Maria Espinosa is a novelist and translator. Among Espinosa’s novels, Longing, has received an American Book Award, and Dying Unfinished, a PEN Oakland Award. Espinosa currently lives in New Mexico.
The Runaway, Volume 5, Issue 2
The Magnolia Review
Satya Dash
Satya Dash has been a cricket commentator, dabbled with short fiction, and has a degree in electronics from BITS Goa. He lives in Bangalore, India, and recites his poetry in the city’s cafes.
Born and The Poet Falls, Volume 5, Issue 2
Kayson Carlin
Kayson Carlin is a student at Bowling Green State University. They’re a double major in Film Production and Asian Studies.
Strike, Volume 5, Issue 2
Bill Abbott
Bill Abbott is the author of Let Them Eat MoonPie, the history of poetry slam in the Southeast. He has been published in Ray’s Road Review, Radius, The November 3rd Club, Flypaper Magazine, and The Sow’s Ear. Mr. Abbott lives in Ohio and teaches creative writing at Central State University.
Styles, Snapshots without a Camera, Long Shots 4, Items of Worth, Echo, and Driving the Thumbtack into the Cork Board, Volume 5, Issue 2
Congratulations, Dom Fonce!
Preorder your copy of HERE, WE BURY THE HEARTS by Dom Fonce, available September 20, 2019. Congratulations, Dom!
Congratulations, Charles Joseph Albert!
Congratulations to Charles, who published poems in The Magnolia Review Volume 3, Issue 2, Volume 4, Issue 1, and Volume 5, Issue 1, which are in his new collection, CONFESSION TO THE COCKROACHES AND OTHER POEMS. The poems are illustrated by Anthony Albert. Check out the book here, available on Kindle and paperback.
Congratulations, Gary Beck!
Check out two of Gary Beck‘s latest poetry collections, TRANSITIONS and CONTUSIONS.
Steven B. Rosenfeld–Interview
Describe your creative space. Do you work at home, in public spaces, etc.?
My wife and I each have home offices in our West Village apartment, so I am fortunate enough to have my own creative space, and do almost all of my writing there.
What kind of materials do you use? Do you write by hand or type? What is your favorite writing utensil?
I use my home computer, both for writing and for the online research I do for my stories, when research is needed. It’s very efficient, because it allows me to pause during writing or revision, when I discover that I need to check or research facts, do the research, and have the draft right there on my screen to access as I do the research.
What is your routine for writing?
I wish I had one. Even though I am “retired” as a full-time lawyer, writing is still very much an avocation for me. I’m involved in a lot of volunteer work as well as being a father and grandfather, so the quantity and quality of time, and my ability to block off allotted time for writing, varies widely. When I do find that I have time, I try to allot at least half of the day for writing/revising or writing-related activities—such as answering this questionnaire.
How long have you been writing? When did you start writing?
As a practicing lawyer in New York City, I have been writing for over 40 years—numerous briefs, articles in legal periodicals, op-ed pieces and reports, including large portions of the 1972 Report of the N.Y. State Commission on Attica, which was nominated for a National Book Award, and the public reports of the NYC Conflicts of Interest Board, which I chaired from 2002 to 2013. However, I only began writing short stories, originally just for fun, about three years ago.
Who is your intended, or ideal, audience? Who do you write for?
I don’t really have an intended or ideal audience. I think I write for whomever might enjoy the particular story I’m working on at the time, which I guess varies as widely as the subjects of my stories, which have included things drawn from my own memories and experiences, humorous/satirical pieces or, like “Risky,” a (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) suspense story.
What inspires you to write? If you are blocked, what do you do?
I think I’m most inspired by the sheer joy of writing itself, whether or not what I’m writing is ever going to be read beyond my loyal circle of friends and family. When I first began writing short stories, I was – and still am – inspired by this quote from one of my favorite writers, Gabriel Garcia Marquez:
“. . . because of my helpful suspicion that perhaps nothing I had experienced . . . was true, I did not have to ask myself where life ended and imagination began. Then the writing became so fluid that I sometimes felt as if I were writing for the sheer pleasure of telling a story, which may be the human condition that most resembles levitation.”
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
I like to think that I’m never “blocked” (do doctors have doctor’s block?), but when I am having trouble thinking of ideas for new stories, I have taken in-person or on-line workshops designed to stimulate new ideas. One of them, run by Beth Bauman at the West Side Y in NYC, is called “Filling the Well”—and it’s helped fill mine several times.
What other things do you do besides writing? Do you dance or play golf, etc.?
I read The New York Times every day, The New Yorker every week, and more short story magazines than I can get through, so the pile on my bedside table keeps growing. I occasionally read (or listen to) novels as well. I don’t dance or play golf, but my wife and I are frequent theatre, opera and concert goers—and diners-out. And I work out with a trainer twice a week.
What is your favorite part of the creative process?
Getting a new idea and jumping head-first into it. Getting an acceptance email is a close second, though.
What is your advice to aspiring writers?
Just do it—don’t be afraid to tackle any idea that occurs to you. Take all the writing workshops you can (in-person, if you can, on-line if you can’t), because it puts you in touch with other aspiring writers and shows you that, even though the actual task of writing can feel lonely, you’re hardly alone. Oh, and even if you’re 70+ years old like I was, it’s never too late to start.
Check out Steven’s work in Volume 4, Issue 2. Check out his story “Cousin Dora” published in The Flatbush Review.
Theresa Williams–Interview
Describe your creative space. Do you work at home, in public spaces, etc.?
I work at home. Since all our children moved out, I have taken over half of the house. In one room I have an art desk. In another room I have my computer and most of my books. And in still another, I have a big table where with a paper cutter, various staplers, more books, and a tall tool box where I keep my art papers and finished work.
What kind of materials do you use? What mediums do you work in?
Water and Copic proof markers, Copic markers, colored pencils, pastels, and gel pens, mostly.
What is your routine for art? Do you always sketch first?
Not always. For The Diary of Lea Knight, I sometimes draw images on paper and glue them on the journal pages. That way if the picture doesn’t turn out as well as I’d like, I can try again. I think of it like doing a collage. Sometimes if I feel confident, I draw directly on the journal pages.
How long have you been making art? When did you start making art?
Since I was a child. I ALWAYS wanted to be an artist first. I got an undergraduate degree in studio art at East Carolina University. When I graduated, though, I got two Master’s degrees in English and upon graduation taught English courses at the university level. I thought it was a more stable path financially. I didn’t draw for a long time. I came back to it about 7 years ago. My plan all along was to somehow combine art and writing.
Who is your intended, or ideal, audience? Who do you make art for?
I make it for myself first. I make the sort of thing I’d like to see or to buy. I want to have fun with my art. I trust that my concerns are universal enough that they will connect with others. My ideal audience would be people interested in the inner life of a character, not so much lots of action.
What inspires you to create? If you are blocked, what do you do?
I get curious about how a person would handle certain difficult situations. I’ve written a lot about death because I think that’s the hardest experience for people to come to terms with. So a lot of my work has to do with loss and dealing with loss. The Diary of Lea Knight, for example, is about a woman who lost a baby and is in a rocky marriage. Her diary is her way of coming to terms with hard times. If I come to a standstill, I read whatever interests me. I have lots of books and am always buying more. I also have lots of art books and I look at them to get ideas about subject and composition. I rarely get blocked anymore, but I do come to a pause sometimes, and then I need to think about where to go next.
What other things do you do besides art? Do you dance or play golf, etc.?
I’m really mainly consumed with art and writing. I don’t do a lot of other activities. I teach nine months out of the year, and that takes a lot of time. So when summer comes, I just want to be creative. I don’t want distractions.
What is your favorite part of the creative process?
The surprise. Each day is an opportunity to explore something different. I don’t like to plan too far ahead with my work. I have a rough plan but work organically. For instance, Lea’s birthday diary entry was only supposed to be four pages or so, but the idea grew as I worked. It took me places I hadn’t planned to go. It was exhilarating.
What is your advice to aspiring artists?
Just to do it. Inspiration is overrated. Your ideas come from working. You discover as you go. Work with archetypes. Use what’s universal but discover the personal, too. To find your personal archetypes, you have to draw and sketch a lot of pictures; that’s the only way. Don’t emulate any certain style. Forget about being Leonardo Da Vinci or anyone else. Find your own style.
Check out Theresa’s work in Volume 4, Issue 2, and upcoming in Volume 5, Issue 1.
Theresa won The Magnolia Review Ink Award for “From the Diary of Lea Knight” in Volume 4, Issue 2. Check out the announcement here.
The Magnolia Review 