What was the inspiration for this story?

This was one of those stories where the first sentence, “We called it the monster because we could,” really did come first. I kept turning it in my head, and it sort of acted as a key that opened up the rest of the world to me. The sense of place and setting were also foremost in my mind as I wrote this piece. I was looking for somewhere to escape to, and emo volant (the restaurant) felt like the perfect hole-in-the-wall I could find comfort and solace in.

This is such a fascinating story with so many elements working in cohesion with each other. What made you weave different foods and languages in this story? Was there any goal in mind or it came naturally to you?

By default, I’m a maximalist. I love adding things in, and watching how the layers come out. Here, I wanted in particular to convey a whiff of the Silk Road, as well as a sense of collision and/or melding of different flavors and languages, because that history felt central to who Yerim and Faride are, and to a certain extent Miguel, as well.

The section about the holes was very interesting. Was this an intentional metaphor for the story?

I’m always fascinated by holes! They create borders between presences and absences, so in a way, they bring to further relief not just what isn’t there, but also what is, right? They also remind us how we can’t think of one without the other. So definitely, much of that thought probably figured as an undercurrent when writing those parts, though I wouldn’t necessarily say they were intended as metaphors for a specific idea or a thing.

How do you think literature, especially fantasy fiction, allows us to think about issues around violence in more complicated ways?

This is such an interesting question, and something that’s been on my mind a lot. I don’t know if I have a fleshed out answer, except maybe to say that fiction allows us to be more elliptical, or, in the case of fantasy fiction in particular, allows us to build this fantastical scaffolding around them. Sometimes this may seem like we’re taking the long road, like we’re not facing them head on, but often, I think the contour of that detour actually enables us to get at the deeper truth of them somehow. Like Faride says near the end (and Wittgenstein, under different contexts), “what cannot be said must be passed over in silence;” but like Yerim says, “sometimes, distortions are beautiful.” And maybe fiction allows us different ways of distorting, of making evident the distortions of things that can’t really be said.

Is there a project you are currently working on? And if not are there any themes, objects, or news that might be tickling your fingers?

I’m working on a linked story collection that will likely include this story. If the readers liked the characters that cameo-ed here, good news, they’re coming back! The collection will feature various shops and characters that make a shared neighborhood: a bakery, a bath house, a laundromat, and so on. People will weave in and out, dealing with strange happenings (!!) that seem to plague this semi-neglected K-town. Other than that, I’m also noodling on a novel. As to themes and objects that have been tickling my fingers: artichokes, oysters, and glassblowing.