Moze Halperin is a Queens-based playwright, author and critic.
What doors do you open at The Offing?
I’m an editor for the You Are Here section, and attempt to find and feature work that elucidates the confluence of place and personhood in surprising and insightful ways.
What doors does The Offing open for you?
The Offing has introduced me — both virtually and on a few lovely occasions in person — to an awesome gathering of writers and editors throughout the world, and has given me the chance to collaborate with people I would have formerly — and completely wrongly — deemed unapproachable because they’re so damn skilled and impressive.
Is there a piece you’ve worked on or found at The Offing that’s been especially meaningful to you?
One piece in particular struck me viscerally both as a standalone work and as an exemplar of everything I think a You Are Here piece is capable of doing. Callum Angus’s “The Book of New Fish” sees two characters — through a completely unshakable strain of images — taking something specific to a place they’re visiting and stripping, manipulating and reforming it to reflect their own desires and anxieties, managing to project societally induced body horror tropes onto a lobster in one of the most vividly upsetting (and liberating) scenes you’re likely to ever read about crustacea. We were turned on to Angus’ work through an unsolicited submission, and it’s the possibility of finding writing like this that makes me excited to open these up.
What would you like to see us do with the donations we receive during our fundraiser?
Give more money to writers.
