Our next Letter in the Mail comes from writer and editor Rachel Yoder! Rachel sends us a hilarious letter about how in order to overcome her baby fever, she begins to raise to chickens—yes, chickens!
To read about Rachel’s adventures with her chickens, subscribe to Letters in the Mail before November 30! And remember, Letters in the Mail helps us keep The Rumpus running—so, you can correspond with your favorite writers and support the website in one fell swoop.
Rachel Yoder grew up in a Mennonite community in the Appalachian foothills of eastern Ohio. She now lives in Iowa City with her husband and son. She and Mark Polanzak are the founding editors of draft: the journal of process, a literary journal. draft features first and final drafts of stories, poems, and essays, along with author interviews about the creative process. She is also the creator and host of The Fail Safe, an interview podcast that explores how today’s most successful writers grapple with and learn from creative failure. Rachel’s short stories and essays have recently appeared in The Southern Review, StoryQuarterly, Catapult, and Gulf Coast. Her work has also been awarded The Editors’ Prize in Fiction by The Missouri Review and with notable distinctions in Best American Short Stories and Best American Nonrequired Reading. She earned an MFA in Fiction from the University of Arizona and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Iowa. She is currently a 2017 Iowa Arts Council Fellow.
