Two sides to every story

By Rob Cline, correspondent

John Kenyon is the executive director of the UNESCO City of Literature organization in Iowa City, as well as a former Gazette reporter. He also is a crime-fiction writer. On Tuesday at 7 p.m., Kenyon will read from his crime fiction at New Bo Books.

The following is a conversation between Kenyon and Rob Cline, Gazette book reviewer and director of literary events for New Bo Books. Cline is the author of 'Murder by the Slice,” a comedic mystery novel.

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Cline:

You've been writing crime fiction for quite some time. What got you started and what keeps you going?

Kenyon:

I started writing years ago, tackling short stories with the idea of publishing in journals. I found that the things I wrote usually had a crime element to them. Once I targeted those stories toward publications that published that genre, I found success. My job as executive director of the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature - and by extension director of the Iowa City Book Festival - requires me to read widely, and so while I am endlessly inspired by what I read, my time to channel that inspiration into work of my own is sometimes limited.

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Cline:

Even with limited time, you've managed to get quite a bit of work out there. In addition to publishing stories in a variety of online journals, you have several books - as well as a crime fiction magazine of your own - to your credit as both an author and an editor.

Kenyon:

My first foray into editing was with an e-book anthology called 'Grimm Tales,” which gathered crime fiction stories based on the premise of fairy tales. With that experience under my belt, I started a journal called 'Grift” that offers a mix of short fiction, essays and interviews related to crime fiction. Two issues so far, with a long-gestating third one due any year now. Add to that my debut story collection, 'The First Cut,” and a 1950s pulp pastiche novella about a small-town Iowa boxer called 'Get Hit, Hit Back,” and I am able to claim a very small corner of a bookshelf to call my own.

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Cline

: I happen to know (since you and I read each other's drafts now and again) that you have a mystery novel in the works. How's it coming along? When it's finished do you plan to shop it around? Would you consider self-publishing it?

Kenyon

: There may be a decent book in there somewhere, but I'm not sure I've found it yet. It's eventual fate? I may self-publish it as is, or I may drastically rework it into something bearing little resemblance to its current state with the hope someone else will put it out. Most likely? It will end up as the one stuck in a drawer that I'll refer to wistfully years from now.

Reading your book, in fact, tipped me off to how flawed it may well be; though we started in the same place timewise, you emerged with a coherent story while I was left with a collection of occasionally interesting scenes in search of a plot to tie them together. I have no shortage of ideas, so it is more satisfying to me to set this one aside and work on something new. Maybe someday I'll be suitably motivated to take another crack at it.

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Cline

: Back when I was working on Murder by the Slice, I remember tweeting that working on a mystery novel in an Iowa City coffee shop felt a bit like playing T-ball in a major league park. That, of course, reveals my own biases when it comes to our vibrant writing community.

I wonder if, as a general rule, folks think of crime fiction and other genres as part of what the UNESCO City of Literature is all about. Any thoughts about this? Do you think about those distinctions in your work as the organization's executive director? Do you think about them when you're writing?

Kenyon

: I'm sure some probably think of so-called 'literary fiction” when they consider Iowa City, and with the amount of amazing literary work that comes out of the Writers' Workshop and other programs, that is understandable. But anyone who spends any time in Iowa City knows there are great writers here who work in any number of genres and forms, and it all contributes to the rich tapestry that is the Iowa City literary scene.

I understand where you're coming from with your tweet, as I, too, feel a bit cowed when thinking of myself as a writer in this community. While I am well aware that my work isn't on par with that of the best our city has to offer, I do know that I benefit from the tremendous resources that are here, constantly motivated and inspired to create. I can't remember the last time I came home from a reading at Prairie Lights and didn't immediately sit down and work on my own writing.