What’s in your junk drawer? For writer Alexander Chee, answering that question resulted in a critically-acclaimed collection of essays entitled How To Write An Autobiographical Novel. Alex sits down with host Amanda Stern to talk about personal growth, what we can learn from roses, fair pay in the workplace, and divining the mysteries of the universe through tarot.About the Author:Alexander Chee is the author of the novels Edinburgh and The Queen of the Night, and the essay collection How To Write An Autobiographical Novel, all from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.He is a contributing editor at The New Republic, and an editor at large at VQR. His essays and stories have appeared in the New York Times Book Review, T Magazine, Tin House, Slate, and Guernica, among others.He is the winner of a 2003 Whiting Award, a 2004 NEA Fellowship in prose and a 2010 MCCA Fellowship, and residency fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the VCCA, Civitella Ranieri and Amtrak. Chee is an associate professor of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College.Episode Credits:This episode was produced, mixed, and sound-designed by Andrew Dunn, with editorial help from Beau Friedlander. Our host and co-producer is Amanda Stern. Music:“Rufus Canis” by Rufus Canis, “Timeless Love” by Joonie, “The Finch” by Rufus Canis, “Bloom” by Brian Sussman, “Anti Atlas” by Angele David Guillou, “Better” by Jackie Hill Perry,, “Uni Swing Vox” by Rufus Canis, “Grin” by JPoetic.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices