Post Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the characters in Tom Cooper’s debut novel, The Marauders, struggle to survive in a world whose customs and cultures are rapidly “disappearing, crumbling to the Gulf.”
“I would be doing a great disservice to my fiction, to my readers, and to myself if I ever wrote about any other place”: David Armand talks with Dixon Hearne about landscape, Southern Louisiana, and his forthcoming novel, The Gorge.
“Trying to see the world as others might seems like an act of respect to me—so long as it isn’t done cynically or sloppily.” Skip Horack talks to Tom Bennitt about work, religion, and history in his fiction.
“I am tempted to spin you a story about a chance boyhood encounter in the deep forest with a wild hog that left me scarred and terrified and thus writing out my fear and horror for the rest of time, but I’ll restrain the impulse.” Pinckney Benedict talks with Mary Stewart Atwell in this second interview in a series on rural fiction.
Finalist for the PEN/Hemingway, Stephanie Powell Watts talks about her debut collection, Elvis as tragic hero, and authenticity in storytelling.
Writers: if you didn’t have time for NaNoWriMo but are looking for a motivating way to structure and inspire writing time this December, consider signing up for the Southeast Review‘s 30-Day Writing Regimen, which begins on December 1. For only $15, participants receive the following: a free copy of the most recent issue (vol 26.2), daily writing prompts and reading-writing exercises, a Riff Word of the Day, a Podcast of the Day, craft talks, and access to the journal’s online literary companion.
