Talia Lakshmi Kolluri speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her story “The Good Donkey,” which appears in The Common’s spring issue. In this conversation, Kolluri talks about writing fiction from the perspectives of different animals, and where the inspiration for those stories comes from. She also discusses how being mixed race can complicate conversations about race and identity in the U.S., how books and literature are making space for those conversations, and how she balances writing with a full-time job as an attorney.

Talia Lakshmi Kolluri’s short fiction has appeared in The Minnesota Review, Ecotone, and Southern Humanities Review. She was born and raised in Northern California and now lives in the Central Valley, where she is at work on a collection of short stories and a novel. Read her story in The Common at thecommononline.org/the-good-donkey.

Read more about Talia and her work at taliakolluri.com.

Below is a list of books and writers that Talia recommended in the podcast.

On the Palestinian experience:

The Drone Eats with Me by Atef Abu Saif
Palestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape by Raja Shehadeh

On the mixed-race experience:

Heidi Durrow, founder of the Mixed-Remixed Festival
The House of Deep Water by Jeni McFarland
Donna Miscolta
Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T. Kira Madden

The Common is a print and online literary magazine publishing stories, essays, and poems that deepen our collective sense of place. On our podcast and in our pages, The Common features established and emerging writers from around the world. Read more and subscribe to the magazine at thecommononline.org, and follow us on Twitter @CommonMag.

Emily Everett is managing editor of the magazine and host of the podcast. Her stories appear in the Kenyon Review, Electric Literature, Tin House Online, and Mississippi Review. She holds an MA in literature from Queen Mary University of London, and a BA from Smith College. Say hello on Twitter @Public_Emily.

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