A Conversation with Shane Kowalski
Shane Kowalski is an author and employee of the United States Postal Service from Bucks County, PA. He received his undergraduate degree from Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA and later received his MFA in fiction from Cornell University in Ithica, NY. Shane’s short fiction and poetry has been featured in Electric Literature, SLICE, Puerto del Sol, Tammy, Juked, Hobart, and other online and in-print publications. Stories for Baby, a collection of Shane’s flash fiction, is published in Meetinghouse’s inaugural print issue.
Avery Saklad: When did you begin to take an interest in writing, and how did you go about pursuing this interest professionally? What are your other jobs or professional endeavors?
Shane Kowalski: In the fifth grade, I wrote a very short story about a dream I had that the teacher read out loud and I thought, This feels good. I guess going to get an MFA was the most professional thing I’ve done to pursue writing.
AS: What are your professional and creative aspirations?
SK: Honestly, to write things I’d like to read. If I get paid to do that in some capacity at some point, that would be cool. But if not, that’s equally cool, too.
AS: What is the mission of your work? What fuels you?
SK: Again, it’s probably—and this is probably from a selfish place—to write things I would like to read.
AS: What do you find meaningful or rewarding about writing?
SK: The privacy, the stillness, the ability to complete an entire story with the choice of being able to never show it to anyone ever.
AS: From where do you get inspiration and what is the inspiration behind the pieces in Meetinghouse?
SK: It’s honestly tough to say where my inspiration comes from. It’s mysterious to me, and I’d prefer to keep it that way. The inspiration behind the pieces in Meetinghouse, I believe, come from just trying on motivational voices.
AS: What does your creative process look like?
SK: It looks a lot like I’m doing nothing. A lot of internal things happen, and then all of a sudden, some writing happens. Usually when I have the time.
AS: How has COVID impacted your creative process and/or content?
SK: It’s strange. I don’t think COVID has impacted my process. I’ve continued to work through the pandemic (I work for the United States Postal Service) and so it continued to be about finding time to just sit down and write.
AS: How have you maintained a writing community during the pandemic?
SK: I honestly think just continuing to read books has helped.
AS: What authors, artists, or icons inspire you most in your work and in your life?
SK: Probably too many to name, but let’s see – Lydia Davis, Chelsey Minnis, George Saunders, Jane Bowles, Robert Walser, Ottessa Moshfegh, Cesar Aira… just to name a few off the top of my head…
AS: What impact do you imagine your work to have on your readers, or how do you hope that your work impacts your readers?
SK: The more I think about it, the more I hope readers will laugh. I’m not sure in exactly which way, but I think laughter is a great response. It’s healthy. It feels good to laugh. And if I can make a little bit of people laugh by reading my stuff, then I’d feel pretty good about that.
AS: What projects are you working on now?
SK: I’m currently finishing up/revising a short story collection of very short fiction called Small Moods that will be out later this year through Future Tense Books. And also revising a short novel I finished a couple years ago.
AS: What do you imagine is the future of the literary magazine? What about the future of in-print literature?
SK: Hopefully more inclusivity and less hierarchy.
AS: In your experience, how can storytelling create community?
SK: Whew. I mean, I feel like no community would exist without storytelling. Actually, I might have to think about that. What does a community without storytelling look like, sound like, etc.? What do the members of that community do? Not talk to each other? But not talking to anybody is just another kind of storytelling…
AS: What are your favorite books? Favorite authors?
SK: My favorite novel is Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles. I think it’s an excellent, weird, and hilarious novel. Beyond that, I honestly don’t have the courage to name favorites.
AS: What shows, music, or other media are you interested in right now?
SK: I have to drive around a lot for my job and so I’ve been listening to the radio in my car a lot. I will not play my own choice of music. I like being totally captive to whatever someone else has decided to play. Sometimes it’s a good song, sometimes it’s a song I’d rather not hear, and sometimes it’s a song I didn’t know but end up liking it.
AS: How do you like to spend your free time?
SK: I usually like to watch horror movies, Lifetime movies, or Hallmark movies in my free time.
AS: What is your favorite part of each day?
SK:This changes from day to day. Sometimes it’s the end of the day, when sleep is soon. Sometimes it’s when I’m eating a meal. Sometimes it’s when I’m just sitting down in the bathroom, to be honest. I guess the common factor would be that I’m home in this scenario. Being home is my favorite thing.
AS: Is there anything else you’d like to share?
SK: I just want to say congratulations to you guys on this really cool new journal. I hope it lives on for ages. And thank you very much for letting me be a part of its first issue.