John Keene: On Hidden Histories and Why Writing Against Official Narratives is Queer
John Keene spoke with The Lambda Literary Review about his new book,Counternarratives, hidden histories, and merging fiction with reality
Jeffrey Round: On Becoming a Mystery Writer
“I’m an inveterate wanderer and snoop [….] Whether I’m on a bike or in a car, I stick my nose in places that most people avoid just to see what curiosities they hold, especially at night.”
Dawn Martin Lundy: On the Power of Forgetting and Her New Collection ‘Life in a Box is a Pretty Life’
“What I believe in is forgetting; it’s transformative, if not reformative, power. What does it mean to truly leave something behind? To excise a happening from not only your thoughts, but also from your body?”
Kirsty Logan: On Moving Through Grief by Writing, the Art of Worldbuilding, and Her New Novel ‘The Gracekeepers’
“I think that the world of The Gracekeepers is as accepting and as intolerant as our own world–that is to say, some people are incredibly tolerant of difference, and others just shriek about burning the witch (whoever and whatever the witch may be).”
Maggie Nelson: On Writing ‘The Argonauts’ and Doing Justice to Queer Happiness
“On one level, I tried to do something I hadn’t done before, which was use the book as a holding container for sentiments of love and happiness […]”
Brad Gooch: On Remembering the 1970s and 1980s and Writing His New Memoir ‘Smash Cut’
“I had not really revisited these memories deeply since I shut the door on them over two decades ago. I discovered that I had intact, vivid memories, as if on a dolly track, reliving walking the halls of the AIDS wards of St. Vincent’s Hospital.”
Mark Merlis: On His New Novel ‘JD,’ His Writing Process, and the Autobiographical Details in His Work
“I don’t know how other people work, but all my work is trial and error. You start out on the path to the book you think you want to write, and you may run into a dead end—like the dumbest rat in the maze—or you may find an opening to a vista you never imagined.”
Helen Humphreys: On Her New Novel ‘The Evening Chorus,’ Her Creative Process, and the Solitary Act of Writing
“I struggle with writing because to write well you have to remove yourself somewhat from the life around you. It is a lonely business.”
Author Craig Gidney on Illuminating Race and Diversity in Speculative Fiction
“‘Death and Two Maidens’ was my response to my research on African-descended Victorians. I wanted to write a penny dreadful story that went beyond the usual (pale-skinned) cast.”
