Nichole Bernier talks to E.B. Moore about publishing her debut novel at 72: “The Amish life is exotic to behold and comforting, a little like going to a habitat zoo to watch the slow march of elephants cropping grass with their trunks and blowing dust over their backs.”
Maureen O’Brien talks to Robin Parks about the rules for writing a good short story, searching for fact in fiction, and creating a cohesive collection.
“I heard Marilynne Robinson say once that “we can never escape the landscape of our preoccupations.” I was struck by that phrase and I think of it all the time, the landscape of our preoccupations. I feel liberated by it.”
“The answer, perhaps, is not being afraid to get up at four in the morning”: Charles Blackstone tells Nick Ostdick about his latest novel, Vintage Attractions.
Travis Kurowski talks to Jen Michalski about writing in every form, from comic book poetry to the novel (and back again).
Nina Buckless talks to Nicholas Delbanco about talent, genius, and the work of “lastingness.”
“I wanted the reader to feel wounded that these souls had been taken from us,” Patrick Hicks says of the minor characters in his new novel, The Commandant of Lubizec.
“Could Biology take place anywhere but New York?” Emily Schultze asks Jacob M. Appel about his new novel, The Biology of Luck, a modern-day take on Ulysses. “No,” Appel replies. “In my psychotic moments I thought maybe I’d put it in Dublin, but then I always came to my senses.”
Back in the fall of 2012, Sebastian Matthews hosted Russell Banks as Visiting Writer for Warren Wilson College’s Harwood-Cole Lecture Series. Knowing he’d be in town for a few days, Matthews arranged to interview Banks, who is a long-time family friend, on Jeff Davis’ radio show Word Play. What follows is Part II of their conversation.
Back in the fall of 2012, Sebastian Matthews hosted Russell Banks as Visiting Writer for Warren Wilson College’s Harwood-Cole Lecture Series. Knowing he’d be in town for a few days, Matthews arranged to interview Banks, who is a long-time family friend, on Jeff Davis’ radio show Word Play. What follows is Part I of their conversation.
