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SmokeLong Quarterly

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“A single word”: An Interview with Guest Reader Qiana Towns

Interview by Shasta Grant October 15, 2018

art by Katelin Kinney

What themes do you find yourself frequently writing about?

I write quite a bit about women and the lives of women of color in urban communities. My world is filled with black women being exceptional. Starting businesses. Earning degrees. Uplifting communities. Caring for families. Traveling. My writing captures these experiences so that 500 years from now people will know we were here and doing all kinds of things the history books may not record.

What can make or break a flash story?

Conciseness. Like poetry, a single word or phrase could spell the end for a piece.

What kind of story would you love to find in your queue?

A story about a kick-ass woman doing something I’ve never imagined doing.

A story that can successfully use the image of a rainbow without being…corny, I guess. Or, even if the piece can use the word rainbow without triggering a negative response.

Can you tell us about your work with Flint City Riveters in Flint, Michigan?

The Riveters are a semi-professional women’s football team. I’ve worked as their Community Outreach Manager for a few years and it primarily consists of finding volunteer opportunities for players and staff. I’d joined the team at one time, but my community and life commitments kept me away from practices. I loved the idea of working with the team so much that I asked the owner to give me a job. She did and I’ve been supporting the team ever since.

About the Interviewer

Shasta Grant grew up in New Hampshire and now lives in Indianapolis. An Aspen Words Emerging Writer Fellow, Kenyon Review prize winner, and recipient of writing residencies from Hedgebrook and The Kerouac Project, she holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. She is the author of the chapbook Gather Us Up and Bring Us Home, a senior editor at SmokeLong Quarterly, and co-founder of Brown Bag Lit. Her debut novel, When We Were Feral, is forthcoming from Regal House in June 2026.

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