The Peak

David Siew Hii, Shenandoah’s editorial fellow in poetry for issue 72.2, interviewed every poet in the issue. To showcase their voices, the questions in the interview were removed, leaving behind only the voice of the writer. In this interview, Luisa Caycedo-Kimura talks about the places she’s lived throughout her life and her passion for words. […]

Sylvia Gallagher, translator of Hiroko Oyamada’s “Cat-a-Cat” from Volume 73.1, talks about literary translation, her relationship to Oyamada’s work, and the tactical importance of spare trousers. This interview has been edited for clarity. The interviewer is William Shaw. Read “Cat-a-Cat” here. I enjoyed your translation of “Cat-a-Cat” when I read it for […]

David Siew Hii, Shenandoah’s editorial fellow in poetry for issue 72.2, interviewed every poet in the issue. To showcase their voices, the questions in the interview were removed, leaving behind only the voice of the writer. In this interview, Lauren Camp talks about her journey to poetry and how she passes her passion onto […]

In the following interview, author Chris Vanjonack discusses his writing process for “Open Spaces,” featured in Volume 73.1 of Shenandoah, as it relates to loneliness and isolation felt during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read “Open Spaces” here. What inspired you to write this piece? What specifically inspired the pandemic setting of this story? […]

In the following interview, Amy Lee Lillard, author of “I am Not a Woman I’m a God,” featured in Volume 73.1 of Shenandoah, talks about her new book, Exile in Guyville, which comes out May 21. Read “I am Not a Woman I’m a God” here. Can you tell me the story […]

Poet Andrew Navarro sits down with Shenandoah intern Derek Qu, to discuss the creation of his piece, “Heroes, Villains, Clouds,” featured in Volume 73.1 of Shenandoah. Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. D: All right. I guess we can start with you reading Heroes, Villains, Clouds, if you’re […]

Associate editor Moriah Katz and author Remica Bingham-Risher discuss family, history, and the creative process behind Risher’s most recent poetry collection, Room Swept Home. Bingham-Risher’s poem, “Mary Taken to the Central Lunatic Asylum” is featured in volume 73.1. Read it here. M: Who are you? Why do you write? R: I […]

In an interview with student interns Jed Heald and Eli Hirshberg, Andy Gottschalk offers an inside look into his creative practice and shares more about “The Inheritance,” his piece in the current issue of Shenandoah. We explore different themes in his writing, his influential studio art practice and recent essays he’s been working on. […]

In the Q&A below, Lisa Ampleman, discusses her new book Mom in Space which was released in January 2024 and includes “Lunar Deceptions,” featured in Volume 72.2 of Shenandoah. Mom in Space is a complicated love letter to both the intergalactic and the terrestrial. Using the lens of spaceflight, Lisa Ampleman explores subjects ranging […]

In this Q&A, Isaac Yuen discusses the creation of his debut nature essay collection, titled Utter, Earth: Advice on Living in a More-Than-Human World. You can read Yuen’s piece, “Our Museum of the Future,” featured in Volume 68.1 of Shenandoah here. Can you tell me the story of this book: When did you […]

Associate editor Moriah Katz and author Theresa Sylvester discuss the creative process behind Sylvester’s short story, “Atonement,” featured in volume 73.1. of Shenandoah. Read “Atonement” here. Who are you and how did you find your way to writing? I’m a Lusaka girl. I was raised in a suburb called Olympia Park and […]

Morgan Hamill, author of After and somewhere to rest, featured in Volume 73.1 of Shenandoah, discusses her writing process, inspirations, and upcoming work in a conversation with Shenandoah intern Ryan Doty. Ryan: I appreciate you taking the time to write back and forth with me! The first few questions I had concerned your […]

Sara Marchant, author of “Haunted” in Volume 70.2 of Shenandoah, published her debut full-length novel, Becoming Delilah, on August 15, 2023. Here, she speaks with nonfiction editor DW McKinney about the book and writing about early girlhood and womanhood. What was your inspiration for Becoming Delilah? It’s based on my 2018 novella […]

Athena Dixon, author of the nonfiction essay “Distillation,” featured in Volume 70.2 of Shenandoah, discusses horror video games as writing inspiration, finding curiosity in life, and reexamining loneliness during her experience writing The Loneliness Files, in the essay below. Read “Distillation” here. How do you write a book about loneliness when all the world is at […]

In an interview with student interns Jed Heald and Eli Hirshberg, Allison Lee candidly explores her upbringing’s literary influence, the art of revision as an extension of creativity, and the profound personal story behind her flash non-fiction piece Song of the Sandia Mountains. E: To start, we wanted to ask about your upbringing […]

Huge congratulations to Majda Gama for winning Shenandoah’s Graybeal-Gowen Prize this year for her poem “In Great Aunt Noor’s Salon”! Judge Anna Maria Hong said, “I’m enthralled by this poem’s movements recollecting recent wars and their reverberations through our current catastrophes, the collateral and casual destructions of empire, as the poet deftly traverses time and place, melding […]

A Chance to Play Robert James Russell, author of the comic “How to Make a Full English” from volume 73.1, speaks with editor DW McKinney about losing and finding his way back to comics. For those unfamiliar, what is an English breakfast? An English Breakfast is traditionally like bacon, […]

Willie Lin discusses the process of writing and putting together her book, Conversation Among Stones, which was published in November 2023. Her piece, “Object Lesson,” was featured in Volume 68.2 of Shenandoah. Read “Object Lesson” here. Can you tell me the story of this book: When did you start working on it? What were some […]

Tracy Sierra, author of “The Burr” from Volume 73.1, talks about new motherhood, scary stories, and her debut novel, Nightwatching.

Our surroundings and methods shape our work. In this series, we explore our contributors’ desks, and how what’s in them reveals things about both art and the artist. In this installment, we hear from Samuel Clark, author of “Bait Shop on the Bridge” from Volume 73, Number 1.

Angie Kang, author of the comic “Birthmark” from volume 73.1, speaks with editor DW McKinney about having agency over her body in healthcare settings and writing herself into her stories.

K Chiucarello, author of Water Works featured in Volume 72.1 of Shenandoah, speaks about the aftermath of trauma and the journey to writing about it in the following essay.

Erin Hoover, the poet behind Barnburner, featured in the Fall 2021 edition of Shenandoah, answers questions about her new collection entitled No Spare People.

Janna Miller, the author of the nonfiction piece Better Homes and Gardens featured in Volume 72.2 of Shenandoah, writes about the relationship between writing, wild words, and invasive vines in this piece. Read Better Homes and Gardens here. Some words are true and grow wildly and without restraint. The wisteria vine will climb over the door […]

Arianne Elena Payne, the poet behind “The Contours of Marriage” and Clarie Gor, the author of Mother Hen, chat about their inspirations and creative processes for their works, both featured in the Spring 2023 issue of Shenandoah. Arianne: What is the title and story of your piece that is featured in Volume 72.2 of […]

Jennifer Schomburg Kanke, author of A Pleasant Loitering Journey, speaks about her writing process and inspirations for her novel in a conversation with Shenandoah intern Sam Masser. Read Chapter 14 of A Pleasant Loitering Journey, featured in Volume 72.1 of Shenandoah here. Sam: Thanks for talking with me today, and congratulations on making it into the […]

Manini Nayar, writer of “Triptych, With Interruptions,” featured in the Fall 2019 edition of Shenandoah, shares her thoughts on the power of immigrant stories and her experience writing Being Here, in the essay below. Read “Triptych, With Interruptions” here. Notes on Revisiting the ‘Immigrant’ in Immigrant Writing In writing my collection of stories, […]

April Yee, the poet behind “Motherhood,” featured in the Spring 2022 issue of Shenandoah, offers her unique insight on womanhood and poetry. In a conversation with Shenandoah intern Susannah Birle, April talks about the importance of language, her work as a journalist, and her own experience as a mother. Check out her poem, “Motherhood,” […]

David Siew Hii, our editorial fellow in poetry for issue 72.2, interviewed every poet in the issue. To better center their voices, they removed their questions, giving them more space to talk about poetry and life. The document that follows is a curated, compressed version of that conversation. Read Megan’s poem “V.” In […]

T.S Bender, author of “Bellarosa”, featured in Volume 72.2, explains the behind-the-scenes of several passages from his story, revealing his revision process and the characters’ inner sentiments. Where did you find inspiration for the detailed descriptions of wood chipping? “For weeks we’d been taking down trees all over the golf course at […]