An Interview with Writer Avitus B. Carle

Contributed

THURSDAY, APR. 10

Avitus B. Carle's first book, These Warm Bodies, a collection of flash fiction, won the Moon City Press Fiction Award. She lives and writes outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of Old Dominion University with a BA in English–Creative Writing, West Chester University with an MA in English, and Spalding University with an MFA in Fiction. Her flash, fiction, and nonfiction have appeared in F(r)iction, Jellyfish Review, The Offing, No Contact, Lost Balloon, The Rumpus, JMWW, Hippocampus Magazine, and elsewhere. Her story Soba was included in the 2020 Best of the Net Anthology, and her experimental flash fiction, Abernathy_Resume.docx, was included in the 2022 Best of the Net Anthology. Her story A Lethal Woman was included in the 2022 Best Small Fictions Anthology.

Alivia Schell-Hernandez (AS-H): When and why did you start writing?
Avitus Carle (AC): I have always been a storyteller, however, not always in the best way. Some might call the stories I told as a child "lies," but I like to think my words and sentences had a very creative flare. For example, when my parents saw patches of the carpet missing, I saw an opportunity to tell a story about how I assisted my father in cutting the grass, just indoors and with scissors to keep the carpet from growing.
I didn't start writing seriously until 6th grade. My teacher tasked each student with the responsibility of crafting a book of poems. My poems were terrible, but I loved the aspect of creation. Of having my words bound into this singular space but also that each word led to a story which led to this book that I'd created.

AS-H: Do you have a specific writing process or specific writing habits?

AC: I write everything by hand first. Even my responses to this interview are first written by hand and then typed. Writing by hand eliminates the temptation of opening a new screen or deleting everything all at once. When I erase something, I have to work a little harder to do so, the same way I have to consider my word choices since I can't right-click for a synonym on a piece of paper. There are still distractions and losses, however, I find writing by hand forces me to focus more on the story rather than those distractions. An added bonus in writing flash fiction by hand is that I can sit for a few hours and get the heart or the meat of the story down in one sitting.

AS-H: A lot of your fiction is very short. Flash-fiction and micro-fiction. Why do you find yourself drawn to shorter forms of storytelling? What can short-form fiction achieve that long- form fiction can't? Do you "force" yourself to write in these shorter forms, or do they come naturally to you?
AC: I never force myself to write or else my readers will be able to tell. The story won't have the same amount of impact or emotional resonance I want readers to take away once finished reading. That's also why I'm drawn to flash and micro fiction, to really focus on those moments that resonate with readers. Flash and micro also provide the space for experimentation. Receipts, puzzles, resumes—all of these forms are short in order to keep audiences engaged with the material. The same can be said about flash and micro fiction. I want readers to join me in the moments I present on the page. One moment that will remain with them long after they've finished reading.

AS-H: Heavy subjects like distant mothers and absent husbands and fathers show up quite a bit in your work, but there is also playfulness and humor. How do you approach subject matter and tone in your work?
AC: I'm always looking for new ways to engage with difficult topics. Stories that can be found in my collection These Worn Bodies focus on alienation and loneliness but are told in the form of a complaint letter or from the point-of-view of a zombie or a dandelion. A father leaves his family and the only way for the daughter to process his absence is to explore the different definitions of "close." Obsession is a gerbil named Gertrude Stein. Two people live through their relationship falling apart during the apocalypse because of a mannequin named Lorraine. I ask myself, "How can I complicate this story for my characters? How does the setting, point-of-view, or who they are distract or hinder them from achieving their goals within the story?" Adding the occasional oddity helps readers remember the events that have taken place, but, for me, the secret lies within a carefully placed and constructed character that either stumbles upon or causes the shift in the story. The shift that they can't come back from, that changes everything.

AS-H: What writers have most influenced your writing?
AC: I have to, first and foremost, mention the writers whose works I'm constantly reading. Toni Morrison, Sonia Sanchez, Crystal Wilkinson, Octavia Butler, Fredrik Backman, Lang Leav, Leah Johnson, Julie Otsuka, Tillie Walden, Rachel Harper, Jesmyn Ward, and so many others. I also want to spotlight some of my fellow flash writers who continue to inspire me: Kathy Fish, Tara Campbell, DeMisty Bellinger, Tommy Dean, Exodus Oktavia Brownlow, K-Ming Chang, Lindsey Pharr, Melissa Llanes Brownlee, Cathy Ulrich, Mario Aliberto III, and so many more!

AS-H: What's the most important piece of advice you could give a young writer?
AC: My most important piece of advice I'd give to any writer is to advocate for yourself. If you don't love, believe in, or think your work will get you into the school, fellowship, residency, or literary magazine that you want, why should anyone else? When writers chase after what they want, they learn what needs to be done to become better. How to make their stories better and how far their words and stories can take them. However, if a writer isn't the first to advocate for their work, no one else will, and no one will fight for the work if the author doesn't first.

AS-H: What are you working on now?
AC: I'm currently working on several small projects. Always writing and, hopefully, one of these small projects will grow into the next all encompassing work-in-progress. Until then, I'm just putting words on the page, teaching workshops, and celebrating my new flash fiction collection, These Worn Bodies.

Alivia Schell-Hernandez, a student in the BFA in Creative Writing Program at Penn State Behrend, interviewed fiction writer Avitus B. Carle in anticipation of her visit to Behrend as part of the Smith Creative Writers Reading Series. Carle will read from her work on Thursday, Apr. 10th, at 6:00 p.m. in the Metzgar building. For more information visit: behrend.psu.edu/readings