Novelist Eric Lundgren talks about paying homage to your influences, inducing literary vertigo, the perfect details in film noir, and the Mall of America.
Journalist Katy Butler discusses her memoir, Knocking on Heaven's Door: A Path to a Better Way of Death, why medicine and technology often cloud the larger issues of dying, and how we should contemplate the end of our lives.
The luminous Aimee Bender talks about writing short stories, the importance of liking and defending your characters, and relying on the unconscious instead of intention.
Porn star, writer, performance artist, social worker, and activist Dylan Ryan sheds light on her positive experiences as a sex worker and advocates for the empowerment of women in the porn industry.
Monica Drake, author of Clown Girl and now The Stud Book, discusses the physicality of characters' bodies, the complicated issues women face while aging, and the crucial nature of writing communities.
Comedian, writer, and performer John Hodgman sits down with The Rumpus to chat about channeling Ayn Rand, his Secret Society shows, giving himself permission to open up, and being a product of the Internet.
Journalist Sabine Heinlein, author of Among Murderers: Life After Prison, discusses the challenges ex-cons encounter on their journeys to freedom and the various ways they live with their remorse.
Writer Ron Currie, Jr. talks about his latest book, Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles, singularity theory, the importance of travel, and the hazards of characterizing traits as "masculine."
We sit down with Sari Botton, long-time Rumpus contributor and author of our "Conversations with Writers Braver Than Me" column, to talk about her new anthology, Goodbye To All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York, and more.
Nick Antosca, author of the recent collection The Girlfriend Game, talks about balancing fiction and writing for TV, hypnotism, horror films, and packing a lot of crazy shit into his stories.
Jesmyn Ward, author of the memoir Men We Reaped, speaks candidly about handling grief, exploring place, and "the fragile balance of writing accurately without perpetuating stereotypes and archetypes."
When Eleanor Friedberger (one half of The Fiery Furnaces) penned her solo debut, Last Summer, she didn’t show it to anyone until it was finished. Now that she has released…