Years ago, inspired in the most literal sense by Chekhov’s story “Misery,” in which a cab-driver finds no one will listen to his sad life’s story and so ends up telling his horse, I penned an animal-themed short fiction about a cat that brings a bird into a man’s apartment. I was studying at the time with James Lasdun, who hammered into his students the importance of leveraging small details – movements, objects, turns of phrase – to open up a character’s inner emotional life, and I was trying to use the bird’s intrusion to discuss the main character’s relationship to his masculinity. The story went through many iterations, and grow significantly from that seed. It’s called “The Width of Instinct,” and I’m really happy to have it on Volume 1 Brooklyn.

In other literary news, just when I thought I was done with literary series, I got pulled back in… I’ll be taking over as co-curator and co-host of Pete’s Reading Series, which takes place every other Thursday at Pete’s Candy Store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in the Fall, Winter, and Spring. Pete’s is one of my favorite spots to see authors, and is home to the best little stage in New York City. If you’re in town, please come by some time and say hi!