Read Grant Faulkner’s sparse yet evocative piece “Model Upside Down On The Stairs” in July’s issue.

1. Which line of this piece did you write first? Where did it start?

A friend of mine actually sent me a photo by Francesca Woodman and asked me to write a 100-word story about it. I’d never heard of Francesca Woodman, but now I have a minor obsession with her work. Every one of her photos is a beautiful nightmare, a strange reaching out, a shivering place of peace.

So I saw a blurry, contorted model sprawled upside down on a staircase. Not to get too mystical, but I then heard the phrase, “A woman’s beauty can be her damnation.” I distinctly heard it spoken by her mother in a Texas accent. I like the line because it’s the kind of advice you can only truly understand after it’s too late.

2. What is the most awkward pose you’ve ever had to strike? Witness?

I grew up in a small town in Iowa, so I was often with sinners posing as saints. That pose has taken different forms in my adult, urban life, but I see many people moving in somewhat awkward poses, not quite themselves. “Hell is others,” as Sartre said, so we’re all contortionists of some sort, shaping ourselves to others’ visions, myself included, of course. Every time I put on a saint’s garb, I tend to trip on its cloaks.

3. WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT TENDERNESS.

It’s fleeting, but I’m always trying to return to it, find a way to give it. There’s no better place to reside. Continue reading →