From Ancient Texts to Writing Horror

Dramatic orchestral music. Supernatural characters. The intensity of writing music.

Kailee Pedersen breaks down how opera has shaped her forthcoming novel, The Minimalist.

About guest

Kailee Pedersen writes haunted, unsettling speculative fiction. She graduated with a BA in classics from Columbia University, specializing in ancient Greek. Kailee was adopted from Nanning, China and grew up in Nebraska, where her family owns a farm. She is the author of the queer poetry chapbook Pastorale and the novel Sacrificial Animals, which was named one of the New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2024 and a finalist for Best Horror at the 2025 Libby Book Awards. When not scribbling down her next book, you can catch her studying opera performance at the Mozarteum University, playing video games, or working as a software engineer in New York City. The Minimalist is her second novel.

Topics discussed

During the show, we discuss:

• The Gothic and the Classics
• Her writing and creative journey
• BIPOC and Queer representation in publishing
• Building craft outside of the institution
• Gothic in Sacrificial Animals
• Balancing writing with a career
• Building resilience in writing and publishing

Connect with Kailee

• Bluesky: @kaileepedersen.bsky.social
• Instagram: @kailee_pedersen
• Threads: @kailee_pedersen
• Twitter: @KaileePedersen

Buy her books

• Pre Order: The Minimalist
• Purchase: Sacrificial Animals

Support the podcast

• Contribute to the Ko-Fi
• Send a message

Disclaimer: Shownotes may contain affiliate links which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting a Black-woman- creator!