Fictionaut Five: Meg Pokrass

In a reversal of roles, today’s installment of the Fictionaut Five features regular interviewer Meg Pokrass in a Q&A with Matt Baker, associate publisher of The Oxford American.  Meg is a flash fiction writer and poet who edits for Smokelong Quarterly and serves as a mentor for the Dzanc Creative Writing Sessions. Her chapbook Lost & Found was released last week by Bannock Street Press.  Meg has published over 100 stories and poems, and she offers writing prompts on her popular blog.

Q (Matt Baker): You write very short fiction. Is this the format you feel most comfortable in and why? Have you tried writing longer works? Or do you reach a certain word count (say, 500 words) and start to get nervous and panic?

I like to write in little pictures and images of an imaginary life. To get to those images, I use both associative and flawed logic. For me, writing is about imagining living truthfully under imaginary circumstances. I put myself in the mind of the character, as I did as an actress years ago. I like to create moments that allow the reader access to the character, even if these moments are invisible to the character as they happen. In life, I feel that so much is unnoticed by people as they live it, and only much later do these realities become conscious. Many moments feel strange to me in general, I am a pretty edgy person perhaps – so there is a lot of material to draw from! I have (lately) been stringing the little moments together and making longer pieces.

What story or book do you feel closest to?

The story/book I feel closest to is Mona Simpson’s Anywhere But Here. It is a story about father loss. I lost a father. And I identify with every word in the novel. I also would love to write a novel that comes near to tackling that topic, the way the brilliant Ms. Simpson did.

What are you working on now?

Well, I just released my first chapbook, Lost & Found. I am working on making little videos of myself reading (and in some cases acting) my stories! I have work coming out soon in Pank, Gigantic, Gargoyle and others. And hey, I have the honor of currently stewarding the Fictionaut Five Series. I’ve loved interviewing authors about their work. I’m never bored!

If you could have dinner with one writer, musician, or filmmaker (living or dead) who would decorate your dining table? And why?

I would have dinner with Jack Lemmon (the late actor). To me his genius for both comedy and drama and his obvious love for process intrigues me to no end. I could watch him act forever.

What was your/is your favorite car?

My big sister’s beat up barely running Austin Healy Sprite – my first car. It was nicknamed the “death trap”.

Name a recent movie that you hated.

Ironically, it was the Woody Allen/Larry David movie titled Whatever Works.

What city disappointed you?

Vancouver, but it was because the people looked like Southern Californians. They were all tan and blond and well dressed and sinewy. I grew up in Southern California, and wanted to see something different.

The biggest prize you’ve ever won?

The only prize I ever won (and so, the biggest) was “The Screaming “O” Octopus Toy” in an adult microfiction contest. The contest was to “describe the best orgasm you ever had in 10 words”. Here was my answer: “There is a God!” she screamed – alive as a jellyfish”. Anyway, I never received the toy. I even wrote to the publisher and told him I never received it. I still haven’t gotten it. What’s up with that?

Who was your first kiss?

Cary Grant! Of course!

The Fictionaut Five is our ongoing series of interviews with Fictionaut authors.