Kathy Fish and I are thrilled that Jeffrey Spahr-Summers is going to be joining us in Colorado this August for our Flash Fiction Summer Camp in the Rockies! I chat with Jeffrey a bit about his process, his writing, and his advice for writers, and the meaning of “truth” in art.
Nancy Stohlman: The biggest challenge most writers have is finding the time to write. How do you “retreat” in your day-to-day life in order to honor your creativity?
Jeffrey Spahr-Summers: I’m an undisciplined writer. I do most of my writing in bits and pieces on the run. Poetry and flash fiction suit me in that respect. I find that I am more disciplined with photography.
NS: Tell us about your relationship to flash fiction?
JSS: I have written poetry for over 40 years. About four or five years ago I started writing short memoir stories, once there I turned to flash fiction. I am still experimenting and learning the craft.
NS: What piece of your own writing are you most proud of? Where could we read it (if it’s available)?
JSS: My favorite is a poem called, “Talk About my Girl’, which can be found in my book, ‘Until Their Bellies Bulge and Shine’. It was also printed in a literature magazine called, ‘Hammers’, in the early 1990’s. The poem can also be found on my website.
NS: You have published several books–what have you learned from that process?
JSS: Proofreading. Proofreading. Proofreading. Writing the book is only the beginning of the work. Books seem to grow along with you.
NS: You live in Colorado already–have you been to Grand Lake before? What are you most looking forward to at our writerly summer camp?
JSS: I haven’t been to Grand Lake since I was a child. I’m looking forward to the retreat to nature and the opportunity to interact with other writers.
NS: React to this quote by Gustave Flaubert: “Of all lies, art is the least untrue.” What do you think about the “truth” of art?
JSS: I think the truth in art lies in what compels us to create art in the first place, or to create certain pieces, as it were.
NS: Tell us something we don’t know about you?
JSS: I have moved 44 times, between 24 cities or towns, in my life.
NS: Anything else you want to add?
JSS: I am grateful to be participating in this retreat.
Jeffrey Spahr-Summers is a poet, writer, photographer, digital artist, publisher, and editor living in Boulder, Colorado.
Website: jeffreyspahrsummers.com
If you’ve been waiting for Kathy Fish to release a new book, the wait is over! In Wild Life: Collected Works 2003-2018 (Matter Press, 2018), we get the old and the new and the best of both worlds: some of her favorite and most loved stories like “Space Man” or “Margaret and Beak Discuss Jazz For the Last Time” alongside her newer pieces, like “Collective Nouns for Humans in the Wild”, which opens the book and was chosen for Best Small Fictions in 2018. Think of Wild Life: Collected Works as a digitally remastered greatest hits collection with bonus, never before heard tracks!
If you are new to Kathy Fish this is an amazing introduction to curated works spanning more than 15 years of her prolific career. And if you are already a fan you’re going to want to add Wild Life: Collected Works 2003-2018 to your Kathy Fish collection pronto.
Until the end of World War II this ragtag army, whose ranks are filled with a hodgepodge of unlikely heroes unite to sabotage the retreat and occupation of the Nazis. The billboard at Poggio Mirteto reminds us of these heroes who rose during a terrifying and bloody period.
Sophie van Llewyn was born in Romania. She now lives in Germany. Her prose has been published by Ambit, the 2017 & 2018 NFFD Anthologies, New Delta Review, Banshee, New South Journal etc. and has been placed in various competitions – including TSS (you can read her Flash Fiction 
Open Your Art Writing Retreats 