In this week's episode, I talk to the poet and novelist Ryler Dustin near the end of his residency at the Kerouac House in Orlando, after a weeklong tour of weddings. We speak about the horrors of what happens to poetry in educational environments, the dawning sense of contemporary poetry as a form of play and life, as opposed to some kind of stillborn puzzle. Ryler also talks about the poetic impulse overtaking him before he even knew what poetry was, and walks me through his experience in slam poetry and MFA life, and the creative writing PhD, and the drive to move beyond genres. For some reason, I bring up my favorite bit of dialogue from the movie Major League despite Bull Durham being a much better movie. The role of honesty and novelty in writing also brilliantly come up. (We were both sober.) NOTES On September 30th, Richard Blanco is headed to Valencia College for its 2016 Winter Park Writers Festival. Rest in peace, Mr. Sundrop (Episode 213), or else let your caterwauls join the heavenly chorus. Episode 222 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.