SOURCE: MacLeod, Alistair, and Laurie Kruk. “Alistair MacLeod: The World Is Full of Exiles.” Studies in Canadian Literature 20, no. 1 (1995): 150-59.

In the following interview, MacLeod discusses the appeal of the short story genre, his literary influences, and various aspects of particular stories.

[Kruk]: I had planned to ask you about the appeal of the short story, and if you think you'll want to write in any other form, but I believe you are starting to do so.

[MacLeod]: That's what I'm doing right now: trying to write a novel. It's called No Great Mischief If They Fall.

Do you find writing it more difficult than writing short stories?

I find it different in that you've got to sustain a storyline for a long time, and history shifts as you're working on a novel. I think one of the advantages of the short story is, it's something like a...