When I first started out, I was trying to write stories about nurses and lawyers and a lot of people I didn't… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I was 35 when I started taking classes at Ohio University. After I got my degree, I kept working at the mill.… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I remember a class I taught at Ohio State where I assigned a Mary Gaitskill story, which really wasn't that bad, and… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
When I started graduate school we did this publishing class where we learned about submitting and read interviews with editors from different… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
'Knockemstiff' is a collection of short stories set in the holler of the same name in southern Ohio where I grew up.… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I took a correspondence course with a guy at Ohio University. He gave me ten exercises, and one of them resulted in… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
J.R. Angelella is a truly gifted writer. Zombie is one of the smartest, strangest, and most beautifully crafted coming-of-age stories you will… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I'm trying to break myself of that habit [of not writing out a first draft ] because I'm working on a couple… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I don't think my book is any more shocking than if I went out right now and brought back your local newspaper… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
“Strangers complained about the stench, but the locals liked to brag that it was the sweet smell of money.” — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I don't really think the outburst is recent; there have always been writers in Appalachia. — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
Unless he had whiskey running through his veins, Willard came to the clearing every morning and evening to talk to God. Arvin didn't know… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
For example, if it's a sad scene, I need to feel that way, at least to a slight degree and for a short while,… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
As for how I feel about any success I've had, I just feel extremely lucky. Writing is a tough racket, and there are a… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
Part of the reason might be that I was born in 1954 and I look upon my youth with great fondness, like many old… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I've never heard of that anthology [Vance Randolph, Pissing in the Snow], but you can be sure I'll buy it now. — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
When I first started out, I was trying to write stories about nurses and lawyers and a lot of people I didn't know anything… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
“It's hard to live a good life...It seems like the Devil don't ever let up.” — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I'm not sure what the proper label might be, or the most accurate one, but someone once called my stuff Southern Ohio Gothic and… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
Don't get me wrong: I think that everyone should put forth an effort to do better, but let's face it, some of us are… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image
I look upon [writing about religion] as a nice way to get by in this precarious world, though I've never been able to do… — Donald Ray Pollock Copy Share Image