Q&A with William Kitcher

We have a wonderful, whimsical story this week to kick off the start of summer! In “Gorillas and Other Primates,” William Kitcher briefly brings us to a world that is much like ours, with one somewhat distinct difference. It is funny and thoughtful and gets straight to the point! Read below for an interview between Kitcher and our managing editor, Mina El Attar.

Did a personal experience inspire this story, or was it influenced by something external, like another work of fiction?

The inspiration for the story came basically from what I wrote in the first paragraph. And then I just extrapolated. Suppose they're even more like us than we think? Suppose it's normal that we all live together?

Are there any authors or works that inspire your own stories? Whose prose do you find yourself gravitating towards?

I'm inspired by writers who get to the point. Kurt Vonnegut once said something to the effect that all writing should reflect on the character or advance the plot, and I agree with that. (I'm not a big fan of writers who take a paragraph to describe a tree because I already know what a tree looks like...) I think Vonnegut generally achieves that in his novels, not so much in his short stories. Writers I admire who are also succinct in their writing, more or less, are Wolfgang Borchert, Dorothy Parker, Raymond Chandler, James Tiptree Jr. (aka Alice Sheldon), Sinclair Lewis, Bill Bryson, and Berkeley Breathed.

What do the gorillas (and other animals) signify in this story? Do they represent anything in particular? What other symbols have you employed?

I will let others decide what the gorillas and other animals signify in the story. Robert Altman was once asked in a Q&A what one of the scenes in one of his films meant. Altman asked the questioner what he thought the scene was about, and the questioner told him. Altman said, "That's exactly right. That's exactly what that scene is about."

What emotions were you aiming to evoke beneath the surface of this story? How did the process of writing it affect you, and what do you hope readers will feel as they experience it?

I guess I'm hoping that readers will find the story funny and whimsical, and that they will be reminded of it the next time they watch a nature program or go to the grocery store. I think the process of writing it caused me to cut back on the story without any unnecessary moralizing because it was all there in the first place. I have no control over or wishes for what readers might feel as they read it; Altman's quote applies here as well.