Emily Choate | writer

I’m very excited to share a Q&A I’ve done with Ottessa Moshfegh! Her marvelous novel, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, went paperback this summer. In the interview, she discusses her relationship to writing, several key elements of this novel, and an intriguing mention of her upcoming novel, which is set for release next spring. The Q&A is up today at the wondrous Chapter 16.

I’m especially pleased to share my involvement with the new literary journal, Peauxdunque Review. Starting now, in the lead-up to its second issue, I’ve begun work as Peauxdunque Review’s Fiction Editor. I had the pleasure of serving on the inaugural issue’s editorial review board. To watch this new endeavor taking shape inspired and galvanized me. In that Spring 2019 issue, which you can order here, I also wrote the first of what we hope to be an ongoing music column, exploring albums that, for one reason or another, have gone overlooked or underloved. My first column, devoted to Over The Rhine’s Meet Me At The End of The World, can be found on Peauxdunque Review’s website. Check out our journal, and if you write, consider sending us your work!

Recently, I had the chance to write a feature about an interesting reading series based in Knoxville, WordStream: The Weekly Writer’s Voice—a live weekly series which has also just launched a podcast, all in connection with Knoxville’s WDVX FM. WordStream aims to feature literary writers alongside songwriters and theatre artists. My feature is up today at Chapter 16.

I admit, while reviewing Andrew Lawler’s The Secret Token, I fell down the rabbit hole of curiosity about the fate of the lost colony of Roanoke, England’s first settlement in North America (during the late sixteenth century). That story’s mesmerizing ability to draw people into its vortex forms a big part of Lawler’s entertaining chronicle, which reveals exactly how relevant Roanoke remains to where we stand today. My review’s up today at Chapter 16.

I was moved and galvanized by reading Jessica Wilkerson’s To Live Here, You Have to Fight, which traces the contributions of women activists in the Appalachian labor and social-justice battles of the twentieth century. A book like this one provides a terrific corrective for cliché depictions of the region. You can read my review at the also-galvanizing Chapter 16.

I’m especially glad to share my review of Nora McInerny’s great new memoir, No Happy Endings.McInerny, who hosts the also-great “Terrible, Thanks for Asking,” is as funny as anyone could be about the collisions of joy and tragedy in our lives, how one doesn’t rub out the other. Big subject for me lately. You can read my review at Chapter 16 or in the Nashville Scene.

I’m thrilled to share my latest review for Chapter 16—this time, I got to delve into Sophia Shalmiyev’s captivating memoir, Mother Winter. I can think of so many readers I know who will love this book, especially those who enjoyed Maggie Nelson’s book, The Argonauts, or Carrie’s Brownstein’s memoir, Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl. My review of Mother Winter is up today at the marvelous Chapter 16.