A feature by Sofia Samatar
For me, the space of writing has always been visual. When I am starting a new piece, I usually see images before anything else (for example: a tropical farm, an animal or a person, an illustration in a children’s book). Often these images are vivid, but sometimes they are blurry or faint, so that I can’t completely make them out. As I write, they begin to define themselves, coming more strongly into view. I see a short story or a novel as a space, not as a linear set of events.
A feature by John Vincler
Danielle Dutton: I first came across the photographs when a copy of Hardly More than Ever arrived at the office of The Denver Quarterly, where I was, at that time, associate editor. This must have been around 2005. I was opening the mail. I suppose it was a review copy (which seems incredibly generous, since it’s this large, gorgeous hardback), but I’m sorry to say that it never got reviewed because I stole it. Just tucked it into my bag and got on the bus. Anyway, I was already, at that time, writing the initial fragments that I’d eventually stitch together to form the weirdly quilted fabric of SPRAWL, but it was very early days, and the photographs entered the space of my writing almost immediately after I got the book home. . .
