Barrelhousing with Assistant Fiction Editor Sian Griffiths

In this new interview series, we’ll be getting to know some of the very essential folks who work behind the scenes here at Barrelhouse, our Assistant Editors. These are the people on the front lines, generously donating their time to read submissions and help put great new writing out into the world. Today we’re sitting down with Assistant Fiction Editor (and as the photo indicates, full time Bad Ass) Sian Griffiths.

First tell us about the things you do that aren't Barrelhouse-adjacent.

I teach in the creative writing program at Weber State University, parent my two awesome kiddos, hang out with my pups, and ride my horse, Larry.

What made you want to work with us?

I love Barrelhouse's whole deal, from the print and online journals to the book press to the amplifier to C&C to the Writer Camp cult. I had known about Barrelhouse as a thing from AWP, but I only got to know the various efforts it was making through Mike and Tom's podcast, Book Fight!, which was my gateway drug.

I wasn't on Twitter at the time but joined so I could follow along, and there, I got to know the people better and when a call for assistant editors came in, I threw my hat in the ring.

Working with the journal confirmed everything I'd seen from the outside: everyone involved is just a solidly cool person who wants to help other writers get their stuff out in the world. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that?

What are you looking for in fiction submissions? What makes a story stand out from the rest of the pile?

The thing about reading submissions is how quickly you realize that a story doesn't have to just be good. It has to be special. I always feel a little twinge of guilt when I pass on a perfectly good story because it was only a perfectly good story, but I do that all the time. The stories that stand out have a little singing part of them -- a voice that feels like only the author could have made it, efficiency in the language, surprises that feel earned, a heart and a soul. I love to read work that is exciting and unexpected.

There's a Barrelhouse t-shirt that says "Keep it weird," and that's a part of it, but I'm also looking for weirdness that's not just weird for weird's sake but is expressive of something human.

I know even as I type this answer that this is all frustratingly vague, but maybe that's the takeaway. There's no formula here. There's no checklist. If you feel energized and intrigued by what you find yourself writing, you're probably on the right track.

 Who are some of your favorite fiction writers?

Toni Morrison, Louis Alberto Urrea, and Louise Erdrich are way, way up there for me. They are the writers who make me want to break my pens. For stories, I love Amelia Gray, Amber Sparks, George Saunders, and Aimee Bender, and for flash, I always look for new work from KB Carle, KC Mead-Brewer, and Meghan Phillips, as well as our own Chris Gonzalez.

PD James was probably the first writer I read compulsively, starting in middle school. I read her way too early and often, and I still have a soft spot for mystery--especially if the characters are complicated.

If you could change one thing about the current lit mag world, what would it be?

The online platform has opened up options for all kinds of quirky and idiosyncratic writing, which is cool, and one thing that's really positive about our current moment is the way writers so often lift each other up rather than seeing one another as competition.

Perhaps the change I would like to see is more ways to reward those cool little niche places in prize anthologies, shining a spotlight on work that's off the general radar.

And, of course, I would love to see writers better compensated for their work.

Also, I know firsthand how many doors feel locked when you don't have money to attend conferences or graduate programs, so making those opportunities accessible is hugely important.

I realize that talking about conferences seems tangential to the lit mag world, but those programs feed the lit mag world. And yeah, yeah, yeah, writing itself is cheap and pretty much anyone can do it and some of the self-taught voices are our strongest, but all that said, when talented writers feel unwelcome, it's unreasonable to expect them to persist in the face of those locked doors.

Another reason I'm super proud to be a part of Barrelhouse is its effort to create affordable opportunities, though we're geographically limited. I'd love to see these opportunities expanded across the country. I know full well that Barrelhouse can't do all that. Others have to take up the torch.

We're legally obligated to ask you this: what's your favorite Patrick Swayze movie? 

OK, I really, really love Donnie Darko. That movie left me shook. I feel like that's a bit of a cheat, though, since he's not a central character, so I'm going with Point Break. His performance in that movie is masterful, which is why it's just barely edging out a top spot over Dirty Dancing.