BOOKS
The Black Issue 2023 Author Interview: Malachi McIntosh
First hone your craft via the short story, says Malachi McIntosh, former editor of literary magazine Wasafari. Then you can attempt the novel…
Questions by Morgan Omotoye, author
What is it about short stories that appeal to you? I think I’m a bit of an accidental short story writer. Most of my education took place in the US and my desire to write really crystallised while I was over there doing a BA. At the time I studied, the model I absorbed for a writing career was that you hone your craſt learning the art of the short story and then you, effectively, graduate to writing novels. During my BA I wrote a lot of short stories—all in pursuit of some kind of mastery, and then a magic graduation that never quite came about. What I like about short stories is that they offer infinite possibilities for play. Experimentation in a novel can get exhausting, but the brevit of the short form means you can atempt some zany things and not overstay your welcome in your readers’ heads. That’s kind of how they function for me: as playgrounds and laboratories to try things out, test ideas, discover answers I didn’t expect, and explore.
What resonated with and surprised you while compiling your stories into the collection? So many things. This project began with a recognition that I had years’ worth of stories on my hard drive that I had never really tried hard to do anything with. I would send
16 26th May 2023
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