Sigrid Nunez (left) and Michael Costaris (right). Photos courtesy of the authors.

In this interview, SIGRID NUNEZ and MICHAEL COSTARIS unearth the decades of writing behind Nunez’s first story collection, It Will Come Back to You. They spoke for over two hours on Zoom, Nunez in her New York apartment and Costaris from his Toronto home. Nunez is an acclaimed novelist turning to short fiction for the first time in her illustrious career, while Costaris is a short story writer who recently completed his first novel. Together, they discuss the demands of each form, the challenges facing short fiction in a changing marketplace, and The New Yorker’s enduring pull. Through craft, Nunez interrogates the instinctive nature of writing and the function of humor in both life and literature.