Poets & Writers – July-August 2019

45 POETS & WRITERS^

Seattle Pacific University’s low-residency

MFA program is for apprentice writers

who want to pursue excellence in the

craft of writing and care about the

relationship between faith and literature.

Merit Scholarships Available!

LEARN MORE

spu.edu/mfa

800-601-0603

CORE FACULTY

Susanne Antonetta

Scott Cairns

Robert Clark

Robert Cording

Gina Ochsner

Jeanne Murray Walker

Lauren F. Winner

RECENT VISITORS

Uwem Akpan

Jericho Brown

David James Duncan

Carolyn Forché

Dana Gioia

Patricia Hampl

Pam Houston

Bret Lott

Thomas Lynch

David McGlynn

Marilyn Nelson

Josip Novakovich

Richard Rodriguez

Mary Szybist

Christian Wiman

MFA

POETRY | FICTION | CREATIVE NONFICTION

IN CREATIVE

WRITING

FIRST FICTION 2019

A few of Knot Centre’s interests and
personality traits came easy to me
because the character is inspired by a
woman I knew during my childhood
who had the same nickname. But the
Knot I knew passed away shortly after
my tenth birthday, and I knew very
little about her. I created 99 percent
of Knot Centre’s character. I wanted
her to be smart, independent, selfish,
and selfless all at the same time.

Even back at Brooklyn College you
were grappling with the question of
how to evoke relationship dynamics
over time. What was your journey in
terms of crafting the structure of In
West Mills, which makes very bold
leaps in time?
I had to first accept that I’m not
good at writing short stories. Then I
learned to give stories room to grow
so that things such as the minutiae
of relationship dynamics could actu-
ally make it onto the page. In We s t
Mills started out as a thirty-five-page

story, with a different title. An awful

title. After workshopping the piece

twice, I accepted that I was trying to

stuff a mattress into a pillowcase. But

I didn’t want to write a long novel,

either. I tossed and turned over how

to show the relationship dynamics

without going year by year.

You were born in Elizabeth City, North

Carolina, and came to New York City in

2003 to, as you wrote to me recently,

“escape the conservative culture.”

Place is very important in this book.

What influence has place had on you

as a writer?

Being a writer living in New York

City allows me to see how different

and, surprisingly, how similar city

folk and rural folk are, if that makes

any sense. These contrasts are helpful

when I want to avoid creating a one-

note character.

Also I’ve found that I can write

better about the South when I’m not

there. And when I was in Iowa, I could

visualize New York City better. It’s

f u n ny.

What is the publishing story behind In

West Mills?

I got a lot of rejections from agents

and a couple of conditional offers of

representation. But PJ Mark at Jank-

low & Nesbit saw promise in the man-

uscript. When the time was right, he

shopped it around and found a few

interested editors. Liese Mayer at

Bloomsbury helped me chisel In We s t

Mills into sharper shape. She’s great,

and she enjoys hearing about my dat-

ing experiences—a win-win situation.

If you could give any writing advice to

the De’Shawn of eight years ago, what

would it be?

I’d tell the De’Shawn of eight years

ago to not try to cram a novel into a

short story if he doesn’t have to. If the

characters and subject matter demand

more room, give them all the room

they need.