Mud Season Review
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? […]
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” […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
An Interview with Suzanne Siteman by Creative Nonfiction Associate Editor Andrew Miller “I think the physical world is on all of our minds, we often just don’t know where to drill down, what to look at first. That’s our opportunity.” –Suzanne Siteman You expressed valid ecological concerns without over-sentimentalizing. Was that an active decision on […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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? […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
An Interview with Kendra Mills by Jonah Meyer, Mud Season Review Poetry Editor Poetry feels more natural to me than other kinds of writing, and writing feels more natural to me than other forms of expression […] Poetry seems intrinsically auto-fictional to me, the interpolation of the two forms can occur naturally and without explanation. […]
An Interview with Featured Artist Linda Laino by Kristin LaFollette, Mud Season Review Art Editor I’ve always had the sense in this unpredictable and spontaneous country that I never know what is going to happen when I walk out my door. I have the same feeling when I pick up a paintbrush.” Linda Laino You […]
An Interview with Jaye Nasir by Mark Robinson, Mud Season Review Associate Poetry Editor “Passing somebody on the street and looking into their face and seeing them, their loneliness, their hope, their tiredness. Seeing the color beneath the skin. Seeing everything glow from the inside.” Jaye Nasir You mention that you have been writing prose […]