Contributor Interview: Travis D. Roberson

Travis D. Roberson's "On Berlin, Lucia" can be found in the Spring 2026 issue of Broad Ripple Review.

What’s your favorite punctuation and a literary hot take you have?

It's funny, after I read the past issue of BRR, I combed through the author interviews and noticed the em dash as a consistent answer. The contrarian in me wishes I could be someone to break up the consensus, but it's hard not to take the side of something so perfectly versatile and refined. I used to hate the semicolon, but I'm starting to think we should embrace it a little more warmly again.

As for a literary hot take, Steinbeck turns my stomach sour.

What inspired you to write “On Berlin, Lucia”?

Lucia Berlin came across my radar thanks to Jacqueline Doyle, an incredible writer in her own right and one of the CNF Editors at CRAFT. Jacqueline mentioned her love for Lucia Berlin, and it sparked my curiosity. I work at a library, so I quickly checked out her short story collection, A Manual For Cleaning Women. I fell in love with the way Berlin writes, the way she describes people, the way she describes work, and how she can reveal devastating facts about her characters in a simple and quick sentence.

Despite writing fiction, Lucia Berlin's stories are heavily autobiographical. She shares with the reader so many beautiful and ugly pieces of herself. Through reading the stories in that collection, I truly felt like I was getting to know her, but in a kind of amorphous way. I wanted to have a conversation with her. But Lucia Berlin is dead. She still lives on the page, so I believed that to be the best way to commune with her.

What writing/publishing trends are you hopping on for 2026? 

I'm not even sure I know what literary trends are trending. Should I make a romantasy career pivot?

I saw that you’re originally from Florida. Would you say the city’s culture influenced your writing in any way? Was there a huge culture shock when you moved to New York, America’s publishing capital?

I grew up in a small town outside of Orlando that was gradually mutating into a suburb. The citrus industry had been its lifeblood, but freezes and disease hobbled things. Florida has probably informed my writing more than anything else. When you don't live in a place that is outwardly bursting with art and culture, you have to search for it a little harder, but that search makes you so much more appreciative of the art that moves you. I spent the majority of my teenage years in Orlando's punk scene. The folks involved in that subculture informed my whole approach as an artist. I wouldn't be the writer I am without them. Florida gets a bad rap, and it certainly has a lot of problems, but if you peel back the ugly veneer, there's a lot to cherish there. I don't ever want to live there again, but I've never been ashamed to be a Floridian.

I lived in Chicago for a year before settling in New York, so that helped soften things in terms of culture shock. I was a flight attendant for ten years, so ten years of my life were spent adapting to new places frequently. I always dreamt of elsewhere when I was younger, so despite how shocking it might have been, I felt liberated and fulfilled when I finally got out of Florida.

Now that “On Berlin, Lucia” has wrapped up, what’s next on the writing docket?

An attempt at a novel is taking up most of my writing time right now. It's got a lot to do with bonsai trees, theremins, coffee, and the paintings of Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Hopefully, you'll get to read it sooner rather than later.

Do you have any advice for upcoming writers looking to get their work published?

As someone who has simultaneously stood on both ends of the publishing game, I really mean it when I say that adhering to the submission guidelines goes a long way. Also, just about every bit of writing advice left behind by Ernest Hemingway was mainly just a cry for help, so don't listen to any of that too heavily. How's that for a double literary hot take?

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About the Author

Travis D. Roberson is a New York-based writer and artist originally from central Florida. His work appears in The Iowa Review, Cutleaf, Pithead Chapel, Juked, and many other publications. You can follow him on Instagram @trashorphan.

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About the Interviewer

Ollie Sikes (they/them) is an evolving queer writer, editor, and creator based in Dallas, TX. They completed a double BA in Creative Writing and Theatre at Butler University. Besides volunteering with Broad Ripple Review, they also serve as Content Creator for the little things literary magazine. Their poetry has been published with Synchronized Chaos. You can follow them on Instagram @ollie.sikes.