ZZ Packer on the 20th Anniversary of ‘Drinking Coffee Elsewhere’

In our Season Two premiere, co-hosts Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton talk with the beloved ZZ Packer, author of Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, a collection first published in 2003 that went on to inspire countless writers. Packer talks about how she found her voice, style, and authenticity as a young, Black, female writer who hadn’t even planned on becoming a writer. She addresses ideas of navigating both physical and figurative spaces and learning how to find a place in the literary world.






Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned



•
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...) (ZZ Packer)


• Zora Neale Hurston (https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/)


• Toni Morrison (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/au...)


• Flannery O’Connor (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/cont...)


• James Alan McPherson (Elbow Room (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...) and Hue and Cry (https://www.harpercollins.com/product...) )


• Lorrie Moore (https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/lorrie-...)


• Stuart Dybek (https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/stuart-...)


• Percival Everett (https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/perciva...)


• James Baldwin (https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/james-b...)


• Anton Chekhov (https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/anton-c...)


• Edward P. Jones (Lost in the City (https://www.betterworldbooks.com/prod...) and The Known World (https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-kno...) )



• Alice Munro (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/cont...)


• Imani Perry (https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/imani-p...)


• Bryan Stevenson (Just Mercy (https://www.amazon.com/Just-Mercy-Sto...) )



• Edwidge Danticat (https://edwidgedanticat.com/fiction-1)







Read more from Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton: 



•
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (https://deeshaphilyaw.com/) (Deesha Philyaw)


•
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (https://www.dawniewalton.com/) (Dawnie Walton)







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Episode editor: Kelly Araja


Associate producer: Marina Leigh


Producer: Mark Armstrong





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