“I spent thirty-two years in a paper mill in southern Ohio, and before that I worked in a meatpacking plant and a shoe factory.” YearsTwoPaperPlantShoesThirtyTwo YearsSouthernFactoriesOhioMills Author:Donald Ray Pollock
“Knockemstiff is a collection of short stories set in the holler of the same name in southern Ohio where I grew up. I tried to link the stories together through the place and some recurring characters.” CharacterStoriesTogetherNamesGrewGrew UpCollectionsLinksSouthernShort StoryOhioRecurring Author:Donald Ray Pollock
“I remember a class I taught at Ohio State where I assigned a Mary Gaitskill story, which really wasn't that bad, and I had this one girl refuse to read it. But better that reaction than no reaction at all.” StatesStoriesRememberGirlClassTaughtRefuseReactionsMaryOhioOhio State Author:Donald Ray Pollock
“I took a correspondence course with a guy at Ohio University. He gave me ten exercises, and one of them resulted in the story "Bactine." It pleased me a lot more than anything else I'd ever done, so I kept messing around and by the time I got to Ohio State I'd written maybe eight stories.” StatesDoneStoriesGuyCoursesWrittenExerciseTenUniversityEightOhioCorrespondenceOhio State Author:Donald Ray Pollock
“I started going to Ohio University when I was in my mid-thirties, ended up with an English degree when I was forty.” DegreesUniversityFortyOhio Author:Donald Ray Pollock
“I'm not sure what the proper label might be, or the most accurate one, but someone once called my stuff Southern Ohio Gothic and I thought that was fair.” MightStuffFairsLabelsNot SureSouthernAccurateGothicOhio Author:Donald Ray Pollock
