The Official Literary Journal of University of Southern Maine's Stonecoast MFA
What do you write? Stories. At least, that’s what I need to tell myself in order to write anything—fiction, nonfiction, screenplay, even dabs of poetry. It all comes back to writing some sort of story in some sort of fashion in which themes usually focus…
What do you write? I write mostly nonfiction, usually short essays. Is there an author or artist who has most profoundly influenced your work? I read Marc Hamer’s memoir How to Catch a Mole at the right time and the right place. The book felt like…
What do you write? I write popular fiction, poetry, and analog game design. Is there an author or artist who has most profoundly influenced your work? Authors who elevate BIPOC voices, such as Pam Punzalan, a ttrpg game developer and author. Why did you choose Stonecoast for your MFA? Stonecoast helps me…
What do you write? If I don’t regularly put pen to paper−or fingers to keys−all the fragments of stories and ideas would come spilling out on unsuspecting passersby. In all seriousness, I have written in some way, shape, or form since I was very young. I…
Jillian Rodseth grew up in Bureau Junction, Illinois, a tiny town surrounded by railroads and canals, hills and ditches, rivers and ponds. She now lives in a 1800s era utopia on the prairie. She teaches English, directs theater, and writes fiction, poetry, and drama. She…
Interview Why do you write? The world of creative writing is relatively new to me. It begins with a birthday gift from my husband Bill, who often said, “you got to write your stories down.” Five years ago, he took charge and enrolled me in my…
Interview What do you write? My focus is literary fiction. Up until recently, I wrote primarily self-contained short fiction, but I am now working on a novel-in-stories, based on the small town where I grew up in Northern Maine. I’m compelled to write character-driven narratives…
Interview What do you write? As a poet, I write poems about my time in the U.S. Army, working at the United States Disciplinary Barracks as a correctional guard; I write poems about city and country life, and how they are simultaneously parallel yet their own…
Interview What do you write? I write Maine based stories, mostly fiction with an undercurrent of nonfiction. I have written numerous short stories and poems and am now trying to expand my repertoire to include a novel. Is there an author or artist who has most…
Interview What do you write? It’s absolutely a cliché for me to say this, but… everything. I have three chapbooks of published poetry — one of which is 5–7‑5 English Language Haiku — and I’ve had one of my haiku pieces republished in the Eastern Structures…