Novelist, poet, essayist, singer-storyteller and host of 12-hour marathon Brooklyn brunches Lancelot Schaubert joined me from New York for this episode of First Impressions. Lance also kindly shared some extracts from his widely praised, picaresque debut novel ‘Bell Hammers: The True Folk Tale of Little Egypt’, which while bitingly contemporary in a number of its themes has already been compared to the classic works of fellow southern US authors William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor.
His literary endeavours having appeared in Tor, The New Haven Review, McSweeney’s and elsewhere, Lance is in a great position to offer advice to other scribes. As well as digging into his novel, we discuss how he has maintained creative control of his projects; his influences and – off the back of the captivatingly performed audiobook of ‘Bell Hammers’ – how writers can best use their skill sets to publicise their output. Audio extracts from the novel, in which we follow the unusual courtship of protagonist Remmy and his beloved Beth, can be found at 00:00, 09:23, 18:14, 37:36 and 47:19 mins.
We also discuss – in no particular order – the correct way to pronounce ‘Illinois’; the environmental exploitation of small communities; Lance’s recent release of a Leonard Cohen cover; how Neil Gaiman got the Little Egypt mythology wrong in ‘American Gods’; some essential reading when it comes to non-violent resistance through the ages; the surprises Lance uncovered while interviewing his grandfathers for ‘Bell Hammers’; sci-fi, myth and modernism and how we should avoid restricting ourselves when it comes to telling stories, and the narrative thread that runs throughout my guest’s fiction and songwriting. If you enjoy this episode, don’t forget to like/subscribe/review. Cheers!
A few links to content connected to our conversation:
Lance’s website
Lance’s book ‘Bell Hammers’ on Audible
Lance covers Leonard Cohen’s ‘Democracy’
Lance’s ‘All Who Wander’ album
Your Audio Story, run by Jeremiah Jones, Lance’s podcast producer
More about Southern Illinois
More about the origins of the Little Egypt name
Antal Szerb’s ‘Journey by Moonlight’ (trans. Peter V. Czipott)
Jim Dale on narrating the Harry Potter audiobooks
Sufjan Stevens, ‘Come on Feel the Illinoise’
‘Bloody Williamson: A Chapter in American Lawlessness’ by Paul M. Angle
‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces’ by Joseph Campbell
Dr Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail
‘Letters to a Birmingham Jail: A Response to the Words and Dreams of Dr Martin Luther King Jr.’ by Bryan Loritts, John Perkins, Crawford W. Loritts Jr. and Soong-Chan Rah:
‘Beautiful Trouble – A Toolbox for Revolution’, assembled by Andrew Boyd
The Non-violence and Satyagraha of Mahatma Gandhi
‘The Power of Nonviolence’, introduced by Howard Zinn
‘Why Civil Resistance Works’ by Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan
‘When War is Unjust: Being Honest in Just-War Thinking’ by John Howard Yoder
‘The Dark Tower’ (book series) by Stephen King
‘American Gods’ by Neil Gaiman
Cōnfingō Publishing – an evening of spoken word in Chorlton, Manchester on 20th May 2023.
