From Our Soundbooth | November 17, 2017

In this episode of The Missouri Review‘s Soundbooth Podcast, we sit down with Jane Gillette, author of The Trail of the Demon and Other Stories, the first book from The Missouri Review‘s new imprint, Missouri Review Books.

Gillette is the author of over 25 short stories that have appeared in journals such as Michigan Quarterly ReviewVirginia Quarterly Review, Yale Review, Zyzzyva, Colorado Quarterly and The Missouri Review, among others. Her fiction has received the O. Henry Prize, the Laurence Foundation Prize and the William Peden Prize. During her long career in landscape architecture and historic preservation, Gillette has also published 5 books of non-fiction, over 150 features and various articles of criticism on the subject.

The Trail of the Demon and Other Stories, Gillette’s first book, is a compilation of twelve short stories that were published independently over a span of nearly thirty years. Each story includes some form of a demon or demonic presence, which often takes shape within the minds of the main characters themselves: the haunting memory of a child’s death or the need to steal precious jewelry from client’s houses, for instance. The stories take place in locations as diverse as Washington, D.C and Muncie, Indiana and contemplate on themes of class, race, education, romance and friendship.

In this podcast, TMR Audio Editor Bailey Boyd sits down with Gillette to discuss the act of compiling these individual stories into a unified book, how the stories’ varied locations talk to one another, Gillette’s advice on how to write about social themes with justice, and what to do with hundreds of rejection letters.

Interview conducted by TMR Audio Editor, Bailey Boyd.

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