This week author Nadja Maril released her collection of flash prose, poetry, and essays inspired by her kitchen, garden, and family memories. I sat down with Nadja to ask her some questions about the book, and her process. It’s interesting to note that Nadja comes from an artistic background: her late father Herman Maril was an artist, and his painting is the cover of her book. I have enjoyed Nadja’s poetry and flash fiction for many years now, and I am very excited for her book!
Dianne Pearce (Dianne): What inspired you to combine poetry, short form, gardening, and cooking in one book? How did these different forms of expression come together?
Nadja Maril (Nadja): In January 2020 I’d just completed an MFA (masters in fine arts) in creative writing from the low residency Stonecoast Writing Program at the University of Southern Maine and was in the midst of moving into a 100-year-old house. My husband Peter and I were the General Contractors. Both the MFA and the house were two-year projects. I’d been laboring over a complicated literary novel told from multiple viewpoints, and my daughter (the youngest of my three children ) was about to get married. Peter and I were looking forward to having the wedding at our re-built house, with the festivities primarily outside. We scurried to move into the house, plant flowers and shrubs, and revitalize the lawn. Then the pandemic shut everything down.
Want to read more? Pick up the remainder of the piece at AUTHORS ELECTRIC.
OLD SCRATCH PRESS 