Features & Reviews
-
Something Haunted and Repeating: A Conversation with Issa Quincy
“For me, a central question of the novel as well is language and the failure of language. I think many of these people are imprisoned by language and their inability to say what they want to say or remember what…
-
And the Now: on “Things in Nature Merely Grow” by Yiyun Li
“The problem: What if the tragedy has no end point? In Yiyun Li’s latest memoir Things in Nature Merely Grow, the author spurns the term “grief” and its attachment to endings. For Li, the definition of grief is tied to…
-
Taking Back Time: A Conversation with Quiara Alegría Hudes
“It is very hard to dramatize something tiny onstage. But on the page something microscopic can contain magnitudes of consequence—not to mention time. The playwright’s basic unit is time. You’ll have two hours of the audience’s time. You are forcing…
-
Shredding the Crazy Cat Lady Stereotype: A Mini Interview with Rebecca van Laer
“I think fiction feels safer. If I’m writing a short story, I don’t usually call up my friend and say, “Hey, I’m thinking about putting this line you said in there.” There was initially a scene from my life that…
-
Hospitality Training and Taking Care of the Reader: A Conversation with Gabrielle Hamilton
“ I don’t like reading books where you can feel the writer fiddling with you and admiring themselves as they manipulate the words on the page. I don’t love a self-congratulatory writer—you can sniff it on the page immediately—more than…
-
Buddhist in a Corvette: On Richard Siken’s Third Transformation
Richard Siken’s virtuoso third collection, I Do Know Some Things, Copper Canyon Press 2025, arrives as a righteous heir of Edson’s vision. The book, bloated with human truth and stripped of pretense, offers black comedy, lyrical excavation, and a persistent,…
-
Getting Readers on Your Side through Humor: A Conversation with Erin Somers
“I love writing humor; it’s what gets me to my desk. The humor comes pretty naturally, which is part practice and part good luck. It’s baked into my worldview. Whenever I’m starting something new, I’ll have this moment of terror…
-
An Exodus and a Beginning: A Conversation with Joanna Choi Kalbus
My memoir chronicles our adversities as well as our achievements. She wanted me to attend a university and become a teacher. She cried at every one of my graduations and achievements. I know now life is fragile and fleeting, and…
-
Good And Evil and Other Stories: A Conversation with Samanta Schweblin
“I’m fascinated by poetry that reaches complex, new ideas through the most ordinary words. It reminds us that fire, that hypnotic, powerful force, is nothing more than a spark born from two simple pieces of wood. I suppose I long…
-
Unearthing the Portrait of an Artist: A review of Brent Ameneyro’s “A Face Out of Clay”
The poet is not a singularity and is overwhelmingly in the world, among others, even when they are in a room with the windows shut to keep out the noise. Ameneyro’s most profound moments emerge when he shifts from singular…
-
The Other Side of Paradise: An Interview with Cleyvis Natera
“Countries with a history born of colonialism understand intimately that the perversion of the power dynamics in the relationships we see in today’s tourist economy isn’t anything new. It’s just a remix of the same old dynamic. As someone who…
-
It’s Hard to be a Person: A Conversation with Jeannie Vanasco
“All of us are searching for answers for something in our lives. I like when someone is coming at the subject from a place of not knowing and I am there with them. I can’t think of anything more intimate…