Mathieu Cailler is the author of seven books: one novel, two short story collections, two volumes of poetry, and two children’s titles. His stories, poems, and essays have appeared in over one hundred publications, including the Saturday Evening Post and the Los Angeles Times. He is the recipient of numerous awards, most notably the Shakespeare Award, the Short Story America Prize, the New England Book Festival Award, the Los Angeles Book Festival Prize, and the Paris Book Festival Prize. Feel free to connect with him on social media @writesfromla or at mathieucailler.com.
Black Fox Literary Magazine: How did you decide what stories to add to your latest collection, Forest for the Trees? What was the process like while putting the collection together?
Mathieu Cailler: Ever since my last collection of stories (Loss Angeles) came out in 2015, I have been writing stories here and there. Sometimes it would allow me a little distance from a novel or screenplay, and I loved that I could immerse myself in a character’s world for some twenty pages. After some time, the pages began to pile up, and I realized I had written some thirty stories of which fifteen were already published or honored, so I thought it was in a good place for an eclectic manuscript. My first collection consisted of fifteen stories and so is Forest for the Trees, so I guess there’s a little magic with that amount of stories for me. The process of putting a collection together is wonderful, really. You finally see all you’ve worked on in a real, tangible way. It’s important to enjoy this part of the process. I spent a good amount of time trying to order them in an interesting way, too. I wanted the reader to experience a wide range of emotions from one story to the next, as well as change the style of narration and type of character from story to story. I’ve heard from many readers that they love the way the book begins and the way it ends, so that makes me happy.
BF: When you write your stories, what is the one thing you hope readers will take away?
MC: I hope readers will be compassionate with themselves and others, really. Inhabiting a character and their pain is a useful tool to be kinder. People carry around a backpack of their past, their hardship, and their unrealized dreams every single day. If you read a piece about someone’s struggle and then see someone struggling in real life, I think there’s a chance for that connection to be made. I guess the message is that being a human is hard, and it’s okay if you find it hard too, and here are some others who had it hard, and here’s how they pushed through.
BF: What was the hardest story to write in Forest for the Trees and why?
MC: I guess the titular story, “Forest for the Trees,” was difficult for me, because it was a new style, a thriller, with lots of tension and drama from page to page. It was fun and nerve-wracking to come up with descriptions and backstory that wouldn’t ruin the flow of the narrative.
BF: If you could tell your younger writer self anything, what would it be?
MC: That is such an important question. I would tell him that he is going to always love this and he is never going to master this. There’s a joy in coming to the desk every day and putting up a fight, doing your best, and coming back the next day too. Sure, it does get easier, but not in a steady way. I think I have a lot more confidence now, but writing still scares me in a beautiful way. If it didn’t, I wouldn’t still be doing it. I think of that quote, “Do something that scares you every day.” Well, if you’re a writer, you check that box easily. I also would tell him that he is going to meet and become friends with an incredible community and to savor these beautiful friendships.
BF: What are your writing must-haves?
MC: Writing must-haves: quiet over everything. I love to wear noise-canceling headphones with no music just to fully immerse myself into silence. I also need some sort of beverage. Water, coffee, tea—these are ideal. And funny enough, almost every word I’ve ever written has been penned with an animal on my desk. For years it was my little poodle, Lou, and now it’s my sweet little cat, Nell. Something about an animal on the desk is super comforting and relaxing.
You can visit the BFLM Instagram page (@blackfoxlit) to hear Mathieu read the story, “A Poodle in the Desert,” which appears in Forest for the Trees (and originally published in BFLM Issue #10)! Find Mathieu’s reading under the videos tab.
About the Interviewer:
Racquel Henry is a Trinidadian writer, editor, and writing coach with an MFA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. A former English Professor, she currently owns the writing studio, Writer’s Atelier, in Orlando, FL. Racquel co-founded Black Fox Literary Magazine in 2010 and is the Editor in Chief. Since 2013, Racquel has presented and moderated panels at writing conferences, residencies, and private writing groups across the US. She is the author of Holiday on Park, Letter to Santa, Christmas in Cardwick, Meet Me in December, The Write Gym Workbook, and more. Racquel’s fiction, poetry, and nonfiction have appeared in Reaching Beyond the Saguaros: A Collaborative Prosimetric Travelogue (Serving House Books, 2017), We Can’t Help it if We’re From Florida (Burrow Press, 2017), Moko Caribbean Arts & Letters, among others. When she’s not writing, editing, or coaching writers, you can find her watching Hallmark Christmas movies.
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