And one time, while I was driving around on the back roads up there, I swear I saw a life-size fake cannon made out of discarded wooden cable spools that was displayed in front of some guy’s trailer home. Later, I also spent a lot of time at this classic northwoods bar where the owner’s father had apparently trained the bear who would become Gentle Ben. How did growing up in northern Wisconsin affect your vision for these stories?ĮT: Well, when I was about nineteen, I actually lived in a farmhouse way out in the middle of some potato fields, and one of my roommates was this somewhat sketchy older dude who ended up getting sent back to jail for violating his parole, and the whole thing turned very surreal very quickly. HB: Your collection of short stories, Close is Fine, tackles what it means to live the simple life in a rural, blue-collar town. I’ve now been in Oregon for fifteen years, but I still consider Wisconsin my home. Later, I moved north to a little town called Langlade, Wisconsin, which consisted of a four-way stop sign, a tavern, a gas station, and a ten-room motel. Hannah Bates: What’s your connection to the Midwest?Įliot Treichel: I grew up near Appleton, Wisconsin, along the Fox River. MG staffer Hannah Bates talked with author Eliot Treichel about his new YA novel A Series of Small Maneuvers, Pinterest, high school writing workshops, and more.
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