Lauren Groff on Florida as a state of mind
Fiction writer Lauren Groff will work on her fourth novel as the 2018‒2019 Suzanne Young Murray Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Her third, “Fates and Furies,” told the story of a marriage from two perspectives. The 2015 novel won numerous awards, was praised by critics, and was selected by President Obama as his book of the year. Last month, Groff published her second story collection, “Florida,” a moody meditation on life in her adopted state, a setting that conjures “a metaphorical sense of the world, a deep, swampy dread covered by a glorious and unceasing pour of sunshine.” We spoke with Groff about subversive prose, mothers and children, and crafting a vivid sense of place. Q&A Lauren Groff GAZETTE: What do you consider the role of the fiction writer? Is the goal different with a novel versus a short story? GROFF: The goals of novelist and story writer feel utterly similar...