Interview with Carmen Maria Machado

The Los Angeles Review‘s Riley Mang interviews Carmen Maria Machado whose debut short story collection, Her Body and Other Parties, was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Kirkus Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize, and the winner of the Bard Fiction Prize. Her memoir, House in Indiana, is forthcoming in 2019 from Graywolf Press, and her work has appeared in the New Yorker, Granta, Tin House, Guernica, Gulf Coast, NPR, Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy, and elsewhere. She is the Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania, and lives in Philadelphia with her wife.

When did you first consider yourself to be a writer?

I think being a writer means that you’re constantly processing and framing reality in the context of narrative. By that definition, I’ve always been a writer, ever since I was a kid.

What was the genesis of Her Body and Other Parties?

Her Body and Other Parties is the result of years and years of thinking intensely about bodies, gender, sex, illness, and death. There was no single moment of genesis; it’s just where I’ve been putting my ideas for a long time.

How did you come to occupy the genre of science fiction and fantasy and what do those genres offer you in your writing?

I just felt like we need more than reality to accurately describe reality.

Do you see yourself writing a novel one day or is the short story your preferred medium?

I think I might write a novel one day, but short stories are definitely my natural length.

Can you imagine this collection being translated on-screen?

I can! My work is very visual—I was a photography major in college. I could definitely see a
film or TV version of this book.

Can you describe how it feels to go from publishing your first book to becoming a National Book Award finalist and literary sensation over the course of about a month?

Very exciting and very terrifying! I feel lucky, of course. I’ve worked really hard but there’s always an element of luck and privilege with this kind of success. It makes me feel really good that my work is reaching a lot of people.

Who are some of your literary role models?

Kelly Link, Karen Russell, George Saunders, Helen Oyeyemi, Alice Sola Kim, Jenny Zhang, Tony Tulathimutte, Bennett Sims, Amy Parker.

What is your advice for young writers?

Keep reading. Write the stories you want to see in the world. Write the stories that only you can tell. Never forget about your sentences.

What are you reading now?

I’ve been enjoying a bunch of upcoming books for 2018: Sam J. Miller’s Blackfish City, Anjali Sachdeva’s All the Names They Used for God, Mark Miller’s Aerialists, Mallory Ortberg’s The Merry Spinster, and Rebekah Frumkin’s The Comedown.

What’s next for you?

My memoir House in Indiana is coming out from Graywolf in 2019—it’s due to them next fall.

Riley Mang is LAR’s Editor-at-Large. Based in France, she also teaches English and writes book reviews. Find more of her work here.