Two of Maggie Shipstead’s short stories have been selected as Best American Short Story notables for 2013. This is Shipstead’s fifth straight year as a BASS notable. This year, the series editors chose “In the Olympic Village” (Subtropics, Issue 13) and “The Great Central Pacific Guano Company” (American Short Fiction, vol. 15, issue 54).
Read Shipstead’s interview with Subtropics here. On why she chose to write about the Olympics:
My life always grinds to a halt when [The Olympics are] going on, and I can sit for many happy hours watching virtually any sport, summer or winter. I love the drama and pageantry of the Games and also the idea of thousands of people from around the world coming together with a common purpose. (This could be a Bob Costas voiceover.)
And in Full-Stop, she describes her inspiration for her story appearing in American Short Fiction
I think my inspiration comes from things I read — the guano story started with a book called Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky. It’s exactly what it sounds like: each right-hand page has a topographical map of a remote island, and the left-hand page has some information and history about that island. I read about a Pacific atoll that had been mined for guano, and where a group of settlers was terrorized and ruled by this one lunatic for a while. I thought that would be an interesting setting and topic, but what seems to make the difference for me as far as going from having a vague idea to drafting a story is making the necessary technical decisions. Sometimes this happens when I’m trying to go to sleep — I’ll get a first line that sets up the voice. Like with the guano story, I didn’t know how to do it until I decided to use first person plural and past tense, which adds a feeling of collusion.
Maggie’s debut novel, SEATING ARRANGEMENTS (Knopf) is out in paperback now (check out Maureen Corrigan’s recent NPR review) and her second novel, ASTONISH ME, is due out next year from Knopf. You can follow her on Twitter at @maggieshipstead.
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