We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Steve Wiegenstein a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Steve, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my series of novels set in the Ozarks. As a native of the Ozarks, I am painfully aware of the stereotyping and lack of information that most people have about the region, and my novels seek to introduce more complexity in people’s understanding of the place. At the same time, they have to be engaging stories that aren’t didactic, and they have to reveal larger issues with human nature than simply being “regional novels.” So it’s a big task, but I have found every minute of the work rewarding.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a writer of novels and short stories who specializes in the Ozarks region. I’m a fifth-generation native of the region and think of myself as one of the leading “explainers” of the Ozarks to people around the world. I’m intensely proud of my home region but also vividly aware of its flaws, so my literary work is not merely celebratory. I see the region as a microcosm of what is happening in rural areas all over the globe and thus of interest to people who are concerned about the growing rural/urban divide. I’m most proud of the continuing arc of my historical novel series, which uses one small village to illustrate the changes and continuities of human experience over the years, and of my short story collection Scattered Lights, which was a finalist for the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award in Fiction.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Get out of your comfort zone! There is so much creativity happening in unexpected places. Every time I see someone discussing a book that is published by one of the so-called “Big Five” publishing houses, all based in one city in the United States, I remind them that there is beautiful and remarkable work being published by the hundreds of other publishers who are located outside that location. Creativity is not confined to what’s reviewed in the copycat media centers. Look elsewhere and be surprised by what you find.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

As someone with a particular interest in rural issues, I find The Art of the Rural to be a valuable website/Facebook page every day. I also follow The Daily Yonder for insightful stories about rural politics and culture.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.stevewiegenstein.com
• Instagram: www.instragram.com/wiegensteinsteve
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/stevewiegensteinauthor
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/@swiegenstein
• Other: http://stevewiegenstein.wordpress.com