Interviews

The Daily Vonnegut features interviews with writers, scholars, and friends of Kurt.

No. 26
Kurt Vonnegut: Political but not Partisan- An Interview with Philip D. Bunn
From his first published story (“Report on the Barnhouse Effect”) in which the narrator addresses an unnamed committee to the scathing indictments of the Bush Administration in A Man Without a Country, Kurt Vonnegut consistently engaged with the important issues of his time. Through his novels, essays, and speeches, a vision for a more peaceful and just world emerges, one in which the basic human need for care and community is honored instead of commodified.
Read more: Kurt Vonnegut: Political but not Partisan- An Interview with Philip D. Bunn
No. 25
Kurt Vonnegut’s Humanism: An Interview with Wayne Laufert, author of Behaving Decently: Kurt Vonnegut’s Humanism
In his late career book God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian, Kurt Vonnegut wrote, “I am a humanist, which means, in part, that I have tried to behave decently without any expectation of rewards or punishments after I’m dead.” Throughout his career, Vonnegut often wrote of his humanist views, tracing them back to his “freethinking” ancestors in Indiana.
Read more: Kurt Vonnegut’s Humanism: An Interview with Wayne Laufert, author of Behaving Decently: Kurt Vonnegut’s Humanism
No. 24
Citizen Kurt – An Interview with Christina Jarvis, author of Lucky Mud & Other Foma: A Field Guide to Kurt Vonnegut’s Environmentalism and Planetary Citizenship
For Kurt Vonnegut, writing was an act of good citizenship, his way of “poisoning the minds of young people” with humanity. In Lucky Mud & Other Foma: A Field Guide to Kurt Vonnegut’s Environmentalism and Planetary Citizenship (Seven Stories Press), Christina Jarvis explores how Vonnegut addressed myriad social and environmental problems, from pollution, racial and economic injustice, and war to dehumanizing technologies and ecological collapse.
Read more: Citizen Kurt – An Interview with Christina Jarvis, author of Lucky Mud & Other Foma: A Field Guide to Kurt Vonnegut’s Environmentalism and Planetary Citizenship
No. 23
Teaching Vonnegut and Race: An Interview with S. G. Ellerhoff
Over the past few years a renewed focus on the issue of race in America has entered the public conversation. In 2021, writer S.G. Ellerhoff taught a class at the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library on Vonnegut and race as part of KVML’s annual Teaching Vonnegut seminars. Ellerhoff facilitated a lively discussion as the class, many of whom were teachers, explored how Vonnegut examined America’s troubling history of racism in Breakfast of Champions, Mother Night, and other works.
Read more: Teaching Vonnegut and Race: An Interview with S. G. Ellerhoff
No. 22
And All Music is Sacred – An Interview with Richard Auldon Clark
In A Man Without A Country, Kurt Vonnegut writes that music “makes practically everybody fonder of life than he or she would be without it.” During his last fifteen years, Vonnegut shared his passion for music with composer and conductor Richard Auldon Clark, whose collaboration with Kurt on an opera version of Happy Birthday, Wanda June was performed in Indianapolis in 2016.
Read more: And All Music is Sacred – An Interview with Richard Auldon Clark
No. 21
Looking Deep into the Heart of the American Experience – An Interview with David Hoppe, author of Readings from Kurt Vonnegut: WordPlay (2020)
On October 1, 2020, Readings from Kurt Vonnegut: WordPlay by David Hoppe will be performed by The Phoenix Theater as a fundraiser for the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library in Indianapolis. For tickets, visit the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library website. The play’s creator, David Hoppe, shared his thoughts with The Daily Vonnegut.
Read more: Looking Deep into the Heart of the American Experience – An Interview with David Hoppe, author of Readings from Kurt Vonnegut: WordPlay (2020)
No. 20
Jim O'Loughlin - The World of Kurt Vonnegut (2017)
In 2013 the Vonnegut Estate reached an agreement with Amazon to allow writers to use copyrighted elements of Vonnegut’s work for stories published exclusively for Amazon’s Kindle. These stories, under the category The World of Kurt Vonnegut, are available for download on Amazon. The “World” program gives fans the chance to apply their own imaginative powers to Vonnegut’s narratives, characters, and settings.
Read more: Jim O'Loughlin - The World of Kurt Vonnegut (2017)
No. 19
Jerome Klinkowitz - One Thief Was Saved (2017)
All Vonnegut fans should be familiar with the work of Jerome Klinkowitz, whose many books include the recent The Vonnegut Effect and Kurt Vonnegut’s America. He is currently University Distinguished Scholar and Professor of English at the University of Northern Iowa.
Read more: Jerome Klinkowitz - One Thief Was Saved (2017)
No. 18
Julia Whitehead - #Thanks to Kurt (2017)
Ever wish you could sit down and have a conversation with your favorite author? While a face to face talk with Kurt Vonnegut is no longer possible, the Vonnegut Memorial Library in Indiana has launched a project encouraging readers to share their thoughts and feelings in a Letter to Kurt. The Thanks to Kurt project, part of the Library’s website, helps readers share their thoughts and appreciation for Vonnegut’s life and work. In the interview below, Julia Whitehead, the Library’s Executive Director, explains more about the project.
Read more: Julia Whitehead - #Thanks to Kurt (2017)
No. 17
Kevin Brown - Harmful Untruths (2018)
One of Kurt Vonnegut’s most enduring phrases is foma, harmless untruths that can make life easier. Yet Vonnegut also explored the opposite—harmful untruths, lies people believe which create havoc for individuals and society. Professor Kevin Brown, in an essay titled "No All Untruths are Harmless: Minor Characters' Narratives in Slaughterhouse-Five," examined how Vonnegut brought these harmful untruths to life in his classic novel. Brown presented the essay to the Kurt Vonnegut Society at the American Literature Association conference in 2017.
Read more: Kevin Brown - Harmful Untruths (2018)
No. 16
Susan Farrell - American Fascism and Mother Night (2017)
Kurt Vonnegut’s Mother Night, originally published as a paperback original in 1961, continues to resonate with its times. Professor Susan Farrell, in an essay presented at the American Literature Association Conference in 2016, explored the relationship between the assorted fascists connected to Howard W. Campbell Jr. and several figures from American history.
Read more: Susan Farrell - American Fascism and Mother Night (2017)
No. 15
Steve Gronert Ellerhoff - Vonnegut and Myth (2017)
While Kurt Vonnegut’s signature blend of post-modernism, Twain-style humor, and Indianapolis-bred Americana might seem distant from the structures of classic myth, writer and scholar Steve Gronert Ellerhoff thinks differently. In Golden Apples of the Monkey House: A Post-Jungian Interpretation of Myth in the Short Stories of Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury, soon to be published by Routledge, Ellerhoff explores Vonnegut’s early short fiction and its connection to themes found in myth.
Read more: Steve Gronert Ellerhoff - Vonnegut and Myth (2017)
No. 14
Wilson Taylor - The Vonnegut Review (2019)
In 2013 Wilson Taylor and Matthew Gannon, two friends and writers with a passion for literature, criticism, and Kurt Vonnegut, launched their Summer of Vonnegut, a critical conversation in which the two writers read and reviewed all fourteen of Vonnegut’s novels. The resulting essays comprise The Vonnegut Review, a website featuring Wilson’s and Gannon’s insightful explorations of Vonnegut’s work. Taylor and Gannon combine their sharp critical eyes and knowledge of literary theory with an appreciation for the essential humanity of Vonnegut’s fiction. Their work is highly recommended, and available at The Vonnegut Review.
Read more: Wilson Taylor - The Vonnegut Review (2019)
No. 13
Josh Privett- On Player Piano (2017)
Josh Privett is a writer and college instructor in Greenville, SC. Josh has spoken on two Kurt Vonnegut Society panels at the American Literature Association and recently published an article on Player Piano in New Academia: An International Journal of English Language, Literature and Literary Theory. He is beginning a PhD in American literature at Georgia State University in the fall.
Read more: Josh Privett- On Player Piano (2017)
No. 12
Amanda Hamilton - Blue Monday Review (2017)
Kurt Vonnegut’s literary legacy continues to resonate with a new generation of readers and writers. Blue Monday Review is a new literary journal “dedicated to the spirit of Kurt Vonnegut and the concept that literature and art keep us human.” Amanda Hamilton, editor-in-chief of Blue Monday Review, graciously responded to our questions about the journal.
Read more: Amanda Hamilton - Blue Monday Review (2017)
No. 11
Vonnegut and Hemingway - An Interview with Lawrence R. Broer (2017)
While a surface reading of each man’s fiction might find little connection between Kurt Vonnegut and Ernest Hemingway beyond the trauma of war, as Lawrence R. Broer shows in Vonnegut & Hemingway: Writers at War (The University of South Carolina Press, 2011) the relationship between the two writers is deep and complex.
Read more: Vonnegut and Hemingway - An Interview with Lawrence R. Broer (2017)
No. 10
Jim O'Loughlin - Kurt Vonnegut Remembered (2019)
Kurt Vonnegut Remembered, recently published by The University of Alabama Press, is a must-read for Vonnegut fans as it traces the author’s life through a series of essays and recollections from those who knew him best. The list of contributors ranges from well-known media figures like Geraldo Rivera and Michael Moore to Vonnegut family members and fellow soldiers who served with Kurt in World War II.
Read more: Jim O'Loughlin - Kurt Vonnegut Remembered (2019)
No. 09
Curtis Smith - Bookmarked: Slaughterhouse-Five (2017)
Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five by Curtis Smith, part of Ig Publishing’s Bookmarked series, is one writer’s thoughts and reflections through the lens of Vonnegut’s great novel. Neither literary criticism nor memoir, the book contains elements of both, as Smith explores the novel’s themes as they relate to history, time, mortality, and the arc of Smith’s own life.
Read more: Curtis Smith - Bookmarked: Slaughterhouse-Five (2017)
No. 08
A Delicate Aggression: Kurt Vonnegut at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop – An Interview with David O. Dowling
In A Delicate Aggression: Savagery and Survival in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop (2019 – Yale University Press), David O. Dowling explores the history of America’ preeminent creative writing program. When Kurt Vonnegut…
Read more: A Delicate Aggression: Kurt Vonnegut at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop – An Interview with David O. Dowling
No. 07
Vonnegut as Cultural Guide – Kurt Vonnegut in the Soviet Union: An Interview with Sarah D. Phillips
Kurt Vonnegut’s literary reputation in the United States has been well-documented, but little has been written about his impact in the Soviet Union during the years of the Cold War. Sarah D. Phillips is set on changing…
Read more: Vonnegut as Cultural Guide – Kurt Vonnegut in the Soviet Union: An Interview with Sarah D. Phillips
No. 06
Jeffrey Wise and Matt Harrington: Wheelhouse Theater Company presents "Happy Birthday, Wanda June."
In December 1970, Kurt Vonnegut wrote to his friend, fellow novelist Jose Donoso, “…The adventure of having a play produced was harrowing…But I had to begin my theatrical career with something—and now I have in fact…
Read more: Jeffrey Wise and Matt Harrington: Wheelhouse Theater Company presents "Happy Birthday, Wanda June."
No. 05
Christina Jarvis - Tilting the Axis: Kurt Vonnegut and the Environment
Even casual fans of Kurt Vonnegut’s work recognize him as a writer engaged with the issues of his time. Vonnegut’s range of interests was vast: the waste and futility of war, the dangers of excessive automation, the…
Read more: Christina Jarvis - Tilting the Axis: Kurt Vonnegut and the Environment
No. 04
Zachary Perdieu - The Many Vonneguts
In 2016, Zachary Perdieu, co-Vice President of the Kurt Vonnegut Society, delivered a paper at the American Literature Association’s annual conference titled “’That was I. That was me.’ The Many Vonneguts and Their…
Read more: Zachary Perdieu - The Many Vonneguts
No. 03
Benjamin Reed - Teaching "Harrison Bergeron"
Originally published in 1961 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, “Harrison Bergeron” is Kurt Vonnegut’s most well-known story. In The Short Fiction of Kurt Vonnegut, Peter J. Reed describes the story as…
Read more: Benjamin Reed - Teaching "Harrison Bergeron"
No. 02
Ginger Strand - The Brothers Vonnegut
The Brothers Vonnegut, by Ginger Strand, is a fascinating study of Kurt Vonnegut’s career in public relations for General Electric (GE) in the late 1940’s. Yet equally important is the story of Bernard Vonnegut, Kurt’s…
Read more: Ginger Strand - The Brothers Vonnegut
No. 01
Gregory Sumner - Building the Monkey House
In April 2014 Dial Press published Welcome to the Monkey House -The Special Edition, a collection of short stories originally published in 1968. For anyone unfamiliar with Kurt Vonnegut’s short fiction the book is a…
Read more: Gregory Sumner - Building the Monkey House