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Tag Archive for: short stories

Story in Ecotone Anthology

AstoriatoZion3DforLookoutweb_000My short story “The Way You Hold Your Knife,” originally published in Ecotone and a Distinguished Story in The Best American Short Stories 2012, is included in the new anthology Astoria to Zion: 26 Stories of Risk and Abandon from Ecotone’s First Decade. Featuring an introduction from Ben Fountain and stories by Kevin Brockmeier, Steve Almond, Benjamin Percy, Edith Pearlman, Marisa Silver and others, the collection highlights stories about place. (Inexplicably, my story seems to be the only one about bog mummies.)

Posted in News on March 5 2014· Tagged: , , ,

New Story in Michigan Quarterly Review

MQR.2013.Summer-620x926  I have a new story, “Dead Turtle,” in the summer issue (just out now in November) of Michigan Quarterly Review. Yes, it is about a dead turtle. This is a print journal — order it (it’s amazing!) or seek it out in the periodicals room of the savviest college libraries.

Posted in News on November 22 2013· Tagged: , , , , ,

New story in Harper’s; related interview at The Nervous Breakdown

Harpers-1307-302x410I have a new story (a memoir/short story hybrid) called “Other Types of Poison” in the July issue of Harper’s Magazine. (Part is available online, though most is behind a pay wall.) The story is complicated — not just in the telling, but in the creation as well — and I break some of it down, nervously, on The Nervous Breakdown in an interview with Davis Schneiderman. The interview includes more historical detail about my grandparents (the subjects of the story), as well as photographs of both of them, and of me as a chubby baby and scrawny kid.

Posted in Essays, Interviews, News on June 18 2013· Tagged: , , , , , ,

Makkai in Imaginary Oklahoma

imaginar oklahomaDespite never having set foot in Oklahoma in my life, I gladly wrote a short piece for This Land Press’s collection Imaginary Oklahoma, billed as “46 of today’s most important and  influential writers combine with artists to provide a fictional take on the 46th state.” Many thanks to the Paris Review for the shout-out on my story, “Rich Rice from Tulsa.” Watch the Vimeo trailer for the anthology here!

Posted in News on May 16 2013· Tagged: ,

“Cross” wins Michigan Quarterly Review’s Lawrence Foundation Prize

mqr logoI’m pleased to announce (tardily) that my story “Cross” has won Michigan Quarterly Review‘s Lawrence Foundation Prize, awarded by their editorial board to one story appearing in MQR each year. “Cross” appeared in their summer, 2012 issue.

Posted in News on May 16 2013· Tagged: , ,

New Stories from the Midwest

new-stories-midwest-sketch-1My story “Peter Torrelli, Falling Apart,” originally published in Tin House in 2011, is included in the New Stories from the Midwest anthology, available now from Indiana University Press.

Posted in News on March 15 2013· Tagged: , , , , , ,

An ancient interview with the late Isaiah Sheffer

Isaiah Sheffer interviewed me over three years ago for the radio broadcast of my story “The Briefcase” on Selected Shorts. It was my first real interview as a writer, and I don’t think I fully understood at the time how lucky I was to be on the receiving end of questions that were so deeply insightful and patient. When he passed away in November, I realized I’d never linked to this here. The broadcast of the story itself, being read at Symphony Space by the amazing Victor Garber, is available as an MP3 download here.

Posted in Interviews, Media, News on January 25 2013· Tagged:

Interview for The Short Form

I was thrilled to talk to the folks at The Short Form about short stories, dead raccoons, and serial adultery. And I get to be an illustration! How cool is that? Read the interview, complete with my short story recommendations, here.

Posted in Interviews, News on December 10 2012· Tagged: ,

Two nominations for 2013 Pushcarts

Many thanks to both New South and Michigan Quarterly Review for nominating short stories (“Our Plastic American Brethren” and “Cross,” respectively), for the 2013 Pushcart Prize!

Posted in News on December 9 2012· Tagged: , ,

New Story in Michigan Quarterly Review

My latest short story, “Cross,” is out in Michigan Quarterly Review, both in print and online. Read it here… and please read the rest of this fabulous journal too!

Posted in News on September 6 2012· Tagged: ,

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