THE INTERVIEWS
POETS, NOVELISTS, ESSAYISTS, AND MOREStep into the world of our authors by reading interviews about their pieces. From craft to book recommendations to worldviews, our authors share all. Pour a cup of coffee and stay a while.
Richard Downing on Denial, Dark Humor, and the End of the World. <em> Richard Downing in conversation with Sara Byrnes</em>
I like your word choice: “cinematic.” I’m a very visual writer, and with “Weather—or Not” I felt as if I were filming the story rather than writing it.
How did the story develop? I grew up in Florida, first near the Gulf of America Mexico and later right on the Gulf. I have directly experienced several hurricanes and. . . .
Tina Carlson on Craft, Mystery, Loss, Memory, Light, Nature, and Devotion <em> Nathan Conroy in conversation with Tina Carlson</em>
This scaling was inspired mostly by the canyon—we were surrounded by and living within billions of years of the earth’s history and held it in our hands, slept on its sands and climbed up cliffs and gullies to explore it. . . .
Kristin Emanuel on playfulness, evolution, and recognizing the marvelous. <em>Kristin Emanuel in conversation with poetry editor Camille Bliss</em>
Driving and death are interlinked for me. It’s hard to ignore the roadkill scattered along I-70, and I have other viscerally haunting memories, too, like a dead dog lodged in the grille shutter of my father’s car—the same car that I now pilot through the world . . . .
Mark Brazaitis on the art of fiction and writing what you know. <em>Mark Brazaitis in conversation with editor Sara Byrnes </em>
In 2017, I ran for a position on the Morgantown, West Virginia, City Council. One of my goals was to encourage the city to buy a 42-acre forest at its western edge and incorporate it into its underwhelming park system. I knew the Haymaker Forest, as it was called, well; my backyard abutted a portion of it (as did a hundred other backyards). . . .
Arielle Hebert on freedom of choice, empathy, and art as protest. <em> Arielle Hebert in conversation with poetry editor, Camille Bliss </em>
To me, everything is nature. I see humans as part of nature, rather than separate from it. Because we are so intertwined, most of my poems have natural or scientific images in them. I feel nourished and replenished when I spend time outdoors. Even just on walks around my suburban neighborhood, I’ll see birds, insects, hares, deer, and the occasional fox. . . .
Ardyn Ford on the natural world, the uncanny, and the impossible. <em> Ardyn Ford in conversation with Sara Byrnes</em>
Growing up in Salt Lake City, where many people treat the surrounding landscape as a giant playground, I internalized this idea that the outdoors should always bring me joy and peace. In this way, violent and indifferent encounters in the natural world have challenged my relationship with control. . . .
Elizabeth Ellen on finality, violence, and the call of the wild. <em>In conversation with Sara Byrnes, on Ellen’s story “Saunterathon.”</em>
I think for me, the natural world has always been romanticized, adored, desired—by me—as a purer world. Maybe it’s just that I learned young not to trust humans. Not that you can trust animals. Or nature. But it feels far less personal when nature or animals cause us harm or destruction. I think, too, when one is in nature, there is a timelessness (part of the romance) about it, … and a simplicity, a serenity, peacefulness, even amongst the violence, murder, carnage. . . .
Jennifer Sinor on speculative nonfiction, bird-watching, and engagement with the natural world. <em>In conversation with Josepha Natzke on Sinor’s essay “Avimancy.” </em>
I can only speak for myself, but the best way for me to learn is through stories. When I am with others in the natural world, it is stories that we share—stories about what we see in front of us, stories about what we have witnessed in the past, stories about when we watched an eagle fish, or a rock slide begin, or a bear that stood on a ridge, golden in the falling light. . . .