Winter is a time for compression—shortened days, confinement indoors, a turning inward. But compression produces something nuclear-hot and energetic, and our February Web Exclusive, "The Hungry Valley," is a stellar example of this. Author Kathryn Scanlan helps us explore how this is achieved in writing. "The Hungry Valley" also appears in our Winter issue. Erin McReynolds: In addition to an MFA in writing, you have a BFA in painting, which isn't surprising, given how visually rich … [Read more...] about Web Exclusive Interview: Kathryn Scanlan
Web Exclusive Interview: Kyle Langston
Our January Web Exclusive, “Winston” is one of those stories that gets under your skin and stays there. Its power is owed to precise, enduring images; the relatable longing of its characters; and beginning-to-end tension. Really, it gave us a lot of feelings—which we then discussed with author Kyle Langston. Erin McReynolds: One thing I love about “Winston” is that it uses a very primal voice and lens to tell a modern story: how we “become” when we are claimed by others. The protagonist … [Read more...] about Web Exclusive Interview: Kyle Langston
Winston
https://soundcloud.com/americanshortfiction/asf-winston He killed a hare and removed its heels, yanked from the meat of each haunch the bone he did not know to be the tibia. He laid the leg bones parallel on the flattest nearby stone and split the wide end of both with one press of his Bowie. He set each in a convenient niche that was the absence of a second premolar, sucked loose marrow while he worked skinning the leporid and stringing it above a new fire, his lips pinned back by the … [Read more...] about Winston
The Night Bus
https://soundcloud.com/americanshortfiction/the-night-bus Of all the bus drivers on duty that night, it was Angus who was taken in for questioning. He guessed it was because of his ear: a burned puff, as pitted as a peach stone, with fleecy white scars that radiated down to his neck. It was the ear of a bogeyman, a man who would kidnap a young girl in a painter’s smock as she idled beneath the palmettos. He told them what he remembered: he’d driven the Fair Oaks route, midnight to six, a … [Read more...] about The Night Bus
Web Exclusive Interview: Leslie Parry
Our December Web Exclusive, “The Night Bus,” beautifully elucidates the moment two lives intersect—lives forever changed by random acts of violence. We talked with author Leslie Parry about anonymity, anxiety, and a very effective antidote for procrastination. Erin McReynolds: Congratulations on your first novel, Church of Marvels, being released earlier this year! Both that story and “Night Bus” center on characters who are the forgotten and unseen players in the larger drama of the city. … [Read more...] about Web Exclusive Interview: Leslie Parry
Web Exclusive Interview: Lee Conell
This season, as the nights turn ever longer and we turn ever inward to contemplate life’s mysteries, stories like our November exclusive, “A Guide to Sirens,” seem especially to speak (or sing) to us. We talked to author Lee Conell about her inspiration for the story, about magic and the unexpected, and about creatures real and imagined. Erin McReynolds: What part of “A Guide to Sirens” came to you first: the island hotel, Frank and his job, or the wife/vision dynamic? Lee Conell: When I … [Read more...] about Web Exclusive Interview: Lee Conell