Dawn Major interviews Mary Ellen Thompson

Introduction: When Associate Editor, Dawn Major, heard that Robert Gwaltney, author of The Cicada Tree, had been selected as the Pat Conroy Literary Center’s writer in residency, she asked him to write about his experience. Gwaltney wrote a sublime piece called “Lick the Sherbet Sky,” where he kept alluding to an individual by the name […]

Lei Lei Interviews Bruce Craven, Author of “Buena Suerte in Red Glitter”

LL:  Thank you Bruce, for the interview. We met when I was a doctoral candidate at Columbia University, and you brought me on board to help teach the course Leadership Through Fiction. I was impressed with the lyrical energy of your teaching. When I read Buena Suerte in Red Glitter, I was deeply moved by […]

Amy Susan Wilson Interviews Lara Bernhardt, Author of “Shadow of the Taj”

ASW: Good afternoon, Lara. It is great to have the chance to visit with you about your latest novel, Shadow of the Taj. This book addresses the hot-button issue of human trafficking of children, and one Western woman’s determination to help one child caught in a web of child prostitution. How did you come to write […]

Allen Mendenhall Interviews Amy Susan Wilson, Publisher of Red Dirt Press

AM:  Amy, thanks for doing this interview about Red Dirt Press. Congratulations, too, for reaching the six year mark. You focus on publishing poetry and prose that examines the complexities and diversities of the New South. You also have a focus on social justice issues that are global in nature yet connect to the New […]

“Fetish and Other Stories,” Second Edition, by Amy Susan Wilson

Reviewed by William Bernhardt Just when the cynics begin to wonder if the short story as a literary form is lost, moribund, or permanently encased in amber, The Balkan Press presents a collection that reminds us how rich, how enriching, and how truly American this form is. Fetish and Other Stories is the second edition […]

Amy Susan Wilson Interviews William Bernhardt, Author of “The Ocean’s Edge”

ASW: Just yesterday I was reading The White Bird and now I’m finding myself engaged with your second and just-released poetry collection, The Ocean’s Edge.  Your weaving of themes that tie to family, and self identity, dovetail flawlessly alongside the weaving of popular culture and classical allusions in these poems. Collectively, these elements create quite […]