It was a huge and generous response. He helped me to see my own story. The most important thing he told me was that it could be bigger, that the people and the place were more surprising than I realized. It was a gift to have somebody say, “This is extraordinary material.”—Melanie Rae Thon, interviewed by Jennifer Levasseur and Kevin Rabalais When I first work with a character, he/she is flat. The character begins by speaking in ways that feel directed by the author. The dialogue is horrible and no one seems to be speaking convincingly. I have to stay with these people until they come alive on the page, until they begin to speak and act in ways that are more their own.—Elizabeth Cox, interviewed by Sarah Anne Johnson I think most if not all writers must go through a phase of assimilating and emulating their favorite writers if they’re to have any chance of finding their own voices… So if you’re going to do it, you have to give over to what is meaningful and authentic, for both your readership and for yourself. And that means letting go of your need to be like any other writer.—Frederick Reiken, interviewed by Eric Wasserman I felt on top of the world, but then I went two more years without an acceptance. You start thinking, “Okay, it’s over. That was it.”—John McNally, interviewed by Stephanie Kuehnert |
Every story we publish is unsolicited, and 86% of the stories we accepted last year came to us directly from the writer. One of the most respected short-story journals in print, Glimmer Train Stories is represented in recent editions of the Pushcart Prize, New Stories from the Midwest, O.Henry, New Stories from the South, Best of the West, and Best American Short Stories anthologies. Glimmer Train Press, 4763 SW Maplewood, PO Box 80430, Portland, OR 97280-1430 USA |