Featured Mentor: Darren DeFrain

We are excited to announce our featured mentor of the week: Darren DeFrain! Darren DeFrain is the author of the story collection Inside & Out and the novel The Salt Palace. He lives in Wichita, Kansas, with his wife and daughters, and he directs the Wichita State University writing program.

What excites Darren about the mentorship program? He told us: “Look, Dzanc attracts a certain kind of person and that person and I always have intersecting tastes. So even if there was nothing else about the program but the opportunity to connect socially with a member of the Dzanc community, that would be enough. In addition to that, and the chance to give back in the same way generous writers helped and continue to help me, I've read some really terrific work. It's always interesting to look behind the curtain and see the fantastic machine assembled–to know a little more about the work by which wrench tightened what screw and which parts were left on the table.”

Darren had a hard time choosing his favorite book from the Dzanc catalogue. He told us, “I had the opportunity to teach a graduate course at WSU entirely on Dzanc books last spring. I could throw a dart at that reading list and immediately gush over whatever work I hit (all the more thanks to some excellent students who were able to draw out things I would never have found). If I have to name a name, though, I'd say Elle Nash's Animals Eat Each Other. I've re-read that again in preparation for reading her latest.”

Click here to sign up for a mentorship from Darren!

And check out both Darren’s short story collection, Inside & Out and debut novel, The Salt Palace.