Spring 2021 Issue!
Fiction:
Karin Aurino
Joe Baumann
Matthew Bruce
Bryana Fern
Rachel Furey
Justin Herrmann
Siew David Hii
Mehdi M. Kashani
Kate LaDew
Nathan Alling Long
Lope López de Miguel
Fejiro Okifo
R.S. Powers
Katie Jean Shinkle
Noel Sloboda
RaShell R. Smith-Spears
Samantha Steiner
Matthew Sullivan
Tina Tocco
Creative Nonfiction:
Martha Phelan Hayes
Louise Krug
Cynthia Singerman
A special pandemic poetry section curated by Dr. Howard Rambsy II:
Amy M. Alvarez
Angel C. Dye
Sequoia Maner
Carmin Wong
Q & A with Amie Whittemore
Revisiting Amie Whittemore’s story from the Spring 2020 inspired in me a nostalgic pang–for a time when sequestering oneself was a choice–and a renewed appreciation for the piece itself. Amie packs a lot into 307 words. I think you’ll enjoy “Love Hermits” and my brief interview with Amie. [VV]
How did this story come to be?
This story originated with a challenge from my friend, the fiction writer Alexander Lumans. He was working on a 300-word flash story for an Electric Literature contest a couple years ago and I was in a writing rut, so I decided I would also try to write a 300-word story for the contest—which meant writing several 300-word stories! “Love Hermits” came out of that process (and, fun side note, the story I submitted to the contest, “The Five Love Languages Guide to Breaking Up,” was a finalist and eventually found publication elsewhere!). The moral of this story is: find a writer friend who will challenge you when you need a push.
Is there an aspect of fiction writing you find particularly challenging, i.e. getting started, story beginnings, middles, endings?
I find every aspect of fiction challenging. I think the hardest element for me is plot: I love plots, yet I find myself struggling to write them, which results in stories languishing on the backburner for years at a time. And yet I also am incapable of writing deeply lyrical stories driven by atmosphere, character, interiority. I do, in the end want things—often quiet, domestic things as in “Love Hermits”—to happen. Thus, I spend a lot of time being haunted by my characters and their unfinished stories. Often I require an outside impetus—a contest deadline, or a friend who is willing to read a finished piece—to overcome my fiction writing anxieties.
What are you working on now?
Right now, I am extremely grateful to be at Oak Spring Garden Foundation (OSGF) for a writing residency and working on a poetry manuscript. I am still in the early stages of looking at the poems I’ve written over the last few years and seeing how they work together, but I feel fairly confident that this collection will center around some familiar obsessions for me: dreams, love, plants, animals, and climate grief.
Do you have any current or recent projects or publications you’d like to promote?
As part of my poet laureateship for the city of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, I’ve launched two projects I’d love to promote! The first is Dream Geographies, which is an arts collaborative that fosters collaborations between dreamers, poets, and visual artists (though it may evolve to include other genres). We ask for descriptions of dreams to share with poets and visual artists, who create poems/artwork inspired by the dreams for our online gallery. Our second round of poets and artists are at work creating our ‘second dream’ gallery, which will debut in December!
The second is Write with Pride, a series of workshops and open mics offered to LGBT+ youth in middle Tennessee. This project came to life thanks to the Academy of American Poets, which awarded me a 2020 Laureate Fellowship this year. Through this fellowship support, I am able to partner with local literary nonprofits and organizations, The Porch, Southern Word, and Poetry in the Boro, to foster spaces for LGBT+ youth to write about their experiences and connect with each other.
What is the last thing you read that impressed the heck out of you?
I adored Lydia Millet’s A Children’s Bible and read it in approximately 36 hours just last week. It’s beautiful, incisive, and strange, like all her work, in its exploration of spirituality/religion, climate grief, and how we connect to each other and the world.
***
Amie Whittemore is the author of the poetry collection Glass Harvest (Autumn House Press). Her poems have won multiple awards, including a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Prize, and her poems and prose have appeared in The Gettysburg Review, Nashville Review, Smartish Pace, Pleiades, and elsewhere. She is the reviews editor for Southern Indiana Review and teaches English at Middle Tennessee State University. Her website is http://www.amiewhittemore.com.
Q & A with Michele Lombardo
Michele Lombardo’s story from the Spring 2020 issue resonated with me–and not just because I’m a former online dater myself. I invite you to read “The Love Trigger” and my brief interview with Michele. [VV]
Toulouse Reading
How did this story come to be?
I was actually at a kid’s party when the idea sparked. Another mom was telling me about the trials and travails of a 20-something in her office who was navigating the online dating world. At one point she remarked that dating apps should allow people to give each other ratings, just like Amazon, and I found myself really intrigued by the idea. I immediately began wondering what would happen to humanity if such a thing existed and what the person who brought it into existence would be like.
How does “The Love Trigger” fit with the rest of your work?
It nestles in there nicely. I have a thing for strong, heavily flawed female protagonists. I tend to write a lot about the various ways in which women collide with societal expectations. Carol, as you can probably imagine, is a polarizing character. I can’t tell you how many times the word “unlikeable” came up when I was workshopping this story. Because, of course, female characters are supposed to be likeable even though the same expectations don’t exist for male characters. But I think the fact that she doesn’t conform to that allows her to tap into the zeitgeist of now a little, too. She is an unapologetically “nasty” woman with a vulnerability to her that she’ll do just about anything to conceal. And she does things we all dream of doing, like stabbing an ex in the leg with a pen. We all do dream that, right? Not just me?
Carol’s voice is so strong. Did you consider third-person POV?
I didn’t, actually. I think her voice developed very strongly early on, so I just went with it. Third person limited POV probably would’ve worked, too. But I’m glad she narrates the story. I’m glad that readers get a heavy dose of her unmediated voice. I probably wouldn’t change that aspect of the story if I were to rewrite it.
This story made me snort with laughter. Does humor come naturally to you? Do you think you’re a funny person?
God, no. I do have a dark sense of humor that seeps into a lot of my pieces. But I’m no comedian. I don’t tell jokes and I don’t see myself as an especially funny person. I’m more like the kind of person who thinks of the witty retort five minutes after the conversation ends. So I might think the funny things, yes, but it’s usually not at a conversational pace. Good for writing with humor, not great for speaking with humor.
What makes you laugh?
Cats. Occasionally people, but mostly cats.
Our Commitment to Diversity
The editors of Sou’wester have examined past issues and acknowledge the lack of diverse writers and stories. We understand how this feeds into gatekeeping and silencing. We are committed to investing in and encouraging the words/stories/voices of all writers, prioritizing those belonging to marginalized communities.
We want to read stories from writers belonging to the black diaspora, indigenous communities, Asian communities, Latin(x) communities, neurodivergent communities, those with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+.
We seek fiction that allows us to transcend the everyday, haunts our dreams, and feels fresh. We’re looking for work that will move, stun, and awe our readers.
Sou’wester is reading fiction and creative nonfiction through November 15.
Best Small Fictions 2018 anthology
Maxim Loskutoff’s story from last year’s issue, “Get Down, Stay Down,” was selected by guest editor Aimee Bender for inclusion in this prestigious annual anthology.
Coach says wrestling is like life in that it’s you against everyone else. I followed him out to the parking lot one night after a meet and the back window of his Lincoln Continental was busted out and covered with an old, red, varsity blanket. His bellybutton protrudes like a giant nipple against his Spartans polo shirt. When he exhales, it’s moldy, old man, Skoal breath; breath of despair. It might be what the heart of the world smells like after we’re done with it.
Shiny New Issue
Our Spring 2020 issue features spectacular poetry and prose by: Christopher Citro, Julia Coursey, Jaydn DeWald, Jessie Eikmann, Matthew Freeman, Barbara Haas, Natalie Homer, Jen Schalliol Huang, Laura Jok, Diane Josefowicz, Cindy King, Livia Linden, Michele Lombardo, Angie Macri, Jenny McBride, Amelia Morand, Cameron Morse, Kristine Muslim, Daniel Parks, Natasha Sajé, Kelly R. Samuels, Nicola Schmidt, Alix Anne Shaw, Chad Simpson, Judith Skillman, Renee Soto, Marjorie Stelmach, John Vanderslice, Barrett Warner, Amie Whittemore, Dan Wiencek.
.
