“I was still just some guy at a party:” Andrew Martin on Success, First Novels, and the Role of Revisions 

There’s a moment in the short story “No Cops” where the heroine of the story Leslie is hanging with her closest friend as she closes up a patron-less bookstore in Missoula, Montana. Leslie holds a “waifish” book of contemporary poetry as she spaces out and contemplates the merits of intention […]

An Interview | Saborna Roychowdhury on Class, Muslim Stereotypes, and her new novel, Everything Here Belongs To You

Saborna Roychowdhury’s novel, Everything Here Belongs to You, written in the aftermath of 9/11 and the subsequent backlash against Muslims, takes on the ambitious task of addressing the vast gulf of prejudice across nations, religions, and classes by brilliantly bringing together under one roof all the characters who embody different positions in this geopolitical conflict that spans nations, from the US to Afghanistan and India.

An Interview | Jonathan Garfinkel on Georgian Theater, the Duplicity of the Soviet Union, and his debut novel

“No one is who they say they are, not even myself,” reflects performance artist Tamar Tumanishvili halfway through Jonathan Garfinkel’s funny and wild debut novel, In a Land without Dogs the Cats Learn to Bark. Tamar is about to begin a three-day bus ride from Istanbul to Tbilisi in order to investigate the mysterious past of her mentor, academic Rachel Grabinsky, whose recent death has led Tamar to reassess both Rachel’s identity and her own.

An Interview | Mai Nardone on Thai Identity, Class, and His First Story Collection

“Only you farang are so easy to come and and leave,” yells Nam to her American husband, Rick, in “Easy,” a story that sits at the emotional and temporal core of Welcome Me to the Kingdom, Mai Nardone’s debut collection of short fiction. The reason why Nam is upset is that their family has just moved from their high-rise condo back to their old townhouse. It’s 1997 and Rick—like so many others in Thailand, foreign and local—has seen his fortunes reverse due to the Asian financial crisis. This reversal puts strain on a relationship already on shaky ground.