There is a quiet terror in this book, for me, about the persistent gap that exists between any two people, a fundamental state of loneliness that even love and effort can’t dissolve. That said, my characters find moments of reprieve, when they manage to care for each other, to really see each other. And these are the moments that make me love them most—to thrill for how they help each other and ache for how they can’t.

Who are you reading now? Who is your favorite author? What is next for you as a writer?

I just completed oral examinations for my doctoral program, which meant I spent months reading everything from Milton to Melville. I found myself getting particularly attached to dreams: Chaucer’s visions and Berryman’s songs. They spin strangeness into sadness so seamlessly. I like works that leave me aware of my nerve endings, whose beauty and surprises don’t distract me from their ability to break my heart.

Faulkner has been my favorite author for about ten years now. I had major jaw surgery when I was seventeen and spent several months with my teeth wired together. During this time I read Faulkner almost continuously. Because I wasn’t able to talk, I listened; and I lost myself absolutely in the hurt and beautiful landscape of his prose.

What next? I am currently working on a novel about the 1979 Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua.