“We must lie and lie well in order to make the reader cry, or sigh, or slam their fists on the table in anger”: Neil Connelly and Genaro Kỳ Lý Smith talk about crafting fiction from life.
“I tell my students to focus on developing aspects of their characters that they don’t share”: Neil Connelly talks with Steven Wingate about presses tiny and huge, teaching in MFA programs, and his new collection, In the Wake of Our Vows.
Back in the 90’s, I was teaching a multi-genre creative writing class at Cape Fear Community College, a name I am not making up. There were almost thirty students, with a wide variety of backgrounds, interests, and abilities. At the time, inexperienced, I was still letting folks workshop whatever they wanted, without any restraints on content or pre-screening by me. I was more giddy cheerleader than true teacher, with vague hopes of leaping onto my desk, Robin-Williams like, and inspiring bemusement and admiration from my young students. All this led to some unusual situations, like the young man who plagiarized […]
What’s a superhero to do when the world doesn’t need him anymore? Neil Connelly, author of The Midlife Crisis of Commander Invincible, has a few answers in this interview.
