Between the Pages of WELL READ Magazine

Mandy Haynes talks with George Singleton

“Interviewing” George is anything but difficult. You don’t interview George, you listen. He is a master story-teller who has the ability to turn day-to-day events into a story, and if you pay attention you’ll get the answers you wanted without asking the questions.
But before we get to the interview, let me introduce him.George Singleton is the author of nine short story collections, These People Are Us: Stories, The Half-Mammals of Dixie, Why Dogs Chase Cars: Tales of a Beleaguered Boyhood, Drowning in Gruel, Stray Decorum, Between Wrecks, Calloustown, Staff Picks, and You Want More. Two novels, Novel and Work Shirts For Madmen. And one non-fiction that, per George, is a weird book on writing advice he wrote on a dare titled Pep Talks, Warnings, And Screeds: Indispensable Wisdom And Cautionary Advice For Writers.  
Over two hundred of his stories have appeared in journals such as the Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, Playboy,  Georgia Review, The Southern Review, Cincinnati Review, Tin House, Garden & Gun, and elsewhere. He is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and a Guggenheim fellowship. In 2013, Singleton accepted the John C. Cobb Endowed Chair in the Humanities at Wofford College where he taught fiction writing and editing. Singleton was inducted into the Fellowship of Southern Writers in April 2015 and awarded the John William Corrington Award for Literary Excellence in 2016.

George Singleton reads ”Daily Grind”

Daily Grind is an essay from George's upcoming collection, Asides, coming out later this year. He starts this reading off with, "It's kinda mean spirited, but I don't care - I'm mean."  ENJOY!
"Singleton’s fellow writers regard his work with an affection bordering on awe, but both comic writing and short fiction are underrated forms, which is how Singleton has become something like the John Prine or Tom Waits of Southern scribes: revered, honored, and esteemed but almost criminally underappreciated. Indeed, Singleton’s work is too original, too wildly hilarious and inventive to be imitated." ―Chapter16

George reads ”What Could’ve Been”

George talks a little bit about this piece before his reading. What Could've Been - coming out in a collection of essays this fall.
"In his brilliant mix of comedy and tragedy and deep tenderness for the most “minor” characters among us, George Singleton is nothing less than the Shakespeare of South Carolina." ―Margaret Renkl, author of Late Migrations
 
 

George Singleton reads ”Back From The Grave”

This is an essay from George's upcoming book of essays, ASIDES, coming out later this year.
"Over his career, George Singleton has written unruly characters living unruly lives. His depictions of the American South―in particular the everyday tumult of white blue-collar men and women struggling to come to terms with this strange and chaotic world― are both tragic and comic, heartbreaking, surreal, and―when least expected―weirdly ebullient. Singleton is a brilliant storyteller; his vision is crystal clear and wonderfully warped." ―Julianna Baggott, author of Burn
 

George Singleton reads an excerpt from his story ”Vaccination”

Vaccination appears in the collection, You Want More: Selected Stories of George Singleton.
"Singleton brings together his best work along with one new story in this smashing collection that combines satire, tragicomic premises, and small-town South Carolina locales. Items as innocuous as caulk or a VHS tape become the focus of droll yet moving meditations on the foibles of modern life or the misery of a marriage’s disintegration...Fans and newcomers alike will rejoice in reading these highlights from a Southern literary master." ―Publishers Weekly, Starred