An interview with Emma Straub about her new book, how ‘Rookie’ Magazine will change the world, and why an MFA is worth it.
by Kaylen Ralph
Emma Straub’s latest book, The Vacationers, will be released by Riverhead Books on May 29. It arrives just in time for summer, when we’re all craving a good read that can entertain us without being too sickly sweet or unbearably dramatic. I talked with Emma about what it was like “working” while vacationing in Mallorca (where The Vacationers is set), what she thinks of her editors at Rookie Magazine, and whether her MFA or her New Yorker status has proved more valuable in her writing career.
Read my review of The Vacationers for The Riveter here.
Kaylen Ralph: I thought it was really interesting how both Jim and Franny work in the journalism industry and are able to maintain this very affluent lifestyle and support their children so well. Right now, the much discussed narrative of journalism and media is that it’s a “dying” profession. Other than making them very interesting characters, was there any desire to show a different side of journalism through their family situation?
ES: No, I mean I wish I could take credit for that but I guess it’s how I see the world. Sure, I read things in the New York Times about how print is dying every other day just like everybody else, but I don’t see that. Everyone I know works either in publishing or magazines or as a writer. So, for me, that world seems like it’s still thriving and people have those jobs, and will they have those jobs forever? I can’t say, but certainly my character Franny does a lot of food writing and travel writing and I read those magazines and those books and I think that together Franny and Jim could absolutely have the jobs that they have and support their family.
KR: Me too! I read it and I was like yeah, alright! This is aspirational!
ES: Yeah!
KR: Why Mallorca for the setting? Have you visited Mallorca? What was your motivation for that?
ES: I knew I wanted them on an island because I wanted them physically marooned from the rest of the universe. And I was thinking about Franny’s job in particular, and she has written about travel and food and lots of places around the world, so that helped me rule out certain things. I didn’t just want them to go to the Bahamas. It had to be further and slightly more undiscovered for American travelers. Mallorca is a very popular destination certainly for Europeans, but not so much for Americans. It’s a beautiful place and the people are gorgeous and friendly and the food is delicious.
KR: I was so hungry reading it! I was like, I want some tapas!
ES: Doesn’t it just make you want some tapas?
KR: At The Riveter, we’re big fans of Rookie, such a great magazine. How did you first get involved with that project?
ES: I’ve been writing for Rookie since the very beginning. I saw an open call that Tavi (Gevinson) had on her website, I guess three and a half, four years ago now, saying that she was starting this magazine, or project, I don’t even remember what she called it then. And I wrote her and I said, “Yes, this is for me, I am for you, here’s why, and I sent her a few links to some pieces I’d written including the piece I wrote for the Paris Review Daily called “My So-Called Life” and she wrote back and she said, “I love that piece,” and she was really sweet. I’ve been writing for them since the beginning and I couldn’t love that community any more, it is physically impossible. They are inspiring, smart, funny, filthy, hilarious girls and women, and it is really so much fun for me to write for Rookie. Yes, it is for teenage girls but they are the fucking smartest teenage girls on the planet. I never feel like I’m dumbing down anything, in fact completely the opposite. The editors at Rookie are among the best and smartest editors I’ve ever worked with anywhere. And they push me to do really good work, and I feel really lucky to be a part of it.
KR: Another industry question, when I was growing up and reading magazines…All I really had was Teen Vogue, Teen People, things that at the time entertained me but weren’t really giving me any satisfaction, and in part were probably motivation to start something better when I got older. Do you see something like Rookie changing the industry for that demographic?
ES: I think Rookie is changing the fucking planet. I think it really is. I’m friendly with some teenage girls…and the way they read Rookie blows my mind. And the fact that they have access to this kind of writing and this kind of feminism and just smart political thinking done by young women is just incredible. And I do think Tavi’s generation is going to be the best generation yet. How can you have something like Rookie and not just be a smarter, more open minded, well informed human. It’s not just for teenage girls.
KR: You spent some time in Mallorca, obviously. Did you write the book while you were there?
I set the book there before I went, and I sort of just crossed my fingers that it was right and then I went for a couple of weeks to do research and make sure. If it had not been right, I would have had some serious rewriting to do. But luckily Mallorca was as lovely as I thought, and I then I got to fill in all the specifics.
KR: From your perspective as someone who has always lived and written in New York, do you have a perspective on that whole debate that’s kind of happening in higher education and the literary world right now?
ES: I think both are helpful tools. I did get an MFA at the University of Wisconsin, and I loved it. I loved it so much. I got to study with Lorrie Moore who is my very favorite writer, and I wouldn’t trade those years for anything. I thought I got to be a much better writer and it really felt like a gift to be able to spend three years just really focusing on my fiction and not worrying about having another job. That’s incredible and I think anyone who wants to be a writer should go to an MFA program that is free. I think if you go into debt to become a fiction writer, you’re a lunatic, or if you go into debt to become a poet even worse, my god! I think growing up in New York City was also really helpful to me in terms of understanding the publishing landscape. I know a lot of people who moved to New York and that’s where they found their people, by coming here and going to readings and events and parties and you can do a lot for yourself in terms of your career by doing that. That’s a great way to meet like-minded people. At this point in my life, I’m thinking more about getting out of New York City, but I don’t think I’ll ever really leave. I think I’m stuck here.
KR: You can never retire to Mallorca?
ES: Maybe I’ll just retire to Mallorca!
KR: I’m undecided on it. I graduated a year ago and I feel like that’s something I haven’t even thought about, really.
ES: That’s the other thing, I was 26 when I went to my MFA program. I think that writers need time, they need time to grow up and to have experiences, or at least I did. I was not ready for an MFA program when I gradated college, not by a longshot. There’s no rush. That’s one of the benefits of being a writer, not like being a gymnast or fashion model, you get better as you get older.
Kaylen Ralph is The Riveter‘s co-founder and co-editor.
