Q&A with author Tony Earley

Tony Earley is the Samuel Milton Fleming Chair in English at Vanderbilt University and the award-winning author of a collection of personal essays, a collection of short stories and a novel. After graduating from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, Earley spent four years in North Carolina as a writer and editor for both The Thermal Belt News Journal in Columbus and The Daily Courier in Forest City. Earley will be discussing the short stories in his new novella, “Mr. Tall,” at Flyleaf Books tonight.

Staff writer Elizabeth Baker spoke with Earley about his latest collection of short stories, the early days of his writing career and the source of his inspiration.

The Daily Tar Heel: How did your interest in writing start?

Tony Earley: My second-grade teacher told me I should be a writer when I grew up. As a 7-year-old, nobody had ever said anything like that to me, and I really took it to heart. From that moment on, I thought of myself as a writer. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. Just a remark that one teacher made one day to a 7-year-old completely changed my life.

DTH: What was your inspiration for your collection of short stories in “Mr. Tall”?

TE: That’s hard to describe. I guess the short answer is, it was a family story in which my grandfather’s brother was bitten by a dog in the middle of the night, combined with my love of the book “The Jack Tales.” Jack and my great-uncle Marion got mixed up, and the dog began to talk, and I was off to the races.

DTH: How did you decide to write this collection?

TE: My first novel came out in 2000, and my second novel came out in 2008. While I was writing the novels, I wrote these short stories sporadically in between. I had built up enough for a book once I finished the Jack story.

DTH: Is there a common thread that can be seen in all of the short stories in this collection?

TE: It seems that there are a lot of married people trying to figure out what to do next. Many of the stories are kind of supernatural or have slightly strange elements to them. I’ve got Bigfoot and the ghost of Jesse James and a talking dog, so there’s an element of strangeness to a lot of them.

DTH: Did you set out writing these short stories thinking you wanted to focus on the theme of married couples?

TE: That’s just kind of what happened. Writers hardly ever understand their impulses. We don’t really know often what it is we’re trying to say until we see what we’ve said. I didn’t set out to say, ‘OK, I’m going to write a book that’s mostly about married couples.’ But then I looked back at the stories and said, ‘Huh. Most of those stories are about married couples.’

DTH: What are you hoping people get out of these short stories?

TE: There are ethical issues that I would hope people would think about, but that’s not why I set out to write the stories. Basically, all I really want as a writer is when someone finishes this book, for them to go, ‘Wow. Those were really good stories.’ I certainly don’t set out to have any kind of message, but if people find messages in them, then that’s all to the good.

DTH: What advice do you have for students at UNC who are pursuing a career in writing?

TE: I would tell them to not be in such a hurry. Writing is the only art form where someone takes a semester class and thinks, ‘I should be good at this.’ Nobody takes a semester of piano and thinks they should record a record. Publishing a book is the equivalent of recording a record. I would just remind them to slow down and not worry, because it takes 10 years to get good at anything.

arts@dailytarheel.com