Other Pandemoniums
We are thankful for Ethel Rohan, Aisha Sabatini Sloan, Amy Leach, and Megan Paonessa.
This week, we published an interview with Ethel Rohan, a new short story from Megan Paonessa, and a post about the newest books, which include two titles from contributors to our site.
Here’s more on all of those pieces:
Ethel Rohan
This week’s interview with Ethel Rohan is especially notable because when we posted her short story “A Tangled Web” in 2009, Identity Theory became one of her first publications.
She talked about this in our conversation:
Identity Theory was one of my first publishing credits and I remain deeply grateful…
The early days of seeking publication involved a lot of rejection, particularly from print literary magazines, which further fueled the self-doubt and angst that typically torment emerging writers (and beyond). The dam/damn cleared somewhat with acceptances from online literary magazines. Those first publishing credits led to more, placing my stories in front of a growing readership and introducing me to various wonderful online lit communities of the time like Fictionaut and Zoetrope: All Story.
The same intentions that buoyed me back then continue to bolster me today: Do my best work, word by revised word, and don’t give up.
She also discussed the toll the pandemic has taken on her:
ER: We’ve lost 5 million people and counting globally to Covid-19 and all too few are acknowledging the searing void and collective grief and trauma such staggering losses leave in their wake, while all too many are using the current distribution, worker shortages, and low wage crises as political scapegoating. Of course because of the ongoing horrific human tolls it isn’t business as usual, as much as capitalism and propaganda demand it be so.
MB: Did the COVID pause inspire you to re-evaluate your life in any major way? How do you anticipate your writing and other life goals will evolve over the next decade?
ER: At the risk of sounding maudlin, the pandemic, the whole ugliness of America, and the world, in recent years, has broken something inside me. I feel angry, burnt out, less healthy, and much older, and I’m terribly disillusioned with humanity.
Ethel Rohan is all of us.
It’s a heartfelt and open interview, and I hope you will read it.
And if you’re interested in her new book, In the Event of Contact, respond to this email by next Thursday (11/25), and I’ll enter you for a chance to win a copy.
Megan Paonessa
Megan Paonessa’s new short story “Mother Gardener” begins like this:
Our mother loved summer in Chicago. More specifically, she loved sunshine and gardening, and that only happened during summers in Chicago, if then.
“I didn’t like plants until I was pregnant with you,” she said, slipping off her wedding ring and placing it on the ledge of our birdbath so it wouldn’t get caked in mud.
She also told me she never thought she’d have kids when she was younger. Thought the world was too horrible a place to bring more lives into it. “But then I had you and all I wanted to do was help life grow up sweet.” She wrinkled up her nose and pinched my cheek, leaving a smudge of dirt behind.
And it gets…much weirder from there.
Aisha Sabatini Sloan
Aisha Sabatini Sloan’s essay “Birth of the Cool” appeared on Identity Theory in 2009, the same year we published Ethel’s story. Her new book, Captioning the Archives, is a collaboration with her father, photographer Lester Sloan.
Amy Leach
Amy Leach’s essay “Warbler Delight” appeared on our site in 2006. Her new essay collection, The Everybody Ensemble, is subtitled “Donkeys, Essays, and Other Pandemoniums.”
Other Pandemoniums
This week we pre-ordered a pumpkin pie from our local bakery, Chef Flemming’s, for Thanksgiving. They make the best pumpkin pie on the planet. I took this photo of the wall behind the counter at the bakery. It appears they have had their fill of the pandemic as well.
We’re taking the week of the 22nd off from publishing new stuff. I don’t want any stories to get lost in the holiday shuffle. I’m going to work on the website and finalize updates to the staff during that time. Then we’ll have a big “cyber Monday” return with a full week of interviews, poems, and prose starting on November 29th.
Until then, stay safe out there. And if you experience a creative burst, send us a story.
With Gratitude,
Matt Borondy
Founding EIC
Identity Theory
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