Clea Young: Allow Yourself Fallow Periods To Recharge
In this interview, author Clea Young discusses the difference in inspiration between a novel and short stories with her new collection, Welcome to the Neighbourhood.
Clea Young's stories have been included in numerous literary journals, three volumes of The Journey Prize Stories, and Best Canadian Stories 2025. She has twice been longlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize. Her debut story collection, Teardown, was published by Freehand Books. Young grew up in up in Victoria, BC, and completed an MFA at the University of British Columbia. She lives in Squamish, BC. Follow her on Instagram.
In this interview, Clea discusses the difference in inspiration between a novel and short stories with her new collection, Welcome to the Neighbourhood, her hope for readers, and more.
Name: Clea Young
Literary agent: Samantha Haywood, Transatlantic Agency
Book title: Welcome to the Neighbourhood
Publisher: House of Anansi
Release date: May 6, 2025
Genre/category: Fiction/Stories
Previous titles: Teardown, Freehand Books, stories
Elevator pitch: A collection of 13 short stories set in the Pacific Northwest that grapple with themes of friendship, parenthood, and the anxieties of modern life.
What prompted you to write this book?
A collection of stories differs from a novel when it comes to what prompts or inspires the writing. There was no one impetus for the book; rather there were 13 separate ones, the number of stories in the collection. Each story was driven by a different scrap of inspiration or curiosity that I was compelled to explore.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
My first collection of stories, Teardown (Freehand Books), was published in 2016. The stories I wrote and revised in the subsequent years comprise Welcome to the Neighbourhood. I didn’t set out with a central idea that would tie the stories in the book together. I more or less chased each one down as the ideas came to me. It was only when I had a critical mass of work that themes I was drawn to became evident throughout the stories.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
The most pleasant surprises were the interest the collection received from publishers and the realization that I would publish a second book.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I was surprised by my tendency to unconsciously return to certain themes despite believing with each story that I was setting out with new intentions. I’m clearly preoccupied with the limits and precariousness of friendship, the endless ways humans can misunderstand one another, the degradation of the environment, and the omnipresent threat of danger as it relates to children.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I hope readers who might not have encountered short stories before find something enjoyable about the condensed narrative form. Unlike a novel (for the most part), a story can transport you to an imagined world and return you to reality in one sitting. I also hope that the work lives up to the expectations of those who are already fans of the short story.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Allow yourself fallow periods to recharge, experience new things, and readjust your perspective on the world. Doing so will only enhance your writing when you get back down to it.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
