Lynn Levin is a Philadelphia-based poet and writer. She is a professor of English at Drexel University and has also taught at other universities in the Philadelphia area. She has authored several books of writing and poetry. Her most recent book House Parties, a collection of thought-provoking, vivid short stories, was released in May, 2023 and was on Philadelphia Magazine’s list of “10 new titles by Philly authors to check out this summer” in their June 2023 issue.
Kasia Bunofsky: Congratulations on the publication of House Parties! Before we discuss the book, would you mind sharing a bit about what led you to pursue a career in writing?
Lynn Levin: Well, a career in writing, in general, started with poetry. And, it started when I was really a little kid in grade school. The teachers were teaching us how to sound out words, to read. And, one of the fun exercises they would do would be to have us write lists of rhyming words and then put them together in a poem. We also had a lot of children’s poetry books around the house. That also primed me to think that way. I just loved writing these little poems about birdies that sing in the spring and stuff like that. As I got older—5th grade, 6th grade—I got a little more profound, if you will, or thoughtful about it. And the teachers would always give me encouragement. That meant so much to me, I can’t even tell you. Seeing your poem on the bulletin board or mimeographed in the little school literary magazine meant a ton to me. It was really the early language practice and early encouragement that started me off as a poet.
KB: What led to your collection of stories House Parties?
LL: I started writing these stories in about 2005 when I was assigned to teach a creative writing class at Penn. I taught at Penn for 12 years, simultaneously with Drexel. I was assigned to teach this creative writing class, fiction and poetry writing. I was okay with teaching poetry writing, but short fiction? I’d not really written a short story. And so, I madly read a lot of craft books and I talked to people who were fiction writers. I went to a couple of summer seminars over the years, and they were immensely helpful. So, that helped get things started.
In terms of the book itself, there are 20 stories. They’re all extremely different. Different characters, different ages, different problems, and issues. But, a couple of things are kind of consistent through them. One is that the characters are fairly relentless. They have some kind of problem or something to hide sometimes, or a goal to achieve. Sometimes it’s ethical and sometimes it’s not, and sometimes it’s funny or weird. But, they just keep at it. The other thing is, I do like to use some of my poetry-writing techniques in fiction. So, I’m very conscious of description, metaphor, simile, and sentence rhythms. That matters a lot to me.
KB: I know this might be a difficult question, but do you have a favorite of the stories? And if so, why?
LL: Sometimes I read these stories, and I thought, “How in the world did I ever write that?!” So, actually, “The Husband and The Gypsy” is one of those. There was a lot of research in that and a lot of moving parts and I had to figure out how to put it all together. And I …that took a while. It might’ve taken me even over a year to do that.
Another one like that was “Frieda and Her Golem.” It has a lot of themes in it, a lot of AI themes, and ancient legend themes, and themes of jealousy and loneliness… there’s a lot going on in that story. And so, I’m very fond of that one. Also, the title story, “House Parties,” which also took me at least two years to figure out how to write. The story kind of changed its theme and the characters changed. They went from one personality to another until I finally kind of got them to where they are.
I have affection for all of these stories. Some of them… the ones I mentioned to you are not really funny at all. There’s a little bit of humor, but they’re not really funny. I have others that are social satires, like “Tell Us About Your Experience,” which is about a guy who is tormented by surveys. Everything he does, there’s a survey after it. That’s one of the funnier ones. You wouldn’t think that it would be so funny, talking about the three major ones I just mentioned but… I do like to be funny. I think that there should be an entertainment value in fiction, and poetry, too. All that said, I am totally fascinated when I hear people tell me which ones they really liked. A lot of people say “Frieda and Her Golem.”
KB: Do you have any words of advice for young writers?
LL: One of the things is just the old classic, “read, read, read.” You have to read widely until you find an author, or several authors, who write the way you want to write and write the way that fascinates you and pulls you along. There are lots of good writers out there. Certain ones will inspire you in different ways. Maybe it’s because of their style, maybe it’s because of the outrageousness of their voice. Or, the way they can make a plot go. Like Joyce Carol Oates can make a plot go. And, somebody like John Updike is a very lyrical, poetic prose writer. You have to find out who lights your fire in different ways.
Visit Lynn Levin’s website and purchase her book House Parties here.
Kasia Bunofsky is a fifth-year student at Drexel working towards a BA in Art History and a BS in Entertainment and Arts Management with minors in English and Business Administration. In her free time, she loves reading (mostly horror, thrillers, and memoirs), enjoying the outdoors, or spending time with her two cats, Gizmo and Fae. She hopes to go on to earn her Ph.D. in Art History so she can spread her knowledge and passions to future students and art historians.