Willy Vlautin reads an excerpt from his new novel, Lean on Pete.

Born and raised in Reno, Nevada, Vlautin started playing guitar and writing songs as a teenager and quickly became immersed in music. It was a Paul Kelly song, based on Raymond Carver’s “So Much Water So Close to Home” that inspired him to start writing stories. Vlautin has published three novels, The Motel Life (2007), Northline (2008), and Lean On Pete (2010).


Vlautin founded the band Richmond Fontaine in 1994. The band has produced nine studio albums to date, plus a handful of live recordings and EPs. Driven by Vlautin’s dark, story-like songwriting, the band has achieved critical acclaim at home and across Europe.

Music by Richmond Fontaine.

Jaret Ferratusco is the author of two books, a collection of short stories, Please Don’t Leave Me (2008) and the novella I Grew Up In Amaltherey Hill (2009). The latter was released through his own publishing imprint, a Portland-based company called PATIENT, FOLDED HANDS (for which he is currently accepting manuscripts from other authors).

Upcoming releases include a revised edition of Please Don’t Leave Me for rerelease through PATIENT, FOLDED HANDS, and a new short-story collection titled To Make This Easier, which focuses on very lonely instances of personal horror and hopelessness in the summits of love and loss.

Ferratusco tours with Unwed Sailor, an experimental instrumental outfit based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, who also provided music for this episode.

Patrick deWitt reads from Ablutions, his first novel.

Patrick deWitt was born in 1975 in British Columbia, Canada. He has also lived in California, Washington and Oregon, where he presently resides with his wife and son. In 2007, Teenage Teardrops press published his short book of random writings and bad advice, Help Yourself Help Yourself. He has worked as a laborer, a clerk, a dishwasher and a bartender.

Music was composed by Patrick’s brother, Nick deWitt, who also provided a WKE Mixtape.