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Interviews

No Need to Choose One Lane: Dazzling Metaphors, Rejection as Accomplishment, and the Intersection of Playwriting and Poetry

An Interview with Bri Craig by Poetry Editor, Jonah Meyer  “Still, I think if you can effectively lay out a moment in time, you can create something that is far more visceral and relatable than trying to stay away from the stories within your own experience.” What are you currently reading? I am currently reading […]

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Collage and the Symbolism of the Unconscious

An Interview with Featured Artist JC Alfier By Art Editor Kristin LaFollette “I look to create with the intention that the elements of the collage become a bit mysterious, reassembled into new narratives, intimate yet anonymous, and suggestive of emotional pathos.” As a collage artist myself, I’m curious: How did you become a collage artist? […]

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Interviews

What Cannot Be Said Out Loud and Finding the Truth in a Moment

An Interview with Catherine Parnell By Fiction Editor Ann Fisher “In our bay there is no such thing as a secret between us.” In previous work, you note that you often “listen to the music of language” around you to build a story. Was there a word song that sparked “Sisters of the Sacred Well” […]

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Interviews

Finding Art, Inspiration, and Innovation in an Essay

Interview with Michelle Spokes by Creative Nonfiction Editor Andrew Miller “I’m trying out different versions of the fantasy so it feels right, returning to the beginning of a scene and then varying it. Writing it felt a little like reading a Choose Your Own Adventure book.” “New Girlfriend” is a segmented, primarily chronological essay, with […]

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Interviews

Merging Genres, Worlds, and Languages

Interview with Helena Paoli By Joseph Linscott “When the genres merge, I see new life.” — Helena Paoli You write in your bio that you are exploring where “literary genres merge.” That word “merge” is so interesting to me. Whereas hybridity and experimental writing makes something else entirely out of these previous forms, you are […]

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Interviews

Smashing Pumpkins, Richard Brautigan’s Face, Strangers’ Sketches and Musings: Nighttime as Write-Time to Dig Into My Surroundings

An Interview with Casey Harloe By Poetry Editor Jonah Meyer “Experiencing poetry of others makes me emboldened to let my guard down in writing even more, to be more trusting and personal.” –Casey Harloe   Your poems we have published here—which I find outstanding, by the way—obviously appear to have been born from specific autobiographical […]

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Interviews

The Body as Energy

An Interview with Featured Artist Danielle Benvenuto By Kristin LaFollette “I explore the beauty of the body and celebrate it as a gift to be honored. I think our bodies are the route to higher realms and overall, our general happiness.” -Danielle Benvenuto Your featured portfolio shows two different styles of artwork. Talk about these […]

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Interviews

The Summit of the Sweet Seventies

An Interview with Barbara Ridley  By CNF Reader C. S. Hadebe “I don’t believe in denying my age…[It] is indeed a privilege…”  –Barbara Ridley  In the words of New York-born writer Gabrielle Zevin: “You don’t choose a book; the book chooses you.” How well do you feel the quote describes your sudden gravitation towards May […]

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Interviews

Double Hashbrowns, Triple Smothered, Triple Covered: On Roller Skating, Waffle House, and Authentic Insight in Poetry

An Interview with Featured Poet Mandy Shunnarah By Poetry Editor Jonah Meyer The poems are everywhere. I just try to be observant so I’ll notice them when they come knocking and can write them down before they go off to somewhere else. –Mandy Shunnarah What was it like growing up in Alabama as you did, […]

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Interviews

The Flintstones, Coffee Table Décor, and Saying No to Outlines

An Interview with Carolyn Pledge-Amaral by Creative Nonfiction Editor Suzanne Guess I’m intrigued with the idea of getting to know my characters and allowing them to tell their own story.   –Carolyn Pledge-Amaral Some writers argue against using pop culture references because they can exclude readers who aren’t familiar with the references. On the flip side, […]

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Interviews

Wanderer’s Paradise

An Interview with Featured Artist Roger Camp By Art Editor Kristin LaFollette A French friend pointed out that I was a ‘flaneur,’ which the French define as ‘those who take advantage of a wanderer’s paradise: the streets of the city, filled with charming shops, stirring landmarks, and ephemeral encounters. –Roger Camp How did you become […]

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Interviews

Look What My Will Has Done to Me

An Interview with Lucy Zhang By Fiction Editor Ann Fisher I’ve seen warped trees at some national parks and they’ve always struck me. It’s like they’re saying “look what my will to live has done to me.”  –Lucy Zhang How did the storyline for “Final Molt” come to you?  I wanted to write a story […]

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Interviews

The Power of the Subconscious Mind

An Interview with Featured Artist Sarah-Jane Crowson By Kristin LaFollette “I love the way [collage art] lets us work with source material and the possibility it brings for transforming old mainstream narratives into something different and more contemporary.” — Sarah-Jane Crowson You mention your work is inspired by “fairy tales, nature, and Surrealism.” Talk about […]

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Interviews

The Divinity of Dogs

An Interview with Laura Perkins by Madeline DeLuca The impending apocalypse gave me room to explore a more sentimental, tender story of what it means to love someone, how difficult it can be to give and receive love. I was especially interested in the love we think we’re not supposed to feel, a love that […]

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Interviews

No Poet an Island: Weightlessness and Freedom in Words, Shaping a Beautiful Universe

An Interview with Featured Poet Gospel Chinedu By Poetry Editor Jonah Meyer “When a story is told, there’s this weightlessness and freedom from within. Poetry is the medium by which I unweight myself from a whole lot happening in and around me.” –Gospel Chinedu Why do you write poetry? Writing, beyond the scope of being just […]

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Interviews

Riding the Dragon: Between Inhale and Exhale, Time Stretching Like Shadows Across Purple Mountains

An Interview with Marcy Rae Henry by Jonah Meyer, Mud Season Review Poetry Editor Please tell us about your writing process. Do you have a specific or favored routine? A preferred time, setting, or place for your creation of poems? Who, what, when, or where tends to inspire you? Generally speaking, what does your revision […]

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Interviews

Merging Conflicting Thoughts, Science, and Thought Experiments in Writing Practices

An Interview with Libby R. Horton by Andrew Miller, Mud Season Review Associate Creative Nonfiction Editor You have a Ph.D. in physical chemistry and an interest in creative writing. Have you pondered how to reconcile these two disparate fields?   I’ve seen creative writing as orthogonal to my work as a scientist. It took me a […]

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Interviews

What Helps to Remember: A Child’s Journey into the Killing Fields of Maguindanao Province

An Interview with Isa Lorenzo by Ann Fisher, Mud Season Review Fiction Co-Editor I had to search and search to find the event I think this story is based on— a tragedy that took place in 2009 in Ampatuan, Philippines, where the wife and sisters of the mayor were attempting to file Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu’s […]

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Organic Shape, Color, Composition, Texture

An Interview with Featured Artist Richard Vyse by Kristin LaFollette, Mud Season Review Art Editor What inspired your Punctured Mindscapes series? What themes do these works represent?  The Punctured Mindscapes series was created from my imagination. It is all about favorite shapes like the circle in a small intimate square that has dramatic impact, even […]

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Interviews

The Intersections of Ecology, Mythology, and Fantastic Creatures

An Interview with Featured Artist Irina Tall by Kristin LaFollette, Mud Season Review Art Editor I draw sirens or self-portraits, although I think the siren herself is my self-portrait or who I want to be.” – Irina Tall Talk about the subjects in these drawings. Who are the people and creatures? What are their relationships? […]

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Interviews

Just For Kicks: Playing With Different Styles and Forms

An Interview with Ana Reisens by Mark Robinson, Mud Season Review Associate Poetry Editor The first, striking, thing about this collection is that each poem is titled with a female name. What inspired you to write a series of poems about different women?   The idea for this collection began when I realized how profoundly disconnected […]

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Finding Distance and Going Towards Fear in Writing

An Interview with Heidi Croot by Will McCrary, Mud Season Review Creative Nonfiction Reader You mention that writing “widened the distance” between yourself and your mother, creating a space even though you were physically close by. Is that sense of “remove” in the written word more or less universal, or is it possible to reverse […]

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Interviews

Rituals, Kinship, and Writing As a Way of Seeing

An Interview with Bill Smoot by Madeline DeLuca, Mud Season Review Fiction Co-Editor In the story, Lisa says, “That’s why I paint…so people can see things.” Do you relate to her at all? Do you write for the same reason? Oh, yes. I feel a deep kinship with her. I do write as a way […]

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Interviews

Finding Authenticity in the Uncomfortable

An Interview with Katherine May Generally, are high schools different in 2022 than the one featured in your story which seems fairly tolerant? Since I graduated from high school twenty years ago, it’s hard for me to know exactly if/how things have changed. As for my high school experience, because I spent two years at […]

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Interviews

How Art and Writing Imitate Life

An Interview with Sarah Berbank Green by Ann Fisher, Mud Season Review Fiction Co-Editor Sarah, our readers really appreciated both your writing style and your ability to bring them directly into this story as a lived experience. Tell us a bit about how “Empty Vessel” came into being. It was a story very long in […]