Blog / 10 Questions

10 Questions for Lindsay Sproul

April 26, 2022 - By Edward Clifford

We knew our answers, but they weren't what you were looking for: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Not married.
A man with stronger arms than mine.
A person with the courage to bite down.
An evil queen.
A horse.
—from "Please Don't Ask Us," Volume 63, Issue 1 (Spring 2022)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
The first words I learned how to write were “cow” and “mom.” In preschool, I distinctly remember writing a picture book about a cow mom who lost her baby in the supermarket.

What writer(s) or works have influenced the way you write now?
Aside from Carson McCullers, Alice Walker, Jo Ann Beard and some other greats, I...

10 Questions for Aaron Hamburger

April 12, 2022 - By Edward Clifford

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, late September 2002. A beautiful fall morning. What was once called an Indian summer, but Jacob is learning to expunge such phrases from his lexicon: Indian summer. Dutch treat, French kiss. Is French kiss okay? Not that it matters; he hasn't French kissed a guy in months.
—from "Simple Past Present Perfect," Volume 63, Issue 1 (Spring 2022)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
I always loved to read, but I didn’t really think about being a writer until I was twelve years old and we had a writing contest in our English class: The author of the best short story, judged by our teacher, would get to miss an entire day of school to attend a conference for young writers at a local community...

(Almost) 10 Questions for Meg Pinto

April 8, 2022 - By Edward Clifford

The day I arrived on the butter schooner a cow had fallen off the cliff. Its carcass was found on the beach in the cove below, near the high tide line, by some men waiting to load the hogs and butter onto the boat for the return trip to San Francisco. Everyone agreed the ranch foreman would be angry, but these things happen. Cows fall from the sky into the sea.
—from "Butter Schooner," Volume 63, Issue 1 (Spring 2022)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
When I was in my twenties, I wrote two stories about women who were quite a bit older than I. In one, a woman living in Rome realizes that people have stopped referring to her as Signorina and now address her as Signora. In the other, a woman,...

10 Questions for C.Dale Young

April 5, 2022 - By Edward Clifford

It is easy to believe there are no flowers
growing in the folds of sand stretching before us.
Night has erased them. And the Blue Moon
does little to illuminate anything but the sand:
—from "Blue Moon," Volume 63, Issue 1 (Spring 2022)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
One of the first poems I wrote in college was based on the story of Abraham and Isaac, likely because I had seen a painting based on the biblical story. I was deeply disturbed by the idea God would ask as proof of faith that a man kill his own son. And I was more disturbed Abraham was willing to go through with it. In many ways, the poem I wrote was an invective against Abraham.

What writer(s) or works have influenced...

10 Questions for Juhea Kim

March 31, 2022 - By Edward Clifford

My name is DeDe and I’m eleven years old. D-e, capital D-e. It’s not short for anything. My dad’s name is Bobby and that’s not short for anything either. Our names are similar, both made of two of the same consonant sounds. BO-Bby. DE-De.
—from "Cockroach," Volume 63, Issue 1 (Spring 2022)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
When I was about six years old, I wrote an essay called “What is the meaning of life?” in my diary. It’s embarrassing but also endearing that, like most children, I wasn’t self-conscious about making art. Then followed a long period of not thinking I’m good enough to write. My first real piece of writing was a short story called “Body...