MaryAnne Kolton is the Interview Editor at THIS Literary Magazine.
Most recently her fiction has been chosen to appear in the Lost Children Charity Anthology, the first print Collection of Pure Slush Flash Fiction - Slut, The Toucan Magazine, Wilderness House Literary Review, Anatomy, Larks Fiction Magazine and Connotations among others. You can contact her at Attn: MAK [email protected] or via her blog site Echos & Visions She can also be found on Facebook. ---------
MaryAnne Kolton interview with Meg Tuite
Both of these outstanding flash stories, “Payback” and “We Sustain,” are quite different, but both pack a punch. Tell us about your inspiration for “Payback.” It’s an exciting and extremely satisfying story to read.
Thanks Meg. It felt quite real to me as well. Wanted to write something somewhat “noirish” and this aging, tired, been there - done that woman just fell in my lap, so to speak. She wants to quit but knows there is no exit. Hence the ending.
In “We Sustain,” we recognize this type of celebrity who wants to help, but realizes how much bigger the calamity of world starvation is when she sees the faces of the mothers. But when she holds a baby in her hands, she takes it to a personal level that was an incredibly beautiful image and quite touching. Can you tell us about your inspiration for this piece? How did it come to be?
This is based on a true story about the actress Selma Hayek. I read about it several months ago and the fact that she acted instinctively, without vanity and so in the moment, stayed with me. When the challenge went out for Lost Children Charity her act of unthinking kindness came immediately to mind.
What books are you reading at this time?
Just finished The Lost Memory of Skin by Russell Banks, The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta and The Grief of Others by Leah Hager Cohen. All are outstanding and I can see why they are creating so much excitement. Currently reading And So It Goes–Charles Shield’s book about Vonnegut, Arguably Essays by Christopher Hitchens and State of Wonder by Ann Patchett.
Any new inspiring writers you’d like to share with us?
Maggie O’Farrell, an Irish author, is one of my newest favorites. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is stunning.
What are you working on at this time?
Interviews for THIS and always more short stories. I just began writing and submitting again in May of this year, after not doing so since the early nineties. I’m also working hard on practicing patience and developing a thick skin!
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