An Interview with Morgan Talty
Our forthcoming 2022 issue of The Idaho Review will feature “Houses,” a short story by Morgan Talty. Talty is a citizen of the Penobscot Indian Nation where he grew up. He received his BA in Native American Studies from Dartmouth College and his MFA in fiction from Stonecoast’s low-residency program. His story collection Night of the Living Rez is forthcoming from Tin House Books (2022), and his work has appeared in Granta, The Georgia Review, Shenandoah, TriQuarterly, Narrative Magazine, LitHub, and elsewhere. A winner of the 2021 Narrative Prize, Talty’s work has been supported by the Elizabeth George Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts (2022). Talty teaches courses in both English and Native American Studies, and he is on the faculty at the Stonecoast MFA in creative writing. Talty is also a Prose Editor at The Massachusetts Review.
Our staff member Hillary Ann Colton––who was introduced to Talty’s work through the magazine––chatted over email with Morgan about “Houses.”
IR: Can you tell me what the seed was for this story? Was there something that you saw or heard that inspired you?
Talty: To be honest, I'm not quite sure what the seed was for this story. I recall, at the time, wanting to write about video games, and I had actually tried my hand at writing a story where two characters are playing a video game, and the story is actually about the decisions they make in the game, but I couldn't pull it off. Thus, I think this story is a product of that unsuccessful one.
IR: The story characterizes place so well. Specifically, the house, with its human-like reactions and haunting undercurrent. I'm hoping you'll talk a little about this.
Talty: Place is so important to me. In many ways, I often think of place as a character. I mean, the world/nature/chemical make-up of the planet has actual desires––it reacts to human interaction. Think of the way the land responds to fracking or the atmosphere responds to carbon emissions. The world is as alive as us. As I see it, the world is part of us––a thing that keeps us alive. Of course, my story isn't about any of this, but this is nonetheless the things that guide my approach to using place––making it feel human-like and present.
IR: There are multiple layers of conflict that immerse the reader into these characters' lives. I'm wondering about how you found the balance of what to share and what to leave out, in order to create a palpable yet quiet tension.
Talty: Short fiction, to me, gets its power by what's left out. I suppose when I'm drafting, I'm constantly trying different angles, constantly asking "what if," what if I do this, what if I do that?” My balance of what to share and what to leave out––to create that tension––has everything to do with my persistence to try different things and not give up.
IR: The ending to the story, the way the narrator feels, is very different from where the story starts. Was this something that came to you while writing, or did you know the story would end that way?
Talty: I had no idea where the story would end. In fact, the ending that's there now is the first draft ending. I wrote it, and then went to type another line or went to push the story, but I was like, "Wait...I think it's over. I think this is it." I work my way through writing by feeling emotion, and the end just felt right in a way, capturing that different feeling from where the story started.
IR: What are you currently reading? Is there one writer that you return to often?
Talty: I'm currently reading some books that have yet to come out and are all delightful! I'm reading If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery, More Than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez, and Mother Ocean Father Nation by Nishant Batsha. Pre-order these books! As for a writer I return to again and again––I hope this doesn't sound too obnoxious––but Anton Chekhov.