the Dalkey Archive at dalkeyarchive.substack.com/subscribe

If you’re not already familiar with it, every so often—for the past decade or more—I’ve hosted the Three Percent Podcast to discuss publishing, books, bookselling, book culture, etc., etc. All of the past (and future) episodes are available at iTunes and Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.

I’m sharing this particular episode because it centers around Marguerite Young’s Miss MacIntosh, My Darling, Dalkey’s “biggest” publication to date, coming in at a whopping 1,321 pages.

Getting readers to put aside any fears about the size and heft and “difficult” reputation of this book and just read it is something that Dalkey (via Context and the Review of Contemporary Fiction) was always focused on, and is something that obsesses me—and my special guest, Lori Feathers.

Lori is the co-founder and co-owner of Interabang Books in Dallas, TX, along with being a book critic, podcaster, founder of the Republic of Consciousness Prize for North America, and overall great literary citizen. She’s also the creator of the "Involutions of the Seashell" Substack, a unique project dedicated to reading and talking about Marguerite Young's masterpiece.

Hope you enjoy the show!

Get full access to Mining the Dalkey Archive at dalkeyarchive.substack.com/subscribe