An Interview with Meg Tuite
To begin, Meg, tell us a little about yourself. What do you do when you are not writing?
Unfortunately, like most of the rest of us, trying to make money somehow. I do have an interesting job, working hospice care, so I get to spend a lot of time with the most amazing characters during the most intensive time of their lives. I have stacks of books that I keep buying and will never catch up to. I'm taking a poetry class now, with Miriam Sagan, that I LOVE. I have a Honda XL 100 motorcycle and I like to go riding on the dirt roads with my husband when we can. I need more practice stopping and turning. I tend to hit the gas on a turn instead of the brake and come close to pulling a wheelie and have hit the dirt many times. It's not pretty, but it is fun as hell!
Tell us about your first significant literary encounter. Do you feel this experience shaped you into the writer you are today, and if so, how?
My first memories as a kid are of my mom leading my siblings and myself up to the local library to get our stack of books for the week. My mom was a librarian and the most prolific reader I've ever met. Reading was an obsession from an early age and hasn't let up for any of us in my family. Right before my mom died she told me I would write her story. That blew me away. I'd been writing and definitely working out some family angst, especially with the women of the family. I dedicated my first collection, Domestic Apparition, to her. She was the biggest influence in my writing career.
Meg, we know you primarily as a fiction writer. Have you ever dabbled in any other genres of writing or art? What draws you to fiction writing the most?
When I picked up a pencil as a kid and began writing it was stories and poetry and one novel about a girl who was running away that made my mother very nervous. She kept asking, "Now, this is fiction, right?" I did have my bag packed at age seven, but never got past our block. I've always loved the rhythm of language. Poetic prose is my favorite area to work of all. I've had to write some non-fiction pieces. I just wrote an essay for Psychology Today's Blog. And I've written book reviews. But, it's more of a struggle for me, probably because I haven't worked that arena enough. I believe we can write anything if we have the inclination to do it. My desire and love of writing has found its home, for now, in fiction and poetry.
What are some of your favorite stories from other authors? What do you think makes a good story?
I have so many favorites, but will pick a few absolutes. "The Enemies," by Dylan Thomas. The language in his work is unparalleled. I can read it over and over, especially out loud with pleasure at the depth and the beauty of the words within it. Bruno Schulz wrote two collections in his lifetime and any story from either, "Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass," or "Streets of Crocodiles," are again universes unto themselves. Once again, to be read out loud because of the brilliance, the poetry and the rhythm. I love Flannery O'Connor for her depth of character, her dialogue and her sense of humor. I think that trio combined with all of these authors love of language is a pretty solid recipe for great writing.
Tell us a little about your writing process. Do you set daily writing goals, or do you just write when the moment strikes? How do you shape your characters and settings?
I used to be so disciplined. When I lived in Montreal for a few years I wrote everyday at a library for at least five hours. Not just writing, mind you. I had books surrounding me and I read them for inspiration while I wrote. I loved being in a library hidden away in a corner so that I didn’t have the distractions that come from being at home.
Now, it’s different. I write as much as I can, when I can, but I tend to write more in the afternoon then the mornings. And I write mostly at home. I would have to drive to the library in Santa Fe and I did do that for a while, but felt I got as much accomplished and didn’t have to waste the gas if I stayed at home. In Montreal I walked everywhere.
I keep a notebook of words that I love and go to them when I’m feeling stuck. It sometimes helps if I have a prompt like picking out a few words to use or maybe a sentence that I love will begin something, but I don’t think I ever know where something will end and if I think I do, it never works with my plan anyway.
Characters are usually what start the whole story in motion. I get a visual or a voice and then I just go with it. I don’t usually know the setting of most of my stories until I’ve got the characters moving.
You balance editing duties for a couple of different literary journals. Tell us about these journals and what you love about them.
I am the fiction editor for Connotation Press and The Santa Fe Literary Review. I do love editing. As an editor, I have access to so much new material and when I find a story that moves me, I am elated. It really is an addiction.
I love both of these magazines because they are so different in nature. The Santa Fe Lit Review is an annual print magazine and Connotation Press is a bimonthly online magazine. So I get to work the best of both worlds. I am blessed to work with two of the greatest founders and editor-in-chiefs: Ken Robidoux and Miriam Sagan. Both amazing writers and they give me so much leeway to move beyond the boundaries and try new things. I am doing another video month in May at Connotation Press and neither Ken nor Miriam has ever said no to anything, so that’s pretty great!
As a writer and an editor, what is your best advice to other writers?
I say the same thing every time I am asked this question, but it really matters and I can’t say it enough to myself or to others. Read, read and read! The more you read the classics and all the latest literature out there, the better your writing will become. That’s my advice to myself and I’m thankful for every novel, memoir, historical work, story and poem collection I’ve ever read.
Finally, if you could have a meal with anyone, dead or alive, real or imaginary, whom would it be, and what on earth would the two of you eat?
I’d have to say I’d love to hang at a pub with Dylan Thomas, but that would have to be pre-Caitlin years. She was known to have beat the hell out of any woman who came near Dylan and I consider myself scrappy, but wouldn’t have a chance up against her. And knowing Dylan, I don’t think there would be a lot of food involved in our meal, so the question would be Guiness or Guiness, I presume.
Unfortunately, like most of the rest of us, trying to make money somehow. I do have an interesting job, working hospice care, so I get to spend a lot of time with the most amazing characters during the most intensive time of their lives. I have stacks of books that I keep buying and will never catch up to. I'm taking a poetry class now, with Miriam Sagan, that I LOVE. I have a Honda XL 100 motorcycle and I like to go riding on the dirt roads with my husband when we can. I need more practice stopping and turning. I tend to hit the gas on a turn instead of the brake and come close to pulling a wheelie and have hit the dirt many times. It's not pretty, but it is fun as hell!
Tell us about your first significant literary encounter. Do you feel this experience shaped you into the writer you are today, and if so, how?
My first memories as a kid are of my mom leading my siblings and myself up to the local library to get our stack of books for the week. My mom was a librarian and the most prolific reader I've ever met. Reading was an obsession from an early age and hasn't let up for any of us in my family. Right before my mom died she told me I would write her story. That blew me away. I'd been writing and definitely working out some family angst, especially with the women of the family. I dedicated my first collection, Domestic Apparition, to her. She was the biggest influence in my writing career.
Meg, we know you primarily as a fiction writer. Have you ever dabbled in any other genres of writing or art? What draws you to fiction writing the most?
When I picked up a pencil as a kid and began writing it was stories and poetry and one novel about a girl who was running away that made my mother very nervous. She kept asking, "Now, this is fiction, right?" I did have my bag packed at age seven, but never got past our block. I've always loved the rhythm of language. Poetic prose is my favorite area to work of all. I've had to write some non-fiction pieces. I just wrote an essay for Psychology Today's Blog. And I've written book reviews. But, it's more of a struggle for me, probably because I haven't worked that arena enough. I believe we can write anything if we have the inclination to do it. My desire and love of writing has found its home, for now, in fiction and poetry.
What are some of your favorite stories from other authors? What do you think makes a good story?
I have so many favorites, but will pick a few absolutes. "The Enemies," by Dylan Thomas. The language in his work is unparalleled. I can read it over and over, especially out loud with pleasure at the depth and the beauty of the words within it. Bruno Schulz wrote two collections in his lifetime and any story from either, "Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass," or "Streets of Crocodiles," are again universes unto themselves. Once again, to be read out loud because of the brilliance, the poetry and the rhythm. I love Flannery O'Connor for her depth of character, her dialogue and her sense of humor. I think that trio combined with all of these authors love of language is a pretty solid recipe for great writing.
Tell us a little about your writing process. Do you set daily writing goals, or do you just write when the moment strikes? How do you shape your characters and settings?
I used to be so disciplined. When I lived in Montreal for a few years I wrote everyday at a library for at least five hours. Not just writing, mind you. I had books surrounding me and I read them for inspiration while I wrote. I loved being in a library hidden away in a corner so that I didn’t have the distractions that come from being at home.
Now, it’s different. I write as much as I can, when I can, but I tend to write more in the afternoon then the mornings. And I write mostly at home. I would have to drive to the library in Santa Fe and I did do that for a while, but felt I got as much accomplished and didn’t have to waste the gas if I stayed at home. In Montreal I walked everywhere.
I keep a notebook of words that I love and go to them when I’m feeling stuck. It sometimes helps if I have a prompt like picking out a few words to use or maybe a sentence that I love will begin something, but I don’t think I ever know where something will end and if I think I do, it never works with my plan anyway.
Characters are usually what start the whole story in motion. I get a visual or a voice and then I just go with it. I don’t usually know the setting of most of my stories until I’ve got the characters moving.
You balance editing duties for a couple of different literary journals. Tell us about these journals and what you love about them.
I am the fiction editor for Connotation Press and The Santa Fe Literary Review. I do love editing. As an editor, I have access to so much new material and when I find a story that moves me, I am elated. It really is an addiction.
I love both of these magazines because they are so different in nature. The Santa Fe Lit Review is an annual print magazine and Connotation Press is a bimonthly online magazine. So I get to work the best of both worlds. I am blessed to work with two of the greatest founders and editor-in-chiefs: Ken Robidoux and Miriam Sagan. Both amazing writers and they give me so much leeway to move beyond the boundaries and try new things. I am doing another video month in May at Connotation Press and neither Ken nor Miriam has ever said no to anything, so that’s pretty great!
As a writer and an editor, what is your best advice to other writers?
I say the same thing every time I am asked this question, but it really matters and I can’t say it enough to myself or to others. Read, read and read! The more you read the classics and all the latest literature out there, the better your writing will become. That’s my advice to myself and I’m thankful for every novel, memoir, historical work, story and poem collection I’ve ever read.
Finally, if you could have a meal with anyone, dead or alive, real or imaginary, whom would it be, and what on earth would the two of you eat?
I’d have to say I’d love to hang at a pub with Dylan Thomas, but that would have to be pre-Caitlin years. She was known to have beat the hell out of any woman who came near Dylan and I consider myself scrappy, but wouldn’t have a chance up against her. And knowing Dylan, I don’t think there would be a lot of food involved in our meal, so the question would be Guiness or Guiness, I presume.
Meg Tuite's writing has appeared in numerous journals including Berkeley Fiction Review, 34th Parallel, Epiphany, JMWW, One, the Journal, Monkeybicycle and Boston Literary Magazine. She has been nominated several times for the Pushcart Prize. She is the fiction editor of The Santa Fe Literary Review and Connotation Press. Her novel Domestic Apparition (2011) is available through San Francisco Bay Press and her chapbook, Disparate Pathos, is available (2012) through Monkey Puzzle Press. She has a monthly column, Exquisite Quartet, published up at Used Furniture Review. The Exquisite Quartet Anthology-2011 is available.
Meg's blog: http://megtuite.wordpress.com
Meg's website: http://www.megtuite.com
Meg's blog: http://megtuite.wordpress.com
Meg's website: http://www.megtuite.com
