{"id":804,"date":"2020-01-24T10:06:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-24T18:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test-inside.ewu.edu\/willowspringsmagazine\/?p=804"},"modified":"2025-02-25T10:41:52","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T18:41:52","slug":"ira-sukrungruang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test-inside.ewu.edu\/willowspringsmagazine\/ira-sukrungruang\/","title":{"rendered":"Issue 85: Ira Sukrungruang"},"content":{"rendered":"
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About Ira Sukrungruang<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ira Sukrungruang is the author of three nonfiction books Buddha\u2019s Dog & other mediations, Southside Buddhist and Talk Thai: The Adventures of Buddhist Boy; the short story collection The Melting Season; and the poetry collection In Thailand It Is Night. He is the president of Sweet: A Literary Confection (sweetlit.com) and the Richard L. Thomas Professor of Creative Writing at Kenyon College.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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A Profile of the Author<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Notes on “If You Only Knew”<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I have a special feeling for this story because I wrote most of its first draft while my son was an infant.\u00a0\u00a0Large chunks of it were written in the middle of the night with him in\u00a0my\u00a0lap when he\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0sleep. I cradled him while typing with one hand.\u00a0\u00a0These\u00a0memories are forever linked.\u00a0Considering that\u00a0my son is\u00a0now\u00a026, I suppose\u00a0this piece\u00a0also\u00a0represents\u00a0persistence.\u00a0 “If You Only Knew”\u00a0was a finalist in various contests and came \u201cclose\u201d at\u00a0other\u00a0magazines, but\u00a0it was\u00a0never offered publication.\u00a0\u00a0I\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0give\u00a0up on it\u00a0though.\u00a0\u00a0I\u00a0just\u00a0kept revising it through the years.\u00a0\u00a0The story itself was always a pleasure to come\u00a0back to.\u00a0\u00a0Kevin\u2019s sardonic voice remained in my head.\u00a0\u00a0In the revision process, I did cut a\u00a0long\u00a0scene at the end between Kevin and his estranged father, a\u00a0\u201cKill Your Darlings\u201d\u00a0strategy.\u00a0\u00a0It was\u00a0a really\u00a0tough\u00a0decision\u00a0for me,\u00a0but\u00a0I think it\u00a0helped\u00a0the story\u00a0overall.\u00a0\u00a0I still do\u00a0much of\u00a0my writing in the middle of the night, given other\u00a0schedules and\u00a0responsibilities, but sadly my infant cradling days are in the past.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0so pleased\u00a0that\u00a0when\u00a0“If You Only Knew”\u00a0found a home it was at\u00a0Willow Springs<\/em>!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music, Food, Booze, Tattoos, Kittens, etc.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Notes on \u201cHave You Eaten?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHave You Eaten?\u201d started as a panel paper about food writing 3 years. My aunt had passed away, and she was (still is) foremost on my mind, especially when it came to food. I started thinking about how food writing as a form of loss. How, once we lose someone so close, we lose everything about them also\u2013their touch, their voice, and the things they used to cook. Aunty Sue shaped my food life, my taste buds. When I was writing the panel paper, in that original form, I added a lot of footnotes and those footnotes were about my aunt. When I gave the panel presentation, I broke down. It wasn\u2019t pretty, and I imagine pretty awkward for the audience, but it was necessary. This piece allowed me to venture into those memories, memories I tried not to look at. It made me recall all the foods my aunt had made, even the simple ones like a grilled cheese. The difficulty of the subject made the essay slow to develop. But I chipped at it a little at a time, and even now it seems to me unfinished. All creative nonfiction pieces are unfinished in a way. I will return to the topic of food. I will write about my aunt again. Her life and her cooking lives in memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music, Food, Booze, Tattoos, Kittens, etc.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m addicted to tattoos. I have a bunch. My newest one (pic included) I got before moving my entire family from Florida to Ohio. It\u2019s a dragon and tiger in love with each other. I didn\u2019t want any type of violence on my arm but rather two beings in harmony with one another. These tattoos of mine tell a different narrative of the body. One that I control. One that I shape. Not the culture. Not the world. For a big guy like myself, tattooing was how I learned love the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Have You Eaten?” by Ira Sukrungruang<\/a><\/h2>\n\n

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