Episode 115 Notes and Links to Jennifer Fliss’ Work
On Episode 115 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Jennifer Fliss, and the two discuss, among many other topics, Jen’s early reading and writing and worldbuilding, her indirect route to professional writing, flash fiction’s definition, the particular benefits and obstacles that come with flash fiction, and the profound and clever work in Jen’s latest story collection.
Jennifer Fliss’ flash c...
Episode 115 Notes and Links to Jennifer Fliss’ Work
On Episode 115 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Jennifer Fliss, and the two discuss, among many other topics, Jen’s early reading and writing and worldbuilding, her indirect route to professional writing, flash fiction’s definition, the particular benefits and obstacles that come with flash fiction, and the profound and clever work in Jen’s latest story collection.
Jennifer Fliss’ flash collection, The Predatory Animal Ball, came out in December 2021. Her short story collection, As If You Had a Say, is forthcoming from Northwestern University Press/Curbstone Books in 2023.
She has a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and a certificate in Literary Fiction from the University of Washington, and she’s been nominated several times for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, and she was selected for inclusion in the 2019 Best Small Fictions anthology. Her over 200 creative writing pieces have appeared in print and online in places like The Rumpus, PANK, The Washington Post, F(r)iction,The Kitchn, and elsewhere. She was the 2018/2019 Pen Parentis Fellow, and a recipient of a 2019 Artist Trust GAP award.
When not doing things associated with writing (this is rare), she can be found riding her bike, running, trying to learn the ukulele, pining for New York, intellectually sparring with her young daughter, and occasionally swinging on the flying trapeze (really.)
Buy The Predatory Animal Ball
Jennifer Fliss' Website
“LIFE AS A SERIES OF SMALL GESTURES: TALKING WITH JENNIFER FLISS” from The Rumpus, Dec. 2021
“Dandelions” Flash Fiction Story from Whiskey Paper
Jen’s Article, "Flash, Back: Kafka’s 'A Fratricide,' " from 2016 in SmokeLong Quarterly
The Predatory Animal Ball Review
At about 2:10, Jen talks about her lifelong love of trapeze
At about 4:50, Jen discusses her relationship with language and literature growing up, and books as “escape”
At about 7:25, Jen highlights a vivid example of her writing being unique and appreciated
At about 8:30, Jen details worldbuilding-maps, pictures, the whole deal!-at a young age
At about 9:40, Jen responds to Pete’s questions about affecting literature in her adolescence, and Jen talks about the fluctuating importance of the “classics” in her reading life and a diverse reading list
At about 12:50, Pete makes a perhaps random Dave Matthews Band
At about 13:20, Pete and Jen opine on Kafka, especially The Metamorphosis, including how Kafka wrote flash fiction that was maybe unrecognized
At about 15:55, Jen discusses “ ‘Eureka’ moments” in her path to becoming a professional writer
At about 21:00, Pete asks Jen what it was like and is like in creating characters who are their own entities
At about 22:45, Jen outlines her process of creating stories and getting ideas from disparate places
At about 24:40, Jen defines “flash fiction”
At about 27:40, Jen replies to Pete’s question about contemporary writers and writing that thrill her-she cites Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Witch and Yōko Ogawa’s The Memory Police, as well as work by Aimee Bender, Kelly Link, Carmen Maria Machado, and Karen Russell
At about 30:35, Jen shouts out flash fiction inspirations-among them, Kendra Fortmeyer, Amy Barnes, and Megan Phillips; she
At about 32:00, the two discuss the power and greatness of the flash fiction (arguably) that is a major inspiration for the podcast title and the ethic of the podcast
At about 33:35, Pete wonders about any obstacles that may come up in flash fiction, and Jen expands upon ideas
At about 35:50, Pete asks Jen about dialogue’s place and function in flash fiction
At about 37:15, Jen describes how her prior work in entertainment has informed her writing
At about 40:45, Pete cites interesting and unique titles for Jen’s work and asks about the relationship between title and story material
At about 44:35, the two discuss the title story of the collection and ideas of “predators”; Jen illuminates the idea that so many of us are predators in different ways
At about 48:10, Jen gives background on the genesis of the collection’s title story
At about 49:35, the two recount some themes from the collection, and particular stories and how predatory and loss of innocence themes come through
At about 51:00, “A Greater Folly is Hard to Imagine” and its incredible links to reality (see asterisk at bottom of story) are discussed
At about 53:00, themes of penitence and trauma and abuse in the collection are discussed
At about 54:05, Jen talks about ideas of show and undisclosed thoughts and feelings and these topics’ effect on her story “Emily Beside Herself”
At about 57:20, the two discuss ideas of loss with regards to motherhood and moving with trauma, concepts that are referenced in multiple stories, and Pete asks Jen about any burden on her as writer of such heavy topics
At about 1:01:20, Jen describes an ethic of Judaism that directs her writing and her life
At about 1:04:20, Jen reads her story “Dandelions” from Whiskeypaper, and edited by the great Leesa Cross-Smith
At about 1:09:00, Jen gives out her contact info and social media information
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Please tune in for Episode 116 with Noel Casler, A STAND-UP COMEDIAN, ACTOR, MUSICIAN AND WRITER. His 25 years of experience in the industries, including working on The Celebrity Apprentice with The Former Guy, has informed his comedy writing. The episode will air on March 31.
