The Interview with Marguerite Sheffer

Author of The Man in the Banana Trees

Greetings to new subscribers and welcome to Sitting in Silence, a newsletter for writers, readers, and thinkers. The interview is a popular ongoing feature of the newsletter. I love talking to writers about inspiration, craft, and life. They never disappoint. So, from time to time, you’ll find these intimate and enlightening conversations in this space. Today’s conversation with Author Marguerite Sheffer.

Marguerite is the author of the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize fore Debut Short Story Collection nominated book The Man in the Banana Trees. She is a graduate of the Randolph College Low Res MFA program and also a friend. I hope you enjoy our discussion.

As always, thank you also to premium subscribers. A record number of new subscribers signed up so far this year. I appreciate your support and hope this means I’m doing something right with all these posts, interviews, and podcasts. Say hi when you have a chance.

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Maurice: What are your earliest memories of reading or writing stories?

Marguerite: Love this question. I've been reading for as long as I can remember, and making up stories, though it took longer to write them down. I grew up in the worlds of Narnia. and was always feeling in the back of closets for doorways (we didn't have wardrobes in air force base housing). Some of the earliest stories I remember telling were about a planet inhabited by only dogs--what a dream; I still wish I could visit those other worlds.

One of my earliest memories of writing a story was in fifth grade: I wrote a historical fiction story set in a winery (!) and my teacher wanted me to read it in front of the class, but I was too scared to do so. So he read it to the class, while I hid in the bathroom. This was in one of those trailer-classrooms, where the bathroom is attached. I was so nervous to have my story shared, but also so eager to hear it: I hid in that bathroom but then sat on the floor and pressed my ear to the door.

Maurice: What an incredible image of you hiding in that trailer bathroom! I remember those trailers. I remember wondering what would happen if they took us away one day since they were on wheels. Alas, that never happened. What about being asked to share that made you so nervous? And what is different now? I've heard you share your work many times. You're a wonderful performer of your work.

Marguerite: Yes, how scary would that be if the trailer started rolling! Ahhh!

I find sharing stories--still--to be exhilarating and terrifying. It is a very vulnerable thing, like being naked in front of the crowd. For me, the nervousness never goes away, though I am more familiar with it now and know I can push through. The first moments are the hardest, then I begin to lose myself in the story.

I'd love to know your own answer to this question! Your performances are can't-miss! Complete with a soundtrack.

Maurice: I do enjoy putting on a little show. Tell me about an early story of any genre or medium (children's book, adult literature, tv show episode, song, film, etc.) that you were obsessed with. And why.

Marguerite: I was obsessed with Star Wars from a very young age: the original trilogy (though I watched Return of the Jedi first, because I caught it on TV, and quickly demanded to go back and watch the others). My mom was thrilled, as a huge Star Wars fan herself, so that was something we shared and connected over. She would pass me her Star Wars novelizations when she was finished reading them, and I remember getting in trouble reading one under the desk, in fourth grade, when I ought to have been doing math. I've always wanted to be a Jedi: warrior, scholar, teacher, all wrapped up in one. I still want a lightsaber! I think what I loved about that series was the chance to escape to another world, but also the swashbuckling adventure, the political intrigue, the focus on morals. I'd love to write a space opera, and I dare to dream that someone will let me write and publish a story set in the Star Wars universe, someday. Some books and stories I love as a grown up that scratch that same itch are "Pizza Boy" (story) by Meg Ellison, A Memory Called Empire (book) by Arkady Martine, and many books by Ann Leckie, especially Ancillary Justice.

Maurice: May you get that lightsaber! Now, you've done something amazing: you willed yourself to become an author. Part of that adventure was going back to school for an MFA in creative writing. Can you talk about your decision to get that degree and what you learned in the program?

Marguerite: For sure! You are actually part of the start of this story, though we hadn't met yet. I was a huge fan of We Cast a Shadow and followed you on social media. I so appreciated your warm encouragement of new writers. One day, during the Covid shutdown, you posted something about how special a place the Randolph College low-residency MFA program was, how kind it was. That really shook me up! I was in my early thirties at the time, and in a funny place in my career after having been a full-time public-school teacher for ten years. I'd always said if I had a little extra time I would go back to school in some form and try writing, but I was really turned off by the "traditional" (full time) MFA model, and what I had heard about how competitive some of those programs could be. I knew that would be bad for my creativity, especially as someone returning to school and writing at a later stage in life. The more I learned about Randolph, and your own career-switching writing journey, the more inspired I was to take a big leap and try out writing. I also knew that I would benefit from being a student--I love working with teachers, so I applied to Randolph. It was the only program I applied to. Thank goodness I got it.

Your second question was what I learned in that program....everything! When I applied to Randolph I had only ever really completed one short story, about twelve years before, the one I sent in with my application. I loved the chance to nerd out with support and encouragement. My mentors helped me focus on speculative fiction, short story structure, creating scenes not just summaries, learning how to revise...but even more than all these craft skills they were incredibly open and generous, helping me begin to see that I had a place in the writing world.

Maurice: I'm happy that I was a positive influence, Maggie! Finding a writing community is so important and Randolph is one of the best programs anywhere. Let's talk about your work. In 2023, you published one of the most original and affecting stories I've ever read, "Rickey." The short story is about a little boy who is ordinary in every way except for the fact that he's a puppet(!). Where did this idea come from and were you always looking to write speculative fiction?

Marguerite: Thank you for the kind words about "Rickey!" That's the one story I have written that has strangers reaching out to me to talk about it. I'm so glad it resonates with people.

The idea came directly from the 10 years I spent as a classroom teacher, and observing how quirky, curious, individual, and fragile teenagers can be. Rickey is a very muppet-y puppet, and the original seed of the story was imagining how a muppet would navigate a modern American high school: with bells, rows, standardized tests, and the "factory-like" model of education. Who loves learning more than muppets? But, school days are often more about control than they are about learning, and muppets are impossible to control, in the best way.

I have always loved speculative fiction, and definitely knew that I wanted to try writing it. I love a good premise; I so admire great speculative fiction writers like Sofia Samatar, Ted Chiang, Ken Liu and many others. Imagining the world slightly otherwise is so freeing and fun, and helpful in writing about the things that terrify me.

Maurice: There's nothing like strangers telling you how much they love a story you wrote! Also, isn't it amazing how a fantastical story can come from everyday grounded experiences?

Speaking of which, it was just announced that your debut short story collection, The Man in the Banana Trees, is a finalist for a major award, the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection! Congratulations!

Your book is up there with another collection by a New Orleans local, friend of Sitting in Silence, Annell Lopez (the interview is here).

It looks like good things are coming out of our fair city. I know you're heavily involved in the literary community. What does the New Orleans writing scene mean to you and your work?

Marguerite: Thank you! Annell's collection, I'll Give You a Reason is so wonderful; it's an honor to be a finalist with her.

I love living and writing in New Orleans. Having an artistic life, not just a career, is so normalized here. It feels like everyone I meet has a medium, whether they play an instrument, design costumes, paint, or write. And for writers, there are so many weekly events, from readings to workshops to generative get-togethers. It's an incredibly supportive and warm place to be a writer. I'm lucky to be in community with fiction writers like Danny Cherry Jr., Jami Attenberg, yourself, Morgan Babst, Vanessa Saunders, Kayla Min Andrews, Annell, and many others, and everyone truly cheers each other on. Kayla and I have been doing weekly writing dates at Creole Creamery (an ice cream shop) which I can't recommend enough. Writing can be solitary but I find that I feel less crazy to spend so much time writing alone when I have this vast community who gets it and we can all check in with each other about our works in progress.

I'm proud to be one of the organizers behind Third Lantern Lit, a New Orleans writing collective that hosts free meetups and events for local writers, and though I've had to step way back after having my first kid, the team is going strong and the group is growing! Several writers have met their own writing groups through our events, which was always the dream.

Maurice: Community is everything! It's so cool that you're a role model for others in the community now. What have you read or watched in the past year that you loved?

Marguerite: So many great books! As I'm working on a novel right now, I found myself drawn to novels with incredible plotting, suspense, and earned twists; same for TV and movies. I'm trying to learn as much as I can about how to pull that off. In that vein, I loved the novels The Safekeep by Yael Van der Wouden (don't read anything about it beforehand! Not even the jacket copy! Just read it), and Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage and the movie The Conclave. All three have incredible plot moments that cause me a sense of wonder but also feel totally earned.

One of my long-term, barely-started projects is a Cold War CIA story, so I've been reading a lot of John Le Carre's spy novels for the first time and really enjoying them.

For my true love (short fiction), I'm reading Megan Howell's collection Softie right now (it's great and unsettling!), and loved Ruben Reyes Jr's collection There is a Rio Grande in Heaven and can't wait to check out his upcoming novel. The most recent issue of McSweeney's is an incredible collection of strange and uncanny stories, including a banger by Clare Beams, one of my mentors and heroes.

Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad is an incredible book that I recommend to everyone.

Maurice: Your novel sounds great! Good luck with it. What four historical figures would you want to hang with? What would you all do together?

Marguerite: This is such a hard one! I've been thinking about it for a few days and have trouble narrowing it down to any particular four, especially since the people I find most fascinating are often people in the "background" of a big historical moment whose names I don't know, who aren't famous. I'd love to talk to a nuclear scientist who worked on the atomic bomb, for instance—that's a moral puzzle I've always been fascinated by--but didn't have the influence, privilege or star power of an Oppenheimer. I'm obsessed with people who work in the shadows but truly work and influence what comes next. Those for whom the work is more important than any kind of success or recognition. For instance, artists like Zora Neale Hurston or Hilda af Klint or Vivian Maier who created these huge bodies of work that weren't recognized or appreciated during their lifetime. Think of how many great artists we must be missing, still.

This comes up a lot in my fiction! The short story "The Observer's Cage" is inspired by Jocelyn Bell Burnell who didn't get the Nobel prize for her work on the discovery of pulsars. The Cold War novel I mentioned (which is still in the research and ideation stage) is not about a sexy spy but an under-the-radar Kremlinologist, a desk analyst who studied the Soviet Union via media and newspapers looking for patterns and outliers. All a long-winded way of saying I don't know the names of who I would talk to: but these people who don't make the history books but make history, or who create and save the world without recognition.

There's a very short chapter from the novel The Ministry from the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson that touches on a version of this idea: I printed it out and hung it above my desk. Here it is.

Maurice: I remember watching a show that mentioned Bell Burnell and thinking it was an absolute tragedy that she didn't receive a Nobel. Our lives are built on the backs of the not-chosen. Why do you write?

Marguerite: I write to make sense of the world, which I find baffling, frustrating, and wondrous. Whenever I feel most confused and conflicted, I write.

Maurice: What brings you joy?

Marguerite: Writing is one of the things that brings me great joy: losing myself in a story, both as an author and a reader. My daughter is about two and a half right now and she is starting to make stories up, so playing with her and hearing her bizarre stories also brings me a lot of joy. Playing games with curious people, being outside in nature, eating food with old friends.