I. S. Bashirah is a 25-year-old poet based in Canada. In 2023, she received the English Society Creative Writing Award for Poetry at the University of Waterloo Department of English Language and Literature Awards Ceremony. In 2024, she was also honoured with the Albert Shaw Poetry Award.
Atmosphere Press is proud to bring readers the Atmosphere Press Presents author interview series. We’re happy to have this archive of excellent interviews and author success stories for you to enjoy. Learn about writers and their books, from book title origin stories to music playlists that relate to their writing to what it was like seeing the cover for the first time.
Atmosphere puts the author experience first, and these interviews make up just one facet of a meaningful and rewarding author journey. Please share your favorite interviews and author success stories on social media, and stay in touch so you can be the first to know when new posts are published. Sign up for our newsletter to receive updates on interviews, Atmosphere Press Presents readings, and other news!
Bruce Golden’s short stories have been published across more than two dozen countries and 40 anthologies. New Myths magazine said of his novel Red Sky, Blue Moon, "With thematic echoes of Dune, Dances with Wolves, and The Last Samurai, it's an epic tale of adventure and arrogance, discovery and desire, courage and greed.” Asimov’s Science Fiction described his novel Evergreen, "If you can imagine Ursula Le Guin channeling H. Rider Haggard, you'll have the barest conception of this stirring book, which centers around a mysterious artifact and the people in its thrall." His book Monster Town, a satirical send-up of old hard-boiled detective stories featuring movie monsters of the black & white era, has been stuck in TV series development hell for some years now.
Cedar Ecker is an NYC based writer, narrative designer, and collaborative storyteller. They have written for the animated series Secrets of Grandelva and Figments, and their short fiction is featured in the Promethean and Progenitor literary magazines. Across genres their work aims to evoke themes of human connection, wonder, and what it means to be acceptable to society.
Pam McGaffin is the award-winning author of The Leaving Year (SparkPress, 2018). She is a former journalist who returned to her original passion of writing fiction after a long career in newspapers and public-relations. Her short stories have appeared in online literary journals, and her articles and essays have been featured in newspapers and magazines. She and her family live in Seattle, where there are many crows.
I am a 73-year-old retired psychologist living in Washington State. I've also lived in Florida, California, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Oregon. I am married and have a overly excitable but very lovable Golden Retriever.
Hua Ai (Nikolina) is from Shanghai, China. She is an educator based in London. She holds an English Literature degree from King's College London. She is a published feminist fiction writer in Mandarin. Her English poetry has been featured in print by Crumps Barn Studio and online by The Field Guide Magazine, The87 Press, Otolith, Literary Yard, and Writing in a Woman's Voice.
Jackson’s work has been featured in the Riverfront Times, Curiosus Magazine, and St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. For the past decade, he’s managed Frotoon Press, an independent publisher of personal comic narratives exploring music, politics, culture, and identity. He is the two-time winner of the North Street Book Prize for Graphic Novel & Memoir. His creative inspirations include Ben Passmore, Ralph Bakshi, Hunter S. Thompson, Spike Lee, Thelonius Monk, and The Simpsons.
I’m a retired teacher living in the mountains of North Carolina where I write and illustrate children’s books. I’m a member of SCBWI and Storyteller Academy. My debut picture book Get Real, Lucille, published by Monarch Press will be coming out July 1, 2025. I’ve illustrated numerous picture books by other authors such as Pearl Girl by Stephen Rabley, published by Penguin, There’s A Dog On My Head by Patricia Pollock and The Songbird and the Flower by Chip Brogden
Andrea Corwin is a Washington State adventure novelist and scary-story writer. In years past, her free verse poetry was published in the Christian Science Monitor Home Forum, small press literary magazines, and local newspapers. She has written human resource blogs and local opinion pieces and has been published in Bereavement Magazine. After a small break, she now has short fiction stories, non-fiction, and poetry, as well as “first chapter” contest entries online with Vocal Media.com and reedsyprompts.
My name is Parisa Ally Ahmadi. While my given name is Parisa, I go by "Ally" in my personal and creative endeavors, a name that resonates deeply with my soul. I was born in Iran in 1996 as a refugee and later returned to my motherland, Afghanistan, when I faced rejection in Iran during my second grade. This experience not only shaped my identity but also inspired the name "Ally," which I hold dear.
