![(from left) Kimberly King Parsons, Karen Russell, Lidia Yuknavitch, and Margaret Malone (from left) Kimberly King Parsons, Karen Russell, Lidia Yuknavitch, and Margaret Malone](https://kboo.fm/sites/default/files/styles/default_lead_1x/public/images/lead/station_content/shortstoryallstars1_0.jpg?itok=zCxi5tqF)
![People Like You by Margaret Malone People Like You by Margaret Malone](https://kboo.fm/sites/default/files/styles/default_more_1x/public/images/more/station_content/people_like_you_0.jpg?itok=S20TFAfu)
![Black Light by Kimberly King Parsons Black Light by Kimberly King Parsons](https://kboo.fm/sites/default/files/styles/default_more_1x/public/images/more/station_content/cover_parsons_kimberly_king_black_light_0.jpg?itok=6ly6ks9z)
![Orange World by Karen Russell Orange World by Karen Russell](https://kboo.fm/sites/default/files/styles/default_more_1x/public/images/more/station_content/orangeworld_cover_0.jpg?itok=W-Pdrpl3)
![Verge by Lidia Yuknavitch Verge by Lidia Yuknavitch](https://kboo.fm/sites/default/files/styles/default_more_1x/public/images/more/station_content/verge_high_res_0.jpg?itok=xZakCuBF)
Just about two years ago BP (Before Pandemic), I had the great pleasure of welcoming to KBOO four of the very best short fiction writers in Portland, in the whole country for that matter: Margaret Malone, author of People Like You, which was a Pen Hemingway finalist; Kimberly King Parsons, whose book Black Light was long-listed for a 2019 National Book Award; Karen Russell, author of Orange World, and recipient of both a MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowship; and Lidia Yuknavitch, author of the story collection Verge (which was, at the time, just a week away from its pub date).
This episode is one of my very favorites, and also one of the last ones we recorded live in the KBOO studios (which shut down during the pandemic). We'll be re-playing it for you on today's show. And hope we can all get back together again some day soon!
Authors photo courtesy of S.W. Conser
- KBOO