Theodora Ziolkowski
Theodora Ziolkowski (who also publishes under “Theodora Bishop”) is the author of the novella On the Rocks (Texas Review Press), winner a 2018 Next Generation Indie Book Award, and the short story chapbook Mother Tongues, winner of The Cupboard’s 2015 contest. Her poetry and short stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Glimmer Train, Prairie Schooner, Arts & Letters, The Los Angeles Review, North American Review, and Short Fiction (England), among other journals, anthologies, and exhibits. A Best New Poets and four-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Theodora Bishop holds an MFA from the University of Alabama and is pursuing her PhD at the UH Creative Writing Program. She is the recipient of an Inprint C. Glenn Cambor Fellowship and recently served as Poetry Editor for Gulf Coast and Fiction Editor for Big Fiction. Visit her website at theodorabishop.com.
Recommended Books for Aspiring Writers:
Excerpt from Theodora’s short story “We Thank You for Your Cleanliness,” originally published in Glimmer Train:
Our landline is broken, I think. That’s what I keep telling my thirteen-year-old son, anyway. Josh who’s all gel-spiked hair, rotten-mouthed and free. He’s taken to lacing his skinny jeans with chains and wearing a hoop over his left eyebrow that I told him made me think of cattle or that line we love from some film we can no longer name—how now, brown cow?—only he just rolls his eyes at the allusion and arranges his face into this dull expression I find at once galling and endearing. He doesn’t believe our landline is broken because how can something be broken that’s hardly ever in use? We have cellphones, yes, and so it’s true we usually forget about the rotary phone that is the color of pumpkin pie. On the rare occasion that someone does call the house, the connection always sounds crackled. Poltergeisty. But I can’t bear to throw the phone away when it belonged to my husband Mike who liked those kinds of things.
Excerpt from an interview with Theodora about her award-winning novella On the Rocks:
MATTHEW: You have a slew of publications, so I’m curious as to what your writing process is like. Is it relatively straightforward, are you someone that labors intensely for long hours every day, or is it some combination of both?
THEODORA: It’s relatively straightforward in the sense that I write as often as I can. I establish a routine based on where I am — in terms of jobs, school, travel, residencies, etc. The most writing (in terms of quantity) I ever accomplished was on a fellowship year in my MFA. I wasn’t teaching and had already completed coursework, so my days were spent writing and reading and wearing my pajamas for absurd stretches of time. I treated the funded time to work on my writing as a gift, and I am not one to let gifts go to waste (read: give me a carton of Cella’s cherries, and I’ll be glad to eat them all in front of you). I’ve never had a predetermined number of hours/pages/words to complete that I sign off in blood to. The amount I generate fluctuates based on what I’m doing/what works best for my routine. Read the complete interview here.
Student testimonials:
“She’s very approachable and creates a safe space for sharing.”
“She is passionate about writing, which—of course!!—is so necessary for the success of any learning experience with a teacher, but not only this passion, but also enthusiasm for the students and her pacing thrilled me.”
Watch a trailer for Theodora’s short story chapbook Mother Tongues:
Recommended Books for Aspiring Writers:
- The Wild Iris, by Louise Glück
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson
- Madness, Rack, and Honey, by Mary Ruefle
- Life on Mars, by Tracy K. Smith
- Runaway, by Alice Munro
Excerpt from Theodora’s short story “We Thank You for Your Cleanliness,” originally published in Glimmer Train:
Our landline is broken, I think. That’s what I keep telling my thirteen-year-old son, anyway. Josh who’s all gel-spiked hair, rotten-mouthed and free. He’s taken to lacing his skinny jeans with chains and wearing a hoop over his left eyebrow that I told him made me think of cattle or that line we love from some film we can no longer name—how now, brown cow?—only he just rolls his eyes at the allusion and arranges his face into this dull expression I find at once galling and endearing. He doesn’t believe our landline is broken because how can something be broken that’s hardly ever in use? We have cellphones, yes, and so it’s true we usually forget about the rotary phone that is the color of pumpkin pie. On the rare occasion that someone does call the house, the connection always sounds crackled. Poltergeisty. But I can’t bear to throw the phone away when it belonged to my husband Mike who liked those kinds of things.
Excerpt from an interview with Theodora about her award-winning novella On the Rocks:
MATTHEW: You have a slew of publications, so I’m curious as to what your writing process is like. Is it relatively straightforward, are you someone that labors intensely for long hours every day, or is it some combination of both?
THEODORA: It’s relatively straightforward in the sense that I write as often as I can. I establish a routine based on where I am — in terms of jobs, school, travel, residencies, etc. The most writing (in terms of quantity) I ever accomplished was on a fellowship year in my MFA. I wasn’t teaching and had already completed coursework, so my days were spent writing and reading and wearing my pajamas for absurd stretches of time. I treated the funded time to work on my writing as a gift, and I am not one to let gifts go to waste (read: give me a carton of Cella’s cherries, and I’ll be glad to eat them all in front of you). I’ve never had a predetermined number of hours/pages/words to complete that I sign off in blood to. The amount I generate fluctuates based on what I’m doing/what works best for my routine. Read the complete interview here.
Student testimonials:
“She’s very approachable and creates a safe space for sharing.”
“She is passionate about writing, which—of course!!—is so necessary for the success of any learning experience with a teacher, but not only this passion, but also enthusiasm for the students and her pacing thrilled me.”
Watch a trailer for Theodora’s short story chapbook Mother Tongues: