Trick or Treat | Interview with Padgett Powell
In the following interview, Powell discusses the writing process, writing about the South, teaching, and the influence Donald Barthelme has had on him.
Padgett Powell has written some of the most lyrical and hilarious stories to emerge from the Southern literary tradition, and his characters are some of its rowdiest and most unforgettable. Powell embraces the stereotypical pickup trucks, cheap booze, and Piggly Wigglys that crowd the genre with an irascible, pessimist’s wit, proving what a wonderful and silly thing it is to be Southern, and, ultimately, human. In a story titled ‘‘Typical,’’ his character John Payne examines the circumstances that led him to realize he is ‘‘a piece of shit.’’ In another,...
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