Tag: interview

Interviews, my reading life

My Reading Life: Mouth author Kerry Donoghue wants to choose her own adventure

by AdamLeave a Comment on My Reading Life: Mouth author Kerry Donoghue wants to choose her own adventure
My Reading Life: Mouth author Kerry Donoghue wants to choose her own adventure

Earlier this year, Kerry Donoghue‘s debut short story collection Mouth was published by Unsolicited Press. Prior to publishing this collection, her poetry and stories have appeared in Ninth Letter, Painted Bride Quarterly, Permafrost, The Louisville Review, and The South Carolina Review.

She is also part of the Poets & Writers Get the Word Out publicity incubator, which Debutiful announced last December.

We asked her to answer our recurring My Reading Life questionnaire so readers could get to know her and the books that shaped her life.

Continue reading “My Reading Life: Mouth author Kerry Donoghue wants to choose her own adventure” →
Interviews, my reading life

Liann Zhang On Writing Julie Chan Is Dead and Identity in the Age of Influence

by AdamLeave a Comment on Liann Zhang On Writing Julie Chan Is Dead and Identity in the Age of Influence
Liann Zhang On Writing Julie Chan Is Dead and Identity in the Age of Influence

In Julie Chan Is Dead, debut novelist Liann Zhang uses her background as a former skincare content creator to introduce readers to Julie, a down-on-her-luck cashier who steps into the glamorous, dangerous life of her estranged influencer twin after discovering her body under mysterious circumstances. What begins as a darkly alluring identity swap quickly spirals into a surreal, high-stakes thriller exploring internet fame, self-erasure, and the secrets we keep behind the filter.

I emailed with Zhang about writing in the age of social media, the blurred line between self and performance, and what it means to inherit someone else’s digital life.

Continue reading “Liann Zhang On Writing Julie Chan Is Dead and Identity in the Age of Influence” →
writing

Read an excerpt from Foreign Fruit by Katie Goh

by AdamLeave a Comment on Read an excerpt from Foreign Fruit by Katie Goh
Read an excerpt from Foreign Fruit by Katie Goh

The following is an excerpt from Foreign Fruit by Katie Goh.  She is a Scotland-based writer and editor from the north of Ireland.

Foreign Fruit is a blend of memoir and cultural history, using the orange as a lens to explore themes of identity, migration, and belonging. As Goh traces the fruit’s global journey, she parallels it with her own search for self as a queer woman of Chinese-Malaysian-Irish descent growing up in Northern Ireland. It is now available to purchase from Tin House.

Continue reading “Read an excerpt from Foreign Fruit by Katie Goh” →
Interviews, my reading life

My Reading Life: Outside Women author Roohi Choudry was surrounded by British kids’ books growing up in Pakistan and southern Africa

by AdamLeave a Comment on My Reading Life: Outside Women author Roohi Choudry was surrounded by British kids’ books growing up in Pakistan and southern Africa
My Reading Life: Outside Women author Roohi Choudry was surrounded by British kids’ books growing up in Pakistan and southern Africa

Roohi Choudhry’s debut novel Outside Women follows two migrant women, Sita in 1890s South Africa and Hajra in modern-day New York, whose lives are separated by a century but connected by a shared pursuit of justice. As Hajra uncovers Sita’s hidden history, the novel explores identity, resistance, and the enduring power of solidarity across generations.

She holds an MFA from the University of Michigan and has received honors from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Hedgebrook, and Djerassi. Her writing spans criminal justice reform, public health, and creative nonfiction, with work appearing in Ploughshares, Callaloo, Longreads, and The Kenyon Review.

We asked the writer to answer our recurring My Reading Life questionnaire so readers could get to know her better and discover the books that shaped her life.

Continue reading “My Reading Life: Outside Women author Roohi Choudry was surrounded by British kids’ books growing up in Pakistan and southern Africa” →
Interviews, my reading life

My Reading Life: Bitter Texas Honey author Ashley Whitaker’s reading journey began with the Baby-Sitters Club

by AdamLeave a Comment on My Reading Life: Bitter Texas Honey author Ashley Whitaker’s reading journey began with the Baby-Sitters Club
My Reading Life: Bitter Texas Honey author Ashley Whitaker’s reading journey began with the Baby-Sitters Club

Ashley Whitaker earned her MFA from the University of Michigan, and her writing has appeared in publications like Tin House and Story Quarterly. Now, her debut novel Bitter Texas Honey is available for readers to dive into.

The novel follows Joan West, an aspiring writer caught between her conservative family and her messy past in 2011 Austin. As she mines her chaotic relationships and family dysfunction for material, especially her fraught connection with ex-muse Roberto, Joan is determined to make art out of her contradictions. But when her beloved cousin Wyatt hits rock bottom, Joan’s worldview begins to crumble, forcing her to confront what it really means to live, love, and create.

We asked the writer to answer our recurring My Reading Life questionnaire so readers could get to know her better and discover the books that shaped her life.

Continue reading “My Reading Life: Bitter Texas Honey author Ashley Whitaker’s reading journey began with the Baby-Sitters Club” →
Interviews

Andy Anderegg on trauma, self, and writing Plum in the second person

by AdamLeave a Comment on Andy Anderegg on trauma, self, and writing Plum in the second person
Andy Anderegg on trauma, self, and writing Plum in the second person

In Plum, Andy Anderegg introduces readers to J, an adolescent whose childhood and teenage years are filled with parental addiction and abuse. Told entirely in the second person, Anderegg’s novel is a gorgeous and heartbreaking standout. The ache leaps off the page and will live long in the minds of readers.

Anderegg’s debut comes after she won Dzanc Books’ Prize for Fiction and was named a finalist for The Clay Reynolds Novella Prize from Texas Review Press.

I chatted with the writer via Zoom about why she wrote Plum and what comes next.

Continue reading “Andy Anderegg on trauma, self, and writing Plum in the second person” →
Interviews, my reading life

My Reading Life: The Confines author Anu Kandikuppa wants high schoolers to read The God of Small Things

by AdamLeave a Comment on My Reading Life: The Confines author Anu Kandikuppa wants high schoolers to read The God of Small Things
My Reading Life: The Confines author Anu Kandikuppa wants high schoolers to read The God of Small Things

Anu Kandikuppa‘s debut short story collection The Confines features 12 stories about women facing the cultural hierarchies and taboos with a razor-sharp eye into the human condition. Kandikuppa has spent most of her lif outside of the literary world, working as an engineer, a software developer, and an economics consultant. Since beginning writing fiction, her work has appeared in Colorado Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, New England Review, The Cincinnati Review, and Story.

We asked her to answer our recurring My Reading Life questionnaire so readers can discover the books that shaped her life.

Continue reading “My Reading Life: The Confines author Anu Kandikuppa wants high schoolers to read The God of Small Things” →
Interviews

Kirsten Menger-Anderson interviews Kirsten Menger-Anderson

by Adam2 Comments on Kirsten Menger-Anderson interviews Kirsten Menger-Anderson
Kirsten Menger-Anderson interviews Kirsten Menger-Anderson

Every now and then, I like to ask writers, “Is there a question you’d like me to ask?” I’m always surprised by the types of questions they’d want to ask themselves, so I decided to take the idea of the self-interview and give writers some restraints.

One. Use Who/What/When/Where/Why questions.

Two. Have fun.

The first Debuti-Self Interview features Kirsten Menger-Anderson, author of the debut novel The Expert of Subtle Revisions, a mind- and time-bending family thriller. Menger-Anderson lives in San Francisco and is also the author of the short story collection Doctor Olaf van Schuler’s Brain. Her work has appeared in LitHub, Undark, Towards Data Science, Becoming Human: Artificial Intelligence Magazine, and Q.E.D.

But enough from me. Let’s turn it over to Kirsten Menger-Anderson.

Continue reading “Kirsten Menger-Anderson interviews Kirsten Menger-Anderson” →