Interview with Author Justin Taroli

We appreciate when a writer tackles a subject seen by some as taboo. It is in this exploration that we can truly examine the human condition. Justin Taroli takes this route in "The Harvester" and finds a nuanced path we enjoyed walking down. Read on to catch up with the author and his writing advice, his favorite underappreciated works, and what he thinks the real reason is behind men's violence in our world.

What makes you keep writing, even when it's hard? 

I think about all the terrible books I’ve read throughout the years, and some of the unreadable books that continue getting published and I think to myself, if they decided to put their writing out into the world, there’s really no reason I shouldn’t. 

Advice on creating that you’ve learned by trial and error. 

The main thing I’ve learned is that writing is less about genius and more about sitting in front of my laptop long enough.

What's your favorite underappreciated novel or short story (a work you never hear anyone else talking about)? 

Novel: Speaking of Summer by Kalisha Buckhanon. Short story: “Tatooizm” by Kevin Moffett.

What are your short-term writing goals? 

I’m currently shopping around my short story collection, How Boys Use Lipstick, to various agents, hoping someone wants to represent me. It’s unapologetically queer and obliterates respectability politics. 

If you were a cryptid, what would your name be and where would you dwell? 

I am a cryptid. My name would be Justin Taroli and I would dwell in my apartment in Forest Hills, Queens. 

What is your writing strategy? Do you write every day with a rigid schedule, or are you more flexible with your practice? 

I’m very flexible. I write when I feel like it. Sometimes for three hours on a random Tuesday afternoon. Sometimes for ten minutes on a Saturday at midnight. If I wanted to give myself a rigid schedule, I’d be working a 9-5 and not living the lifestyle of a broke writer. 

How is your closet organized? 

I share a closet with my partner. My clothes are set up in a rotation so that there is little decision making involved. I simply wear what’s next in line. 

Have you ever had a supernatural encounter? 

I saw the ghost of an old woman with a walker in my childhood bedroom when I visited my parents about ten years ago. 

Most unconventional place you’ve spent time writing in: 

I dog sit regularly. So, other people’s homes?

Do you know any magic? 

I can make straight characters accidentally queer halfway through a draft.

What do you hope readers gain from your work? 

I don’t really think about readers gaining anything. But I do hope they are left with just a bit more audacity to lean into the weird in their own lives.

What’s the one problem with the human condition you wish could be fixed? 

The reason there are so many wars, so much violence and fights started by men, this desire to conquer since the dawn of humanity, is not because those men want to fight each other; what they want is to fuck each other. 

Why are manholes round? 

I don’t think you actually want me to answer this. 

Tell us a secret. 

Here’s two secrets: 1: I wish my friends reached out more. 2: I was recently permanently banned from Reddit for suggesting we throw actual shit at ICE agents.

What is your favorite museum or gallery? 

I generally dislike museums. I find them overly colonialist and boring. However, The Museum of Sex is fun. And the Mutter Museum in Philly has plenty of oddities I found amusing.

Most triumphant thing you did as a child? 

Didn’t kill myself.

Unpopular opinion, go: 

Listening to an endless stream of podcasts doesn’t make you smarter or more informed—it just numbs you into thinking you are. After a while you’re not engaging with ideas, you’re just letting voices fill the silence, and it leaves you more desensitized than aware. 

Justin Taroli is a neurodivergent writer based in New York. He's written two books and his work has appeared or is forthcoming in Maudlin House, West Trade Review, Eunoia, BULL and others.