In the first of our interview series with contributors to Flashing the Square, an anthology of microfiction and prose poems, we interview Berkeley-based Australian author, Kirsten Tranter. 1. What inspired you to write the prose poem/microfiction which will appear in Flashing the Square? Turing Test Study Guide was inspired by thinking about the Turing Test, … Read More
Writing to the Edge with Alexia Derbas
1. What inspired you to write the prose poem/microfiction which will appear in Writing To The Edge? Exchanges is based loosely on my own experiences. I wanted to convey that awkward time when you must get to know your parent’s new partner, which becomes much more difficult when you don’t share a common language. The story … Read More
Writing to the Edge with Romana Dalgleish
1. What inspired you to write the prose poem/microfiction which will appear in Writing To The Edge? My research at the time was focusing on interruptions to the mundane. I ended up writing a lot about public transport and concepts of privacy in public spaces. I was thinking about the way people negotiate the balance of … Read More
Vivienne Plumb: on short fiction
Vivienne Plumb, an Australian currently living in New Zealand, is a playwright, poet, and fiction writer. She has held several residencies, including one in 2004 at the University of Iowa and the 2006 Massey University writers’ residency. She holds a Doctorate in Creative Arts at the University of Wollongong. This week, on the eve of … Read More
Writing to the Edge with Lauren Aimee Curtis
1. What inspired you to write the prose poem/microfiction which will appear in Writing To The Edge? Dream Baby was based on a dream I had. I don’t normally use my dreams when I write because I often have vivid, nonsensical nightmares, and who wants to read about that? Even when there’s something there, it’s usually … Read More
Writing to the Edge with Nick Couldwell
1. What inspired you to write the prose poem/microfiction which will appear in Writing To The Edge? A memory inspired this story; a small image, a tiny chunk of nostalgia at the edge of my mind. The bones of this story are autobiographical. My father and I would fish and camp around the back beaches of … Read More
Writing to the Edge with Julie Chevalier
1. What inspired you to write the prose poem/microfiction which will appear in Writing To The Edge? I was in a chemist shop when I overheard an angry conversation. Toothbrushes were strewn around the floor. A wiry woman shrieked into her mobile phone, ‘Someone stole my ‘done and don’t I know who it was!’ I … Read More
Writing to the Edge with Jude Bridge
1. What inspired you to write the prose poem/microfiction which will appear in Writing To The Edge? My story reflects the ubiquity, ridiculousness and dehumanising nature of e-communication. I work with a multi-function device (a machine that used to be called a photocopier before it got a PhD) several days a week and find little … Read More
Writing to the Edge with Kathleen Bleakley
1. What inspired you to write the prose poem/microfiction which will appear in Writing To The Edge? Purple Basil Red Feather stitches together poems that I’ve written in the three years since my sister Kerstie died. My partner ‘pling & I both lost younger sisters within a quarter of a year. The experiences of grief, … Read More
Writing to the Edge with Cassandra Atherton
1. What inspired you to write the prose poem/microfiction which will appear in Writing To The Edge? Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca was a huge influence on this piece. The first line, ‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again’ haunts me. Mrs Danvers is a brilliant character who terrorizes the unnamed narrator, beautifully. I … Read More