Ghassan Zeineddine on What Short Stories Do That Novels Can’t

Write-minded: Weekly Inspiration for Writers is currently in its fourth year. We are a weekly podcast for writers craving a unique blend of inspiration and real talk about the ups and downs of the writing life. Hosted by Brooke Warner of She Writes and Grant Faulkner of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), each theme-focused episode of Write-minded features an interview with a writer, author, or publishing industry professional.

This week’s episode is an exploration of form, and why some stories are better contained in short story form rather than a novel. Guest Ghassan Zeineddine shares the evolution of his short story collection, Dearborn, as well as some of his process, including research and spending serious time with subjects who sometimes play roles in stories years down the road. Dearborn is part-celebration, part-astute observation of the Arab-American community in Dearborn, Michigan. This episode also contains a bit of history about how Dearborn became the US city with the highest concentration of Arabs and Arab Americans, and also lends insights into process, craft, and why the short story form is sometimes just right.

Subscribe and download the episode, wherever you get your podcasts. 

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Ghassan Zeineddine was born in Washington, DC, and raised in the Middle East. He is an assistant professor of creative writing at Oberlin College, and he just published a collection of short stories, Dearborn, and he’s co-editor of the creative nonfiction anthology Hadha Baladuna: Arab American Narratives of Boundary and Belonging. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Ohio.