Jude Brewer is an American author, screenwriter, producer, and podcast host, best known for creating and hosting Storybound and Storytellers Telling Stories. Brewer's writing has appeared internationally through literary magazines, and most recently in podcasts and short films.
Career
Writing
Tania Hershman, author, and judge of the 2017 UK Retreat West Flash Fiction Prize, has described Brewer's writing as " risks in its structure, going off on tangents, not following a linear narrative, and the risks pay off. It is dark and funny and moving and strange. There is not a word too many or too few, and every word is precisely chosen, the character’s voice never strays…I could read this again and again and again." Two of Brewer's short literary fiction pieces were adapted for his podcast Storytellers Telling Stories with Brewer narrating. He has mentioned compiling his stories into a full-length novel. Most recently, his screenplays have been adapted into short films set for a 2020 release.
Podcasting
Around early 2017, Brewer launched John Plays the Piano, a roundtable film discussion podcast, breaking down and analyzing classic films such as Brazil, Being John Malkovich, and even Small Soldiers. Eight episodes were released, but only three episodes are currently available. Brewer has said John Plays the Piano is on an "indefinite hiatus". In October 2017, Brewer launched the Storytellers Telling Stories podcast as a means to take a break from writing, craving something "more experimental and a little less predictable", toying with different instruments while warping and distorting their sounds. The show has been described as an audio drama "pushing the evolution" of podcasting. The initial concept was to simulate a movie within the listener's mind, to create a sense of total immersion without requiring any visuals. Lights Out has been cited as an influence for Brewer, as was listening to concept albums and following their track listings to outline his stories and novels as a teenager. Storytellers Telling Stories wrapped with its series finale in August 2019, bringing together 27 different writers reading the work of author Traci Foust, as Foust had passed away the previous year. In October 2019, Lit Hub announced a partnership with The Podglomerate, launching the Storybound, a new podcast created and hosted by Brewer. The show will explore themes of "family life to friendship, relationships to histories, and how everything in life can be impacted by the power of a good story". Season One was sponsored by Powell's Books, including musicians who originally appeared on Storytellers Telling Stories, alongside critically acclaimed and bestselling authors such as Mitch Albom, Lidia Yuknavitch, Matt Gallagher, Kim Barnes, Adelle Waldman, Diksha Basu, Nathan Hill, Caitlin Doughty, as well as a story told by Jack Rhysider, creator of the popular podcast Darknet Diaries. Another podcast is rumored to be in development with a recurring writing collaborator, Brianna Barrett, officially funded by a grant from the Regional Arts & Culture Council. The show will be a radio drama adaptation of Barrett's historical fiction play based off the life of Frances Fuller Victor, an American historian and novelist living in Civil War era San Francisco.
