Interview: Andrés Neuman Author of The Things We Don’t Do
Neuman wryly explores the human condition in this taut collection of short stories. Shelf Unbound: What is your process for creating a story such as “Barefoot,” about a man’s father dying, which is rich with narrative and meaning and emotion but spans barely more than a page? Andrés Neuman: To start with, I’ve always been […]
Interview: Carmen Boullosa Author of Texas: The Great Theft
A new publishing house, Deep Vellum in Dallas, Texas, launches big with Texas: The Great Theft by one of Mexico’s preeminent writers. Shelf Unbound: The story takes place in 1859 in the fictitious Texas-Mexico border town of Bruneville. What interested you in this time and place? Carmen Boullosa: I got to that date and place […]
Interview: Dorthe Nors Author of Karate Chop
Dorthe Nors’ collection of concise, sharply observed short stories delve into human connections both beautiful and disturbing. Each story here is a masterpiece of writing. Shelf Unbound: You are able to condense a novel’s worth of story and character development into your short stories. You’ve also written five novels. How do you approach writing a […]
Interview: John Brandon Author of Further Joy
Quirky, inventive characters populate John Brandon’s first short story collection, from a down-on-his-luck former high school football star to a little league player obsessed with entrepreneurship. Each of the 11 stories is a winner. Shelf Unbound: You’ve written three novels, and this is your first collection of short stories. What does the short story afford you […]
Interview: Eimear McBride Author of A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing
Eimear McBride’s novel is difficult to read but rewards the adventuresome reader with its genius and the heartbreaking story of a troubled young girl with an abusive mother, a disabled brother, and an uncle who molests her. I urge readers to step outside their literary boxes and experience this remarkable book. Shelf Unbound: You begin […]
Interview: Laura Elizabeth Woollett Author of The Wood of Suicides
A schoolgirl’s crush on her male English teacher leads to mutual destructive obsession in this well-drawn, compelling debut novel. Shelf Unbound: Tell us about your main character, Laurel Marks. Laura Elizabeth Woollett:At face value, Laurel is a bright, attractive, modest, and well-behaved seventeen-year-old. Beneath the surface, she is calculating, vain, jealous, and judgmental, particularly toward other women. Beneath […]
Interview: Andrew Ladd Author of What Ends
Winner of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Award Series, Andrew Ladd’s debut novel explores the concept of time via the increasingly constricted life of an island-bound family. Shelf Unbound: Your novel follows the life of the McCloud family over three decades as they endure family strife and thedrastically dwindling population of their home of Eilean Flor, a […]
Interview: Amy Schutzer Author of Spheres of Disturbance
Told from the point of view of nine different characters, Spheres of Disturbance explores both life and end-of-life issues with depth and beauty. Schutzer writes with such empathy that she even convincingly evokes the thoughts of a pig. Shelf Unbound: Tell us about the acenter of your novel, Helen, who is dying. Amy Schutzer: Helen […]
Interview: Melissa Pritchard Author of Palmerino
In a mere 192 pages, Melissa Pritchard has created a rich, lush, and riveting story of two women writers in different eras. Shelf Unbound: What drew you to write a fictionalized account of the life of the rather obscure Victorian-era lesbian novelist Violet Paget (aka Vernon Lee)? Melissa Pritchard: On a hot July afternoon in 2008, in the […]
Interview: Sergio Chejfec Author of Dark
Sergio Chejfec’s The Planets was a finalist for the 2013 Best Translated Book Award. The latest of his books translated into English, The Dark further reveals Chejfec’s brilliant, inventive writing. Originally from Argentina, Chejfec teaches Creative Writing in Spanish at NYU. Shelf Unbound: The narrator is obsessed with a young female factory worker, and everything we […]