TCR Story of the Month for January: Always the Same by Phillippe Diederich

Phillippe Diederich

The Committee Room is proud to present "Always the Same" by Phillippe Diederich as TCR Story of the Month for January.

"Always the Same" is a short, simply told and powerful story of a boy's childhood moving on despite great loss.

Phillippe Diederich was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Mexico City and Miami. His non-fiction has been published in Traveler’s Tales Anthology, Cuba, Cigar Aficionado, Miami New Times and The Dallas Morning News.

His short fiction has been published in Quarterly West, High Desert Journal, among others, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. The manuscript to his novel, Sofrito, was recently under option by Fox International. He is the author of Communism and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (2011), an eBook that includes forty black and white photographs of Cuban Harley-Davidson bikers in Havana.


"Always the Same" was published in Frostwriting (Issue 9, 2012)

To read "Always the Same" click here

TCR Chats with author Phillippe Diederich

Q: How long have you been writing?
A: Probably about twenty five years, but I only got serious about it in the last few years, so I would have to say four.

Q: Where did you get the idea for "Always the Same?"
A:  I've been working on a series of short stories that take place in Mexico and the U.S. with Mexican characters. I grew up in Mexico and I think these stories are born out of nostalgia. They're coming of age stories, brutal stories, stories about rites of passage, migration and what we're forced to sacrifice in life. In "Always the Same" I wanted to build something short about a boy who is missing something we all take for granted. At first it seems it's the grandmother's house and being with extended family, but it's also about not having his father there. But still, the boy doesn't seem to get that. I worked as a photojournalist in Houston and spent a lot of time working in prisons in Texas. I've had it in mind to use a prison in a story, but not as the main subject. I didn't want to write a "prison story." Here the prison is just a place like the Olive Garden.

Q: Who are your favorite classic authors?
A: Hemingway, Steinbeck, Faulkner, Dostoyevsky.

Q: Who are your favorite contemporary authors?
A: Junot Diaz, Dagoberto Gilb, Luis Alberto Urrea, and most definitely, Cormac McCarthy, especially The Border Trilogy.

TCR Story of the Month highlights an outstanding work of short fiction published online within the preceding twelve months.

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