Events Tue Feb 28 2012

AWP Off Site Event: Fiction Feed Chicago Edition

By John Wawrzaszek

Finding local flavor in any of the AWP events this weekend isn't hard. On Thursday, March 1, check out the Fiction Feed reading sponsored by Dzanc Books and Joyland Press, spotlighting local writer and 2nd Story collaborator Megan Stielstra.

Stielstra speaks on what it's like to be part of a small press (Joyland released her short story collection Everyone Remain Calm), reading in Chicago, and her thoughts and excitement surrounding the conference.

Your story collection came out on Joyland, which provides a home to short fiction. How has it been working with them?

I was a long time fan of Joyland and its mission to promote short fiction, and I love how they have an editorial staff across Northern America -- so much diverse, delicious new stuff to read that really challenges me as a writer, and as a human being, too. The best stories do that, I think.

Working with Brian [Joseph Davis] and Emily was amazing. They're both editors and writers, but, most importantly, they're readers. They care about audience. Their conversations are not fueled by "What sells?" but rather "We believe in this so now let's make it the best it can possibly be." Emily worked my ass off in the final rewrites of Everyone Remain Calm, asking all sorts of questions that forced me to get to know my work in ways I hadn't even imagined. It was awesome. I like having an editor who's smarter than I am. Makes me work harder. Plus, both she and Brian were really supportive of taking some risks with form, specifically in putting personal essays and more fantastical fiction back-to-back, and -- in some cases -- intertwining them within the same story.

The AWP event is held at Quimby's, one of Chicago's only DIY independent bookstores. As part of 2nd Story, performing is something you do often. How will it be reading at a location like this?

I couldn't be more proud to read at Quimby's. It's a Chicago institution, that place -- there's nowhere like it. It's where I buy my books, and now that I have a kid, we go there for comics (g-rated, ahem) at the same time I'm getting graphic novels and fiction. I've discovered so many of my favorite writers over years of browsing those shelves, and on the suggestion of Liz [Mason] behind the desk, who in my opinion is a total legend in the Chicago literary community.

What do you look forward to at this year's AWP conference?

Seeing old friends in town for AWP. Helping to promote Joyland, which is doing such important work for the short story -- I'm on that site every week reading the new work, and it's so, so, so good, so exciting and haunting and painful and beautiful.

Join Stielstra, along with Jeff Parker, Eugene Cross and Kevin Chong, reads at Quimby's bookstore, 1854 W. North Ave., March 1 at 7pm.