Timothy Gager

Timothy Gager is the author of eight books of short fiction and poetry. His latest (November 2009) Treating a Sick Animal: Flash and Micro Fictions (Cervena Barva Press) features over forty stories, many previously published in various literary magazines. He hosts the Dire Literary Series in Cambridge, Massachusetts every month and is the co-founder of Somerville News Writers Festival. Timothy is the current Fiction Editor of The Wilderness House Literary Review, the founding co-editor of The Heat City Literary Review and has edited the book, Out of the Blue Writers Unite: A Book of Poetry and Prose from the Out of the Blue Art Gallery. A graduate of the University of Delaware, Timothy lives in Dedham, Massachusetts and is employed as a social worker.


what are you reading now

I’m reading Steve Almond’s This Won’t Take But a Minute, Honey which is actually two books, one front to back of flash fiction and the other a guide to writing. It has no ISBN number which I find fascinating, that someone as widely published as Steve is self-publishing.


classic you’ve been meaning to read

I’ve read so many of the classics, I’d probably re-read Hemingway. I own his complete short story collection.


most treasured book in your collection

I have a few broadsides that I cherish. I have two limited edition Bukowski holiday poems that Black Sparrow used to put out and a signed chapter bound with a few staples of Billy Ray’s Farm.


book you borrowed and never returned

I always return books. I’d like some of the ones I’ve loaned back though.


last reading you attended

I hosted the Somerville News Writers Festival and I got to hear Rick Moody, Margot Livesey, Steve Almond, Frank Bidart, Lise Haines, Susan Tepper, Elizabeth Searle, Doug Holder, Sam Cornish, Tino Villanueva, Tam Neville and Richard Hoffman all read. It was like an All-Star Game.


if you could subscribe to only one literary journal

I’d keep it local if that’s all I could support, so, Ploughshares. Why would I only be allowed to subscribe to one? That’s some cruel and unusual Nazi-journal banning. What kind of game is that?


best thing you’ve read online recently

The last issue of Night Train was fantastic—that’s always a must read.


most anticipated upcoming release

It’s out already but I haven’t bought it yet… The Best American Sports Writing 2010. I love that series.


recommended reading list:


All-Time Favorites


- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

- Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth

- The World According to Garp by John Irving

- Ball Four by Jim Bouton

- Big Bad Love by Larry Brown

- The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore

- Small Town Punk by John Sheppard

- Leaving Las Vegas by John O’Brien

- For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

- Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson

- Ask the Dust by John Fante

- The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe

- Apt Pupil: A Novella in Different Seasons by Stephen King