Interviews | Page 13

Often from Kansas: A Conversation with Sarah Smarsh on the Privilege of Rootedness in Midwestern America

December 9, 2014 Interviews

Sarah Smarsh

Sarah Smarsh has reported on social justice, the environment, culture, and class for Harper’s, The Huffington Post, Guernica, The Pitch, Aeon, and others. She holds an MFA in nonfiction from Columbia University, as well as degrees in journalism and English from the University of Kansas, and has taught at Washburn University, Columbia, and elsewhere. A fellow of the Center for Kansas Studies, earlier in her career she wrote about her home state for everything from airline magazines to pop-history paperback series. Her essay “Death of the Farm Family” appears in Issue 08 of The Common. Marni Berger and Smarsh discussed the privilege of rootedness in America and what it means to be “often from” a place.

Ask a Local: Christine Byl, Healy, AK

December 4, 2014 Interviews

With CHRISTINE BYL

Your name: Christine Byl

Current town: Healy, AK, just north of Denali National Park

How long have you lived here? 10+ years

Ask a Local: Jane Satterfield, Baltimore, MD

November 20, 2014 Interviews

With JANE SATTERFIELD

Your name: Jane Satterfield

Current city: Baltimore, MD

How long have you lived here? Except for years in Iowa and England, I’ve lived in Maryland most of my life. Though I’ve lived in Charm City for 23 years, I’m a bit of a homebody so my imagination runs backward to the places I lived growing up: the sprawling farmland of Frederick county that runs along the Catoctin Mountain chain; the sprawl of suburban tract land along the D.C. Beltway.

The Overachieving Underachiever: An Interview with Benjamin Anastas

November 1, 2014 Interviews

MELODY NIXON interviews BENJAMIN ANASTAS

Benjamin Anastas

Benjamin Anastas is the author of Too Good to be True, a memoir described by The New York Times as “smart and honest and searching,” and “so plaintive and raw it will leave most writers… with heart palpitations.” He has written two novels, An Underachiever’s Diary, and The Faithful Narrative of a Pastor’s Disappearance, as well as multiple reviews and essays, one of which, “Boys with a Synth,” is published in Issue 06 of The Common. Melody Nixon talked with Anastas about his skepticism for social media, the role of the writer in society, and memoir as fiction’s “whiny and embarrassing stepchild.”

Ask a Local: Jason Hardung, Fort Collins, CO

October 9, 2014 Interviews

With JASON HARDUNG

Your name: Jason Hardung

Current city or town: Fort Collins, Colorado

How long have you lived here? I moved here from Cheyenne, Wyoming in 2003. Although, some family members have lived here my whole life, so I wasn’t brand new to Ft. Collins. I have been coming here to visit my whole life.

Sorting through a Dream World: An Interview with Valerie Duff

September 1, 2014 Interviews

MARNI BERGER interviews VALERIE DUFF

Valerie Duff

Valerie Duff is the author of the poetry collection To the New World. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Prague Revue, Ploughshares, Blackbox Manifold, Poetry Northeast, AGNI, Gulf Coast, and Issue 07 of The Common. She is poetry editor of Salamander Magazine. Marni Berger and Valerie Duff spoke long distance this summer about Mexico City, Virginia, Boston, and writing poetry as if you’re sorting through a dream world.

Ask a Local: Caitlin Horrocks, Grand Rapids, MI

August 14, 2014 Interviews

With CAITLIN HORROCKS

Your name: Caitlin Horrocks

Current city or town: Grand Rapids, Michigan

How long have you lived here? Almost seven years

Arm-Wrestling Alexander Pope: An Interview with Murray Farish

August 5, 2014 Interviews

S. TREMAINE NELSON interviews MURRAY FARISH

Murray Farish

Murray Farish’s short stories have appeared in The Missouri Review, Epoch, Roanoke Review, and Black Warrior Review, among other publications. He lives with his wife and two sons in St. Louis, Missouri, where he teaches writing and literature at Webster University. Inappropriate Behavior is his debut short story collection. Murray answered the following questions via email.

Ask a Local: Diane Roberts, Tallahassee, FL

July 10, 2014 Interviews

With DIANE ROBERTS

Your name: Diane Roberts

Current city or town: Tallahassee, Florida

How long have you lived here? A slightly more complicated question than it would seem. I was born in Tallahassee and lived here till I went abroad to university. I spent ten years in England and fourteen years in Alabama and then came back to Tallahassee. The short answer is that, in my head, I’ve lived here all my life.

We Don’t Ride Reindeer Here: An Interview with Justin Taylor

July 1, 2014 Interviews

MELODY NIXON interviews JUSTIN TAYLOR

Justin Taylor

Justin Taylor is the author of the short story collection Everything Here is the Best Thing Ever (2010) and the novel The Gospel of Anarchy (2011). His latest collectionFlings is forthcoming from HarperCollins in August. Melody Nixon caught up with him in Brooklyn, New York, to discuss the progression of his work, fiction like a warm bath, and riding reindeer into rivers.

All posts tagged: Interviews

Often from Kansas: A Conversation with Sarah Smarsh on the Privilege of Rootedness in Midwestern America

Ask a Local: Christine Byl, Healy, AK

Ask a Local: Jane Satterfield, Baltimore, MD

The Overachieving Underachiever: An Interview with Benjamin Anastas

Ask a Local: Jason Hardung, Fort Collins, CO

Sorting through a Dream World: An Interview with Valerie Duff

Ask a Local: Caitlin Horrocks, Grand Rapids, MI

Arm-Wrestling Alexander Pope: An Interview with Murray Farish

Ask a Local: Diane Roberts, Tallahassee, FL

We Don’t Ride Reindeer Here: An Interview with Justin Taylor

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