The Associated Colleges of the Midwest recently announced the results of this year’s edition of the Nick Adams Short Story Contest, and our very own Claire Seymour (’20) was named the winner! Her piece “Maddie, the Whole World; Whole World, Maddie” was lauded as “a beautifully executed, moving story.” Claire kindly agreed to talk to the Miscellany about her writing, and you can read her interview with us below. All our felicitations once again!
Congratulations on winning the Nick Adams Short Story Contest! When did you get into creative writing, and what have been some of your writerly milestones since then?
I’ve done creative writing really casually ever since I was young because I loved reading so much, and writing stories and poetry was the natural next step. I loved assignments in English classes that let you branch out and invent your own narratives. I didn’t start getting that serious about it until tenth grade, which is when I began a creative writing independent study, and went to a weekly after school creative writing workshop called Writopia Lab. I started interning there my junior year of high school, teaching the young kids, which was an awesome way to be on the other side of the process.
Congratulations also on declaring an English major! It’s easy to see how the creative writing program might appeal to your interests; what else draws you to the department?
I love the English department! All the classes are small and super discussion-based, which is something I appreciate, and the professors are amazing. I took The Art of Jane Austen with Susan Jaret McKinstry in the fall, which is one of the best classes I’ve ever taken.
What inspired your winning story “Maddie, the Whole World; Whole World, Maddie,” and more generally, what motivates your writing?
I was really inspired to write this story after reading “La Vita Nuova” by Allegra Goodman in Best American Short Stories 2011. It focuses on a big transitional period in a young woman’s life, and I wanted to capture similar feelings of unease and slowness around a very different, transformative time. Being in Intro to Creative Writing really helped because the deadlines made me actually get everything on paper.
What is your favorite part of creative writing, and what is your least favorite?
It depends, but knowing how to end things is usually the most challenging part for me. I love being in the middle of working on something, and I love the workshopping and editing process.
If you could get coffee with any writer who has ever lived, who would it be?
Jane Austen, which is such a typical answer, but it’s the truth!