“A good mixtape didn't just gather together a bunch of love songs, but instead created an emotional narrative specific to your affection. The stories in most of my favorite collections are collected more like songs on a mixtape than, say, collected like spare change. By which I mean they are in conversation with each other and work to become larger than their parts.” MeanStoriesTogetherSongEmotionalConversationMy FavoriteAffectionBunchNarrativeCollectionsSparesMixtapesSpare Change Author:Anthony Marra
“My work often begins as little internal dares, wondering if I can pull something off. So I spent a few years drawing these stories together, trying to build a Pangea of what began as separate continents.” IfsTryingYearsLittlesI CanStoriesTogetherWonderDareDrawingInternalsContinents Author:Anthony Marra
“The short story that eventually grew into Constellation was the first fiction set in Russia that I'd ever written, and that was right around the time I was giving up on a doomed, never-to-be-seen first novel. While I saw it could be something bigger, in hindsight fortuitous timing was as responsible as anything.” GivingFirstsStoriesFictionNovelSawsWrittenGrewGiving UpBiggerResponsibleRussiaShort StoryTimingDoomedConstellationsHindsightFortuitous Author:Anthony Marra
“From personal experience, I completely agree that it is often easier to go for monotone sadness. When I was starting out, I wrote a gazillion short stories that ran the gamut of human suffering - drug addiction, child abuse, terminal illness, loved ones dying by all manner of misfortune, etc. In hindsight, it's clear that I mistook the power of the situation for the power of the story.” HumansChildrenStoriesSufferingSituationClearSadnessDyingEasierDrugAbuseAgreeAddictionStartingIllnessRanEtcMisfortunesShort StoryLoved OnesChild AbusePersonal ExperiencesDrug AddictionHindsightDrug AddictStarting OutTerminalHuman SufferingTerminal IllnessLoved One Dying Author:Anthony Marra
“We all know to feel sympathy for those who've suffered from drug addiction, child abuse, and terminal illness, so the set up elicits an emotional response that the story itself very well may not earn. Energy generated by the fiction itself is likely to produce more light.” KnowsFeelsWellsMayChildrenStoriesLightEnergyFictionProduceEmotionalDrugAbuseResponseAddictionIllnessChild AbuseDrug AddictionDrug AddictTerminalEmotional ResponseTerminal Illness Author:Anthony Marra
“Sometimes it bursts from your imagination fully formed, sometimes you absorb from nonfiction, sometimes you're able to imprint your own autobiographical experiences on a world you never yourself were a part of. A decent number of the one-liners in the title story originally came up in conversations with my girlfriend or my neighbor.” WorldSometimesStoriesAbleImaginationNumbersConversationNeighborTitlesGirlfriendDecentNonfictionMy GirlfriendOne Liner Author:Anthony Marra
