“After The Monkey” a short story by Susan Robison, appeared in Issue 21 and can be read here.
We’d love to hear what inspired this great story.
It was inspired by my visit to Helping Hands, a capuchin training facility in Boston. My question then became what would this helper monkey serve for a couple, and the idea emerged of getting over miscarriages, by taking in this ’kid’ for a year.
What was the most difficult part in writing this piece?
Ending it. It was tough to find the right balance of how much resolution is sufficient and what is too much.
Recommend a book for us published within the last decade
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill.
What are you working on now? What’s next?
A short story about the demise of the coral reefs. Then… I have more stories. And I’m burnishing several prior ones. Additionally, my novel “After Crash” is being published by Outskirts Press.
Our thanks to Susan for taking the time to answer a few questions and share her work. Read Susan’s story, “After The Monkey,” here: https://www.sequestrum.org/fiction-after-the-monkey.
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Susan Robison’s stories have appeared in New Letters, Crab Orchard Review, Confrontation, Saranac Review and many other journals. The first chapter of her novel, After Crash, was published in failbetter and the novel will be published by Outskirts Press. Susan’s personal essays have appeared in the Boston Globe Magazine. Robison lives in Wayland, west of Boston, with her husband and son.