Speaking of your family, I just received a copy of your first book, Altmann’s Tongue, and I see that you dedicated the novella “The Sanza Affair” to her. So, yes, that probably does suggest that I’m lost… Writing and reading are a huge part of what I am and if I go for even a short while without either of them I feel like there’s less of me there.

But I think it’s been less because of praise that I’ve gotten or haven’t gotten (I kept writing even when a lot of people close to me were disturbed by what I was doing and thought I should stop) and more because it’s somehow satisfying at a very basic level. For some reason it stuck with me and very quickly became an almost obsessional activity. When I was a tween my mother published a few science fiction stories and–probably to keep us busy so that she could find time to write herself–she encouraged all the children (I was the oldest of five) to write as well. A writer is condemned to remember that moment, because from then on he is lost and his soul has a price.Īs an author, what are your reactions to such a quote? Is there something that drove you to become an author, or did writing grow out of other interests? He never forgets the first time that he feels the sweet venom of vanity in his blood, and he believes that if he manages that no one discovers his lack of talent the literary dream will be capable of placing a roof over his head, a hot plate for the end of the day and his deepest yearning: his name impressed on a miserable piece of paper which surely will survive longer than he. The beginning paragraph to Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafó n’s latest novel may be translated thusly:Ī writer never forgets the first time that he accepts some money or praise in exchange for a story. In it, Evenson and I talk about the writing process, religious faith and its influences, types of apocalypses, among other matters.

This interview, conducted by email over the past week, I hope will be of interest to readers. Recently I was asked by Matt Staggs if I would be interested in interviewing Evenson and I jumped at the chance, as there were several questions I had related to some of the thematic issues contained within Last Days, as well as those explored in two of his short story collections ( Altmann’s Tongue, The Wavering Knife). For someone such as myself, who loves fiction that isn’t fitted easily into neat categories, Evenson’s stories were like a godsend. It is hard to classify Evenson’s works into a single category, as his stories range from “literary” to “horror,” with permutations of each mixing and mingling within each story.

2009) collection Fugue State being his most recent publications. 1, 2009 my review here) and the upcoming (Sept. Brian Evenson is the author of 9 works of fiction, beginning with his first collection of short fiction, Altmann’s Tongue (1994), with Last Days ( Feb.

Last days brian evenson summary