The strange can take on many forms in Andy Gricevich’s poetry. Working with weird music selections in the background and drawing inspiration from reading subjects such as philosophy and biology, the Madison-based writer is bound to get results that feel bizarre and boundary-pushing. But he doesn’t necessarily want readers to see his work that way. […]
Tia Clark’s stories of trouble
Tia Clark‘s short stories don’t always resolve neatly. This is in part because Clark’s work is concerned with the messy ways in which people confront problems in their worlds. As she fleshes out characters on the page, she tends to push against notions of safe writing. It’s an approach that aligns with one of the […]
T.S. Banks on the intersection of poetry and activism
Madison-based poet and activist T.S. Banks’ work is in constant conversation with identity. Banks has navigated the space of being black, trans, queer, and disabled in the city of Madison, which is often times unsupportive of people with these intersectional identities. Banks splits his time between writing and working as a mental wellness advocate and […]
Chloe Benjamin wrestles with mortality and genre
Chloe Benjamin’s first novel, 2014’s The Anatomy Of Dreams, crafted while Benjamin attended graduate school at UW-Madison, focused on a trio of people who devote their lives to understanding lucid dreaming. The novel twists and turns into a struggle around questionable ethics, subconsciousness, and asks how well its characters know themselves. Benjamin, still based in […]
Michelle Wildgen on food, fiction, and needing varied work
Madison-based writer Michelle Wildgen focuses her craft on the in-between areas. While she’s made a name as a novelist, Wildgen doesn’t necessarily treat fiction as the center of her writing life. Variety in subject and approach seems like the norm for Wildgen, who contributes columns to multiple magazines including Tin House, writes extensively about food, […]
Meredith Nnoka’s “A Hunger Called Music”
Meredith Nnoka‘s poetry works at the intersection of narrative and meticulous research, but it’s also drenched in emotion. Nnoka’s 2016 collection A Hunger Called Music: A Verse History Of Black Music focuses on specific American musical genres that were founded by black artists, starting with Field Holler (a melodic cry attributed to slaves while working, […]