Kim Werker Interviews Jenn Ashton, author of People Like Frank and Other Stories from the Edge of Normal
When Jenn sent me a PDF of the story, called “Nest,” I opened it right away, read the first line, and closed my laptop. I did not expect that first line. I chuckled. Then I opened it up again. And when I got to the end of the story, I slammed the lid closed once more, and burst into tears and laughter at the same time.
It was an emotional week for me (no kidding), but also this story just got me right in the kishkes, as my grandmother would have said. It got me right in the guts.
It’s all about knitting and it’s nothing about knitting. It’s about how so many people are touched by things that are handmade, even beyond the maker and the recipient of the making. It’s about a woman named Francine. It’s about deciding to follow through on a mission you know nothing about in the beginning, about which you learn along the way. It’s about community and about asking for help and about receiving it.
I am not ashamed to say that I begged Jenn to speak with me by Zoom instead of doing an email interview, as we’d discussed. I just desperately wanted to have a real conversation with her about all of these things, and I was thrilled when she agreed.
We spent half an hour talking about Francine, and knitting and writing, about craft and art and rest and so much more. The mildly edited recording of our conversation is below, along with a transcript. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.