Category: Writing
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A Good/Strange Thing
In 2020, Monash University Publishing published this short story about an amusement park, amorphous dread, and familial love. There’s also—crucially—a dog. “A Good/Strange Thing” copyright Leah De Forest 2020. Featured photo from Christian Kourtum, via Creative Commons.
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Queer love and second-act delights
I had the pleasure of interviewing J. Vanessa Lyon about her novel Lush Lives, which came out with Roxane Gay Books on August 1. Lyon’s almost-debut novel (the second title from Gay’s imprint) is racy, thoughtful, and delightful. When I (somewhat impertinently) asked Lyon why her book matters, she said: “I hope my book matters because…
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In which I talk to awesome people (and admire their dogs)
I’m an editor at Bloom, a site for and about writers working in midlife and beyond. This week I interviewed my friend Anne Elliott, who in addition to being an amazing writer (and dog-adopter, and ukulele player) is a former Wall Street financial analyst. Our conversation starts with a description of how Anne changed her…
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Subject Position as Craft Tool: An Investigation
Thanks to Fiction Writers Review for publishing a version of my MFA degree essay. This (writing craft) essay examines the novella “Blessed Assurance”, by Allan Gurganus; the novel Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee; and the short story “Brownies”, by ZZ Packer. I use subject position as a tool for thinking about how writers deal with privilege…
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Fact, fiction … and truth
History, it seemed, disagreed about the sky. ‘Many guests especially recalled the beautiful moon that shone that evening,’ Chapter Five of Lincoln in the Bardo begins. ‘There was no moon that night and the sky was heavy with clouds,’ it says later. ‘The guests began to depart as the full yellow moon hung among the…
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The pen is mightier than the horizon
Pleased to have a post on the Allen & Unwin blog this month, talking about the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course I did with Carrie Tiffany. You can read the full piece here.