Serving the Story: An Interview with Richard Bausch
The prolific Richard Bausch on fear as fuel, naïvité as strength, and keeping the writing fresh year after year.
Even When I Was Gone, I Was Here: An Interview with Lysley Tenorio
Lysley Tenorio, author of the hotly-anticipated debut collection Monstress, on secret identity politics, the risk of becoming “that Filipino writer,” lightness and darkness in fiction, and Peter Cetera.
From Story to Novel: An Interview with Ben Fountain
Ben Fountain made a lot of noise with his prize-winning collection Brief Encounters with Che Guevara. Turns out he can write a damn fine novel, too.
The Magic Pen: An Interview with Alexi Zentner
The award-winning Alexi Zentner on fiction as types of food, pen as talisman, bad music as white noise, and his fellow Canadians, who inspired him to take up the pen.
Many Souths: An Interview with Wiley Cash
When Wiley Cash found himself homesick for the mountains of western North Carolina, he didn’t drive or fly home—he wrote his way back. In this interview, Cash discusses the importance of place in his debut novel, the legacy of Southern literature, and the influence of mentors on his work.
The Old, the New and the Evil Eye: An Interview with Luana Monteiro
Though written in English, Luana Monteiro’s debut collection is firmly rooted in Brazilian culture — carnaval to Coetzee, Candomblé to Christianity.
Surfers and Cowboys: An Interview with Robert Garner McBrearty
Beneath an unassuming demeanor, Pushcart Prize-winning Robert Garner McBrearty writes stories of the revolution. The former dishwasher on the mythologies of the American West, the bravery of small presses, Colonel William B. Travis, and why he feels solidarity with scrappy underlings.
It’s All Painful: An Interview with Wells Tower
His debut collection features sentimental Vikings, hungover moose-hunters, and fuming stepsons, among other luckless men. Wells Tower talks jokes, beauty, and painful, teeth-gnashing revision with Rebecca Scherm.
Save That Blood! An Interview with Jim Shepard
The title of Jim Shepard’s latest collection, You Think That’s Bad, could also be a creative mantra. Here the veteran writer discusses his research process, the apocalyptic state of the world, the (possible) irrelevancy of literature to the apocalypse, his epic mustache—and other matters of importance.
The Idea that has Entered the Flesh: Melanie Rae Thon and The Voice of the River
Musical, prayerful, mindful, compassionate—FWR’s Aaron Cance talks with Melanie Rae Thon (The Voice of the River) about what these qualities mean in fiction and in life.
