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 181 Notes and Links to Ramona Reeves’ Work

 

    On Episode 181 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Ramona Reeves, and the two discuss, among other things, Ramona’s early reading and literary likes and inspiring works and writers, her journey to MFA and her stellar collection, Mobile, Alabama’s impact on her work, and issues and themes of class, old versus new, loss and trauma, racism, and regrowth in her story collection, as well as reflections on pessimism/optimism in her work.

Ramona is a native of Mobile, Alabama. Her linked short story collection It Falls Gently All Around and Other Stories won the 2022 Drue Heinz Literature Prize and was published by University of Pittsburgh Press last fall. 

She spent a decade in the Northeastern U.S. where she wrote freelance articles, proofread for a men’s fashion weekly, and performed production roles for Food & Wine, Travel & Leisure, and Esquire before moving into technical editing and writing. She eventually moved to Texas for several years before leaving to pursue her MFA in fiction. She has since returned and is nearing completion on a novel.

Ramona has served as a board member for A Room of Her Own (AROHO), moderated and appeared on panels at conferences, taught college-level writing courses, and served as an associate fiction editor for Kallisto Gaia Press.

Her stories and essays have appeared in The Southampton Review, Pembroke, Bayou Magazine, New South, Superstition Review, Texas Highways and other publications. She’s won the Nancy D. Hargrove Editors’ Prize, been a resident at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, and is a Community of Writers alum.

 

Buy It Falls Gently All Around

 

Ramona Reeves' Website

 

Interview for Chicago Review of Books Regarding Her Collection

 

 

At about 2:05, Ramona discusses that night’s Sergio Troncoso Award she’ll be receiving 

 

At about 3:00, Ramona describes her experience working as a writer

 

At about 5:00, Ramona gives background on her reading life, including how her grandmother influenced her writing and literary life; she shouts out Beverly Cleary and the Bible as formative 

 

At about 7:45, Pete wonders about Ramona’s connections to Southern writers and Mobile’s cultures

 

At about 10:05, Ramona responds to Pete’s questions about any influence she received from Flannery O’Connor

 

At about 11:30, Ramona shouts out ZZ Packer, Jesmyn Ward, and Tim Gatreaux as current writers 

 

At about 13:30, Ramona recounts the journey to her becoming a writer; she highlights Antonya Nelson’s huge contribution in guiding her to New Mexico State; Pete shouts out Antonya Nelson’s In the Land of Men, and Ramona, Female Trouble 

 

At about 16:25, Pete asks about thematically-linked short stories and seeds for Ramona’s collection, as well as if/how the book followed Ramona’s life; she cites a class given by Robert Boswell

 

At about 19:00, Pete shouts shouts a challenging high school teacher and reading list

 

At about 20:15, Ramona responds to Pete’s question about charting time in a short story collection and the “spaces” in between

 

At about 22:20, Pete outlines the first story of the collection and the two characterize Babbie and Rowan individually and in their relationship 

 

At about 25:50, Pete lays out the plot and characters, mainly Donnie, from the collection’s second story, and Ramona expands on his encounter with a physic  

 

At about 28:35, Ramona speaks to the influences that yoga had on her writing of the book

 

At about 30:10, Pete and Ramona discuss ideas of lineage, class, and history that are at the heart of the book

 

At about 32:10, Ramona cites Mobile’s history with Mardi Gras and “mystic societies”

 

At about 34:15, The two talk about the role race and racism play in the cultures and places described in the story collection; Ramona highlights Ramona Brown’s Descendant, a documentary that comments on the previously-mentioned topics

 

At about 35:00, Ideas of trauma and loss and miscarriage are discussed; Pete compliments a scene from the story, moving in its depiction of multiple generations experiencing and processing loss, and Ramona responds to this by connecting class and loss

 

At about 38:55, Ideas of class and decorum are discussed, including Donnie’s uncomfortable laughs throughout the book, and Pete and Ramona share their experiences with this type of laughing 

 

At about 42:00, The two discuss religion and ways

 

At about 43:15, The two analyze an important scene and the ways in which racism was covered in the collection 

 

At about 45:30, The two talk about themes of rebirth, recovery, and growth, and the baptismal as new birth/new life

 

At about 46:20, Pete cites Fay as a sympathetic character and an interesting one; Ramona talks about her writing towards happy endings

 

At about 48:30, Ramona gives kudos for Deesha Philyaw’s work with happy endings 

 

At about 49:05, Ramona ruminates on Pete’s asking if this collection is an optimistic one

 

At about 50:30, Ramona discusses her exciting new novel project

 

At about 51:30, Pete and Ramona shout out former guest Rus Bradburd

 

   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.

   Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl

    Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!

   NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast

   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 Episode 182 with Talia Lakshmi Kolluri, the author of What We Fed to the Manticore, which was a finalist for the 2023 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction and longlisted for the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, the 2023 Aspen Words Literary Prize, and the 2023 Pen/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection.

  The episode airs on May 12.