GennaRose Nethercott (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow '18) knew she had to pursue writing as a career when, during college, taking breaks from writing caused her "bouts of ennui." "I thought, if this is how it's going to be, then I've got to go all in. I'm going to do this for real." Since then, she's written everything from stories to poems to song lyrics to … [Read more...]
Interviews
Shilpi Suneja: Writing a Silent History
Shilpi Suneja's (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow '18) novel-in-progress A House of Caravans remembers a history that's often been silent. The story is inspired by Suneja's grandfather's experience during The Partition of India in 1947, when the British Indian Empire was divided into India and Pakistan. Suneja says the disruption it caused still shapes the sociocultural … [Read more...]
Alexis Ivy: What Counts
Alexis Ivy (Poetry Fellow '18) can't get away from poetry. It informs her work in social justice, working with homeless populations. Even when she writes in different literary forms, the focus and specificity of poetry carries over. In this audio clip, Ivy reads her poem Taking the Homeless Census. She also discusses the poem's origin as well as the way creativity, social … [Read more...]
Anna VQ Ross: Poetry in an Apprehensive Climate
Anna VQ Ross (Poetry Fellow '18) writes poems that confront our current climate of apprehension and disconnection in an effort "to pierce it and understand it." In this audio clip, Ross reads her poem Almost a Mothering. She also discusses the poem's origin as well as the questions that drive her work. (Though Mass Cultural Council interviewed her long before the COVID-19 … [Read more...]
P. Carl: The Story of Becoming a Man
In a recent feature on WBUR's Radio Boston, P. Carl (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow '18) discussed why he wrote his new memoir, Becoming a Man: The Story of a Transition. In part, it was because he didn't see trans stories like his being told, and "any time you're adding to the stories that are missing in our culture, that might be helpful somewhere down the line." It … [Read more...]