Episode 86 Notes and Links to Mark Athitakis’ Work
On Episode 86 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Mark Athitakis, and the two talk about Mark’s varied reading, his various writing and editing jobs, his role as book critic and literary reviewer, ideas of the critic as objective chronicler, and his work that highlights underappreciated writers and Midwestern writers.
Mark Athitakis is a writer, editor, critic, blogger, reporter, essayist, white-paper-ist. He has written short and long pieces for publications like The New York Times and Washington Post, published two books, and provided editorial assistance from basic proofreading to deeper guidance on book-length projects. He has taught, consulted, and generally helped people tell their stories better. His particular expertise is in association/nonprofit content and literary criticism, but he delivers professional work in a variety of contexts.
October 4, 2021 Review in USA Today of Jonathan Franzen’s Crossroads
September 13, 2021 Review in The Los Angeles Times of Rabih Alameddine's The Wrong End of the Telescope -“This Refugee Novel Knows it Can’t Change the World”
Authory.com Page for Mark-links to 300+ past publications
Buy The New Midwest at Bookshop.org
At about 2:00, Mark discusses his multifaceted career and the different types of writing he does as a “white paper-ist”
At about 4:25, Mark talks about his childhood, as a child of immigrants from Crete, Greece, and the ways in which language and reading and immigrant tradition affected his later expertise with writing
At about 7:30, Mark talks about his early reading and having his “head turned sideways” by writers like Nelson Algren and Harry Mark Petrakis who wrote about place, and immigrant communities such as he knew growing up in Chicago; he also references Paul Fussell’s Class and its impact on him
At about 13:30, Mark talks about more recent reading that has informed his love of literature and his own writing, including William Faulkner, Phillip Roth, Marilyn Robisnon, and admired critics like Parul Sehgal, Patricia Lockwood, Laura Miller, Leslie Jamison, and Elizabeth Nelson
At about 18:20, Mark responds to Pete’s question about moments in which he felt that his work resonated, and he talks about “really [taking] to it” when he began doing portraits of artists like Brian Wilson
At about 21:00, Mark talks about the importance of the alt-weekly in nurturing young writers, and the declining impact of these alt-weeklies
At about 22:25, Pete asks Mark about editing others’ work, especially with writing as a supposed solitary activity; Mark talks about his recent role as a writer-in-residence at the public library and what he learned from it
At about 26:40, Pete wonders about objectivity when it comes to criticism
At about 30:05, Pete inquires into if and how reading as a critic affects Mark’s reading for pleasure; he also asks Mark about the philosophy of “bashing” and negative reviews
At about 36:25, Mark responds to the Pete’s musings about the “democratization of reviews” and how this affects him
At about 38:00, Pete and Mark discuss Jonathan Franzen and his role as “controversial”; Pete cites parts of Mark’s recent positive review of Franzen’s Crossroads
At about 42:15, Pete asks Mark about the portrait he wrote for the LA Times about Rabih Alameddine and if Mark sees a need to be an evangelist or activist with a book like this one
At about 49:30, Pete and Mark discuss The New Midwest, Mark’s book, and Mark talks about the genesis and aim of the book, with Belt Magazine providing impetus
At about 54:00, Mark discusses his desire to avoid putting Chicago and Midwestern literature in opposition to other literary scenes in his book, but instead to celebrate the Midwestern scene
At about 57:00, Mark salutes Marilynne Robinson in citing her as a true Midwest writer and underappreciated student and chronicler of the region
At about 59:30, the two discuss David Foster Wallace’s work as Pete asks Mark if he is a “Midwest writer” and Mark’s thoughts about his work
At about 1:03:20, Mark reads a piece of his that he deems a bit different from his usual-a piece from The Washington Post about “quarantine reading”; Pete and Mark discuss the article’s ideas
At about 1:08:00, Mark gives his contact information
You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode.
This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I’d love for your help in promoting what I’m convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.
The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.
Please tune in for the next episode, a conversation with Natalia Sylvester, YA author extraordinaire. She has written, among other books, the award-winning Running, and her upcoming book is Breathe and Count Back from Ten, comes out in May 2022. The episode will air on October 22.
Episode 197 with Chloe Cooper Jones, Two-Time Pulitzer Prize Nominee, Master of Melding Seemingly-Disparate Ideas and Themes, and Author of the Masterful and Profound Easy Beauty
Episode 196 with Rachel Howzell Hall, Painter of Worlds Both Familiar and Unknown, Creator of Psychological Thrillers, Master Crime Writer, and Author of What Never Happened
Episode 195 with Jessica Cuello, Keen Observer of the Connections Between Classical and the Modern, and Painter of Resonant Imagery in the Poetry Collection Yours, Creature
Episode 194 with Ruth Madievsky, Brilliant Tactician of Plot, Humor, and Nuanced Profundity, and the Writer
Episode 193 with Ethan Chatagnier, Author of Singer Distance, and Standout Worldbuilder and Character Artist
Episode 192 with Donovan X. Ramsey, Author of When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era and Master Craftsman of a Historical Book that Shines Through Personal Stories
Episode 191 with Sarah Fawn Montgomery, Possessor of a Poetic Sensibility, Chronicler of Nature, the Psyche, and Love’s Many Iterations, and Author of Halfway from Home: Essays
Episode 190 with Ellen Birkett Morris, Renaissance Woman: Teacher, Dramatist, Prose Writer, and Author of the Precise, Affecting, and Chill-Inducing Lost Girls
Episode 189 with Andrés Reséndez, Researcher on The Spanish Conquest and Author of the Award-Winning and Rigorously-Researched The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America
Episode 188 with Kavita Das, Writer and Editor of Craft and Conscience: How to Write about Social Issues, and Reflective and Thoughtful Chronicler of Important and Compelling Stories
Episode 187 with V Castro, Author of The Haunting of Alejandra, Two-Time Bram Stoker Nominee, and Creator of Scary and Real Worlds and Characters That Resonate
Episode 186 with Stephanie Feldman, Author of Saturnalia, Master Worldbuilder, and Crafter of Intriguing and Engrossing Satire and Allegory
Episode 185 with Toni Ann Johnson, Renaissance Woman, Master Storyteller in Film and on the Page, and Author of the Award-Winning Light Skin Gone to Waste
Episode 184 with Robert Ottone, Bram Stocker-Nominated Creator of Worlds Familiar and Scary, Master of Allegory and Pure Terror, and The Author of The Vile Thing We Created
Episode 183 with Eli Cranor, Master of Dialogue, Suspense, and Profundity, and Author of Edgar Award-Nominated Don’t Know Tough and its Followup, the Standout Ozark Dogs
Episode 182 with Talia Lakshmi Kolluri, Gifted Storyteller, Stellar Translator of Animals’ Inner Lives, and Master of Thoughtful Prose
Episode 181 with Ramona Reeves, Author of It Falls Gently All Around, Keen Observer of the Banal and the Dramatic, and Skilled Craftswoman of the Space Between Scenes and Characters
Episode 180 with Jennifer Dawn Carlson, Thorough and Thoughtful Researcher, Sociologist, and Interviewer, and Author of Merchants of the Right: Gun Sellers and the Crisis of American Democracy
Episode 179 with Sarah Cypher, Skilled and Thorough and Thoughtful Chronicler of The Long Reaches of History, Identity, and ,What Constitutes Home
Episode 178 with Stephen Buoro, Master Craftsman of Satire, Humor, Mathematics, Philosophy Merging in His Instant Classic, The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Lit Society: Books and Drama
Ex Libris
Write The Book: Conversations on Craft
A Tale of Two Cities
The Story of Mankind
Fresh Air
Myths and Legends