Interview with short story writer Nancy Burke

Short story author Nancy Burke is chatting with me today about her new collection, Death Cleaning and Other Units of Measure.

Bio:
After reading Hilma Wolitzer’s collection, Today a Woman Went Mad at the Supermarket, (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021) Nancy was inspired to gather heraccumulated stories and submit them for publication. Death Cleaning and Other Units of Measure offers us stories written over a period of nearly 30 years, startingin 1995 when Burke signed up for her first short fiction workshop at The NewSchool in NYC with Katherine Texier. Add to that a series of mentor/teachers atvarious colleges and universities, including: Sheila Kohler, at Sarah LawrenceCollege, and Alice Elliott Dark at the Writers’ Week at Manhattanville College in2000. In 2005, Nancy published her first book, From the Abuelas’ Window, at theage of 50. She continued adding to her formal study of writing by applying for andaccepting a place in the Rutgers’ Newark MFA in Creative Writing in 2009, whereshe was a member of the third graduating class in fiction (with a concentration indramatic writing). There she studied with Alice Elliott Dark once again, along withTayari Jones, Jayne Anne Phillips and non-fiction writer and historian JamesGoodman. Upon graduating, Nancy published a non-fiction account of a refugee ofWWII Estonia (2014) If I Could Paint the Moon Black, her debut sci-fi feministmystery novel, Only the Women are Burning (2020), and now she is happy tooffer the world this new volume of collected stories. She teaches writing atMontclair State University and New Jersey Institute of Technology.

What do you enjoy most about writing short stories?
I most enjoy the surprises that come during the creative process. I think I know what my character will do, but then they suddenly reveal what actually should happen next, or they reveal the meaning of the story to me. The fun is when you create a character that is so strong they start telling YOU what the story is.

Can you give us a little insight into a few of your short stories – perhaps some of your favorites?
My story, He Briefly Thought of Tadpoles is one of the stories that surprised me. It is about a man trying to get home to his wife in bad weather and his GPS keeps sending him in the wrong direction. The pressure is on because his wife and he are trying to have a baby and this is one of the ‘on’ nights. His behavior in the rain begins to mimic the behavior of his reluctant sperm and he realizes he doesn’t really want to get home because he doesn’t want a baby. The title story in my collection, Death Cleaning, is about a recently retired man cleaning out not only his garage, but also his regrets and mistakes as he prepares to downsize to a smaller house. Voice Rest is about how a dead seagull inspires a young wife to do what she must do.

What genre are you inspired to write in the most? Why?
I wrote several books in several genres. My first is a YA multicultural novel, From the Abuelas’ Window, about a young girl in Chile whose father is among the disappeared under the military dictatorship in the 1970’s. My second (If I Could Paint the Moon Black) is non-fiction, a WW2 story of a young girl and her mother as they escape into Western Europe from Estonia as the Soviets, the Germans then the Soviets again invade her country.

So I’d have to say, refugee stories intrigue me. I feel it is important that we understand the reasons people from all over the world leave their homeland and come to the United States for a new start, for safety, for a second chance for themselves or for their children. My third, Only the Women are Burning, is a sci-fi feminist mystery novel. And my latest is this short story collection.

What exciting story are you working on next?
I’m trying a new genre, musical theatre. I am collaborating with a lyricist and a composer to adapt my first book, From the Abuelas’ Window, into a musical play. I am having so much fun writing songs and learning about musical performance.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I started writing seriously in 1995, which was the year my father died, although I’m not sure his death is what compelled me to begin. I had three children under the age of 5 back then and was very busy, but that is when I carved out a regular schedule for my writing work. A high school friend reminded me recently that I was talking about wanting to write books back when I was a teenager. I think I’ve always written so I have always considered myself a writer. I considered myself an author when I published my first book in 2005.

How do you research markets for your work, perhaps as some advice for writers?
I am not sure I can give good advice to every writer because what I’ve discovered along the way is that every writer who finds their way into publication has a different path. Publishers Marketplace lists books and the agents representing them. Poets and Writers has a listing of agents and what genre they are looking for. It’s a great way to search for literary agents representing work similar to your own. For short story submissions, a website, NewPages.com, lists literary journals seeking submissions. Many writers sign up for workshops and networking opportunities to meet agents and pitch their books. Once your creative writing is finished, the hard work of submitting begins. Persistence pays off so my advice is you can’t lose if you don’t quit. Keep trying.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Hmmm, this is a tough question! Quirk? I enjoy incorporating elements of magic realism into my work. My two most creative books reflect that, From the Abuelas’ Window has three abuelas or grandmother types who may or may not be magical. Only the Women are Burning contains elements of pseudo-science. I had to do a lot of scientific research to create the conditions by which the women in the story spontaneously burst into flames as they step through their regular routine days. Making the magical and the science fiction believable in a realistic setting is a challenge I enjoy.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
My first ambition was to be an artist. Then as a teenager I learned how to sew and thought I’d be a fashion designer. I was always a reader and the desire to write my own books was steeped in my admiration for the authors I loved. I suppose I wanted to be like them. Louisa May Alcott, Madeline L’Engle, Pearl Buck, Mary Stewart are the female authors I admired.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I like dogs but I have a cat. I love coffee and avocado toast. I ran two NYC Marathons in my life, I bake my own sourdough bread, I write early in the morning before the day’s events interfere with my creative mind, and a walk in the woods is a great way to let your mind be free so the universe can whisper ideas to you.

Links:
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