Lillian Durr Interview

Editor Interview

Hey dogs, we're here to share with you Lillian Durr! Lillian is a poet and flash-fictioner! Flash fictioneer? Lillian is our co-editor in poetry, does a lot of copywriting, and helps with interviews! Lillian is currently an MA student at Missouri State and one of my favorite writers. You can find them on Instagram or on Bluesky!

You have a dog, Radar. Do you feel he has had any impact on your writing and if so how?

I grew up with a lot of dogs, so my childhood writing was about dogs, just because they were what I knew. Radar, doesn’t have that same direct impact on the content of my writing, but he does shape how I view the world around me. One thing I love is how vibrant the world is for him. We live surrounded by woods and pasture. It’s easy to take it for granted and not see the nuance of the land and life around me, but Radar has a natural curiosity that makes me appreciate the little things. Every scavenged bone and grasshopper is magic for him; it’s something to investigate and wonder about. I think that focused curiosity rubs off on me the more I’m around him, and that definitely has bled into my writing. My writing inspired by home definitely has a greater appreciation for the intricacy of the world around me. 

When and how did you become interested in creative writing? 

I have been writing as long as I can remember, and I almost entirely credit that to my mom. She is a massive reader and made a conscious effort to read to my siblings and I when we were young. When you treat it like that, like a pleasure and treat instead of a chore, I think it becomes natural for a lot of kids to love reading. From there it was a very smooth transition. I loved reading, and I wanted to take that experience and create new ones for other people. I had a massive imagination and it needed somewhere to go.

How would you describe your own writing? What do you draw inspiration from?

I describe my writing as personal often, not in the sense that it’s about me or things that have happened to me, but in the sense that it’s focused on images and ideas I can’t get out of my head. I write a lot of my stories because there’s something in my head that’s making me laugh, that’s fascinating me, that’s caught my attention and I can’t stop thinking about. Once I have that, a lot of my writing often becomes very absurd and is often very character driven. I don’t feel I need an especially intricate plot as long as I have a character I’m invested in. I’m really inspired by how many unique and interesting people I meet in my day-to-day life.

You write both poetry and fiction, how do you believe the two influence each other? 

The two are heavily related for me. I started with poetry, which has made my writing so attentive and detail oriented. From there, I fell in love with flash fiction, and I think my poetry roots have made my fiction very intentional. I am counting every syllable, reading every sentence aloud to see how it feels. In the same way, my experience with fiction has made my poetry stronger. I’ve learned to weave narrative and character into my lyricism. I think doing both makes me better at both.

Your fiction writing is primarily flash fiction. What do you think makes flash different or possibly even more compelling than short stories? Do you have any thoughts on flash fiction’s current and/or future rule in the literary world?

I think media consumption right now has an increasing interest in compelling characters and well developed scenes. We love a character we get to live in the skin of, and flash fiction lends itself so perfectly to that. Flash fiction is great for character and scene study; these small, tight bites make you so much aware of every note, and I certainly hope the appreciation for that quality doesn’t go away now that it’s getting an increasingly bright spotlight.

For my writing, the brevity and nuance of flash makes what I am doing so much more impactful than it would be in a longer form. I have a lot of appreciation for longer forms, but for me, getting as close as I can in flash really strengthens my writing. I love to read my drafts out loud, pick apart every word choice, and stick on a sentence for hours. Every rhythm, every nuance, I want to scratch apart. If I tried to do that with a longer story, it would take me years, but with flash I can work under a microscope. 

Who are your favorite writers either past or currently publishing? 

Without a doubt, my favorite poet is Franny Choi. I think they are producing some of the most intentional, evocative, and innovative poetry out there. Every word and syllable is so precise and human. It gets under my fingernails and in my veins in a way I love. I feel similarly about Frank Bidart’s poetry. It’s a real masterclass in the relationship between pain and queer joy.

When it comes to fiction, I’m really inspired by the 19th century texts I’m reading for my literary research, especially Mary Shelley. I’ve found every time I reread Frankenstein for my research I have a revitalized appreciation for Shelley’s word play and wit. She accomplishes so much without losing characterization to the commotion.

When it comes to more contemporary fiction writers, I am incredibly inspired by Avitus B Carle’s flash fiction collection These Worn Bodies. It is the best of what flash fiction can be to me, so carefully curated, emotive, and bold. I read it and every time wish it was something I had written. 

My favorite novelist is Toni Morrison. Her imagery and character work is unmatched. Every novel of hers I read is my favorite one yet, and I say without hesitation I think she’s one of the best novelists to have ever lived.

You are currently pursuing your MA in Literature at Missouri State; how do you believe academic research contributes to your own creative work?

A lot of my literary research is caught up in detail; it’s about picking apart every word and thinking about every influence on a piece. This has made me really aware of the nuance of my own work, and I think has even pushed me to add more detail and intentionality to my writing. At the same time, it has made me very aware of the fact that writing doesn’t end with the writer; everything written gains a new life with each reader because interpretation is such a necessary part of reading. 

What are your favorite pieces of creative work?

Ursula K Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is one of my favorite short stories of all time and was introduced to me in undergrad. I adore Franny Choi’s poem “To the Man Who Shouted ‘I Like Pork Fried Rice’ at Me on the Street.” Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Home are among my favorite novels, along with Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret. I was also recently introduced to V.V. Ganeshananthan’s Brotherless Night, which has quickly become one of my favorite novels. 

What are your favorite journals to submit to and/or read? 

I am on the fiction staff for Moon City Review at Missouri State and am always amazed by the submissions we receive. The latest issue is spectacular! It has been one of my favorite journals to read since I was first introduced to it.

Additionally, I love reading and submitting to Flash Frog, Door is a Jar Literary Magazine (you can read my poem “Craving” in their fall issue!), SmokeLong Quarterly, Swamp Ape Review, StreetLit, Dishsoap Quarterly, Okay Donkey Magazine, and Split Lip Magazine. 

What story of yours is your favorite or closest to your heart? 

The story closest to my heart isn’t published yet, but hopefully will soon be. It’s the story that made me believe I could write flash fiction and fall in love with the form. The piece is titled “Two Apocalypse Tickets to the All-American Circus,” and it kicked off a collection I’m working on about performance in everyday life. The piece is very brief and darkly humorous. Like a lot of my work, I want this story to give the reader that moment the smile drops off their face. 

What life experiences have had the most impact on your writing? 

My parents have a huge impact on my writing. To their core, they just have such a beautiful appreciation for community and connection; I can’t imagine growing up with them and not having that rub off on me. Everywhere we go, my dad is talking to strangers, asking them questions, telling them jokes. My mom notices when people on our drive into town, who she has never met, haven’t been sitting on their porch lately. She gets worried about them, watches out for them, and gets excited when they come back. Being raised by people who care like that, who lean in like that, you learn quickly how many people are living parallel to you, how many stories they have, and it’s impossible not to love strangers and to be fascinated by them too. I just took it a step further and started inventing strangers to be fascinated by.

Why are you involved in dogyard mag?

I had the pleasure of knowing a few of the founding members of dogyard, and when they approached me about working on the mag, I said put me in coach. It was an easy yes. The staff here has so much passion to spare, they’re incredibly hard working, and terrific writers. I love the literary community, I love working in this space, and getting to launch something with such terrific people is a dream for me. I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

What are you most looking forward to as dogyard mag grows as a literary journal?

I know there are so many writers out there who I would be a massive fan of if I could just get ahold of their work. Getting published is a hard road, so knowing that I have the opportunity to read and become a fan of writers who I might never have gotten the chance to otherwise is thrilling! As well, with editing interviews, I am really excited to get to put my experience with journalism to use again in a new way. I’ll be uncovering stories and learning about people, just like I always have as a journalist, but this time I get to do it while sharing my love of the literary community. 

Interview Questions by Mar Prax