In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Jean McDonough
Your nonfiction piece, “Vanishing Point,” expertly braids painting and Cubism techniques, specifically Picasso’s Guernica, with a turbulent childhood, layered within the reality and metaphor of driving. What was the spark that made you blend these together? How did...
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In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Noah Davis
Your poem “Passenger Pigeon, Audubon Plate LXII” from Volume 23 includes repetition of the words ‘trust’ and ‘lesser’, which alters the meaning and tone of this poem in different reads of it. Can you tell us the inspiration behind this poem? What drew you to consider...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Ruth Mukwana
Your short story “Floating” in Volume 23 is about Timothy Okello, a young Ugandan refugee who learns that his father is the leader of an anti-government group that kills civilians. Can you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind this story? I wouldn’t want the only...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Libby Flores
In “Safe”, your first of two flash fiction stories in Volume 23, there’s a palpable amount of tension simmering as the unnamed narrator unveils a fractured relationship with their partner. Can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind the story? I think at...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Marjorie Stelmach
Your poem “The Late Accommodations” from Volume 23 is an account of driving down a highway at dusk and witnessing a mare “moving through gauzy grasses.” Did you have some ‘aha’ moment to write a poem when you saw this? How did King Lear come into this poem? Are you a...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Jackie Trytten
Your creative nonfiction piece “Taking Each Other In” from Volume 23 is a flash essay that our editorial board members said “really earned its place” in this issue due to its lyricism and economy of space. Can you tell us the inspiration behind this essay? This flash...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Krischan Stotz
Your creative nonfiction piece “The Jellyfish Tide” from Volume 23 is a philosophical lyric essay that explores simultaneities and fate. Our board members who read and voted on including it in Volume 23 said it has “strategic imagery and language, with strong...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Amy Bagan
Your poem “Primate” in Volume 23 explores traits and knowledge, things we learn from each other, from our ancestors. Can you tell us about the inspiration behind this poem? Yes, exactly. “Primate” sits atop a mantle of Maker stories, starting from time immemorial. One...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—John Wall Barger
Your poem “We Came to Dinner” in Volume 23 fuses modern and contemporary poetic styles. Can you talk through the inspiration behind this poem? This poem started, as many of mine do, very literally, in this case describing a visit to my parents’ house. My struggle was...