What Short Stories Do That Novels Can’t, featuring Ghassan Zeineddine

This week’s episode is an exploration of form, and why some stories are better contained in short story form rather than a novel. Guest Ghassan Zeineddine shares the evolution of his short story collection, Dearborn, as well as some of his process, including research and spending serious time with subjects who sometimes play roles in stories years down the road. Dearborn is part-celebration, part-astute observation of the Arab-American community in Dearborn, Michigan. This episode also contains a bit of history about how Dearborn became the US city with the highest concentration of Arabs and Arab Americans, and also lends insights into process, craft, and why the short story form is sometimes just right.

ABOUT GHASSAN ZEINEDDINE

Ghassan Zeineddine was born in Washington, DC, and raised in the Middle East. He is an assistant professor of creative writing at Oberlin College, and he just published a collection of short stories, Dearborn, and he’s co-editor of the creative nonfiction anthology Hadha Baladuna: Arab American Narratives of Boundary and Belonging. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Ohio.