Q&A with WriteByNight Consultant Caro Clark

Caro Clark (New Orleans, Louisiana) received her MFA from the University of New Hampshire, where she taught first-year composition and rhetoric and undergraduate fiction. She also holds an MSW from Tulane University and is a practicing clinician. Her writing has appeared in Saveur, GQ, and No Tokens, and won Glimmer Train’s new fiction contest. She has received scholarships and fellowships from the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley, Disquiet International, and the MacDowell Colony, among others. She is currently working on a collection of essays.

Where are you from?

I grew up by the ocean in Rhode Island and spent the last decade trying different cities and towns on for the right fit. Currently, New Orleans is home.

Where did you study?

I earned my BA in English at Elon University and my MFA in Fiction from the University of New Hampshire. I also have an MSW from Tulane University, and a certification in wooden boat building born out of a very lonely year spent on the Olympic Peninsula.

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

As I answer these questions, I’m sitting at a coffee shop and two men next to me are talking about marriage. One of them just confessed that he is going to Lithuania tonight to try to find a wife. The other began to inexplicably weep. There are unfathomable worlds unfolding around us all the time. It is incredibly difficult work to both honor and compete with them.

What is your strangest writing experience?

One time I wrote a piece of fiction about a man from a remote seaside town who I gave the occupation of being a fisherman. Five years later, I met and dated that very person with that very name, first and last. In the story he died at sea. In real life, we broke up.

What is your favorite word and why?

There are a few, and I like to keep them a secret. I’m tempted to write them into every story, but then they would lose their sanctity.

What’s the last book you read and what did you think of it?

I read Barry Lopez’s Arctic Dreams on a constant loop. A friend gave it to me years ago. I pick it up and put it down whenever I’m between other books. I love its familiarity.

Where do you see the world of writing and publishing heading?

Probably to Mars.

Any words of wisdom for aspiring writers?

You’ll have a lot of wisdom dumped on you from a lot of different sources. Some of it will be really good. Some of it will drown out your voice. Listen carefully, heed it all, and then return to yourself.

Interested in working with Caro? Request a free consult now