Blog / Interviews

10 Questions for Jon Hickey

January 25, 2021 - By Edward Clifford

This all happened in one of those good stretches of years, a time I like to call Pax Smiley. It wasn't as bad as the Navy, or the six years I spent at Lino Lakes and various country lockups across the state of Wisconsin. I had that house at the end of Sugar Bush Lane, three big dogs, dish satellite TV, two DVD players, a newish truck of foreign import, and the time to drive far and wide around the state, visiting my people.
—from "Earth Shaker," Volume 61, Issue 4 (Winter 2020)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
When I was eleven, I wrote a play using my grandfather’s Olympic typewriter in the clamshell case. I wrote the play to make money—my brother and I charged a dime from the neighborhood kids...

10 Questions for Jessica Mehta

January 15, 2021 - By Edward Clifford

You don't just get to decide to start eatin again, it happens slow,
a groggy crawl and stumble out of a dream.
I didn't choose to starve mysel,
I didn't choose to stop. It was a cycle, my own metamorphosis
—from "'Eating like a Bird, It's Really a Falsity,'" Volume 61, Issue 4 (Winter 2020)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
I have found “poems” that I wrote at six years old, specifically one titled “The Rose.” It was—of course—a far cry from what I write now, but is still indicative of how I’ve always used poetry as my best, most natural form of communication. I also recall writing poems during my undergraduate poetry course days...

10 Questions for Lemanuel Loley

January 11, 2021 - By Edward Clifford

dá’ák’ehdi
    dá’át’ąą yiighaad
    yéego dootł’izh
    ‘iiná yił
Niłtsą́ Bi’áád yiilzhoł
    shádi’aah dę́ę́
—from "dá’ák’ehdi (in the cornfield)," Volume 61, Issue 4 (Winter 2020)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
I attended a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) boarding school from tenth grade until graduation. It was one of those schools that was originally intended to eradicate Indigenous identity, but it changed to a place that celebrated Indigenous personhood and encouraged all students to pursue their ambitions. The BIA held an essay contest and I entered an essay...

10 Questions for Erika T. Wurth

January 8, 2021 - By Edward Clifford

"Jim," she said.

He turned to her. He was sitting on the couch in the living room, that same sinking couch that had belonged to his parents, as had the houes. She was in the kitchen making something to eat. They had been out late the night before, and had woken up only an hour ago. Jim felt horrible. Cecilia, on the other hand, never seemed hung-over. Even when she drank, and she could drfink most women, and some men, under the table, she always seemed in control.
—from "Cecilia," Volume 61, Issue 4 (Winter 2020)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
How far back do you want to go? I think the first story I wrote was in eighth grade and it was a Stephen King style story that ended in “ahhhhh!...

10 Questions for Sonya Chyu

January 4, 2021 - By Edward Clifford

The first day of their year arrived four weeks later than the rest of the world's. Or, perhaps, the rest of the world's year had simply started forty-eight weeks early. In either case, the day was marked by great occasion: work and study were suspended for a week to accommodate cross-country travel and family reunions.
—from "The Middle of Things," Volume 60, Issue 3 (Fall 2020)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
My first published piece, "Sartorial Shedding," was birthed from a Creative Writing course taught by the always-witty Ernesto Quinones at Cornell University, and inspired by the summer I had just spent in Thailand as part of a business internship program. Though I am not Thai, the...