In Conversation…May 2021

Welcome! Thanks for stopping by In Conversation. If you have been a regular visitor you will notice that I have a new In Conversation… image. My brother is a multimedia artist who designed new images for both In Conversation… and The Burning Hearth. You may recognize Vincent van Gogh’s The Potato Eaters but look closely. What has he added? What does it mean? I would love to hear your interpretations.

This month I had the pleasure of sitting down with flash writer Audra Kerr Brown. What a delight! This interview is the first time Audra and I had met and from the git go I felt like I was sitting down with an old friend. An organic flow occurred while talking about the aspects of Audra and her writing that compelled me to interview her.

First, there is her writing. Audra’s approach to the human condition is one of compassion and deep awareness. Her thoughtful contemplation of human relationships infuses her flash. The ease with which her words move the reader through her stories betray the attention and time she dedicates to their creation. In our interview, she discusses this during her telling of the journey from first words on paper to publication of one my favorite stories “Royce Is Not My Father” (Fjords Review 2016).

Second, there is our shared appreciation of Flannery O’Connor and our attraction to the Southern Gothic. Having both grown up in southeastern Iowa not far from the Missouri border, and sharing a similar perspective of the people and the landscapes that surrounded us, and in her case still does, we found ourselves deep in conversation regarding how the gothic genre influences her writing.

Lastly, there is our current shared reality: we are both moms trying to find balance between mothering and writing. That is a discussion that could go on for, well…as long as we are mothering and writing.

My interview with Audra was a joy from the opening to the closing. I was thrilled when she read “Royce Is Not My Father” before we said our goodbyes. I hope you find this interview as enjoyable as I did.

To read Audra’s flash visit her website Here. To read her latest piece titled “The Men Here” click on Milk Candy Review.

Audra Kerr Brown is a flash fiction writer living betwixt the corn and soybean fields at the end of a dirt road in southeast Iowa. Her work has been chosen for The Best Small Fictions 2018 and 2021 editions, Milk Candy Review, Flashback Fiction, X-R-A-Y, Fjords Review Online, People Holding, F(r)iction, Fiction Southeast, Cheap Pop, and elsewhere. Brown has been listed on Wigleaf’s Top 50 (Very) short fictions. She is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a degree in English and Theatre Arts and currently serves as a Fiction Editor for New Flash Fiction Review.

Please tune in next month when my guest will be the publisher of Hidden Timber Books, Christi Craig.

Christi Craig lives in Wisconsin, working by day as a sign language interpreter and moonlighting as a writer, teacher, and editor. Her stories and essays have appeared online and in print, most recently in Stonecoast Review and The Sunlight Press. Learn more about her work and her writing classes at christicraig.com.

Until next time stay well, stay safe, and enjoy the sunshine!