{"id":1771,"date":"2025-10-31T12:10:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T16:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/?p=1771"},"modified":"2025-10-31T12:10:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T16:10:55","slug":"an-interview-with-dave-essinger-on-writing-and-publication-at-the-end-of-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/an-interview-with-dave-essinger-on-writing-and-publication-at-the-end-of-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"An Interview with Dave Essinger: On Writing and Publication at the End of the World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n



In continuing to highlight our guest readers for this year\u2019s Winter Wheat festival, we asked Dave Essinger, our fiction reader for Saturday, November 8th, about his experiences as a writer and editor, and to share what he will be reading.

Essinger teaches creative writing at the University of Findlay in Ohio where he is also the editor of the literary magazine Slippery Elm. Essinger\u2019s new post-apocalyptic novel\u202fThis World and the Next\u202fwas released in 2024 and in the interview that follows, he speaks to what it\u2019s like to be writing about the end of the world when you feel like you\u2019re in it and the problems of trying to publish work that\u2019s too close to reality. Essinger also speaks to what he\u2019s seeing as an editor and how to stand out for literary magazines and make the most of your submissions.

Essinger will be reading alongside poet Jonie McIntire on Saturday, November 8th, at 1:15 p.m. on Bowling Green State University\u2019s campus. Don\u2019t miss the chance to hear him read! Check out Winter Wheat\u2019s schedule of events here<\/a>. Additionally, you can read Essinger\u2019s full bio here<\/a>.


You share that you are a writer who remembers fallout drills in preparation of nuclear war as a child and that the world ending is a part of what influences your work. Your latest novel,\u202fThis World and the Next, is a post-apocalyptic novel. Can you share how current events and experiences inspire you and your experiences imagining and writing about the world ending?\u202f<\/strong>

Well! As it happened, I was joking all along that I just needed to finish my post-apocalyptic novel before civilization actually ended.\u202fAnd then, I failed to do so: I completed the manuscript in March of 2020. \u202fIt contains\u2026a pandemic. Agents and editors everywhere said, sorry, the book read way too much like real life just then. Then it found a home in 2024, and I told my publisher I wanted to get it out before the election, because, haha, I wasn\u2019t going to get burned a second time there! The published book contains some updates from the 2020 version and attributes the fall of civilization to sociopathic political leaders dismantling opposition, inciting false-flag unrest to stay in power, and appointing incompetent loyalists to positions of terrifying power. But don\u2019t worry! It\u2019s totally fiction. Not current events or anything.\u202fI was trying to be cautionary, not prophetic.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n


As the editor of\u202fSlippery Elm\u202fliterary magazine at the University of Findlay, what are you noticing about trends in submissions right now? What can you share with writers who are submitting to literary magazines as an editor? <\/strong>

Like many magazines, we\u2019re getting enormous numbers of submissions, of which we can accept maybe 3-4%. \u202fAnd as anyone who\u2019s worked reading submissions will attest, it changes the way I write, as I imagine my own work crossing the desk of someone overwhelmed with writing that\u2019s competent, and often really good\u2014so, what separates good writing from unforgettable, and what stands out in a sea of very good work? \u202fMy advice is always to read widely, know what\u2019s out there, and stand out\u2014make it easy on readers and editors who have difficult choices. \u202f

And\u2026don\u2019t take rejection too hard, because it\u2019s a competitive but totally subjective process\u2026maybe don\u2019t pay out for contests unless you love the cause and get something back for your entry fee (every entrant for\u202fSlippery Elm\u202fgets a copy of the issue in the mail, for example)\u2026and if you don\u2019t feel like paying reading fees, we and many other journals take General submissions for free and are fine with simultaneous submissions. With so many writers writing, and so many journals out there, why not make some of those numbers work for you? \u202fIf publication is the goal, it\u2019s possible to submit widely without breaking the bank.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n


For those who haven’t attended Winter Wheat before, can you share about your experiences at Winter Wheat? How does it feel to be coming to Winter Wheat as a reader this year?\u202f\u202f <\/strong>

I haven\u2019t been to every Winter Wheat\u2026but almost! \u202fAnd I\u2019m beyond thrilled to be invited as a reader this year\u2014for the 25th anniversary, no less! \u202fWinter Wheat is a fantastic cultural contribution to northwest Ohio and the Midwest, and I\u2019m always counseling students and friends to attend and propose panels and presentations because it\u2019s friendly, free, and close to home. \u202fAmong everything else, Winter Wheat is a wonderful resource for students and new writers, offering an approachable first writers\u2019 conference experience without the cost and commitment of flying across the country. Winter Wheat has become a literary institution in the region, and should be on every writers\u2019 calendar.


Can you share with us a little bit about what you will be reading?\u202f <\/strong>

Could be a game-day call\u2014sometimes I like to ask an audience what they want to hear, throw out a couple choices\u2014but likely picks include excerpts from my latest published novel\u202fThis World and the\u202fNext\u202fwith lots of\u202fforeshadowing from the Last Day before the\u202fend\u202fof the world, and scenes from my recently completed book\u202fCompassion Fatigue, featuring a burnt-out veterinarian whose son is implicated in an active-shooter incident.\u202fCheery stuff either way, I know, but what can I say, our writing is a product of our times. Or at least mine is.

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In continuing to highlight our guest readers for this year\u2019s Winter Wheat festival, we asked Dave Essinger, our fiction reader… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17],"tags":[68,84,85,41,312,211],"class_list":["post-1771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","category-winter-wheat","tag-bgsu","tag-interview","tag-mar","tag-mid-american-review","tag-winter-wheat-2025","tag-winter-wheat-writing-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1771","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1771"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1780,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1771\/revisions\/1780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}