The author of All the Beautiful People We Once knew talks about his new novel, about his inspiration for fictionalising his experiences as a lawyer in a NYC law firm defending big insurance companies being sued by soldiers returning from contracting jobs in Iraq and Afghanistan, his characters, some of the insights about US politics and its dysfunction that underpinned his novel, the intersection of mental illness, war, and profit, and much more.
Category: Author interviews
An interview with John Safran
Safran first addresses why he chose to write his new book, instead of opting for the more traditional (and seemingly easier) medium of filmed documentary making. ‘All sorts of reasons,’ he says. ‘One is that I really like that, how with a book, I can come and go as I want on my own and just kind of needle my way into places. Like rocking up at the front door of some dude whose is part of the United Patriots Front. It’s a lot easier to sell that just with a Dictaphone, than a full camera-crew already recording.’
An interview with Jack McMasters
The author of Molly Fish talks about his new book, his inspiration, his research, his rally through Southern India and other things about his setting, where he writes, his planning process, his best tips for aspiring authors, and lots more.
An interview with Tom Keneally
Keneally is a veritable storyteller and one that remains his earnest, candid self throughout our exchange. Perhaps his shirt-of-the-back affability could be traced back to his modest beginnings in working-class Kempsey, on the state’s mid-north coast. The author is still very proud of the place he grew up in, confiding, ‘I came from a working class family and came from terrific and noble people, nobler than those that sniff at the working class now.’
An interview with Anurag Minus Verma
The author of Love in the Time of Pokemon talks about his new poetry book and its unusual title, why he writes, his unusual writing habits, the authors who inspire him and his desert island books, advice for new writers, and more.
An interview with Barnaby Hazen
The author of Misfortunes of T-Funk talks about the inspiration for his story, the relationship between real-life and fiction, how he came up with incorporating music, the genres and artists that influence the music in his book, the fascinations of music, his periodical Seven Eleven Stories, what’s coming next, and more.
Corrections: An Internet Interview with Jack Hamilton, author of Just Around Midnight: Rock and Roll and the Racial Imagination
Sam Cooke and Bob Dylan are compared by Hamilton for their musical roots and affiliation with particular communities and subsequent independence and experimentations with genre and form, though Dylan’s work has received much more critical exploration and celebration, suggesting, among other things, a misunderstanding of the choices—aesthetic, intellectual, spiritual, and political—that are made by African-American artists, who want both creativity and commerce, glamour and grit, imagination and intellect, and whose works affirm both style and substance.
Interview with Allison Pitinii Davis
The author of Line Study of a Motel Clerk talks about her book, narratives and counter-narratives, the nature of poetry and confrontation, the interaction between language and the person sensing it, the relationship between the living and the dead and a lot more.
Interview with Kevin Michaels
The author of Still Black Remains talks about his new book, about its themes, the American Dream, his plot and characters, his favourite part of writing the book, on the nature of conflict, the most surprising thing he’s learned in writing the book, on genre, why he became a writer, his writing process, his publication challenges, his favourite authors and books, on Bruce Springsteen’s storytelling, upcoming work, his motivations, the most important elements of good writing, his infamous doppelgänger, and lots more.
An interview with JAnn Bowers
The author of She’s Gone…Broken, Battered & Bruised talks about herself, how she started blogging, blogging tips, about poetry and her favourite poets, and more.