On The Block Radio

A former National Book Award finalist and winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award, Jess Walter is the author of six novels, one book of short stories and one nonfiction book. His work has been translated into 30 languages, and his essays, short fiction, criticism and journalism have been widely published, in Best American Short Stories, Best American Nonrequired Reading, Harper's, Esquire, McSweeney's, Byliner, Playboy, ESPN the Magazine, Details and many others. Jess came to Portland as part of my college's Mouths of Others literary reading series. We had a chance to sit down and talk about his unorthodox path to literary success, the perils of self-revelation in fiction, and how he sees writing as a way to break our hearts open by making us laugh at the ugly bits.