Author Q&A with Sharon Lee Snow

A multiple Pushcart nominee, Sharon Lee Snow earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. Her award-winning short stories, creative nonfiction, and poetry have been published in Passengers, Burningword, New Plains Review, South 85, Gulf Stream, and other journals. She currently lives in Tampa where she teaches professional writing to college students and works on her short story collection.

Snow’s piece, When Mr. Boppo Joined the Cohort, won the 2025 Honeybee Prize for short fiction is available in Issue #20 along with the judge’s endorsement and audio of Sharon reading a portion of her work.

How would you describe yourself—not just as a writer, but as a storyteller in everyday life?

Like most writers, I consider myself a student of human nature. In everyday life, I am trying to make sense of our complicated world and our interactions within it. I am deeply interested in human motivation – what makes a formerly “good” person do something deemed “bad?” How do we act when faced with an extreme situation? How are we all alike yet unique in our humanity? Watching closely, not as someone judging people, but rather, in empathy as a fellow human, I try to make sense and find the beauty and moments of grace in this mess we call life. My characters are deeply flawed as are we all, and I try to see the shared humanity in their struggle and failures. I care about my characters as people, and at the end, I want to see at least some vision of hope for all of us.

Readers often interpret characters through their own unique perspectives. As you wrote When Mr. Boppo Joined the Cohort, what did Mr. Boppo personally represent to you?

I have a fascination with clowns, especially the story of Pagliacci, which I love for its play-within-a-play concept and timeless plotline of jealousy, adultery, and murder. When Mr. Boppo walked through the classroom door in that MFA fiction workshop, I saw him as an actual clown who challenges the main character, Evan, as an ambiguous kind of antagonist who also represents many things to Evan who is struggling at that moment. I encourage readers to create their own interpretations of my writing, but I definitely know what Mr. Boppo means to me, even if Evan can’t see it until the end. I hope my readers can enjoy the bizarreness, yet strange normalcy of this clown character who is more real than he seems.

Have you ever experienced a time in your life when you felt like a “clown” or an imposter? How did you navigate or move past that feeling?

We all feel like clowns or imposters at some points in our lives, especially when we try something new or are out of our comfort zone. That is not a great feeling, and it can hold you back if you don’t push past it. I am constantly jumping out of my comfort zone into new situations, such as a move to LA or a new job in a new field, and it is both exhilarating and terrifying! When I walked into my first college classroom as a Visiting Instructor, I definitely felt like an imposter! To help with those concerns, I went to training sessions, talked to colleagues, studied the material and prepared, and then dressed in a confidence-inspiring outfit, took a deep breath, and addressed my students with a confident hello! Preparation and acting “as if” will get you far! Talking to colleagues and friends is also key. The main thing is to remember that you have the credentials, you can do it and move through until you beat those imposter lies.

In what ways did your time in the MFA program at the University of South Florida shape or influence this story?

My time in the MFA program at the University of South Florida definitely shapes this story! First, I could vividly visualize the classrooms, campus, and this fictional cohort with their professors and picture exactly how they interact, having been an MFA student and taught first-year composition in those very classrooms! But more importantly, my amazing professors and MFA student colleagues have been beyond generous in helping me progress as a writer. They are talented writers and great colleagues who inspire me daily. Also, our course readings were varied and many of us found similar interests. I am a huge fan of science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, speculative fiction, and weird fiction. I became inspired by works by Jeff VanderMeer, Aimee Bender and Karen Russell, novels such as The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig, The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern, and Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke, and wonderful work by my mentor, author John Henry Fleming. While I have a little fun in my imaginary Mr. Boppo MFA program, I am forever grateful for my wonderful MFA experience at USF!

How do you guide your first-year composition students to give and receive constructive feedback on each other’s writing?

I guide my first-year composition students in receiving and giving constructive feedback through thinking back on my experiences in the MFA program where we learned to focus on what’s working in the writing and provide positive suggestions on what to consider for revision. In all my writing classes, we have discussions on kind and useful peer review considerations before we undertake the actual work of peer review! It’s important to seriously consider language choices and tone in how you present your information about someone’s writing. First-year students are often new to university life as well as college-level writing. I make the atmosphere a welcoming, safe environment. If students don’t feel safe or heard, they will shut down. My goal is to let everyone know, writing is a process. We all start at the beginning and can improve through feedback and revision. There is not one right or wrong way to do this. Everyone has a voice.

What do you believe is the most important lesson a new writer should learn early in their journey?

I believe that the most important lesson that a new writer should learn early in their journey is to read voraciously – both inside and outside of their chosen genre – to learn how to read as a writer. Writers need to study other writing for structure, language, plotting, and characterization. They should find their cohort or people who can help them on their journey, such as fellow writers, readers, or friends who encourage them. They should also read about the craft and art of writing from authors such as Stephen King, Anne Lamott, Annie Dillard, James Scott Bell, and others. Most importantly, stop worrying about the work not being good enough – just keep writing and revising. Keep a solid writing schedule that works for you. Then send it out and keep sending it out. We need your writing!

You’ve published a great deal of poetry. How has writing poetry influenced or enriched your fiction writing?

Writing poetry definitely influences and enriches my fiction writing. I write poetry because I love the dance of words on a page and enjoy the concision needed to convey an image or thought in a poem. However, beautiful, crisp, concise language and the dance of words enriches fiction just as well. I also have longer stories to tell than a poem can convey, but I always love the language too. Poetry has been helpful in learning concision. I’m a long writer, but today’s readers don’t always want long stories. I used my poetry training to help me narrow down a 24-page short story into a 2-page flash fiction piece that became my first published flash fiction story! I enjoyed that challenge very much, and poetry definitely helped by giving me new tools.

When you hear the phrase “the good life,” what comes to mind?

When I hear the phrase “the good life,” I see a person relaxing on a beach! I live in Florida and don’t get to the beach as often as I’d like. But more generally, the good life feels like a state of mind more than a place. I’d like to think that we all deserve the good life – whatever that means to us: abundant resources and things we need to live without stress, but also, the chance to encounter, enjoy, and create art and things we love. Joy. Being in nature or with loved ones – that’s the good life too. But again, I think it’s about being in a good place mentally. Your journal is The Goodlife Review and its beautiful covers with an adorable bee logo make me smile along with your mission created out of the pandemic to foster not only writers, readers, and art, but also positivity and kindness. That, I believe, is truly the hallmark of the good life.

Thank you, Sharon, for spending extra time with us on this Q&A. We’re grateful to have had the opportunity to work with you and wish you the best with your writing and all life’s endeavors!