Thanks to The Coffin Factory, you can check out a short piece from What You Are Now Enjoying. Eerie weeping. Eerie obsessions. Eerie fruit. And more! Check out “Produce” here.… Continue Reading
Hayden’s Ferry Review calls my book a “phantasmagoric, unmapped wilderness,” and I think: “Wow. I want to go there.”
A huge, phantasmagoric thank you to Debrah Lechner at Hayden’s Ferry Review for her kind words about What You Are Now Enjoying. “Life is sweet, harrowing, and sometimes horrifying. Sometimes there is loss, but sometimes there is rescue. There is a tender, tenuous line between the two, and Gerkensmeyer walks it brilliantly in What You… Continue Reading
Longlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award!
I am so honored to see What You Are Now Enjoying longlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award alongside George Saunders, Junot Diaz, Joyce Carol Oates, Claire Vaye Watkins, and so many other fantastic writers. Here’s the list.… Continue Reading
“North American triviality” and Lydia Davis! Awesome review of WYANE in The Coffin Factory
Thank you to Laura Isaacman over at The Coffin Factory for this great write-up about What You Are Now Enjoying.… Continue Reading
WHAT YOU ARE NOW ENJOYING in my local newspaper
A huge thank you to Rebecca Schwab at The Observer for putting together this beautiful piece about my new collection.… Continue Reading
Interview @Riding Bitch
My friend Niva Dorell Smith has a beautiful blog about motorcycles, grief, pitbull puppies, writing, and joy. You should definitely check out Riding Bitch. Niva was kind enough to interview me for her Industry Friday Series. You can read the piece here.… Continue Reading
The Neuroscience of Forgetting (and of Never Letting Go)
Confession: I often forget what I’ve read. Consolation: It’s neuroscience! And it really stays with me–all of it! Thanks to Ron Hogan over at Beatrice for featuring my essay on fiction and forgetting in his Selling Shorts series. You can read it here.… Continue Reading
A conversation about my midwestern roots over at Midwestern Gothic.
Maybe my stories are strange because of where I’m from–the intense mystery of heat lightning and crouching beneath a utility sink in the basement as a tornado roars by… I love the idea that the place where I grew up could be shaping the emotional landscapes of my stories. Thanks for helping me think through… Continue Reading
Research Notes for WHAT YOU ARE NOW ENJOYING
Steve Himmer over at Necessary Fiction was kind enough to ask me to compile research notes for What You Are Now Enjoying. I’m obsessed with this murky wonder of exactly what “creative research” might be, and so I had a lot of fun with this essay. The piece opens with: Here’s the mess I got… Continue Reading
Casualties of Grace
Thank you to Writer Unboxed for featuring an essay in which I try to tackle one of the most common complaints of my writing students: that I assign such sad stories for our reading. Why do we write such sad stories? You can read the essay here.… Continue Reading
