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Behind the Words: Kendall Pack
Kendall Pack’s short story “Exposure” was published in Spry Literary Journal’s tenth issue. His work has also appeared in The Disconnect and Superstition Review, and he is a former contributor to Utah Stories. He lives in Mesa, Arizona with his wife and two daughters where he continues to write and perform in several mediums, including narrative podcasts and an annual play that finally answers the question, “Do we really need more Thanksgiving content?” In the Fall of 2022, he will attend ASU Law School. Here Kendall and Spry contributor, Kristin Tenor, discuss “Exposure,” the importance of mentorship and reading good books as well as what’s up next for...
Read MoreBehind the Words: Claire Oleson
Claire Oleson is a queer writer and 2020 Fiction Fellow at the Center for Fiction. She is a 2019 graduate of Kenyon College, where she studied English and Creative Writing. Her work has been published by the Kenyon Review online, the University of Kentucky’s graduate literary journal Limestone, the LA Review of Books, and Newfound Press, among others. Her chapbook of short stories debuted May, 2020 from Newfound Press. She currently lives and works in NYC. She’s 4’10” and has been for a long time. Here, Claire joins fellow Spry contributor Kendall Pack in a conversation about her writing. What are you inspired by lately? Silly hope really hits the sweet spot....
Read MoreBehind the Words: Randy Osborne
Randy Osborne’s essay collection, Over the River and Stabbed to Death, won the international Beverly Prize and is forthcoming from Eyewear/Black Spring in the U.K. His work is listed in the Notables section of Best American Essays for 2015, 2016, and 2018. It has been included in four print anthologies and nominated three times for the Pushcart Prize. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Salon, The Rumpus, and many small literary magazines. He lives in Atlanta. Here, we interview him about his essay “Out of the Garden” published in the sixth issue of Spry Literary Journal. As a fellow CNF writer, I know how tough it can be to write about...
Read MoreBehind the Words: Michael Chin
Michael Chin has had work in various publications, including The Normal School, Passages North, Barrelhouse, Hobart, Iron Horse Literary Review, Front Porch Journal, Bellevue Literary Review, Prairie Schooner online, Waccamaw, and Word Riot. He has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize Best New Poets, Best Microfiction, and Best of the Net honors and had work on the Longlist for Wigleaf’s Top 50 Very Short Fictions (2017). His debut novel, My Grandfather’s an Immigrant, and So is Yours came out from Cowboy Jamboree Press in 2021. Here, we discuss his Issue 10 story, “Contortions.” What I love about this story is the relationship between the two sisters,...
Read MoreBehind the Words: Cathy Ulrich
Cathy Ulrich is a prolific writer and an incredible member of the literary community. She was published in Spry in 2015, and if memory serves me correctly, she’s been working with us as an editorial reader since that publication. Every issue, we offer our staff the opportunity to take a break — we’re an all volunteer team — and every issue, I watch my inbox with anxiety until Cathy responds…always with a note about how happy she’s be to continue working with us. And only then I can let out a sigh of relief. She is a quick reader, a detailed reader, and a dedicated reader. She encourages stories that may need small edits instead of immediately...
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