Close Reading: Conversations with Women Writers
I’ve become known for in-depth conversations with women writers. I don’t think of them as interviews so much as meetings between two people who are genuinely curious about what it means to be human.
I read closely, looking for the questions beneath the work—the experiences that shaped it, the patterns that emerge, and the deeper inquiry the writing invites.
These conversations are an invitation to slow down, listen closely, and spend time with some of the most thoughtful writers of our time.
I hope you enjoy them.
Breaking the Binaries: A Conversation with Lidia Yuknavitch
The Rumpus • April 24, 2017
On the Edge: A Conversation with Lidia Yuknavitch
VIDA Review • March 2020
Currently unavailable online
Breaking Through: Gayle Brandeis Discusses The Art of Misdiagnosis
The Rumpus • November 2017
It’s Never Too Late to Be Found: A Conversation with Rene Denfeld
The Rumpus • September 2017
A Poet Survives Abuse, Brain Trauma, and a Hurricane, Then Turns to Memoir
Electric Literature • September 2017
Lacy M. Johnson: Moving the Conversation Toward Justice
Guernica • October 2018
Terese Mailhot: Truth Is My Aesthetic
Guernica • March 2018
On Choice, Children, and Womanhood: A Conversation with Christa Parravani
LA Review of Books • October 2020
Write Toward Compassion: Lia Woodall Interviewed
BOMB • December 2020
Everything Must Change: A Conversation with Melissa Febos
The Rumpus • March 2021
Gina Frangello: Truth and Consequences The author of the memoir Blow Your House Down talks about secrecy, accountability, and resisting happy endings.
Guernica • April 2021
A VIRTUAL CONVERSATION WITH JEANNINE OUELLETTE, AUTHOR OF THE PART THAT BURNS AND SUE WILLIAMS SILVERMAN AUTHOR OF HOW TO SURVIVE DEATH AND OTHER CONVENIENCES
Moderated by Kelly Thompson
A Room of One’s Own • April 2021
Do the Thing: A Conversation with Emily Rapp Black
The Rumpus • July 2026
Kelly Thompson is a writer, interviewer, and editor. Her essays, interviews, and poetry have appeared widely in literary magazines and journals. Over the past decade, she has become known for her in-depth interviews with women writers, with conversations published in The Rumpus, Guernica, Electric Literature, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She served for nine years as founding editor of Voices on Addiction at The Rumpus, where she curated and edited essays on addiction and recovery, and is the founding editor of The W(hole). Her work as a writer and editor is grounded in close reading, literary inquiry, and a lifelong commitment to the stories that shape—and liberate—our lives.