Sarah Rose Etter, "Letter from San Francisco"

It’s December 19. Sarah Rose Etter, author of The Book of X, redacts classified information on a need-to-know basis.

How would you describe your story?

SARAH ROSE ETTER: A letter home from a daughter growing up and lost in the swells of capitalism.

When did you write it, and how did the writing process compare to your other work?

SRE: This story sort of spilled out of me—I was thinking a lot about how we change and grow up, how a place can shape us, how we try to stay close to home even as we shape-shift into adulthood. I was also thinking about the stories we tell—the idea of passing down joy and grief, sadness and happiness, and the records that play as we age.

What kind of research went into this story?

SRE: There was maybe a researching of place—of San Francisco. There are lots of notes about the landscape, about the moment in time in that city, juxtaposed with the research of the mother’s life.

What, to you, makes the short story a special form? What can it do that other kinds of writing can’t?

SRE: I’m fascinated by the short story as a place of experimentation—how can a compressed area of text be more like a work of art? In longer works, it’s harder to carry the experimental nature forward. The short form really lends itself to playing, to trying new things, to making each line count.

Where should people go to learn more about you and your work?

SRE: www.sarahroseetter.com.

What’s the best gift you’ve ever been given?

SRE: My father gave me a copy of the Codex Seraphinianus, which I’ve always loved and treasured.

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