I fell in love with the cover of Meg’s newest collection and could hardly wait to ask her about it! First Law of Holes will be released by Dzanc Books in September 2024.
Thanks to Meg for taking time to answer my questions!
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Myna: Tell us about your upcoming collection!
Meg: The collection is a curation of both new and greatest hits from earlier collections dating back to 2009. The collection also includes works from early out of print collections.
Here is the pre-order link
Myna: What themes do you explore?
Meg: Feminism, unconventionality, isolation, loneliness, sexuality, messy love.
Myna: What’s unique about this collection?
Meg: I’m thrilled that the book includes a variety of stories and styles from different times in my writing career dating back to 2008. From 1,000-word flash fiction pieces to 30-word memoir-fragments and everything in between.
Myna: Tell us about that amazing cover!
Meg: The cover was created by Los Angeles artist Lou Beach! I’ve always wanted a Lou Beach cover!
Myna: If your book had a theme song, what would it be?
Meg: Can I have 2?
High Desert Lows, Refrigerator (Mood: nostalgic, sweet, sad)
Chicken with its Head Cut Off, The Magnetic Fields (Endlessly messy love)
Myna: When a reader finishes the last word in the book, what emotion will they be feeling? Did you arrange the sequence of stories to heighten or direct readers’ emotions?
Meg: It’s something like what Maude says to Harold near the end of Harold and Maude:
“You know, at one time, I used to break into pet shops to liberate the canaries. But I decided that was an idea way before its time. Zoos are full, prisons are overflowing… oh my, how the world still dearly loves a cage.”
Myna: How did this book/collection come about?
Meg: Pamela Painter, a great writer and friend, told me it was time for a “new and selected”. I knew, the minute she said it, that she was on to something.
Myna: Did you practice any special rituals or routines (special beverage, scented candle, creativity dance, etc) while writing this book?
Meg: I’ve never had a charmed or peaceful writing space or any kind of special routine. I write in a crowded living room next to a dog and cat. For me, this seems to work.
Myna: Were there any surprises or problems along the route to publishing?
Meg: I almost fell over when Dzanc Books responded to me so warmly and enthusiastically. They have been my dream press for a long time.
Myna: What’s your favorite thing about writing?
Meg: Knowing I wrote something. That I made something of this crazy life.
Myna: How do you stay motivated?
Meg: If I don’t write I literally don’t feel well. I think that’s probably what it comes down to. I don’t feel like me if I’m not doing it.
Myna: Tell us about a recent accomplishment or share some happy news with us!
Meg: I’ve become a songwriter, quite accidentally. A handful of my stories from my 2019 Pelekenisis collection, The Dog Seated Next to Me, are being reworked and recorded as songs by one of my favorite bands, Refrigerator (Claremont, CA). That’s happening this summer. I am too excited.
Myna: Do you have other books or stories you’d like to mention?
Meg: I love Quotidian by Mary Wilkerson. What a discovery! Frankie McMillan’s books and stories always surprise me and knock me off my feet. Jeff Friedman’s micros and prose poetry get me laughing and crying at the same time. Nobody else does this like him. His newest collection is Ashes in Paradise recently published by MadHat Press. One of the best flash fiction writers I have ever met is Kathryn Kulpa who has a new book coming out, A Map of Lost Places, chapbook, forthcoming from Gold Line Press.
Myna: Do you have a pet, or a hobby/interest outside of writing?
Meg: I’m an old film fanatic. And… I have a ukulele and hope to become better at playing it.
Myna: What’s next for you?
Meg: Judging the Edinburgh Award for Flash Fiction. And in October I’ll be doing a bookstore tour in New England, reading from The First Law of Holes: New and Selected.
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MEG POKRASS is the author of nine collections of flash fiction and two novellas in flash. Her work has been published in three Norton anthologies of flash including Flash Fiction America, New Micro, and Flash Fiction International; Best Small Fictions 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023; Wigleaf Top 50; and hundreds of literary journals including New England Review, Electric Literature, McSweeney’s and Passages North. A collaborative 6 sentence story collection, co-written with Robert Scotellaro, Breath and Shadow: Six Sentence Stories (MadHat Press, 2024) and a new solo collection, The First Law of Holes: New and Selected Stories by Meg Pokrass is forthcoming from Dzanc Books.
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