Katya Apekina, "My Smell Journal"

It’s December 5. Katya Apekina, author of Mother Doll, is picking up notes of damp potato chip.

How would you describe your story?

KATYA APEKINA: The story is a smell journal as a project by a pregnant artist who is going back to New York with her husband—he’s on a work trip to sell a children’s book—and she is spiraling with regret and insecurity.

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

KA: I wrote it in 2011—a long time ago. It was before I had the experience yet of being a pregnant artist spiraling with regret and insecurity, but I would say that I got it pretty right! With short stories I am often looking for a container or form before I start writing—and as someone with a very sensitive sense of smell, I have always wanted to write about it. Smell is so evocative of memories (Proust, madeleine, etc etc), and it seemed like the right way to write about the character’s regret, nostalgia and uncertainty, and about pregnancy when, for many people, this sense is heightened.

What kind of research went into this story?

KA: There really are smell cameras, though they are mostly used by perfumers, and I think work a little differently than the way I describe. I did research them and also the neuroscience of smell.

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

KA: Stories can drop you into a moment so intensely. I’m mostly a novelist now, and I actually find writing stories very difficult.  

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

KA: www.apekina.com. I have two novels out: The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish and Mother Doll.

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

KA: As a kid my parents were such good gift givers. I remember a trash bag full of rollerblades and plaid dresses and art books. My daughter has hot glue gunned sculptures with Russian blocks and made me the most delicious and beautiful book cake when my second book came out. My husband made me some very nice collages and other art for our anniversaries.

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