The Attic Institute

Attic founder David Biespiel's much-anticipated first novel to be published Oct 2023. In his thirteenth book, acclaimed poet, critic, and memoirist, David Biespiel turns to the novel to tell a story about Texas that has few, if any, parallels in Texas literature. Pre-order: http://atticinstitute.com/node/2816?fbclid=IwAR0naYrB1fIaO8TZ6oyKYq7hDhAUSencMkgeNl-pqBzHeon22FfCxNOIsP4

As a prolific writer, editor, ghost writer, manuscript consultant, teacher, and more, Lee Montgomery is one of the Attic Institute's beloved writing fellows. In her interview with us, Montgomery talks bout her literary pursuits, her love for Melissa Febos, and her time in the Portland literary community:

"Q: What have you read recently that you really enjoyed?

A: I am reading Melissa Febos’ Bodywork and loving it. (I love pretty much everything she writes.) I just finished and admired Very Cold People by Sarah Manguso and am attempting (again) Matrix by Lauren Groff. I am a fan of Groff but am having a little difficulty getting into 12th century nuns. I’m off to War and Peace this summer along with this companion piece Tolstoy Together, edited by Yiyun Lee.

Q: As a writer working across multiple genres, do you start a new writing project without thinking about how it might be categorized upon publication, or is it the other way around?

A: I usually do know what genre I am working. Fiction and nonfiction use different muscles. That said, I often cross over. A great deal of my fiction—my stories for example are all autobiographical. And I have a finished book of essays that I’ve been thinking about changing into stories. A side note, I never intended to write nonfiction. I learned to write on community newspapers but was wholly committed to writing fiction. Until I wasn’t."

Read the full interview: http://atticinstitute.com/node/2762

Need some book recs? You're in luck! Matthew Dickman talks books and writing community in his interview with us:

"I loved Nina Maclaughlin's 'Wake, Siren' as well as Gwen E. Kirby's 'S**t Cassandra Saw,' Missouri William's novel 'The Doloriad,' Tove Ditlevsen's 'The Faces,' Eimear McBride's 'Mouthpieces,' Ali Smith's 'Public Library,' and Wanda Coleman's complete 'American Sonnets' which Black Sparrow Press just put out…"

Read the full interview: http://atticinstitute.com/node/2753

Portland native and poet extraordinaire Matthew Dickman answered a few questions about his work and life as a writer:

"When it comes to writing about your family, how do you honor them in your work? Do your considerations of how to render them as characters shift as you approach sending a manuscript out for publication?

This is a great question. One way I honor my family is by not writing about everything they do. For instance, with my new book Husbandry—which is mainly about parenting, being a single father to two boys, the anxieties of parenting, etc—the majority of my experiences with my children have not been written about in the book..."

Read the full interview: http://atticinstitute.com/node/2753

Mixtape Poems: Building a Sequence Workshop w/ Michael Dickman

"In this workshop we will read and explore sequential poems and where they might overlap with hybrid literary forms and even film. We will build our own sequential poems using some of the moves we've discovered together. You will leave with your own "mixtape poem", a poem as thrilling as the chaotic, elliptical and surprising worlds we all inhabit."

Learn more: http://atticinstitute.com/node/2750