The latest issue of Lowestoft Chronicle features my interview with poet and short story writer Jim Daniels. He’s a man with forty-two books and four independent films to his name. A man not short of accolades. Of his poetry, Carol Muske of the New York Times once wrote, “…the unrelentingly literal and rhythmic talk in these new poems demands fresh attention. The reader begins to listen to something deadly familiar, deadpan, yet original.” Of his stories, two-time Oscar-nominated director/screenwriter John Sayles remarked, in praise of the collection Trigger Man, that Daniels’ characters “inhabit an emotional demolition derby, where even the ‘winners’ do as much damage to themselves as they do to others.”
Arguably, Daniels could place his literary efforts in any of the top-tier journals, and yet he graciously bolsters the littler venues with new prose and poetry. You can find an excellent story of his, “Appropriate Distance,” in issue #54 of Lowestoft Chronicle, and this month, in issue #57, there’s his nonfiction piece “In the Secret Village in France.” It’s a short but satisfying piece in which a mysterious neighbor with mythical powers brings hope and joy to a sleepy rural community. You can read it here.
Daniels’ most recent story collection, The Luck of the Fall, was published last June by Michigan State University Press. This seventh collection is full or varied voices and the author covers all sorts of heavy subjects, including addiction and recovery, grief, and mental illness. Daniels has given a ton of interviews over the years, but in this latest one he discusses some of the stories in his recent collection, as well as his brand-new chapbook, Comment Card. You can read the interview at this weblink.
