About Ira Sukrungruang
Ira Sukrungruang is the author of three nonfiction books Buddha’s 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.
A Profile of the Author
Notes on “If You Only Knew”
I have a special feeling for this story because I wrote most of its first draft while my son was an infant. Large chunks of it were written in the middle of the night with him in my lap when he couldn’t sleep. I cradled him while typing with one hand. These memories are forever linked. Considering that my son is now 26, I suppose this piece also represents persistence. “If You Only Knew” was a finalist in various contests and came “close” at other magazines, but it was never offered publication. I didn’t give up on it though. I just kept revising it through the years. The story itself was always a pleasure to come back to. Kevin’s sardonic voice remained in my head. In the revision process, I did cut a long scene at the end between Kevin and his estranged father, a “Kill Your Darlings” strategy. It was a really tough decision for me, but I think it helped the story overall. I still do much of my writing in the middle of the night, given other schedules and responsibilities, but sadly my infant cradling days are in the past. I’m so pleased that when “If You Only Knew” found a home it was at Willow Springs!
Music, Food, Booze, Tattoos, Kittens, etc.
Notes on “Have You Eaten?”
“Have You Eaten?” 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–their 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’t 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.
Music, Food, Booze, Tattoos, Kittens, etc.
I’m addicted to tattoos. I have a bunch. My newest one (pic included) I got before moving my entire family from Florida to Ohio. It’s a dragon and tiger in love with each other. I didn’t 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.
