Interview with Nan Wigington

Meet NUNUM's Contributor: NAN WIGINGTON

12/7/2023

NUNUM

Blending Flash Fiction & Art

Interview with Nan Wigington

What was the first book you remember picking and reading by yourself?

My parents tried to read me to sleep. Their plot failed because they picked some very engaging books -- Bambi, Wind in the Willows, and Winnie the Pooh. Sometimes, they would nod off. I would open their eyes, repeat the last word they spoke, and urge them toward the end of the chapter, the story, the book. Repeating the last word required some reading skills.

When I picked books independently, they leaned toward the fantastic and were often animal-centered. The History of Barbar by Laurent De Brunhoff may have been the first book I read.

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

I never consciously decided to become a writer. Stories have always been important, a part of my being.

They have helped me understand myself and the world. It was only natural that I try to narrate a few.

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

I would recommend A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders to anyone. His open and curious approach to reading helps forge a way into better writing.

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

Kathy Fish and Cathy Ulrich. Both have lovely language and a sense of poetry. Both can take you on a ride and buck you off the horse in 1,000 words or less.

Why write flash fiction?
I'm not very good with the big picture and would rather concentrate on the small moments that make up a life.

What advice would you give someone just starting to send their work to journals?
Persist.

What are you reading right now?

I just returned from a trip to New York City. While at The Met, I stumbled over Patrick Bringley's All the Beauty of the World. It's a wonderful workplace memoir. As a way to escape the grief his brother's death brought, Bringley quit his job at The New Yorker and became a security guard at The Met. His observations on art and people are moving.

What is your favorite first line?

"A group of grandmothers is a tapestry." It's from a Kathy Fish story -- Collective Nouns for Humans in the Wild.

What do you wish you could write?

History. When I tour guide for the local cemetery, I am boggled by how much history gets lost or misread. To do a good job of writing history, you have to know all the facts first and know which facts to ignore second. The job of writing history seems overwhelming.

Nan Wigington lives 10 miles from an oil refinery. Not the End of the World is based on one of the refinery's “accidents”. When not worrying about environmental disasters, Nan is a tour guide. Her flash has appeared in New Flash Fiction Review, Best Small Fictions 2019, and MoonPark Review.