“I think that feeling of uncertainty and yearning is important to live with.” Rob Roensch answers George McCormick’s questions about his new novel, The World and the Zoo, out now from Outpost19.
“What is the end of the world to us? Is it the end of a marriage? The end of our families as we know them? Is it the splintering of a relationship with a loved one? Or is it the literal Rapture?”
Joshua Bodwell on the stories we tell, literary coincidences, and a correction to Best American Short Stories of the Century (with footnotes).
“I get worried each time I see a review that talks about just how angry the stories are—well, yeah, but they’re also really funny.” Amber Sparks chats with Barrett Bowlin about her new collection of stories, And I Do Not Forgive You, out tomorrow from Liveright.
“The writing process is so much more uplifting, more fun, when I feel such affection for my characters.” N. West Moss interviews Philip Cioffari about his new novel, If Anyone Asks, Say I Died from the Heartbreaking Blues, out this month from the University of West Alabama’s Livingston Press.
Jennifer Marie Donahue talks with Liz Breazeale about her debut collection, Extinction Events, writing obsessions, story structure, trusting in your individual strangeness, and the powerful feminist and contemporary issues Breazeale explores in her work.
Danielle LaVaque-Manty talks with Nick Scorza about lakes vs. oceans, genre, and the work of plotting and publishing his debut novel, People of the Lake.
“I didn’t know what I’d find. I went where I was led.” Kim Church interviews Patricia Henley about writing place, the business of publishing, and Haywire Books’ twentieth-anniversary reissue of her debut novel Hummingbird House.
“I want you to connect and empathize with those people. I want you to understand that you are capable of horrible things even if you’re a good person.” Saul Lemerond interviews Leigh Camacho Rourks about Grit Lit, writing the body, unlikeable characters, and more.
“Today, when I skim that first baker’s dozen I made a decade ago, my heart begins to race at the mere sight of some of the titles”: Joshua Bodwell offers his favorite reads during 2019 on the ten-year anniversary of his original “Baker’s Dozen” list.
Surprising Things Can Happen: An Interview with Kristen Roupenian
Part of a Bigger Conversation: An Interview with Rebecca Makkai
If You See Me, Don’t Say Hi: An Interview with Neel Patel
Sometimes Taking Things Out Counts as Writing: an Interview with Celeste Ng
Influences: An Interview with Tobias Wolff
Stories We Love: “Blue Lenses,” by Daphne Du Maurier
Stories We Love: “White Angel,” by Michael Cunningham
Stories We Love: Donald Barthelme’s “The School,” In Which is Revealed the Meaning of Life
Stories We Love: "A Small, Good Thing" by Raymond Carver
Stories We Love: "The Fall River Axe Murders," by Angela Carter
