Several times a month we connect with our contributors showing where they have been, where they are now, and what’s up for the future.
Name: Jesse Millner
Title of Pieces Published in Sweet: “Eating Chocolate Virgins”
Issue: 14.1
You can find Jesse in Southwest Florida in a condo right behind a Walmart Superstore. Find out more about Jesse on his website.
Find Him:
Instagram
Threads
X (Twitter)
What are some major accomplishments you have had since your Sweet publication?
I had a poem in Best American Poetry 2013, a short story in Best Small Fictions 2020, published a book, Memory’s Blue Sedan in 2020, got divorced four years ago and have stayed best friends with my former wife, and most important, I gave my sweet dog Lucy the best life I could until I lost her this past April.
Can you tell us about a current/ongoing project that you’re excited about?
I’m converting a memoir I wrote in grad. school into a novel because no one would believe it was nonfiction. I’m also writing poems every day because it frustrates me, disappoints me, exhilarates me, and keeps me alive.
Who is your favorite author?
B.H. Fairchild
What is your favorite poem/essay/book?
The Art of the Lathe (book) “The Blue Buick” (poem)
What inspires you to write?
Birds, trees, lakes, oceans, mountains, love, the moon, despair, sorrow, hope, Iceland, humans, poems, memory, dogs, watermelons, cows, horses, lighthouses, sawmills, dawn, dusk, and all the shimmering hours in between. Also, elk. And Wyoming, particularly, Cody, Wyoming. Which reminds me I’m inspired by Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley. And Playa Blanca, Costa Rica, where I’d like to live someday.
What are you reading right now?
Fever of Unknown Origin by Campbell McGrath and Napoleon in Egypt by Paul Strathern.
What is your favorite sweet?
Banana Pudding. Fancy’s Southern Café in Fort Myers has the real thing and the serving is always twice as much as I can eat, which is a lot. I added a pic below.
That looks simply amazing!
Thank you, Jesse, for taking the time to reconnect with us again! We look forward to seeing more of your work in the future!
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