Notes and Links to Andrew Porter’s Work     Andrew Porter is the author of four books, including the short story collection The Theory of Light and Matter (Vintage/Penguin Random House), which won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, the novel In Between Days (Knopf), which was a Barnes & Noble “Discover Great New Writers”  selection, an IndieBound “Indie Next” selection, and the San Antonio Express News’s “Fictional Work of the Year,” the short story collection The Disappeared (Knopf), which was longlisted for The Story Prize and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and the novel The Imagined Life, which was published by Knopf in April 2025. Porter’s books have been published in foreign editions in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand and translated into numerous languages, including French, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Bulgarian, and Korean. In addition to winning the Flannery O’Connor Award, his collection, The Theory of Light and Matter,  received Foreword Magazine’s “Book of the Year” Award for Short  Fiction, was a finalist for The Steven Turner Award, The Paterson Prize  and The WLT Book Award, was shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and was selected by both The Kansas City Star and The San Antonio Express-News  as one of the “Best Books of the Year.” The recipient of a Pushcart Prize and fellowships from the James Michener-Copernicus Foundation, the W.K. Rose Foundation,  and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation,  Porter’s  short stories have appeared in The Best American Short Stories, One Story, Ploughshares, The Southern Review, The Threepenny Review, The Missouri Review, American Short Fiction, Narrative Magazine, Epoch, Story, The Colorado Review, Electric Literature, and Texas Monthly, among others. He has had his work read on NPR’s Selected Shorts and numerous times selected as one of the Distinguished Stories of the Year by Best American Short Stories.  A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Porter is currently a Professor of English and Director of the Creative Writing Program at Trinity University in San Antonio.   Buy The Imagined Life   Andrew's Website   Andrew’s Wikipedia Page   Book Review for The Imagined Life from New York Times   At about 1:30, Pete makes a clumsy but heartfelt comparison between The Imagined Life and Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea and Andrew shares feedback from readers of his novel At about 3:10, Andrew responds to Pete’s question about the book’s seeds and talks about “tinker[ing]” with the book’s opening for years At about 4:45, Pete remarks on the book’s first-person account, and Andrew and Pete discuss the book’s opening and ideas of naivete and fallible parents At about 6:45, Pete asks Andrew, who expands about structuring the book and its connection to revision  At about 8:45, Pete compares the setting of the book, 1983 Fullerton, CA, to The Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979,” and Andrew discusses similarities  At about 10:30, Pete reflects on the importance of the age given to the book’s narrator and the two characterize the book’s “father” and Andrew talks about using a 70s/early 80s atmosphere through the young narrator’s lens At about 15:30, Pete summarizes an important character introduction and Andrew talks about the importance of an embarrassing faux pas by the narrator’s father that might have "professional ramifications” At about 17:30, Andrew responds to Pete’s question about the visits that Steven takes to speak with his father’s former colleagues in the present-day At about 21:20, Andrew explains connections between Proust (“Proo-st”) and the father, who is obsessed in some ways with Proust’s work; Andrew notes personal parallels between the father and Proust At about 24:10, Andrew gives background on Uncle Julian’s connection to his brother and his family  At about 25:40, Andrew responds to Pete’s questions about the importance of the book’s cabana and complicated coupling  At about 27:40, Andrew reflects on Chau’s relationship