our interview with donald quist at craft

I ran across Donald Quist and his publications when PAST TEN solicited work from me (he was their founding editor). I was pleased when he agreed to serve as guest judge for this year's Memoir Excerpt & Essay Contest at CRAFT.  The interview with Donald Quist that my coeditor Shara Kronmal and I did over email was published today at CRAFT. It wasn't necessarily easier for two people to do an interview, and not easier to have it edited by our interviews editor and editor-in-chief. But I love the result, and it was a learning experience. Donald has published several books and has so many useful things to say about writing creative nonfiction (which he teaches at the University of Missouri). Among them, what strikes me today is his comment about vulnerability:

"Vulnerability is the engine of creative nonfiction. Even if it’s a more research-based piece, even if you are writing about a subject that is not you, we’re going to want the 'you' to do some contextualizing for us. We’re going to want to see you, the author, because we want to know why you care. It’s just a natural human instinct. We’re wired for this type of connection. If you explain to us your stakes, if you explain why you care, why it’s important to you, we’re way more likely to be sympathetic to the subject. I see a lot of great writing fail to resonate because people think they themselves are not interesting enough to be present in the text. They say, 'But it’s not about me!' Nah, fam. It is about you. "
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