Q. The story is told through the point of view of an unnamed check-out girl. What was your intention behind choosing to identify her in this way? A. I started “Check-out girl” being fascinated by the different meanings that could be gleaned from the term “check out.” There is the literal customer service position, which […]
Q. You worked as a hotel bartender in the Pacific Northwest for years. What would you say makes bartenders especially good at picking up on their customers’ tics, subtleties, and indiscretions? A. I would say it’s a prerequisite as you learn how to do the job well. So much of service work is about listening […]
Q. Your bio mentions that you have two sons. How does motherhood influence your writing? A. I won’t get into the complicated journey of how I became a mother, but it’s safe to say that it’s not something that I thought was possible for me well into my 30s. So, my boys – currently 14 […]
Q. As a self-trained painter, how has finding your own path outside traditional fine-arts institutions shaped your technical approach and conceptual voice? Who has been particularly influential in your career? A. As a child, I was inspired by Joan Miró’s art. I spent long hours looking at his paintings and imaginative worlds, creating visions of […]
Q. In your bio you state that you’re a public media producer as well as a writer. Does your work as a public media producer influence your writing? A. In some ways, yes! Writing for radio has taught me to use an economy of words and to make sure that every single word, and every […]
Q. Three of the poems in this collection have “my father.” Does your father also feature in some way in “Old Suits” or influence the poem? And, can you speak a little bit about that? A. While my father doesn’t directly appear in or influence “Old Suits,” the themes of inheritance, aging, and seeking the […]
Q. You told Chuck that “Truth would be easier to tell as fiction.” Generalize on that comment. Why does a fictional rendition of an event often have more impact than its actual portrayal? A. When I first thought about writing the scene of my mother belittling my writing, it was too painful to put on […]
“Galaxies” is simultaneously playful, gravely serious, and, overall, magical. What does magic mean to you? Most of my stories fall into the realist bucket, but “Galaxies” went strange from the start. As in the story, one day a galaxy appeared on my ceiling. It was just a reflection of something on my desk, but I […]
As a fellow essayist, I’m always interested in learning about other writers’ processes. Where did the idea for this essay start, and how did you develop it from there? It’s taken me a long time to realize this, but I think I build my essays up from connections I see between images. For “Pugilism,” for […]
These poems carry some vulnerability. Could you talk more about writing poems that capture vulnerability? Vulnerability can often be looked upon as a weakness, but I see it as a strength because it’s an act of bravery to be authentic, and in the case of these poems, to display your fear and truth on the […]
What gave you the idea to write “Two Supplicants in the Queen City?” For the last few years, I’ve immersed myself in a big family-biography project/memoir focused on the first American-born generation on my father’s side. Wading through the extensive archival holdings at the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati, as well as continuing to sift […]
“Radiant Drift” tracks the movement of meteors and of two generations, the narrator and her friend and their parents. Where did the idea of the cosmic and the relational changes over time come from? What do you hope your readers find shifting as they read? This story was originally an image of two girls lying […]
Please share with us the theme(s) that connect these five poems together, and what makes them a collection. Each of these poems reflects on the theme of science and its limits, and the fundamental element of uncertainty in the human experience. Whether it is in the mysteries of nature, such as how birds navigate while […]
What led you to photography? I began photographing seriously at the age of 10, heavily influenced by my mother’s love of art. She took me and my brother to the Los Angeles County Art Museum time after time so much so that I can still recall numerous paintings in the permanent collection. I tried my […]
I love the line “you wouldn’t like it here.” What makes the speaker so sure there is nothing on the other side of death? Do you agree with the ghost father, who would rather be elsewhere? Thank you, I love that line, too. Actually, after hearing either my mother or grandmother retell that dream, I […]
“Dove” is infused with layers of family dynamics. What does family mean to you? This is a big question, and one I’ve had reason to meditate on at great length in my life. I’ve long since deconstructed the Disney version of family and tend to see it now as a pod of strangers we’re cast […]
The title “A Way Out of Nowhere” references your mother physically leaving your stepfather but also invokes larger themes like breaking cycles. How did you choose this title, and what does it mean to you? This was one of those rare instances where the title came to me early. It encompasses the point and arc […]
“Would You Rather” takes the reader through a life-threatening situation. When did you realize you had to write this story? To be completely honest, this is a story I have tried to avoid writing. It stemmed from a prompt in a grief-writing course that asked me to recall “times you thought you were going to […]
“I think I write to make something living out of what I feel or think—to take a two-dimensional statement and make it three-dimensional. That’s the only time I feel like I’ve communicated myself truly, and maybe I’m just chasing that—true communication.” I absolutely adore your Installation Series collection of poems, and we at Mud Season […]
You write as well as make art. (Eleven books!) How does your creativity interact with different mediums and forms of expression? In other words, how does your writing inspire, influence, or engage with your art and vice versa? I am a self-taught artist, so my path is not typical. I started writing when I […]
In Buying a Gun, the narrator says, “I thought about the gun. It contained stories from the past. Before me, a stranger had held it, hidden it, used it. It contained stories to come because it had no memory, no trauma, no preference for the future or the past.” What is memory and past for […]
“A Father’s Legacy” is about a lifelong relationship between parent and child. Given that your relationship spans decades, how did you decide what to include and what to leave out? “A Father’s Legacy” zooms into a particular point in our relationship—an ending, of sorts. Readers are first introduced to my father at this period in […]
Dreams, Expectations, and the Pleasure Principle: An Interview with Jon Doughboy by Joseph Linscott “I harbor no hopes for readers. Once I’ve written something, my job is done, and readers are free to take away whatever they want from it.” Why did you make the decision to write about a character detailing their dreams? Was […]
An Interview with Featured Artist, Emma Anna, by Michelle Quick, Art Editor Your biography mentions working on a book about mushrooms. Tell us a bit about this project. I recently worked as a producer on a mushroom project in Australia that combined various art, degustation, and mushroom education offshoots. It was through this project […]