Accessibility links
The Lonely Voice with Peter Orner Acclaimed author Peter Orner and TPR's Yvette Benavides host The Lonely Voice. In each episode, they discuss a short story that underscores the ways that short stories help us say the unsayable, give us a language for the mysteries of our lives, and help us understand characters that muddle through conflicts, adapt, survive.Peter Orner is the author of the essay collections titled Still No Word from You and Am I Alone Here?: Notes on Living to Read and Reading to Live. He is also the author of two novels and three story collections, including Maggie Brown & Others. Peter Orner is the director of creative writing at Dartmouth College.Yvette Benavides is a contributing editor at Texas Public Radio. She is a professor of English and creative writing at Our Lady of the Lake University and an editor at large with Trinity University Press.
The Lonely Voice with Peter Orner

Podcast Directory
The Lonely Voice with Peter Orner

The Lonely Voice with Peter Orner

From Texas Public Radio

Acclaimed author Peter Orner and TPR's Yvette Benavides host The Lonely Voice. In each episode, they discuss a short story that underscores the ways that short stories help us say the unsayable, give us a language for the mysteries of our lives, and help us understand characters that muddle through conflicts, adapt, survive.Peter Orner is the author of the essay collections titled Still No Word from You and Am I Alone Here?: Notes on Living to Read and Reading to Live. He is also the author of two novels and three story collections, including Maggie Brown & Others. Peter Orner is the director of creative writing at Dartmouth College.Yvette Benavides is a contributing editor at Texas Public Radio. She is a professor of English and creative writing at Our Lady of the Lake University and an editor at large with Trinity University Press.

Most Recent Episodes

The Lonely Voice: 'Illinois' by Alice Munro

Alice Munro passed away on May 13. She was 92. The beloved Canadian author dedicated her long career to creating stories that were both psychologically complex and accessible. She never failed to both mystify and dazzle legions of readers all over the world. The Swedish Academy that awarded her the Nobel in 2013 referred to her as "a master of contemporary short story. We've been reluctant to join the chorus of tributes that have come forth this week, feeling both bemused and bereft. But there is plenty to say. Perhaps in time we will share those thoughts. For now, for this week, we've instead immersed ourselves in reading Alice Munro's stories. We've been celebrating her life for a very long time. One reason we created The Lonely Voice podcast is to celebrate the work of writers like Alice Munro—the ones who celebrate stories, the ones who want to write stories first (and not as a warm-up for the novel—dear no—never that.) It's the story. In one interview cited in the biography by Robert Thacker, Alice Munro was quoted as saying, "Oh, writing makes my life possible, it always has." And that dear life made many other things possible for us—and the many ways we can enter the stories of Alice Munro, these women and girls, these fathers and brothers, the lovers and friends—in situations created to depict the richness of experience every human being understands in small and large ways—but can really come to know by reading the stories of Alice Munro. In this episode, Peter Orner and Yvette Benavides discuss the story "Illinois." It is a story from the book The View from Castle Rock, a collection of stories that are more personal than any that Alice Munro ever wrote before. In this one, while one family journeys from a homestead in Illinois to the Canadian border, a baby is lost—but then magically reappears.

The Lonely Voice: 'Death in the Woods' by Sherwood Anderson

Sherwood Anderson The narrative voice in "Death in the Woods" by Sherwood Anderson is an important element of this classic story. From it, we receive the strange, sad story of a woman he describes as rather typical and common—the type of person who is "nothing special" and whom we all know in our own lives. And yet, the story itself is told in such a close way, brimming with details that go beyond some kind of mere distant familiarity we have with someone random. The woman had lived in extremely difficult and bleak circumstances for her entire life. We learn this from what the narrator shares. And yet, we wonder how he could possibly know the intimate details of her life—or even of the way she dies. That becomes one of the most important things to talk about—and admire—in this story. The story has been so often anthologized. Perhaps we receive the story in brand new ways with each new reading. And this is how it is with a story such as this one. That is, that it is one—as the narrator reminds us—that must be told slowly and with care—over time. We receive a story in brand new ways with each rereading. Maybe we need to read this one again when we are older and when we can examine the motives of the two young brothers in the story and the ways they retell the story at the exact same time that we are receiving the story from the narrator (one of the brothers) when he is older, and some time and distance have passed. As we read the final of the story's five sections, we come to realize that the story is about storytelling. It parses the idea of narrative, breaks it apart, puts it back together. It's fragmented, but it is a composite whole. It's reconstructed—and rooted in imagining what could have happened. So some of this comes from the narrator's imagining. And yet, as he tells us, he is trying to tell us a "real" story—one about the woman, one about himself as a storyteller—one for us all.

The Lonely Voice: 'The Ice Wagon Going Down the Street' by Mavis Gallant

Mavis Gallant "The Ice Wagon Going Down the Street" is one of Mavis Gallant's most beloved stories. Protagonist Peter Frazier is a Canadian married to a British wife, Sheilah. On a languorous Sunday morning in Toronto, they lounge in Peter's sister's kitchen where they've lived for 17 weeks with their two children. They've traveled in Europe and lived in Paris and Geneva. They've also lived in Ceylon. During part of that time away, Peter held some low-level jobs, including as a filing clerk in an office in Geneva. Just a few mere lines into the story, Peter thinks about Agnes Brusen. We later learn she was a co-worker in that office in Geneva. She was a "mole-faced, round-shouldered" young woman, inexperienced at life and from a large family where she was the oldest of many children. Agnes has a misstep: she gets drunk at a party. Peter's wife and the party hostess urge Peter to see the girl home. What occurs then is as mysterious and intimate as almost anything else we would find in a love story. It's odd and unlikely. But it's honest. It is perhaps the most honest exchange Peter has had with another person. But so much time has passed by the time we see Peter and Sheilah passing the time on that early Sunday morning. What's on Peter's mind in quiet moments there? Agnes. But why? There was nothing between them. There were no kisses or words of love. They didn't sleep together. What did happen is that in that moment of drunkenness, Agnes tells Peter a simple story from her childhood. It is a story of longing for something ineffable that she cannot easily name. And perhaps Peter felt this yearning, too, even if he didn't recognize it as such. And all that remains instead is remembering Agnes. Mavis Gallant is the author of "The Ice Wagon Going Down the Street."

The Lonely Voice: 'The Ice Wagon Going Down the Street' by Mavis Gallant

Listen · 37:17

The Lonely Voice: 'Funes the Memorious' & 'The South' by Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges is one of the most anthologized authors in the world. In his writing, he was often concerned with the ways Argentine writers related to the world. In one famous lecture, "The Argentine Writer and Tradition," he is known to have famously discounted the idea that Argentine literature should be confined to "Argentine traits and Argentine local color." He believed that the writer is always in conversation with all spaces, always. He was, of course, a giant in Latin American letters and wrote numerous books of poetry, fiction, and essays. He was also a prodigious translator of authors such as Kipling, Woolf, Faulkner, and Poe. His story "Funes, the Memorious" was first published in La Nación in June of 1942. In 1944 it appeared in the anthology Ficciones. The first English translation of the story appeared in 1954 in Avon Modern Writing #2. Since then, the story remains popular and beloved. It's the story of Ireneo Funes who falls off his horse, suffers a grievous head injury, and somehow acquires a dubious gift of remembering everything—absolutely everything. The fall also causes Funes to be paralyzed and bed ridden. From that vantage point, however, he still seems to be exposed to the world—universes—within his own mind. His memories bloom kaleidoscopically with layers and permutations of associations. These come unbidden and he can do nothing to stop, not just the memory of it, but a super-sensory recollection of everything—not just a day—but the weather, the cloud formations on that day, the temperature, and everything that occurred every single second of that day. It's uncanny and strange. However, while everyone around him merely accepts Funes and his oddness and his memories, the narrator of the story meets Funes only three brief times—and each meeting is confounding—but also compelling, unforgettable. On this episode of The Lonely Voice podcast, hosts Yvette Benavides and Peter Orner welcome guest Ricardo Siri—who is known professionally as Liniers. Jorge Luis Borges in a light moment poses with a breadbasket on his head.(From the collection of Norman Thomas di Giovanni

The Lonely Voice: 'Funes the Memorious' & 'The South' by Jorge Luis Borges

Listen · 46:04

The Lonely Voice: 'Strays' & 'Step' by Lucia Berlin

Lucia Berlin Reading the stories of Lucia Berlin can be an intense experience. The pacing of each moves with suddenness but then also lingers for brief moments of beauty juxtaposed with ugliness. Characters want connection and love–and sometimes settle for something else that can lead to bad decisions–broken hearts, addiction. Generally acknowledged are the autobiographical details in Berlin's stories–the alcoholism and addiction, the humor and the heartbreak. Lydia Davis has long championed the work of Lucia Berlin, noting her awe of the natural world, the suddenness in the prose, her pacing, dialogue, characterization, a romanticism that is cut off by realism. There are brutal elements in these stories to be sure. Berlin is unflinching. She is also compassionate–depicting again and again the beauty that can coexist with human frailty, the tenderness that twins with toughness, and the fullness of life that can be measured in sudden, small moments. "Strays" and "Step" are two stories by Lucia Berlin. You can find them in the collection A Manual for Cleaning Women.

The Lonely Voice: 'Steady Hands at Seattle General' by Denis Johnson

Denis Johnson (Cindy Johnson ) On this episode of The Lonely Voice, Peter Orner and Yvette Benavides discuss "Steady Hands at Seattle General" by Denis Johnson. When you read a story like this one, it's easy to see why there are still legions of fans who love the work of the late Denis Johnson. There is an ineffable quality in his stories that's hard to pin down. Another thing about "Steady Hands at Seattle General," is all the ways that it defies convention and containment. We listen in on a conversation between two people who are in rehab together. It's a conversation, something like an interview. But this isn't surface-level, small-talk stuff. There's a lot to glean from the exchange that shows Johnson's sleight of hand and the way he can offer something so profound in a deceptively simple story. Is this story just about two guys conversing in private or is the reader really the whole point—the reader and all that we are given and can begin to understand about two people in a context we might not otherwise consider? Denis Johnson is the author of "Steady Hands at Seattle General." It can be found in the collection Jesus' Son.

The Lonely Voice: 'Cryptology' & 'Murderers' by Leonard Michaels

Leonard Michaels Leonard Michaels wrote that "The ability to tell a story, like the ability to carry a tune, is nearly universal and as mysteriously natural as language." Importantly, he added, "Though I've met few people who can't tell stories, it has always seemed to me they really can but refuse to care enough, or fear generosity, or self-revelation or misinterpretation...or intimacy." When you think about The Nachman Stories by Leonard Michaels, it's easy to see that he didn't fear generosity or self-revelation or intimacy. Not a bit. These stories are about one Rapahel Nachman–an austere unassuming mathematician. A sensible, simple guy–quite different from the panoply of characters in Michaels' earlier story collections. And anyone familiar with his work will find the tone to be different, the mediated prose to be notable. Nachman is aware of his flaws and frailties, but he's okay with that. We find in the stories, moments when he is in awe of his surroundings–of places and other people. He is someone who likes what he likes. An inciting incident moves him to try something out of character. It changes him–some misdeed or unkindness–but he remains essentially Nachman. Elsewhere Leonard Michaels described that a central problem in storytelling is "how to make transitions into transformations. He said that transitions are about "logic, sincerity, boredom," but that transformations "belong to art." He said that the most impressive stories include transformations where nothing changes. Here again, with Leonard Michaels' story, we see how true this idea is, how it emerges so plainly in a story like "Cryptology" where Nachman is out of his element, in a new town and then thrust into a very unusual and unlikely situation. There are many shifts in the story–explosive ones and unexpected ones that seem impossible to come back from. But Nachman returns to himself in ways that are unexpected. If, as Leonard Michaels said, the most impressive stories include transformations where nothing changes, "Cryptology" is truly sublime. The Nachman Stories by Leonard Michaels Leonard Michaels is the author of "Cryptology" and "Murderers." Please subscribe to Texas Public Radio's The Lonely Voice wherever you find the best podcasts.

The Lonely Voice: 'Lonesome Road' by Gina Berriault

Gina Berriault Yvette Benavides and Peter Orner discuss "Lonesome Road," a story by Gina Berriault. If Berriault's stories are not so well known to most, this one might never have registered–if not for the unapologetic ardor that her fans–Peter Orner and Yvette Benavides among them– feel for her. The "Lonesome Road" of the title remains a little enigmatic once you read the story–because that is the nature of things when a relationship ends and happenstance–or something like it–brings you face to face with a person you used to know–used to love. Things change. Relationships end. We move on–and when we move on, we travel along a road made lonesome by the realization that we are utterly alone in trying to figure out what it was all about, what it meant–what it can still mean a dozen years later. Gina Berriault is the author of "Lonesome Road." It can be found in the collection Women in their Beds published by Counterpoint–with an introduction by Peter Orner. Peter Orner is the author of seven books, including the story collection Maggie Brown and Others. His essay collection Still No Word from You: Notes in the Margin was a finalist for the 2023 Pen America PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. He holds the professorship in English and Creative Writing and is the director of creative writing at Dartmouth college. Do you have a question or comment or story suggestion? Send me an email at yvette@tpr.org. Remember that you can now subscribe to The Lonely Voice wherever you find the best podcasts.

The Lonely Voice: 'Goodbye and Good Luck' & 'Living' by Grace Paley

Grace Paley's "Goodbye and Good Luck" is a story that has been very often anthologized. On this episode, Peter Orner and Yvette Benavides shine a light on the story's ubiquity and popularity and discuss the beloved author. If you talk about Paley, you have to talk about voice. But you also talk about compassion. Paley's characters face conflict and tragedy and deep sorrow and loneliness on any given day. But with that tragedy we see the absurdity of life, and a good measure of humor comes through in Grace Paley's unforgettable story. Plus! Peter Orner and Yvette Benavides talk about Grace Paley's luminous story "Living." Subscribe to The Lonely Voice now. Let us know that you're out there listening—and don't miss a single episode.

The Lonely Voice: A NEW podcast about short stories with acclaimed author Peter Orner

The Lonely Voice is hosted by acclaimed author Peter Orner and TPR contributor Yvette Benavides. The podcast is inspired by their shared passion for the short story. On each episode they discuss a story, raise interesting questions, share details about the author's life and more. Listeners will feel like they are eavesdropping on a couple of people who really love stories.

The Lonely Voice: A NEW podcast about short stories with acclaimed author Peter Orner

Listen · 15:29
The Lonely Voice with Peter Orner

Podcast Directory