Can you share about how your creative journey or background led you to Callaloo?

In the last few years, I've attempted to design my own MFA program through workshops and residencies. One of them was The Kenyon Review in 2024, and I had the incredible experience of learning from Z.Z. Packer. Z.Z. has an encyclopedic mind, and I altered my writing practice for good after that workshop. I shared with her my challenges in finding a home for my work. In my mind, much of it was too specific to the experiences of Black (American) people for many of the publications I was coming across. She immediately directed me to Callaloo. I'm forever grateful.

How does this work connect to the larger body of your creative practice?

I've been thinking a lot about how women, Black women specifically, endure in life. In our relationships, in our families, in our communities, our strength is often lauded. Still, my generation (Gen X) understands that being strong all the time is overrated and it's killing us. "Big Mama's Gun" connects to the larger body of my practice because it explores a woman unconventionally overcoming endurance. She doesn't accept it; in fact, she gets mad about it. When I think about the other pieces in my collection, this is often the case with the women characters: finding themselves in circumstances of suffering, and instead of enduring, they save themselves.

What inspired you to start writing in the first place?

I have always written. Stories, songs, poetry, even erotica. All of it has been the product of an overactive imagination of an only child. When you grow up in a world of adults, there's a lot to overhear—a lot of whispering and talking in code around you—and for me, that was fodder for creating. It was my way of making sense of what I wasn't supposed to know or couldn't understand. I come from a family of immaculate storytellers, and every story I heard growing up had a multitude of characters and a specific snapshot of the environment I grew up in. In this era of writing, what's inspiring me more these days is my hometown of Los Angeles. The city has been through so much in my lifetime, and I have yet to come across someone who showcases the city as I know it.

Are there any upcoming projects or pieces you're working on that you'd like to share with our readers?

I have one piece from the collection that I completed recently, called "Blue Pills," and I am excited about it. It explores dating after the age of 45. I haven't submitted it for publication yet, but I hope to soon.

KC LEHMAN is a fiction writer and oral storyteller who enjoys music, mysteries, and the rare luxury of a midday nap. Her work focuses on exploring the lives of Black women, the secrets they carry from generation to generation, and how biases like colorism and featurism affect self-perception and worldview. When not introducing her kids to ’90s music or selling real estate in her hometown of Los Angeles, KC contemplates and sometimes chats with the characters that live in her head until she gets them on the page. A graduate of UCLA, KC’s writing has received support from Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, Roots. Wounds. Words. Inc, The Hurston/Wright Foundation, Anaphora Arts, and PEN America. She is also a 2025 Tin House Summer Resident. Her writing has earned her placement in several writer’s workshops, including the Tin House, Lighthouse Writers, and Kenyon Review workshops. Website: kctellstales.com.