Each semester, the Writing University hosts the 5Q Interview series with authors from the University of Iowa Press. We sit down with UI Press authors to ask about their work, their process, their reading lists and events. Today we are speaking with Marguerite Sheffer, author of The Man in the Banana Trees (University of Iowa Press, 2024).
Marguerite Sheffer teaches courses in design thinking and speculative fiction at Tulane University, and is a founding member of Third Lantern Lit, a local writing collective, and the Nautilus and Wildcat Writing Groups. Sheffer lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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1. Can you tell us a little bit about your new book The Man in the Banana Trees?
The Man in the Banana Trees is my debut collection of short fiction. The stories are completely unlinked, and encompass a mix of genres: there’s horror, science fiction, historical fiction, and a ghost story or two, alongside quite a bit of flash fiction. I like to think there’s a lot of playful writing about serious issues.
It’s been fascinating to read early reviews and hear from readers what this book is about, because despite having written all the stories, I find it hard to summarize. A reviewer named Rebecca Foster described the collection as “ employing technology and art to explore how the past and the dead might live on,” and that felt spot-on.
2. What was the inspiration for this work?
Since it’s a collection, there’s not just one inspiration, but many stories are definitely related to my years working in public K-12 education. Across the board, many of my obsessions are on display: outsider artists, whiteness, climate disaster, teachers and students, complicity—those ideas keep coming up.
At the time I was writing the stories, I was not consciously writing a book at all! I was writing each story to see what I could get away with.
3. Do you have any plans for readings or events for this book, either in person or virtual?
Yes, there will be a book launch on Nov 6, near publication day, in New Orleans at Blue Cypress Books, with the amazing Maurice Carlos Ruffin joining in! Then I’ll be heading to Brooklyn and Chicago later in the fall, and hoping to add a few more events over this year. I also hope to make it to AWP in the Spring. More info on all bookish events can be found here.
4. What are you reading right now? Any books from other university or independent presses?
I just read and loved Fruit of the Dead by Rachel Lyon, which is a wonderful retelling of the myth of Persephone in the underworld. Next up I’m excited to read a whole stack of short story collections that are out this year, by Pemi Aguda, Lena Valencia, and Ruben Reyes Jr, and others.
5. What is your writing routine? Do you have a daily routine?
I do have a writing routine, but with a toddler and a full-time job it is a strained one right now—not necessarily anything I’d recommend to anyone! If I can wake up at 5 am (dubious) I try to do my reading then, or it won’t happen. Then, after getting through all my daily morning obligations (toddler to preschool, commuting to work, etc) I try to squeeze in 30-60 minutes of writing time a day, ideally before I get sunk into other tasks. It’s irregular and not enough, but it does add up over time. Even on days when I can’t find time to focus on writing, I try to at least check in with my writing group. That co-accountability is a big part of my writing process and helps me keep my projects in mind, even over those hard stretches when I can’t dedicate as much time to them as I’d like.
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Thank you!