“Short fiction is like low relief. And if your story has no humor in it, then you…” — Elizabeth McCracken

When I was in college, I wrote poetry very seriously, and then once I had started writing short stories, I didn't go back to poetry, partially because I felt like I understood how incredibly difficult it was.

There are two MFA programs here at the University of Texas, and I read on the jury of both of them. And it's amazing to me how many really talented young writers seem to fear humor.

For about half an hour in mid-1992, I knew as much as any layperson about the pleasures of remote access of other people's computers.