News & Notes
Profiles
A Curious Observer
Synne Borgen is the author of “Observations on Ice,” an essay featured in our June 2023 issue. . . . Synne bowled me over with her descriptions of the Arctic’s alien (and alienating) landscape — I think the piece works as both exciting travelogue and introspective memoir. We spoke recently about her essay and the Arctic Circle expeditionary residency program she recounts.
By Hank Stephenson, Manuscript Reader • June 7, 2023An Inner State
When I first read the essay Kate Vieira sent us, “All-American” [May 2023], I fell in love with how she invites readers into a subculture that I previously knew nothing about. I’ve never been someone who cares for cheerleading, but the universality of this coming-of-age piece struck a chord with me. . . . During our interview, we bonded over the messiness of memoir and motherhood.
By Anna Gazmarian, Outreach Coordinator • May 22, 2023Camille Guthrie on Writing Fiction
Camille Guthrie sent her short story “Dating Profile” to The Sun in response to a submission call for humorous writing. “Make us laugh,” we said, and she certainly did. I spoke with Camille about books, TV shows, and the challenges of writing humor, and she even offered a small preview of what’s next for the narrator of “Dating Profile.”
By Staci Kleinmaier, Assistant Editor • April 18, 2023Rachel J. Elliott on Twenty-Five Years with The Sun
Rachel Elliott started at The Sun as an editorial office assistant in 1997, processing the mail and fulfilling book orders. Now, as editorial associate and photo editor, there is not much of the magazine production process that Rachel isn’t involved in.
By Staci Kleinmaier, Assistant Editor • January 18, 2023Finding the Story
Elana Kupor is the author of “The Thistle Steps,” an essay featured in our October 2022 issue. Kupor has been hard of hearing since birth, and in her essay she interweaves her present-day experiences with scenes from her childhood. Sun Editorial Assistant Staci Kleinmaier recently spoke with Kupor about writing, identity, and disability.
By Staci Kleinmaier • October 18, 2022One Who Really Writes
Author Becky Mandelbaum discusses “Emotional Morons,” a short story featured in our July 2022 issue, touching on the story’s distinctive setting at an artificial lake in Kansas, the main character’s profound insecurities, and more.
By Hank Stephenson • July 5, 2022Two Writers, One Name
Sun readers who pay close attention to our contributors’ page may have noticed a recent coincidence: our October 2021 issue featured an essay by Michelle Herman, and the following month a poem by Michele Herman. The first name wasn’t a typo.
May 10, 2022What Poetry Can Do
Since the pandemic lockdown began, Kathryn Jordan has treated her time like a sabbatical: taking morning hikes in the woods, playing piano, and focusing on her writing. She met with Sun Editorial Assistant Staci Kleinmaier via video call to discuss writing and her poem “My Late Breast” in our April 2021 issue. This poem is Jordan’s first publication in The Sun.
April 5, 2021The Life of Saint James
At one point I had over three hundred pen pals, many of them Sun readers who supported me with letters and stamps. They offered money, but the state would routinely take 60 percent, and I would rather starve than give them that; so I asked only for books and postage. Starting a literary career behind bars requires heroic amounts of U.S. postage.
Amy Louise Ouzoonian • March 5, 2021
The Best Thing About Fiction
“White Folks,” a short story in our September 2020 issue, was written by John Holman, who grew up in Durham, North Carolina, just a few miles from The Sun’s editorial offices in Chapel Hill. Holman was preparing to teach an online class at Georgia State University for the first time due to the pandemic when Sun Associate Editor Finn Cohen caught up with him.
By Finn Cohen • September 22, 2020
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