The Rumpus Interview with Mia Alvar
Author Mia Alvar discusses her debut short story collection, In the Country, fictional motherhood, literature’s role in society, and the limits of belonging to a place.
Posts by tag
short stories
374 posts
The Rumpus Interview with Neil Smith
Author Neil Smith discusses his latest book, Boo, the suffering inherent in being thirteen years old, and how friendship can help pull us through traumatic events in our lives.
The Rumpus Interview with Lori Rader-Day
Lori Rader-Day discusses her second novel, Little Pretty Things, the “five lost years” when she didn’t write at all, and her favorite deep-dish pizza.
The Rumpus Interview with Austin Bunn
Austin Bunn talks about his new story collection, The Brink, his latest script for a short film, In the Hollow, working in multiple mediums, and why some novels read like early drafts of screenplays.
The Rumpus Interview with Antonio Ruiz-Camacho
Author Antonio Ruiz-Camacho speaks about his new collection, Barefoot Dogs, breakthrough stories, the writing process, and why translating his book for readers in Mexico feels like a homecoming.
Lucky Lethem
On the other hand, hey, I’m 50. This is the third time I’ve gathered a decade’s stories. Let’s be clear about how much such introspection matters to the reader who’s…
The Stories of a Story-Hater
“I hate literature,” wrote Varlam Shalamov in a 1965 letter. “I do not write memoirs; nor do I write short stories.” Despite his claim, Varlam Shalamov would become one of…
The Rumpus Interview with Benjamin Parzybok
Author Benjamin Parzybok talks about his new novel, Sherwood Nation, climate fiction, the difference between post-collapse and post-apocalyptic, and how novels can predict the future if they try hard enough (and get lucky).
Part of the Journey
The New Inquiry interviewed Okwiri Oduor, winner of the Caine Prize. She says about past stories: I think they’re the kind of stories that would be published in an anthology…
Mastering the Short Story
…short stories [are] a venerable form, but it’s diabolically hard to master. There’s a lot of apprenticeship in writing stories. And sometimes a story can take such a long time…
Dark Life Begets Dark Tales
The Airship Daily examines the life of Horacio Quiroga. In his work, Quiroga shows a morbid obsession with death and violence (see: “The Decapitated Chicken”), and a large part of…
“Don’t Go Online” and Other Good Advice for Writers
Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Sisterland and guest judge of McSweeney’s first-ever student short story contest, told McSweeney’s in an interview that she is looking for fiction with a “pulse,” that…