Mud Season Review
The Shape of a Day
By Chelsey Clammer
Courtney and I slept together a few nights ago, but not like that. Girlfriends at sixteen, we were each other’s first love. Now, almost twenty years later, that’s not us, but I’ve been staying in the five-bedroom house Courtney shared with her mom…
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Julie Patterson interviews
Storey Clayton
Nonfiction co-editor Julie Patterson recently had this exchange with Issue #45 featured nonfiction writer Storey Clayton. Here’s what Storey had to say about the balance between the universal and the personal in creative nonfiction, the art of revision, his literary influences, and more…
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Unbecoming Doogie
By Storey Clayton
In retrospect, it seems likely that the school district administrators were bluffing when they recommended that I skip four grades. Oregon District 10 Superintendent Harold Riggan put the offer to my parents: “Storey is testing at an eighth-grade level…
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Julie Patterson interviews
Bill Marsh
Nonfiction co-editor Julie Patterson recently had this exchange with Issue #44 featured nonfiction writer Bill Marsh. Here’s what Bill had to say about processing memory through writing, his experience as a teacher, the overlap between the writing process and beekeeping, and more…
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No Baby, An Apology
By Bill Marsh
I dream sometimes about babies. I know these are babies I’m dreaming about because afterwards, when I stir awake with some semblance of recognition, I feel a hazy sense of having dwelled for a moment in fuzzy warmth, a zone of charmed interaction….
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Julie Patterson interviews
Lauren Mauldin
Nonfiction co-editor Julie Patterson recently had this exchange with Issue #43 featured nonfiction writer Lauren Mauldin. Here’s what Lauren had to say about writing through loss and addiction, her experience as an MFA student, how maintaining a blog helped find her voice, and more…
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Keto Crash
By Lauren Mauldin
Last week, I dreamt I was eating a bagel. Not a New York bagel, the outside crisp and sprinkled with poppy seeds, toasted flakes of onion and tiny, square cubes of salt. No, the dense, bready pre-sliced kind you buy in plastic bags…
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Julie Patterson interviews
Alexia Kemerling
Nonfiction co-editor Julie Patterson recently had this exchange with Issue #42 nonfiction author Alexia Kemerling. Here’s what Alexia had to say about interviewing story subjects, the similarities between writing and photography, what’s she’s working on next, and more…
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In Memoriam of Rust
By Alexia Kemerling
“I just have regular old fashioned music on the radio,” Mike says. “I hope that’s okay.” He adjusts the volume knob and the bass line of “Under Pressure” fills the van…
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A Country May: 14 Days
By Chila Woychik
1. From the brash and loud, we seek the soft Midwest melody. This is less provincialism, more self-preservation. Years in the city left us numb and sightless; now, every new day brings startle and flux and a cold slap of air where we need it most…
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Julie Patterson interviews
Melissa Goodnight
Nonfiction reader Julie Patterson recently had this exchange with Issue #40 featured nonfiction writer Melissa Goodnight. Here’s what Melissa had to say about how she approached revealing intimate moments in her own life, and how writing helped to process her grief in service to others…
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Doll
By Melissa Goodnight
Dana worked the morning shift at Skaggs Regional Hospital. As far as nurses go, she was friendly and efficient. She was a sturdy girl, with gentle hands and a welcoming hug. In the early morning hours, as the sun made its slow climb from behind the clouds, Dana could be found shuffling cords and fluffing pillows…
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Take My Hand So I Can Walk
By Peter Galligan
April and I are married, expecting a child. We’re at Denver Health, the city’s municipal hospital, for an ultrasound. The room is dark. April is holding my hand as I sit next to the bed. Being terrified of having a child to begin with, I sit silently with sweaty pits…
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Alex Carroll interviews
Shaun Anderson
Nonfiction reader Alex Carroll recently had this exchange with Issue #38 featured nonfiction author Shaun Anderson. Here’s what he had to say about how journaling informs his writing, how he navigates the line between fact and fiction, what he’s working on next, and more…
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Spiritual Dissonance
By Shaun Anderson
The mission president told me I suffered from something called “spiritual dissonance.” He described it as a situation where what I know (I am a missionary, called by God, to teach others about the true church of Jesus Christ) and what I want (a relationship with a man) exist with internal discord….
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Alex Carroll interviews
Jordan Floyd
One of our nonfiction readers, Alex Carroll, recently had this exchange with Issue #29 featured author Jordan Floyd. Here’s what he had to say about his literary influences (including Joan Didion and Lil Peep), his experiences growing up in Utah, his current work as a playwright, and more…
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Fireflies
By Wendy Fontaine
My daughter runs through the backyard of our rented cottage in Peachtree City, a southern town named for the fuzzy fruit that grow in every orchard. Stars appear in a darkening sky, and the air is sticky-sweet with the scent of magnolia…
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Alexandra Carroll interviews
Mahdis Marzooghian
Our nonfiction reader Alexandra Carroll recently had this exchange with Mahdis Marzooghian, our Issue #35 featured nonfiction author. Here’s what she had to say about her recently completed novel, her wonderful experiences with writing workshops, and the importance of balance in writing nonfiction… Read more
Mindy Wong interviews
Lynne Feeley
Our nonfiction editor Mindy Wong recently had this exchange with Lynne Feeley, our Issue #36 featured nonfiction author. Here’s what she had to say about her writing and revision process, her inspirations and influences, and the research involved in crafting her essay “The Measurer of Ruin”… Read more
The Measurer of Ruin
By Lynne Feeley
I am matching up misfortunes. In my left hand, I hold a Polaroid of a crumpled Saturn on rings of burned rubber and broken glass, while with my right, I tick through thick manila folders. I find the folder that matches the name my father has scrawled at the bottom of the picture….
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Lauren Bender interviews
Abi Newhouse
Our editor-in-chief Lauren Bender recently had this exchange with Abi Newhouse, our Issue #30 featured nonfiction author. Here’s what she had to say about her inspirations, the challenges and rewards of writing about family, and her experiences in writing courses and workshops… Read more
Lingua Nova
By Mahdis Marzooghian
I Inpulsa/Negatio: I wish I could tell you I love you in every tongue ever spoken. Maybe then it will be enough. Maybe then it will convince you. Or maybe it will make up for the fact that I cannot be yours in this lifetime….
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Mindy Wong interviews
Naomi Ulsted
Our nonfiction coeditor Mindy Wong recently had this exchange with Naomi Ulsted, our Issue #32 featured nonfiction author. Here’s what she had to say about her writing process, her experiences participating in a workshop, and her efforts to stay true to memory… Read more
Bugs
By Naomi Ulsted
I was watching television when my dad barreled into the living room in his boxers. He twisted and shimmied and slapped wildly at himself, his hands clapping sharply against his pale skin. My mother was at Grandma’s house…
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Mindy Wong interviews
Elsa Valmidiano
Our nonfiction coeditor Mindy Wong recently had this exchange with Elsa Valmidiano, our Issue #31 featured nonfiction author. Here’s what she had to say about her MFA experience, her literary influences, and her intentions in writing the featured essay “Blighted.”… Read more