Q&A with Breakout 8 Winner Christopher Linforth
Christopher Linforth is a doctoral student working on a collection of stories set in the former Yugoslavia. These stories have appeared in Notre Dame Review, Day One, Grain, The Dalhousie Review, and other magazines.
Christopher is one of eight winners of the 2019 Breakout 8 Prize, co-sponsored by Epiphany and The Authors Guild. Read his prizewinning story “The Distortions” in the Fall/Winter 2019 Issue of Epiphany.
The first page of “The Distortions,” in our Fall/Winter 2019 issue.
How did you first come up with your winning piece?
I had an idea of a story between two distant relatives — one from America and one from the former Yugoslavia — and seeing how each would react to the other, having never previously met. Then on the way to a writing residency I had the good fortune to meet someone who had relatives from the former Yugoslavia and she told me of their family's difficulties in locating their birth records and obtaining a new passport. With this, I had the dramatic premise of my story.
What do you hope to gain from the year ahead?
I hope to sell my finished collection of stories set in the former Yugoslavia!
What, for you, is the most exciting development in contemporary literature?
Two things: 1. Seeing the growth of small presses in the US and the fresh literature they publish. 2. The wealth of work in translation now making waves.
What resources are most valuable for writers just breaking into publication territory?
I have always found Poets & Writers, Duotrope, and New Pages to be excellent sources of information.
Who is your favorite underappreciated author we should all be reading?
Outside of some American Literature classes, John Dos Passos is rarely read/discussed much anymore. His U.S.A. trilogy, written in a montage format, is both a groundbreaking and dazzling series of novels.
Do you have a memorable experience of an influential teacher you’d like to share?
Denis Johnson said to always remember the last thing you stole.
It’s been said we write what we obsess over. What themes do you find keep cropping up in your writing again and again?
Characters trying to come to terms with their homeland.
What was your favorite book growing up?
Paul Auster’s The New York Trilogy. I must have read that book several times before heading off to college.
If the pursuit of writing is a quiet solo one, what are some ways you connect with other writers?
I love attending writing residences. Here, you work all day then enjoy a meal and a glass of wine with fellow writers in the evenings.
What’s one bit of advice you wish you’d have gotten early on?
Write your story to the end. Then go back and revise.
