Episode 115 with Jennifer Fliss, Flash Fiction Star and Master of Signifying So Much by Writing So Little

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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The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

     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.