MFA Student Spotlight: An Interview with Emmett Knowlton
by Emily Collins
Welcome to CutBank’s weekly MFA Student Spotlight where we interview current MFA candidates at the University of Montana. This week’s spotlight is Emmett Knowlton, a journalist and fiction writer with distinct literary taste. I recently sat down with Emmett where we discussed books, outdoor adventures, and the writing life outside of New York City!
Emily Collins: What drew you to the MFA in fiction writing program at the University of Montana?
Emmett Knowlton: Around the time I finally got my act together and actually applied to MFA programs, I had also begun to feel an unexpected but very real urge to get the hell out of New York City. I'd moved to New York right after college and during the five years I lived there thought I'd never leave. I had a job that I liked, lived close enough to my family that I could see them as frequently or infrequently as I wanted, and spent a lot of time going to readings and concerts and shows. In general I was very guilty of that frustratingly common New York City tunnel vision attitude where I regularly thought to myself, essentially, why would I ever live anywhere else?
I realized that that attitude was a real problem, and I wasn't making nearly as much progress with my writing as I wanted. It occurred to me that a big change of scenery would do me some good, writing-wise and life-wise. I knew Montana's MFA program had a long history and an interesting faculty and that it had produced some writers that I really admired. Then, somewhat serendipitously, right before applications were due I came to Missoula for 24 hours on a work trip and immediately just loved it. I flew back to New York fantasizing about doing an MFA here. A few months later, COVID-19 hit, New York City shut down, and Montana offered me full funding, so I quit my job, bought a car, and drove west.
EC: Who are some of your fictional and/or non-fictional influences?
EK: A non-exhaustive list would include Deborah Eisenberg, Virginia Woolf, John Cheever, Don DeLillo, Lucia Berlin, James Salter, George Saunders, Joy Williams, David Berman, Whit Stillman, Leonard Cohen, and Future.
EC: What are you working on writing-wise, and what do you hope to gain from your time at UM?
EK: I'm mostly working on short stories at the moment but am hoping to use my time here to really get going in earnest on a novel project. I've done an impressively bad job in the past of sticking with various novels that I've started, so one major goal I have for the MFA years is to get over those commitment issues and make a real dent in something longer. Of course, I also want to take advantage of this time to grow and experiment as a writer, think more deeply about writing and the craft of fiction, and read everything that's ever been written. But one actually tangible goal is the novel.
EC: When you're not writing, what are some of your favorite hobbies, interests, activities, etc.?
EK: Like any good east coast transplant in Missoula, I have made a concerted effort to spend as much time as I can outside: running, hiking, camping, skiing and cross-country skiing, exploring Montana and the greater mountain west, etc. There's a trailhead that's basically in my backyard, so I spend a lot of time out there. I've been fly-fishing a few times but still haven't caught anything. I also watch a shameful amount of basketball.
EC: When you look back on your journey as a writer so far, what moment or moment(s) excite you the most?
EK: Well, getting a fully funded offer to spend two years in Montana writing and reading and talking to extremely smart people about writing and reading definitely tops the list of exciting moments. The very few occasions in which small literary journals have accepted my work has also been thrilling and validating and motivating. Working closely with the novelist Amity Gaige as an undergraduate completely changed how I think about writing and all that's possible in fiction. I am also 99% sure that once on the street in New York City I saw Don DeLillo hailing a taxi.
EC: Bonus Question: If you could quarantine with any writer throughout history, who would they be and why?
EK: That's hard. A lot of the writers I'd pick for the mythical literary dinner party or just to go out drinking with would probably drive me crazy and/or drink us both to death if we quarantined together for any extended period. Isn't George Saunders a Buddhist? That could be useful for quarantine. Or Marilynne Robinson could teach me how to be a good Christian. Proust and I could go on some nice walks and eat delicious French food, which seems hard to beat. But I’m overthinking this. The answer is with Elena Ferrante in Naples. Italian food, the Mediterranean, and total anonymity feels like a best case scenario for quarantine and for life. A close second is with Jake Bienvenue in Sacramento, California.
Emmett Knowlton grew up in Montclair, New Jersey and graduated from Amherst College. He is a former staffer at HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and has also written about sports for the New York Times and Business Insider. His fiction has appeared in The Masters Review and is forthcoming from MAYDAY Magazine. He lives in Missoula, Montana, where he is a MFA candidate in fiction at the University of Montana.
Emily Collins is the Interviews Editor for CutBank and a MFA in fiction candidate at the University of Montana. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in New Orleans Review, The Florida Review, The Atticus Review, The South Carolina Review, and others. She’s been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and other anthologies. When she’s not interviewing incredible writers, she enjoys hiking and volunteering.