Blog / Interviews

10 Questions for Joanne Godley

May 17, 2021 - By Edward Clifford

The term slave refers to a faceless and nameless group of bodies: bodies brought to the United States and worked, tortured, and discarded for more than four centuries. In contrast to individuals who perished in the Holocaust, there are few true records of slaves having lived their lives as fully actualized people. Of course, there are slave sale ledgers and insurance logs and even some veterinary logs that remain; however, it is not the same.
—from "A Herstory of Pain," Volume 62, Issue 1 (Spring 2021)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
I was in the 3^rd grade when I wrote my first piece. It was a story 'after’ a popular TV show, The Parent Trap; likely, the only TV show I was...

10 Questions for Amaia Gabantxo

May 10, 2021 - By Edward Clifford

I want to tell you an unlikely story. I'd find it hard to believe if it hadn't happened to me, so I'll understand if you choose to take it with a pinch of salt. I assure you, however, that every word you're about to read is true. I hope you'll be able to take what you need for your own life from this tale.
—from "Bele & Zozo," Volume 62, Issue 1 (Spring 2021)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
A few years ago I found a school binder with a story I (aged 7) had no recollection of penning. It was the story of a girl who went to a funeral where everybody in attendance died “of pity and sorrow” except her. Then, at the funerals of all those people who had died in the first funeral,...

A Reading with Abigail Chabitnoy

May 5, 2021 - By Abiail Chabitnoy

Watch our 2021 Anne Halley Poetry Prize-winner Abigail Chabitnoy read from her collection of poems as well as the winning poem "Girls Are Coming Out of the Water" from MR's A Gathering of Native Voices issue. Purchase a signed Broadside of the poem today!

ABIGAIL CHABITNOY is the author of How to Dress a Fish, winner of the 2020 Colorado Book Award for Poetry and shortlisted...

10 Questions for Munib Khan

April 26, 2021 - By Edward Clifford

On Main Boulevard, the Ramzan traffic comes to a halt. The car heater makes a whirring noise. A thin layer of fog hovers in front of our Honda City.

On the radio, the singer Junaid Jamshed recites a naat. In an interview, he has said that Pakistani women should stay at home. Now Mama says, If more women worked, the economy might be better. Then I say, The field hands in the countryside are mostly women. Mama makes a face.
—from "Charity," Volume 62, Issue 1 (Spring 2021)

We asked writer Munib Khan the same ten questions we ask our other contributors. He responded with a few of his own.

When did you first get acquainted with fiction?  When did you start to learn English, and how did it manage to become your preferred...

10 Questions for Jamaica Baldwin

April 19, 2021 - By Edward Clifford

Begin with a plant
then an animal. Move
your way up the chain of need
till you’ve learned enough
about sacrifice and scooping poop
to join the ranks of mother.
—from "Naturally," Volume 62, Issue 1 (Spring 2021)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
Let’s see. There is one that has always stuck with me. It was about a woman driving to Canada. It was about the threat of violence that women endure and about the weight of beauty ideals, I think. It was a delightfully strange poem. One line went something like, “If my ear was closer to the ground, perhaps I could hear the conversations between the ants. . . But I have killed many of them in my lifetime and nothing is scarier than...