I went to the Arctic Circle because of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. I went there to work on a novel, too, but I wouldn’t be writing a novel—wouldn’t even still be a writer—without Lovecraft. While in the Arctic, I thought about Cthulhu. I carried a protective charm a friend had stitched for me in case I encountered any Old Ones. I stared into the fissures of three-hundred-foot-tall glaciers and expected to see a tentacle lash out before slithering back into the dark, icy recesses. And every so ... [READ MORE]
NOTEBOOK
Web Exclusive Interview: Kathryn Scanlan
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]
Coddled, Sexting Millennials: Jennifer duBois Interviews Tony Tulathimutte
Tony Tulathimutte’s Private Citizens is a searing and savagely smart dissection of the life and opinions of a group of San Francisco millennials: bipolar autodidact Henrik, ruthless aspiring writer Linda, porn-addicted romantic Will, and hazily embattled activist Cory. With relentless intelligence and wit—and prose that’s earning comparisons to David Foster Wallace—Tulathimutte examines his characters’ anxieties and aspirations, vanities and self-hatreds, and the gap between private ... [READ MORE]
Nota Bene: Nat Baldwin Has Been Feeling the Bern Since, like, 2002
Nat Baldwin's been writing, performing, and recording music for virtually all of his adult life. In addition to playing bass in Dirty Projectors, Baldwin has recorded half a dozen solo records that put his upright bass and his vocal range on full and incredible display. Baldwin's also a fiction writer, and in the past two years, he's published stories in PANK, Timber, Alice Blue, and Sleepingfish, among other journals. Like his music, his stories present a complicated world populated by ... [READ MORE]
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]
Bourbon and Milk: When the Mayhem Becomes Too Much
Bourbon and Milk is an ongoing series that dives into the perplexing spaces parenting sometimes pushes us, and explores the unexpected ways writers may grow in them. If you’re interested in joining the conversation or contributing a Bourbon and Milk post, query Giuseppe Taurino at: giuseppe [at] americanshortfiction.org. — Welcome to the third annual holiday edition of Bourbon and Milk. Once again, with a nod towards the thankfulness many of us associate with the holidays—a thankfulness ... [READ MORE]