by Terry Hong
“I think any writer, Indian or non-Indian, could visit Bombay and pluck a story out of thin air. It’s my good fortune that I happen to have grown up in this city and therefore know it well enough to use it in my novels.”
by Michele Beller
A bell of familiarity clanged in my head when I read that Stern’s father defended himself, reminding her how much he “tried to help” her during her “troubled childhood.” The exasperated voice of my mother came back to haunt—“You have a fear of success,” she would say to me when I was at my lowest.
by Joe Schuster
The truth is, however, that . . . you did not, of course, disappear. You were just continuing to live your life and write—write a lot. It was just that most people did not notice.
by Juhi Singhal Karan
Writing a book together requires trust, honesty, and communication, like any other relationship. This month we bring to you five writing duos who bloomed together on their collaborative journey.
Bloom Staff Writer Joe Schuster had the chance to chat with Katherine Heiny, author of the just-released story collection—25 years in the making— Single, Carefree, Mellow. Continue reading →
I was telling myself stories in my head before I learned how to read, so there was really no original inspiration other than boredom and instinct. Continue reading →
by Ann Pancake
Finally, the question that when I was honest with myself, actually frightened me: What in the world is driving this? . . . But I could only point to the place in my chest where the sensor hovered. What the sensor was guided by, I could not fathom at all. Continue reading →
by Dena Santoro
Mystical imagery—palms, eyes, enigmatic vistas—pervade the work; when Saar appropriates a single color the impact is intensified. Continue reading →
“I’ve learned that poetry can be more central to culture than it is in the U.S. From North Africa to the Levant to the Arabian Peninsula, I’ve met people from all levels of society who hold poetry dear enough to commit it to memory and share it.” Continue reading →
by Athena Kildegaard
At first, he found the calls to prayer exotic. . . . Eventually, though, Frederickson noted, the call “turned out to be something that I really grew to appreciate despite my apprehension and distrust of it at the beginning.”
Continue reading →
by Kaulie Lewis
Though Schles doesn’t qualify for true Bloomer status—Invisible City was first published in 1988, when he was 28—the book was something of a cult title and was out of print for over twenty years. Continue reading →