Crafting Theory
Crafting Theory is an interview series where we ask participants what theory means for them and how they integrate it into their work. We also explore a key concept or term from their work to see how they play with it or open it up for new interpretations. And we get some fantastic resources for what we should read next.
Consistent with our ethos of making theory and writing accessible, all of our interviews are available for free. If you like what you hear, consider making a donation to help offset the costs of making and hosting the videos. And feel free to drop us a note to tell us what piques your interests in the interviews.
Interview 4: Lou Cornum
Lou Cornum is an Arizona-born writer and scholar now based in New York City. Interests and pursuits include science fiction theorizing, speculative geographies, and communist transformations. They are Assistant Professor of Native American Studies in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University, a member of the Navajo Nation, and a two-spirit dyke.
Books and texts mentioned: Moon: A Brief History, Bernd Brunner; Custer Died For Your Sins, Vine Deloria Jr; Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction, ed. Grace Dillon; Apollo in the Age of Aquarius, Neil Maher; Moon and the Western Imagination, Scott Montgomery; “The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfall,” Edgar Allan Poe; Fugitive Poses, Gerald Vizenor
Interview 3: Poupeh Missaghi
Poupeh Missaghi is a writer, translator both into and out of Persian, Assymptote’s Iran editor-at-large, and educator. She holds a doctorate in creative writing from the University of Denver, a master’s degree in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University, and a master’s degree in translation studies from Azad University, Tehran. Her nonfiction, fiction, and translations have appeared in numerous journals, and she has several books of translation published in Iran. She is currently an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Denver.
Poupeh has also been active as a translator and organizer of words and events around #womanlifefreedom movement, the women-led revolution ongoing in Iran. Some of this work can be found here.
Interview 2: Joseph Earl Thomas
Joseph Earl Thomas is a writer from Frankford whose work has appeared or is forthcoming in VQR, N+1, Gulf Coast, The Offing, and The Kenyon Review. He has an MFA in prose from The University of Notre Dame and is a doctoral candidate in English at the University of Pennsylvania. An excerpt of his memoir, Sink, won the 2020 Chautauqua Janus Prize and he has received fellowships from Fulbright, VONA, Tin House, Kimbilio, & Breadloaf, though he is now the Anisfield-Wolf Fellow at the CSU Poetry Center. He’s writing the novel God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer, and a collection of stories: Leviathan Beach, among other oddities. He is also an associate faculty member at The Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, as well as Director of Programs at Blue Stoop, a literary hub for Philly writers.
Books and such mentioned: bell hooks, "Theory as Liberatory Practice"; Sylvia Wynter, "Beyond Miranda's Meanings," Wynter, "The Ceremony Must Be Found"; Wynter, "On Disenchanting Discourse"; Wynter, The Hills of Hebron; Wynter, "Towards the Sociogenic Principle"; Namwali Serpell, The Furrows, Jerry Watts, Heroism and the Black Intellectual, Mariane Enriquez, Our Share of NIghts, N. K. Jemison’s the Fifth Season novels, Sam Delany, "About 5750 Words."
Interview 1: Raquel Gutiérrez
Raquel Gutiérrez is a critic, essayist, poet, and educator. Gutiérrez is a 2021 recipient of the Rabkin Prize in Arts Journalism, as well as a 2017 recipient of the Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant. Raquel’s first book, Brown Neon (Coffee House Press), is a 2023 Lambda Literary Award nominee and was named one of the best books of 2022 by The New Yorker and one of the Best Art Books of 2022 by Hyperallergic.
Books mentioned: David Harvey, A Companion to Marx’s Capital; Elaine Castillo, How to Read Now; Leslie Marmon Silko, Almanac of the Dead; Lou Cornum, “Learning From Almanac of the Dead, a Hallmark of Indigenous Literature on Leslie Marmon Silko's Magnum Opus; Rubén Martínez, Desert America: Boom and Bust in the New Old West; Ángela García, The Pastoral Clinic: Addiction and Dispossession along the Rio Grande.
Interview 0: Paige Sweet & Miranda Trimmier
Miranda Trimmier and Paige Sweet launch the Crafting Theory series by offering a lively—unscripted & unedited!—conversation with each other about what theory means for their work, key terms in their writing, and what books they’re reading again and again.
Books mentioned: Elvia Wilk, Death by Landscape; Nuar Alsadir, Animal Joy; Nona Fernández, The Twilight Zone; Margo Jefferson, Negroland; Clarice Lispector, An Apprenticeship or The Book of Pleasures