Vanessa Cuti

Vanessa Cuti’s fiction has appeared in The Best American Short Stories 2021, The Kenyon Review, AGNI, West Branch, Indiana Review, Cimarron Review, The Cincinnati Review, Shenandoah, The Rumpus and others. She received her MFA from Stony Brook University and lives in the suburbs of New York. The Tip Line is Vanessa’s debut novel.

Twitter: @vanessajcuti

Instagram: @vanessajcuti/

TikTok: @vanessajcuti

Are there particular films that have influenced your writing?

I love the 2012 adaptation of Anna Karenina. It’s so lush and beautiful and also a little bit strange. I really like Fleabag. I’ve rewatched it a few times now and I’m consistently amazed at how perfect the dialogue is and how it elevates the show to something really special. Also, Mad Men because I love a good slow burn.

Favorite non-reading activity?

I’m going to say I like gardening, because I definitely do. It’s calming and methodical and I can get lost in it. But if you saw my yard you wouldn’t know it. I don’t do it nearly enough.

Is your go to comfort food sweet or savory? Is it something you make yourself? Does food inspire your writing?

I’m not a big cook at all. Butt for comfort, I have never met a pasta or bread that I didn’t like. 

Not all books are for all readers… when you start a book and you just don’t like it, how long do you read until you bail?

I try and give it a really good chance. There are quite a few books that I’ve had a hard time getting into and then wound up really loving, so I always keep that in mind. And even if there’s a book that I wind up abandoning, I tend to think that maybe it was me. Like maybe I didn’t get it or I wasn’t the right reader, etc. instead of it being a failing on the book or author’s part.

What piece of clothing tells the most interesting story about your life?

I don’t know that it’s an interesting story of my life, but I have a sweater of my late father’s and it’s fraying and riddled with holes but during the winter I’m wearing it more often than I’m not.