BP: They grow out of images witnessed, characters encountered, places visited. All of this comes together like a bird's nest with button and a ribbon and spoon woven into the branches and grass of imagination. I never begin with a theme in mind. 1heme grows organically out of character and plot. To approach fiction any other way is to craft an unnatural message-driven story that will probably come across like an after-school special. As many idea of"place" seems to an important element in your fiction. In do you see "place" or at ing? BP: They're symbiotic. Perhaps this grows out ofmy own experience as an outsider. Or perhaps it's a human affliction, something everyone knows. Place, as I see it, is central to story. Maybe this comes out ofmy experience with theater. Set the stage. TI1en move your char– acters around on it. IV"'-.. "'""'-"'""'- enjoyment as ....,.... ,,,,L..AJlJl.-i;;. BP: For my classes: Denis Johnson's book of short storiesjesu/ Son, for its spare lyricism and its unreliability. Richard Yates-any of his stories-for their careful carpentry and bleak resonance. Ron Carlson for his humor and his economy. Flannery O'Connor for her plotting and her willingness to take risks. For me: Cormac McCarthy. One of the greatest writers of this time, of any time. 57
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