Night at the Fiestas, published this spring by W.W. Norton, brings together ten short stories by New Mexico native Kirstin Valdez Quade, who last year was named one of the five most promising writers under 35 by the National Book Foundation. The stories appeared earlier in various national publications, including The New Yorker, The Best American Short Stories 2013 and The O. Henry Prize Stories 2014.
Her fiction, Kirstin says, is greatly influenced by the family stories told to her as a child by her grandparents and great-aunts.
In this longer version of the conversation, Kirstin discusses how the history of New Mexico effects her fiction and what her plans are in the aftermath of the successful publication of Night at the Fiestas.
20150620KirstinValdezQuadeLongVersion.mp3
