Blog / Interviews

10 Questions for Cody Kommers

October 16, 2020 - By Edward Clifford

The only architecturally modern building in Nyamata is the town church. Or at least it was. Ot still stands today, one story tall, made from bricks, with a high-ceilinged sanctuary in the middle. Back in its full glory the church was the centerpiece of Nyamata, a small village on a hill in south Rwanda, just north of the Burundi border. The church always stood out from the other features in Nyamata, like a grand cathedral presiding over an old city square—though such cathedrals aren't typically riddled with bullet holes.
—from "As With a Harvest," Volume 61, Issue 3 (Fall 2020)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
The first long-form piece I wrote was about the map of...

10 Questions for Alanna Schubach

October 12, 2020 - By Edward Clifford

Abdullah was the first to forget her.

Standing at the counter with a soda and a pack of wintergreen gum, she assumed that the shop owener—with whom she prided herself on having established a rapport; it made her feel like a local—was just having a bad day.

"How's everything going?" she asked as he rang her up.

His eyes lifted to her face for a sliver of a moment. "Can't complain," he said.
—from "Iris," Volume 61, Issue 3 (Fall 2020)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
I remember as an elementary school student writing a short story called “Ghosts Who Are My Friends,” about a little girl who­—you guessed it—is friends with some...

10 Questions for Mohammad Shafiqul Islam

October 9, 2020 - By Edward Clifford

Hamid's wife has been in the hospital for two days.

At the Gynae ward of the Medical College. No indication for delivery yet. At times she feels a little pain—not so severe, though.

If asked, the nurse says that the doctor will wait a day more, otherwiseshe'll need an operation.

Operation!
—from"The Color of Death" by Selina Hossain, Translated by Mohammad Shafiqul Islam, Volume 61, Issue 3 (Fall 2020)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you translated.
I embarked on literary translation during the early years of 2000s, although translation literature and the practice of translation had fascinated me when I was a graduate student in English literature at the university. During those days, I...

10 Questions for Aeriel Merillat

October 5, 2020 - By Edward Clifford

Greg was gone for nine months before he returned. The same amount of time it takes to grow a child, Jess would often say. What he went through was much more difficult than being pregnant, he would remind her, letting his voice catch on the last vowel. He did this often lately, said things in a different tone or rolled his eyes. A change Jess still hadn't gotten used to.

Don't cause unnecessary conflict, she reminded herself. Over and over in her head she repeated the words that appeared on page six of the twelve-page pamphlet, until she could breathe normally again.
—from "The Return," Volume 61, Issue 4 (Fall 2020)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
One of the first stories I wrote was about a...

10 Questions for Steven Duong

October 2, 2020 - By Edward Clifford

My friend the songstress says there is no
point in writing nature poems anymore, not
unless you choke the verses with smoke and oil
and insecticides—the Anthropocene
demands a new syntax. These days,
she says, the body is everything
it isn't. The corpse is still a body, but so is
the rapper's discography and the bicameral legislature
—from "Anatomy," Volume 61, Issue 3 (Fall 2020)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
In kindergarten, I wrote a short story documenting the adventures of a spider and a scorpion. I forget their names. At the time, I had a pretty loose command of the English language, but what I did know was that this unlikely animal friendship was sure to...