{"id":1491,"date":"2024-11-22T10:32:06","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T15:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/?p=1491"},"modified":"2025-01-10T20:55:19","modified_gmt":"2025-01-11T01:55:19","slug":"interview-with-jacqueline-vogtman-on-fiction-fellowship-girl-country-no-22-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/interview-with-jacqueline-vogtman-on-fiction-fellowship-girl-country-no-22-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Jacqueline Vogtman: On Fiction, Fellowship & Girl Country No. 22.2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Interviewed by Elly Salah & Jamie Manias <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Picture<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline (she\/her) was interviewed for an hour in the early afternoon on September 26th, 2024. This interview occurred in East Hall at Bowling Green State University, just a few hours before Jacqueline read at Prout Chapel for our reading series. We were thrilled to sit down with Vogtman and talk behind the scenes of life as a writer. The interview is split in two parts; part 1 was posted last week. This is part 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman received the New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship, awarded earlier this year, 2024. Jacqueline graduated from BGSU\u2019s MFA program in 2010. She currently teaches composition at Mercer County Community College in New Jersey. Vogtman’s short story collection, Girl Country<\/em>, won the 2021 Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Prize and was published by Dzanc Books in May 2023. Vogtman\u2019s book Girl Country<\/em> is available for purchase with the following link: <\/a> https:\/\/www.dzancbooks.org\/all-titles\/p\/girl-country<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’re a professor at Mercer County Community College, can you tell us a bit more about that? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mostly teach second level English comp, which is a little more fun than the first level. We get to incorporate literary sources in there, and I guide the students during a research project. It\u2019s fun. I really enjoy working with my students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As there is a steep growth curve for writing, there is also a steep growth curve for teaching. I was pretty young when I started teaching, and there’s this navigation of authority, like \u201cHow strict should I be? Are they going to respect me?\u201d Maybe now that I\u2019m older I feel like I don’t struggle with that as much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I just give my students grace, kindness, compassion, and respect, and somehow it comes back to me. The last few years in the classroom, I\u2019ve just felt so surrounded by love. It feels like I’m giving out love, and they’re giving it back to me. It’s a very nice feeling.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a big accomplishment to have your students trust and love you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can be hard to get to that point. I\u2019ve felt this way for five years. Before I reached that point, I was still navigating asking, \u201cHow do I do this?\u201d Then, eventually, I sort of found myself in the classroom, and I felt this confidence had been building inside me from being in the classroom for so long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it’s also just being a parent. I don’t know what it is that changed in me, but I see my students as not my <\/em>kids, but almost like secondary children. I imagine my daughter in the classroom and how I would want her to be treated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has teaching taught you anything about your voice as a writer? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first instinct is to say no, probably not. I find inspiration everywhere. I\u2019ve found it in the classroom with my students, their stories, lives, and even their names. I\u2019m always struggling to find names for my characters, so sometimes I\u2019ll look at my old rosters to see if there\u2019s any good names there. Overall, it hasn\u2019t played into my process a huge amount. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer: <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was wondering if growing confidence as a teacher has seeped into other areas of life? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, basic principles like don’t beat yourself up for a shitty first draft or let yourself just write your ideas, and try to let go of that inner critic. These are some of the things that I would tell my students that I also tell myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer: <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In your Mud Season Review interview, you were speaking about how the idea of “Girl Country” came to you after you had your daughter. Could you speak a little bit more about how parenthood has impacted your journey as a writer? Do you see your relationship with parenthood and writing as evolving or interconnected?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On one hand, being a parent robs you of a lot of time that you might have previously had for writing. That\u2019s the negative of it all. On the other hand, I don\u2019t know if I would have been able to write this book if I hadn\u2019t had my daughter. I\u2019ve been so inspired by the journey of being a mother and watching her grow up, and, overall, just the struggle of parenthood, the struggle of breastfeeding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of \u201cGirl Country,\u201d which is the title short story in the collection, came to me in a dream. My mind was always there because of struggles I had trying to breastfeed. A lot of the stories in the book have to do with women\u2019s bodies and maternity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think sometimes when you become a parent, or when you have a full time job, those things take a lot of your time. It forces you to make time for your writing. Which might sound counterintuitive, but, sometimes, it\u2019s helpful! Sometimes, it forces you to actually use the time that you have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer: <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s definitely a challenge. For the fellowship, is there anyone that you’re checking in with, or do you have to be on top of your own schedule?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fellowship is a lot of working with your own deadlines. You have to give yourself deadlines. I believe a lot of fellowships are like this, but this is the first fellowship I\u2019ve received. It\u2019s really flexible. When you\u2019re chosen as a fellowship recipient, there\u2019s money, there\u2019s resources to help with writing, but, the money doesn\u2019t have to be used for anything specific. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people might use fellowship funds to pay off debt if you can make a justification for why it\u2019s going to help you. For example, someone might say, \u201cI\u2019m going to pay off a bit of credit card debt because the debt is really weighing on my mind that\u2019s going to help me write better,\u201d and that\u2019s OK. For me, I paid for a couple of summer camps for my daughter, so I could do a little writing. It\u2019s pretty open and flexible. I don\u2019t really have to check in with anyone, but there\u2019s an end of year report.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer: <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one of your previous interviews, you talked about coming from a working-class background and how that\u2019s influenced your writing. Have you always been drawn to writing working-class stories? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I started writing fiction, I wanted to write characters that were similar to my family growing up. A family that maybe you don’t see as much in fiction. I remember one of my first weeks here in Bowling Green, I was talking with one of my fiction cohorts, who was a year above me, Dustin M. Hoffman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said something to me that resonated. He said something like, \u201cI want to write real, working-class stories. People working, really working. I want to write stories that my dad will read. I want to reflect on the real-life experiences of blue-collar people which you don\u2019t see as much.\u201d And when he said that I was like \u201cYes, that\u2019s what I want to do.\u201d Do it in a different way, but that really matters to me.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer: <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Definitely. The New England Canon of literature is so bound up in wealth. It\u2019s interesting to see prose about characters who are different from that. We also wanted to ask what topics or themes have you been gravitating towards recently? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The novel I\u2019m working on has something to do with the American Dream. The family is a working-class family. Part of the novel has to do with finding out about a secret relative that someone’s father had a child from a previous marriage. Part of the novel also involves new genetics testing, and I’ve been looking into that. The novel’s set along the Delaware River, so I\u2019ve been researching its history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m going to read a quote from an interview to get your thoughts, ‘I’m a poet from a working-class background, and I write poems about myself, and the people I grew up with who are working-class. I can’t really do anything else, which is why I don’t see my poems as a form of resistance against social expectations or economic pressures. I see them as approximate depictions of my reality,\u201d is a quote from poet Sydney Mayes, interview is published in Only Poems. Does this quote resonated with you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah. That rings true because I\u2019m not\u2026 I\u2019m not trying to make a statement. Anyone could say, \u201cI\u2019m going to write about this social experience because I think we should make a political statement about it.\u201d But that\u2019s not necessarily how I go about it. I approach writing by thinking about how I grew up, what I want, the people I want to write about, and the emotions, love, and complicated feelings that I have toward my childhood and background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer:<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s awesome. Do you see the literary world becoming more inclusive of working-class stories? Do you feel like working-class stories are adding to or expanding the canon of what’s considered literary instead of rebelling against the canon? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past five years, maybe ten years, it feels like the literary community is becoming a bit more inclusive of different identities and backgrounds. Hopefully, that\u2019s an expansion of the canon, right? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We saw in one of your recent interviews that you\u2019re bad with titles. We love the title, \u201cGirl Country.\u201d Do you think that\u2019s still the case? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman:<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That interview happened very early on in the writing of this book. Pretty soon after I had written the short story, \u201cGirl Country\u201d, that was probably the first story I wrote where I feel like the title came to me. And I liked it right off the bat. Thank you for saying you love the title. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I came up with the title \u201cGirl Country,\u201d I could even see it as the title of the collection rather than just of a short story. I’ve gotten a little better at titles since back in the day. Sometimes, it’s still a struggle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I figure out titles by brainstorming whole pages of different words and phrases to figure out what works best. But with some of the stories I wrote recently, I thought, \u201coh, that title wasn\u2019t that hard to come by.\u201d And I\u2019m OK with that. Coming up with titles gets easier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does a good title do in your opinion?   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman:<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good title advances the theme of the story. Sometimes a good title adds something to the story that’s not necessarily even in the story. A good title catches the reader’s attention. But much of writing is still a mystery to me and forever will be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you think the mystery of writing is part of what draws you to writing? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman: <\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe because of the lack of clarity. There’s no correct way to do writing. For instance, there’s no right or wrong. You don’t have to make definitive decisions all the time. I don’t know if mystery is what draws me to writing. Sometimes, writing feels like an impulse that\u2019s existed in me forever, almost like dreaming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not necessarily drawn to writing because I like mystery. It\u2019s just that mystery is part of writing. I know this is not a popular opinion because we don\u2019t want mystery in the academy. When you’re teaching creative writing, you want to be able to say, \u201cyes, you can teach creative writing.\u201d And you can teach certain aspects of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone\u2019s born an artist. For some people it somehow thrives or takes off, maybe a little more in others. For some it ends up fading away for some reason or lingering inside them. Maybe it comes out in weird ways throughout their life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for your thoughtful answer. Your short stories are really stunning and incredibly powerful. In your short story, \u201cGirl Country,\u201d the girl is not named until the end of the story. We thought this was a very powerful technique. One of the many powerful craft techniques employed. Could you talk a little bit about the power of naming in creative writing?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that particular story, it is very intentional that she doesn’t get a name until the end because we don’t know her, we don’t get to. She’s a mystery who appears on the side of the road. We don\u2019t know who she is. Then, at the very end, she transforms into a person with an actual name. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you talk a little bit more about the power of naming? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman: <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naming can do so many things without even telling the reader much about the character, just the name can tell you certain basic things about them. With a name, sometimes, you can tell how old the character is or their culture or background. Certain things emerge from a name that are just basic stuff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Names give you a level of specificity for a character. I have a story in the collection that there’s a character, a woman is just called, she’s \u201ca woman\u201d and not named throughout. Sometimes, I leave the characters deliberately unnamed to create a surrealist feeling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book isn\u2019t realism. It’s a story that is almost dreamlike, not a real-life scenario where so-and-so has a name. Sometimes, I like to leave characters unnamed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was reading \u201cGirl Country,\u201d it felt very emotional to me when we got to the naming because in the story, I figured it was intentional. It felt incredibly powerful, to use a quote, \u201cthis girl who had braved escape and had come back just to save him.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you have any tips for someone who has to figure out how to be a writer alone? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Vogtman:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have to give yourself deadlines. It\u2019s nice to have at least one other person holding you accountable like sharing work together on a deadline. It\u2019s important to set up a writing routine. It’s great to have a writing routine where you do something every single day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of my old MFA cohort members, Dustin Hoffman, said he was going to force himself to write everyday even if it\u2019s just a single sentence. I think that\u2019s a manageable goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d also say give yourself some grace and don\u2019t beat yourself up. Sometimes people when they don\u2019t meet their goal will get down on themselves and end up throwing away their work which isn\u2019t good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you so much for your time. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Interviewed by Elly Salah & Jamie Manias  Jacqueline (she\/her) was interviewed for an hour in the early afternoon on September… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1491"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1551,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491\/revisions\/1551"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}