In this episode, Christopher Merkner, author of The Rise and Fall of the Scandamerican Domestic, offers insight into his award winning short story collection, tackling a mash-up of satire, heritage, Scandinavia, and the American Midwest.

Merkner’s stories have appeared in Best American Mystery Stories and The O. Henry Prize Stories anthologies as well as numerous journals. His collection received the Colorado Book Award in 2015, and he currently teaches creative writing at West Chester University and the Lighthouse Writers Workshop.

This conversation features excerpts from “Tomtens” and “Last Cottage” and a discussion of satire as a mode for investigating human perceptions, the violence of language, as well as the tension between the idealized past and the need to escape one’s heritage.

Learn more about The Rise and Fall of the Scandamerican Domestic or purchase a book here.

For more about Christopher Merkner, check out his website.

Photo Credit: Steven Evans, University of Maine

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