Q&A …

… The Self-Development of Truth: A Conversation with Maxim Osipov - Los Angeles Review of Books. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

I think that short stories, even long short stories (my personal preference), can be closer to poetry than to novels. It’s not the subject matter that I find central to short fiction, but style and form, which far exceed content in their importance. Being deeply knowledgeable about your material — in my case, about medicine and, to a lesser extent, religion, music, theater, politics, even chess — is not essential, however much it may help. I prefer to write about subjects that I am familiar with. 

See also:  The Good Doctor: On Maxim Osipov’s “Rock, Paper, Scissors”.