NUNUM - A CANADIAN LITERARY JOURNAL DEDICATED TO FLASH FICTION
  • NUNUM
  • Nominations
  • Consultation
  • Manifesto
  • Blog
  • Masthead
  • Submissions
  • Anthologies

Meet NUNUM'S Contributor: Mandira Pattnaik

12/11/2021

0 Comments

 

NUNUM

Blending Flash Fiction & Art

Interview with Mandira Pattnaik

Picture
Mandira Pattnaik gave NUNUM a brilliant piece of flash called 'Unknot' for our Fall 2021 issue, and after reading it we were so looking forward this interview.

By now everyone knows how this starts, so we'll just get straight to it.

Mandira, what is the first book that you remember reading all by yourself?
Picture

Little Women.

Picture
Well that is a first, interesting. What about more recently, what was the last book you read that made you say damn that was a good book?

Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island.

Ah, that is a new one for me, thank you. What about when you are on holiday Mandira, who are your go-to writers when you need something to read on holiday?

​I read anything I fancy, preferring to pack in books on themes

that I might be interested in at that moment/working on. I’ve read travelogues, history, thrillers, brilliant bugs, space, really whatever that enthuses me.

What writer(s) or which book(s) influenced your decision to become a writer?

James Joyce, R.K. Narayanan, Arundhati Roy.

Picture

Which contemporary writer do you most admire?

Picture
Since I predominantly write flash, I admire contemporary flash writers like Nuala O’Connor, Kathy Fish, and also Lydia Davis. 

Is there a writing craft book that you would recommend to new writers?

I am not very drawn to craft books of any nature and on any subject. But there are a lot available and new writers can certainly read them.

Is there a writer who has influenced your current writing style?

No. I write essays, poems and hybrid too, and I do that precisely to be as varied as I can in both my style and approach, without any influences or set expectations of myself.

Pen, pencil or phone, which one do you reach for when you need to write something down?

Pen and paper, always!

​

Picture

Why write flash fiction?

Picture
The form is interesting. My first publication was a poem, many years ago! But when I started to write again, I was immediately attracted to the flash form and its possibilities.

What advice would you give someone who is just starting to send their work out to journals?


Read the journal you’re sending work to,

read what your contemporaries are writing, and finally, cultivate a unique way of looking at ordinary things.

Can you tell us something about “Unknot”?

It’s about a young girl called Nikki trapped in the circumstances of her life. She can see how she has a chance to escape her entrapment, but is repeatedly unsuccessful.

What was the inspiration behind it?
Picture

​How certain phases of our lives are sometimes like

Picture
concentric circles from where we wish to escape but can’t. This idea, where one returns to where one started, influenced this piece.

​Looking forward, what are your goals?

I’d like to keep writing as I’m doing now. I think I’ve been massively fortunate in the way my work is being received right now, and want to keep doing it.

Mandira Pattnaik is an Indian fiction writer and poet published

Picture
in print and online in over 150 journals/magazines across fifteen countries. Her writing features in Best Small Fictions 2021, Passages North, DASH, Miracle Monocle, Timber, Watershed Review, and Press53, among other publications. Pushcart, Best of the Net and Best Microfictions nominated, her fiction has been translated and highly commended by editors including Honorable Mention in CRAFT Flash Contest 2021, and Litro Summer Contest 2021. 

NUNUM

Blending Flash Fiction & Art

Picture
Consultation
Picture
Submissions
Picture
Nominations
Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    NUNUM

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Craft Essays
    Interviews
    MFA Dispatch
    Reviews

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • NUNUM
  • Nominations
  • Consultation
  • Manifesto
  • Blog
  • Masthead
  • Submissions
  • Anthologies