Helen Anderson at a microphone, wearing headphones.

The Absurdity of Life – Helen Anderson

Helen Anderson’s project for the 2022 Jack Straw Writers Program is a collection of short stories living at the intersection of the recognizable and the uncanny. In her conversation with curator Michael Schmeltzer, they talk about the writers that inspire her, maintaining relationships in the age of social media, and what she thinks makes for funny writing. “To be really funny, something should have a strong foundation in a sort of truth, as sort of something we recognize about ourselves or the world.”

Music by Ran Park, produced through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.