Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. is the author of the new story collection Sacred Folks. His other books include Sacred City.
Q: Over how long a period did you write the stories in your new collection?
A: I think the stories can cook along for a lifetime, but as far as getting these ones down, I would say about a year and half to two years.
Q: This is the third volume in your story cycle--how would you describe the relationship among the three books?
A: This third book takes place mostly in the narrator’s late teens and early 20s — the books begin when he’s about 13 or so and progress from there, showing an increasing sophistication in language and storytelling.
Q: The writer Tommy Orange said of the book, “I love the way Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. writes about urban Native lives in Chicago. There is something so familiar about the lives he writes about, and what he is doing with language is so new and unexpected. He writes the city beautifully.” What do you think of that description?
A: I really appreciate what Tommy had to say about my writing and books. We both work on trying to portray Urban Native lives and each understand what the other is trying to do and say. That means a lot to me. He’s so generous.
Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: Sacred Folks is meant to signify the preciousness of certain lives that largely go unexamined and unspoken, untold. That includes everyone here in the book.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m currently in edits for my first “traditional” novel, The El, which will be published by Vintage/Penguin Random House in 2025. I’m also working on a historical fiction as well as something with the two characters from my story in Never Whistle at Night. Oh, and speaking of, we’re putting together a follow up to that anthology entitled Never Whistle at Night Part II: Back for Blood.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I post about books and films and other things that I at least find interesting on FB/IG/Bluesky at TVAyyyy.
Additional work by me can be found at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Theodore-C.-Van-Alst-Jr./author/B00PGILJSS
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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