Jon McGregor's first novel, If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, found him a place as the youngest contender and the only first-time novelist on the 2002 Booker Prize longlist.
The novel went on to win the 2003 Somerset Maugham Award. It was also shortlisted in the Best First Book category in the Eurasia Region of the Commonwealth Writers Prize, and the Best Newcomer category in the 2004 British Book Awards.
His latest novel, So Many Ways to Begin, made it onto the 2006 Man Booker Prize longlist.
Jon McGregor spoke about his writing and the qualities that set his writing apart.
When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?
Firstly, when I was about 14, and listening to too many Smiths records. But more seriously when I was around 20, at university, and rapidly discovering there wasn't much else I was good at.
In the writing that you're doing, what would you say are your main concerns?
Life and the choices people make. Love and loss. The small details which make a big picture. The gaps between what people say to one another.
As far as your writing is concerned, who would you say has influenced you the most?
Don DeLillo. Richard Brautigan. John McGahern. A.L. Kennedy.
How have your personal experiences influenced the direction of your writing?
When I was younger and poorer, I used to hitch-hike everywhere. I heard enough stories — confessions really — during those years to last me a lifetime.
As a writer, what would you say are the biggest challenges that you face?
Being original - being worth reading. Keeping the same burning drive and ambition which I had before anyone had bought any of my books. Mastering the semi-colon.
Your book has been placed on the Man Booker Prize 2006. What is the book about?
So Many Ways To Begin is the story of a marriage; it's the story of two people trying to make a life together, and the way their own families and histories impact upon this life. It's also about museums, identity, storytelling, and the difficulty of starting again.
How long did it take you to write it?
About three years.
Which aspects of the work that you put into the book did you find most difficult?
The writing.
Which did you enjoy most?
The thinking about it beforehand.
What would you say sets the book apart from the other things you have written?
My previous novel was a collage of snapshots; So Many Ways To Begin has a tighter focus, a more sustained look at a smaller group of characters.
In what way is it similar?
Hopefully, I've retained an attention to detail which reveals quiet truths about the characters without anything needing to be spelt out.
Which themes will you be exploring in your next book?
I don't know, but I think it will be uglier.
What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?
Finding readers, getting paid.
How did you get there?
I have absolutely no idea.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
[Interview] Delia Jarrett-Macauley
Delia Jarrett-Macauley is a writer, academic and broadcaster with a career spanning over 20 years. Her books include a biography of the Jamaican feminist Una Marson and Reconstructing Womanhood, Reconstructing Feminism: Writings on Black Women (Routledge, 1996). The latter was the first British feminist anthology to examine concepts of womanhood and feminism within the context of "race" and ethnicity
Jarrett-Macauley's first novel Moses, Citizen and Me, (Granta Books, 2005) is a haunting tale about Sierra Leone's civil war, which forced guns on an estimated 15,000 children between 1991 and 2001.
In 2006, Moses, Citizen and Me won the George Orwell Prize for political writing. The annual prize is awarded to writers judged to have best achieved George Orwell's aim "to make political writing into an art" and seeks to recognize good accessible writing about politics, political thinking or public policy.
In their comments the judges said, "Anyone who has spent time in Africa can immediately recognize the power and truth of her descriptions. It is a work of great intimacy and moral complexity, the kind of writing that sheds light on a world we barely understand." Andrew O'Hagan, a member of the judging panel, added, "the book is one that Orwell himself might have liked."
Moses, Citizen and Me became the first novel to win the Orwell Prize for political writing since the award started 16 years ago.
Delia Jarrett-Macauley spoke about her writing.
What is your connection with Sierra Leone?
I was born in England to Sierra Leone parents, and had visited the country as a child.
When did you decide you wanted to write about Sierra Leone?
On the day I heard the report on BBC lunchtime news about a child soldier, Citizen, who had been compelled to execute his parents, I knew immediately that I would have to write about him. The Sierra Leone I knew as a child was still inside me, so to speak, and I felt passionately about the country's plight.
Also genocide is a great classical theme in literature from Oedipus onwards, and when the perpetrator is a child, the writer is pushed into considering the toughest emotional and moral questions imaginable. I had worked in Central and Eastern Europe during the 1990s and seen the results of close inter-ethnic conflict, now I had to look at my parents' country where something similar was happening and imagine what a family's response might be to that tragedy.
I dared to proceed, even at the risk of making a complete fool of myself, to tackle the war because it raised such important literary challenges: the peculiarly human talent for re-inventing the self, the question of colonial history in Africa, the variations of African cultural life. I threw myself into writing and then into a period of research because although I was not concerned with documentation of fact, I had to grapple with it in order to understand the moral complexities of what had happened.
How did you research the novel?
If I had had the money and other resources I might have traveled back to Freetown to 'research' the novel, but I did not. I had to conduct most of my research in London and to imagine the responses of different family members. In any event, I believe that imagination thrives on minimal data, and so perhaps I was better off not going back.
I did, however, go to Paris in April 2001 to see the premiere of the film, Nouvel Ordre Mondiale by Phillipe Diaz, and to talk to people at Monde Contre Faim who had been working in Sierra Leone. Only a handful of people turned up for the premiere of the film, a brilliant and graphic depiction of the atrocities of the civil conflict.
At the end of the film we huddled together in the foyer. We were all upset, but we talked about it. One man encouragingly said it would be good if I could write something bearable, something which would enable readers to see the truth of the conflict, without just being shocked. His thoughtful words stayed with me.
How did all this influence you?
I wanted to write something beautiful and strong. Moses, Citizen and Me is a passionate book about family and 'lost home': it is not a tale about atrocities. By being removed from the physical Sierra Leone, I was able to re-create my own, and to develop characters using both memory and imagination.
Many African countries including Sierra Leone and its neighbours are not sufficiently well known in Europe or America to encourage mature literary treatment: write from the inside, and there are bound to be new challenging elements, but it is important to write nevertheless without footnoting, without patronizing and without debasing oneself to the level of meaningless generalizations.
I am pleased to have heard from readers in different parts of the world who recognize the themes and characters. For example, a Jamaican wrote to comment on the names. Bemba G is clearly a different and very African name, whereas Moses and his family all have Christian names.
Another general theme being talked about is the toughness of rural life in Africa compared with life in Freetown itself.
What were your expectations of Moses, Citizen and Me and did the novel live up to these?
Of course I wanted the novel to do well: I hoped for critical and some commercial success, but nothing could have prepared me for the feelings of elation and appreciation that came with winning the Orwell award.
The prize means many more people will share the story and, I hope, feel with the people of Sierra Leone.
I'm delighted to have won the Orwell Award for political writing: it is perhaps the most elegant acknowledgement of the novel's intentions, accessibility and merit. Coming at the end of a hard road to publication, the award has been a great serendipitous gift.
,,
Jarrett-Macauley's first novel Moses, Citizen and Me, (Granta Books, 2005) is a haunting tale about Sierra Leone's civil war, which forced guns on an estimated 15,000 children between 1991 and 2001.
In 2006, Moses, Citizen and Me won the George Orwell Prize for political writing. The annual prize is awarded to writers judged to have best achieved George Orwell's aim "to make political writing into an art" and seeks to recognize good accessible writing about politics, political thinking or public policy.
In their comments the judges said, "Anyone who has spent time in Africa can immediately recognize the power and truth of her descriptions. It is a work of great intimacy and moral complexity, the kind of writing that sheds light on a world we barely understand." Andrew O'Hagan, a member of the judging panel, added, "the book is one that Orwell himself might have liked."
Moses, Citizen and Me became the first novel to win the Orwell Prize for political writing since the award started 16 years ago.
Delia Jarrett-Macauley spoke about her writing.
What is your connection with Sierra Leone?
I was born in England to Sierra Leone parents, and had visited the country as a child.
When did you decide you wanted to write about Sierra Leone?
On the day I heard the report on BBC lunchtime news about a child soldier, Citizen, who had been compelled to execute his parents, I knew immediately that I would have to write about him. The Sierra Leone I knew as a child was still inside me, so to speak, and I felt passionately about the country's plight.
Also genocide is a great classical theme in literature from Oedipus onwards, and when the perpetrator is a child, the writer is pushed into considering the toughest emotional and moral questions imaginable. I had worked in Central and Eastern Europe during the 1990s and seen the results of close inter-ethnic conflict, now I had to look at my parents' country where something similar was happening and imagine what a family's response might be to that tragedy.
I dared to proceed, even at the risk of making a complete fool of myself, to tackle the war because it raised such important literary challenges: the peculiarly human talent for re-inventing the self, the question of colonial history in Africa, the variations of African cultural life. I threw myself into writing and then into a period of research because although I was not concerned with documentation of fact, I had to grapple with it in order to understand the moral complexities of what had happened.
How did you research the novel?
If I had had the money and other resources I might have traveled back to Freetown to 'research' the novel, but I did not. I had to conduct most of my research in London and to imagine the responses of different family members. In any event, I believe that imagination thrives on minimal data, and so perhaps I was better off not going back.
I did, however, go to Paris in April 2001 to see the premiere of the film, Nouvel Ordre Mondiale by Phillipe Diaz, and to talk to people at Monde Contre Faim who had been working in Sierra Leone. Only a handful of people turned up for the premiere of the film, a brilliant and graphic depiction of the atrocities of the civil conflict.
At the end of the film we huddled together in the foyer. We were all upset, but we talked about it. One man encouragingly said it would be good if I could write something bearable, something which would enable readers to see the truth of the conflict, without just being shocked. His thoughtful words stayed with me.
How did all this influence you?
I wanted to write something beautiful and strong. Moses, Citizen and Me is a passionate book about family and 'lost home': it is not a tale about atrocities. By being removed from the physical Sierra Leone, I was able to re-create my own, and to develop characters using both memory and imagination.
Many African countries including Sierra Leone and its neighbours are not sufficiently well known in Europe or America to encourage mature literary treatment: write from the inside, and there are bound to be new challenging elements, but it is important to write nevertheless without footnoting, without patronizing and without debasing oneself to the level of meaningless generalizations.
I am pleased to have heard from readers in different parts of the world who recognize the themes and characters. For example, a Jamaican wrote to comment on the names. Bemba G is clearly a different and very African name, whereas Moses and his family all have Christian names.
Another general theme being talked about is the toughness of rural life in Africa compared with life in Freetown itself.
What were your expectations of Moses, Citizen and Me and did the novel live up to these?
Of course I wanted the novel to do well: I hoped for critical and some commercial success, but nothing could have prepared me for the feelings of elation and appreciation that came with winning the Orwell award.
The prize means many more people will share the story and, I hope, feel with the people of Sierra Leone.
I'm delighted to have won the Orwell Award for political writing: it is perhaps the most elegant acknowledgement of the novel's intentions, accessibility and merit. Coming at the end of a hard road to publication, the award has been a great serendipitous gift.
,,
Monday, May 14, 2007
[Interview] Dr Susan Shumsky
Dr Susan Shumsky is a healer, counselor, prayer therapist, teacher and an author. For over three decades, she has been teaching meditation, self-development, and intuition to students in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Far East.
She received a doctorate in Divinity from the Teaching of Intuitional Metaphysics in San Diego, and has written several books on meditation, prayer, and spiritual healing.
Her books include Divine Revelation (Fireside, 1996); Exploring Chakras (New Page Books, 2003); Exploring Auras (New Page Books, 2005); Miracle Prayer (Celestial Arts, 2006) and Exploring Meditation (Career Press, 2008).
In email interview which took place between October 9 and November 22, Dr Susan Shumsky spoke about her experiences and the books she has written.
How did it all begin? What motivated you?
I have been practicing spiritual disciplines for 40 years.
I spent 22 years in the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of Transcendental Meditation and guru of the Beatles and Deepak Chopra. I was on Maharishi's personal staff for seven years. I was totally immersed in meditation.
When I lived in the ashram, I used to meditate up to 20 hours a day. I would disappear into my room and not appear for up to eight weeks at a time. I observed silence and did not utter a sound for up to four months at a time. I fasted for up to two months at a time. And I observed total celibacy for decades.
After spending 22 years with my eyes closed, I woke up and realized that something was missing from my spiritual experience.
What was missing?
I had been practicing yoga -- the word "yoga" literally means divine union or integration, meaning union of individual Spirit with universal Spirit -- and I was experiencing the end-all be-all experience of yoga, satchitananda, in meditation on a daily basis. This was an amazing experience of what I call the "impersonal God."
But I was longing for the experience of the "personal God."
How did you resolve this conflict?
Happily, I discovered a way to listen to the "still small voice" within -- how to hear the voice of God and how to test and trust whether the message is the real thing.
Also, I learned how to help others to have this profound inner connection.
Once I realized that this was possible, and that I could ask my higher self (God within) any question and receive divine love, healing, wisdom, and inspiration from within myself, I had finally come home to God. Never was I alone again.
What happened next? What did you do next?
I sold my house, bought a trailer, and began travelling and teaching classes to help others have this profound experience. It did not take long before I realized that I would have to write a book in order to have any credibility whatsoever. So I wrote my first book, Divine Revelation, quite late in my life, in 1990, and then in 1996 it was published by Simon & Schuster. This book is about how to listen to the voice of God within, and how to distinguish and discern between the true voice of Spirit and other voices in your mind.
The next 4 books came soon after that: Exploring Meditation, which is a great introduction to meditation, yoga, and East Indian philosophy.
My publisher asked me to write Exploring Chakras, which I researched by studying the ancient scriptures of India and which was reviewed as the "penultimate book about the chakras."
My publisher then asked me to write Exploring Auras, which is about healing and cleansing the human energy field, and which has dozens of powerful healing prayers and affirmations to heal anomalies in the auric field.
What is Miracle Prayer about?
My latest book Miracle Prayer: Nine Steps to Creating Prayers that Get Results teaches Scientific Prayer, otherwise known as affirmative prayer or spiritual mind treatment, the method of prayer taught in Unity and Religious Science and other New Thought churches.
I wrote this book at the same time that I wrote Divine Revelation, way back in the early 1990's, but it was not published until now.
This book can help you understand how you have created your own destiny through your thoughts, words, and deeds, and how you can transform your life. It helps you discover mental laws that you have created and how to overcome those mental laws through the Law of Grace. Also, it includes specific prayers and affirmations that you can use to fulfill your aspirations. One chapter is filled with inspiring stories of people who have used these prayer methods to create miracles in their lives.
How long did it take you to write it?
My books usually take about one year to write. This was no exception.
Miracle Prayer was published by Celestial Arts (Berkeley, California), a division of TenSpeed Press. The book came out in 2006. It was also picked up by the One Spirit book club.
Which aspects of the work that you put into the book did you find most difficult? And which did you enjoy most?
The aspect that I find most difficult is finding a way to promote this book in the marketplace.
I loved writing every book that I have written. I enjoy teaching, so I enjoy writing.
What sets the book apart from the others that you have written?
This is the only book that I have written that gives the secret of how to practice the nine-step prayer method that is the basis of everything else that I do.
It is similar to my other books because it is, like my other books, a spiritual self-help, how-to book that helps people to truly transform their lives.
How did your personal experiences prepare you for your role as a writer?
I was always an artist, and I never wanted to be a writer. As a child I played with crayons and made paper dolls. I designed dream houses and drew pictures of people that I saw in magazines. I went to art college and then ended up in an ashram with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the guru of the Beatles and Deepak Chopra, on his personal staff, where I worked as an illustrator and designer on his publications. My guru always tried to get me to write. But I was stuck on being an artist.
After I left the ashram, I designed jewellery for New York diamond jewellery manufacturers for 20 years. I was also teaching seminars on how to listen to the "still small voice" of God within. I called it "Divine Revelation." Soon after I began teaching, I realized that I needed to write a book about it. So I was guided by Spirit to write the book Divine Revelation.
Now I feel that I have more talent as a writer than an artist.
What are your main concerns as a writer?
My main concerns as a writer are that I write something educational, understandable, life-enhancing, and spiritually uplifting.
What are the biggest challenges that you face? And, how do you deal with them?
I think that any author will tell you that their biggest challenge is to make ends meet while having time to be creative. Another huge challenge is to publicize the books that we write. Although the publishers get the books on the shelf in bookstores, ultimately the author is the one who has to sell the books.
Personally, I have developed a way to get income from sources other than just book sales. I do not know any authors who are supported by book sales alone. Also, I do my best to get publicity, which is very challenging.
Who would you say has influenced you the most?
I have been influenced most by my guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who personally taught me to become a meditation teacher on the banks of the Ganges River in India. I was also very influenced by other mentors in my life -- Rich Bell and Dr. Peter V. Meyer, who taught me to listen to the "still small voice" of God within, to follow my inner guidance, and to help others have that experience. Also they taught me how to teach spiritual healing.
What will your next book be about?
My agent is now pitching a book to publishers that is a spiritual memoir about my years with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Let's pray that he sells it.
What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?
Getting my first book Divine Revelation published by Simon & Schuster.
Possibly related books:
,,
Related article:
“Researchers Seek Routes to Happier Life,” Associated Press, KATU Portland, November 26, 2006.
She received a doctorate in Divinity from the Teaching of Intuitional Metaphysics in San Diego, and has written several books on meditation, prayer, and spiritual healing.
Her books include Divine Revelation (Fireside, 1996); Exploring Chakras (New Page Books, 2003); Exploring Auras (New Page Books, 2005); Miracle Prayer (Celestial Arts, 2006) and Exploring Meditation (Career Press, 2008).
In email interview which took place between October 9 and November 22, Dr Susan Shumsky spoke about her experiences and the books she has written.
How did it all begin? What motivated you?
I have been practicing spiritual disciplines for 40 years.
I spent 22 years in the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of Transcendental Meditation and guru of the Beatles and Deepak Chopra. I was on Maharishi's personal staff for seven years. I was totally immersed in meditation.
When I lived in the ashram, I used to meditate up to 20 hours a day. I would disappear into my room and not appear for up to eight weeks at a time. I observed silence and did not utter a sound for up to four months at a time. I fasted for up to two months at a time. And I observed total celibacy for decades.
After spending 22 years with my eyes closed, I woke up and realized that something was missing from my spiritual experience.
What was missing?
I had been practicing yoga -- the word "yoga" literally means divine union or integration, meaning union of individual Spirit with universal Spirit -- and I was experiencing the end-all be-all experience of yoga, satchitananda, in meditation on a daily basis. This was an amazing experience of what I call the "impersonal God."
But I was longing for the experience of the "personal God."
How did you resolve this conflict?
Happily, I discovered a way to listen to the "still small voice" within -- how to hear the voice of God and how to test and trust whether the message is the real thing.
Also, I learned how to help others to have this profound inner connection.
Once I realized that this was possible, and that I could ask my higher self (God within) any question and receive divine love, healing, wisdom, and inspiration from within myself, I had finally come home to God. Never was I alone again.
What happened next? What did you do next?
I sold my house, bought a trailer, and began travelling and teaching classes to help others have this profound experience. It did not take long before I realized that I would have to write a book in order to have any credibility whatsoever. So I wrote my first book, Divine Revelation, quite late in my life, in 1990, and then in 1996 it was published by Simon & Schuster. This book is about how to listen to the voice of God within, and how to distinguish and discern between the true voice of Spirit and other voices in your mind.
The next 4 books came soon after that: Exploring Meditation, which is a great introduction to meditation, yoga, and East Indian philosophy.
My publisher asked me to write Exploring Chakras, which I researched by studying the ancient scriptures of India and which was reviewed as the "penultimate book about the chakras."
My publisher then asked me to write Exploring Auras, which is about healing and cleansing the human energy field, and which has dozens of powerful healing prayers and affirmations to heal anomalies in the auric field.
What is Miracle Prayer about?
My latest book Miracle Prayer: Nine Steps to Creating Prayers that Get Results teaches Scientific Prayer, otherwise known as affirmative prayer or spiritual mind treatment, the method of prayer taught in Unity and Religious Science and other New Thought churches.
I wrote this book at the same time that I wrote Divine Revelation, way back in the early 1990's, but it was not published until now.
This book can help you understand how you have created your own destiny through your thoughts, words, and deeds, and how you can transform your life. It helps you discover mental laws that you have created and how to overcome those mental laws through the Law of Grace. Also, it includes specific prayers and affirmations that you can use to fulfill your aspirations. One chapter is filled with inspiring stories of people who have used these prayer methods to create miracles in their lives.
How long did it take you to write it?
My books usually take about one year to write. This was no exception.
Miracle Prayer was published by Celestial Arts (Berkeley, California), a division of TenSpeed Press. The book came out in 2006. It was also picked up by the One Spirit book club.
Which aspects of the work that you put into the book did you find most difficult? And which did you enjoy most?
The aspect that I find most difficult is finding a way to promote this book in the marketplace.
I loved writing every book that I have written. I enjoy teaching, so I enjoy writing.
What sets the book apart from the others that you have written?
This is the only book that I have written that gives the secret of how to practice the nine-step prayer method that is the basis of everything else that I do.
It is similar to my other books because it is, like my other books, a spiritual self-help, how-to book that helps people to truly transform their lives.
How did your personal experiences prepare you for your role as a writer?
I was always an artist, and I never wanted to be a writer. As a child I played with crayons and made paper dolls. I designed dream houses and drew pictures of people that I saw in magazines. I went to art college and then ended up in an ashram with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the guru of the Beatles and Deepak Chopra, on his personal staff, where I worked as an illustrator and designer on his publications. My guru always tried to get me to write. But I was stuck on being an artist.
After I left the ashram, I designed jewellery for New York diamond jewellery manufacturers for 20 years. I was also teaching seminars on how to listen to the "still small voice" of God within. I called it "Divine Revelation." Soon after I began teaching, I realized that I needed to write a book about it. So I was guided by Spirit to write the book Divine Revelation.
Now I feel that I have more talent as a writer than an artist.
What are your main concerns as a writer?
My main concerns as a writer are that I write something educational, understandable, life-enhancing, and spiritually uplifting.
What are the biggest challenges that you face? And, how do you deal with them?
I think that any author will tell you that their biggest challenge is to make ends meet while having time to be creative. Another huge challenge is to publicize the books that we write. Although the publishers get the books on the shelf in bookstores, ultimately the author is the one who has to sell the books.
Personally, I have developed a way to get income from sources other than just book sales. I do not know any authors who are supported by book sales alone. Also, I do my best to get publicity, which is very challenging.
Who would you say has influenced you the most?
I have been influenced most by my guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who personally taught me to become a meditation teacher on the banks of the Ganges River in India. I was also very influenced by other mentors in my life -- Rich Bell and Dr. Peter V. Meyer, who taught me to listen to the "still small voice" of God within, to follow my inner guidance, and to help others have that experience. Also they taught me how to teach spiritual healing.
What will your next book be about?
My agent is now pitching a book to publishers that is a spiritual memoir about my years with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Let's pray that he sells it.
What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?
Getting my first book Divine Revelation published by Simon & Schuster.
Possibly related books:
,,
Related article:
“Researchers Seek Routes to Happier Life,” Associated Press, KATU Portland, November 26, 2006.
Friday, May 11, 2007
[Interview] Courttia Newland
Courttia Newland is fast becoming one of the most significant voices in Black British writing. His work includes the novels The Scholar (1998) and Snakeskin (2002), collections of short stories - Society Within (1999) and Music for the Off-Key: Twelve Macabre Short Stories (2006), as well as the critically acclaimed plays, The Far Side, about the murder of a young black man by a white youth, and Mother's Day, which premiered at the Lyric Studio Hammersmith in autumn of 2002. Newland has also edited IC3: The Penguin Book of New Black Writing in Britain (2000) and is currently writing the screenplay to a film adaptation of The Scholar.
In an interview that took place in July, Courttia Newland spoke about his writing and his new book.
When did you decide you wanted to become a writer?
Although I had been writing for many years as a "hobby," I only turned to serious writing when I was 21. I had tried various avenues for making money and none of them had worked. I really wanted to build a music studio, so I decided to write a book and sell it, and then build my studio from the proceeds. As you can see, I had no idea what a writer's life was like. Luckily for me I enjoyed writing the book so much I gave up on music.
Who would you say influenced you the most?
On a personal level, my grandfather. He taught me a lot about the world and strengthened my political views with an emphasis on being black in this country (the U.K.). In a literary sense, Chester Himes - his books convinced me I could write about working class black people without having to apologize about it.
Most of your novels, short stories, and plays have black people as main or major characters. Is there a particular reason for this?
I write about people who have been left out of mainstream fiction. When I was first published I felt that these people had no voice, so I wanted to try and capture that. I write to tell stories, to validate and chronicle our untold lives.
How did you come up with the title of your latest book, Music For the Off-Key: Twelve Macabre Short Stories?
In my part of London (west) the word "off-key" has been floating around for a while. It means when something or someone is weird or a little unusual. I wanted a title reminiscent of Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected, so I came up with Music For The Off-Key. It's funny because it sounds strange to most people, but working class Londoners tend to get it right away!
How long did it take you to come up with the 12 stories that make up the collection?
A long time — I've been writing different collections since I published The Scholar — Music is just the latest version. I had the stories for Music together back in 2002, but publishers have been slow to pick this one up and so I swapped a few of the stories around and wrote a few new ones. This lineup has only been in existence since last year.
Which would you say was the most difficult to write? Why was this so?
They all flowed quite easily. "Gold" took the longest because I was working so much, but they were all quite painless.
Which did you enjoy working on most? Why do you think this was so?
"The Double Room." Even when I was writing it, it came out exactly as I imagined it. That's quite rare for me.
What would you say sets Music For the Off-Key apart from the other books you have written?
The characters are all subversive, along with their stories. I tried to stay away from any restrictions I might place on myself and push the boundaries for these people, taking them away from the everyday and placing them in abnormal situations.
I suppose I got tired of having to be "authentic." It's a terrible burden to place on a writer. Sometimes we just want to imagine. [To] create.
In what way is it similar to the others?
It's Black Britain, but not as we know it! I tried to make these characters inhabit the same world as the one in my previous books — so The Dying Wish, a novella starring Ervine James of Snakeskin, crosses over with "Suicide Note," the first story in Music For The Off-Key. I'm still writing about inner-city London, but from a new angle.
As a writer, what would you say are the major challenges that you face and how do you deal with these?
Tying money to creativity. Finding time to write. Breaking the limitations placed on me by the outside world and sometimes myself. The fight between instinct and the intellect.
What would you say has been your greatest achievement so far? And how did you get there?
Five books and counting! It's all about the work, I think. I've just put my head down and told stories.
Where do you see yourself five years from now?
More books and a larger bank account!
Related Books:
,,
In an interview that took place in July, Courttia Newland spoke about his writing and his new book.
When did you decide you wanted to become a writer?
Although I had been writing for many years as a "hobby," I only turned to serious writing when I was 21. I had tried various avenues for making money and none of them had worked. I really wanted to build a music studio, so I decided to write a book and sell it, and then build my studio from the proceeds. As you can see, I had no idea what a writer's life was like. Luckily for me I enjoyed writing the book so much I gave up on music.
Who would you say influenced you the most?
On a personal level, my grandfather. He taught me a lot about the world and strengthened my political views with an emphasis on being black in this country (the U.K.). In a literary sense, Chester Himes - his books convinced me I could write about working class black people without having to apologize about it.
Most of your novels, short stories, and plays have black people as main or major characters. Is there a particular reason for this?
I write about people who have been left out of mainstream fiction. When I was first published I felt that these people had no voice, so I wanted to try and capture that. I write to tell stories, to validate and chronicle our untold lives.
How did you come up with the title of your latest book, Music For the Off-Key: Twelve Macabre Short Stories?
In my part of London (west) the word "off-key" has been floating around for a while. It means when something or someone is weird or a little unusual. I wanted a title reminiscent of Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected, so I came up with Music For The Off-Key. It's funny because it sounds strange to most people, but working class Londoners tend to get it right away!
How long did it take you to come up with the 12 stories that make up the collection?
A long time — I've been writing different collections since I published The Scholar — Music is just the latest version. I had the stories for Music together back in 2002, but publishers have been slow to pick this one up and so I swapped a few of the stories around and wrote a few new ones. This lineup has only been in existence since last year.
Which would you say was the most difficult to write? Why was this so?
They all flowed quite easily. "Gold" took the longest because I was working so much, but they were all quite painless.
Which did you enjoy working on most? Why do you think this was so?
"The Double Room." Even when I was writing it, it came out exactly as I imagined it. That's quite rare for me.
What would you say sets Music For the Off-Key apart from the other books you have written?
The characters are all subversive, along with their stories. I tried to stay away from any restrictions I might place on myself and push the boundaries for these people, taking them away from the everyday and placing them in abnormal situations.
I suppose I got tired of having to be "authentic." It's a terrible burden to place on a writer. Sometimes we just want to imagine. [To] create.
In what way is it similar to the others?
It's Black Britain, but not as we know it! I tried to make these characters inhabit the same world as the one in my previous books — so The Dying Wish, a novella starring Ervine James of Snakeskin, crosses over with "Suicide Note," the first story in Music For The Off-Key. I'm still writing about inner-city London, but from a new angle.
As a writer, what would you say are the major challenges that you face and how do you deal with these?
Tying money to creativity. Finding time to write. Breaking the limitations placed on me by the outside world and sometimes myself. The fight between instinct and the intellect.
What would you say has been your greatest achievement so far? And how did you get there?
Five books and counting! It's all about the work, I think. I've just put my head down and told stories.
Where do you see yourself five years from now?
More books and a larger bank account!
Related Books:
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Wednesday, May 9, 2007
[Interview] Pascale Quiviger
Pascale Quiviger was born in Montreal and holds a Master's Degree in Philosophy as well as a degree in Fine Arts.
She lives in England and Italy, where she paints, writes, and teaches visual arts. Her work has been exhibited in both Canada and Italy.
She first entered the literary scene with Ni sol ni ciel (2001), a collection of six short stories.
She followed this up with her highly acclaimed novel, Le cercle parfait (2003), which won the Governor General's Literary Award for French Fiction. The novel was subsequently translated into The Perfect Circle, in English, by Sheila Fischman and was short listed in the 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Pascale Quiviger spoke about the many facets of her work and the connections that run through them.
You are a teacher, a visual artist and an author. How did it all begin?
I was passionately writing and drawing as a child, and it just never stopped. I have been encouraged by my parents in any way they could. I went on studying philosophy and painting, it just made sense to do so.
I was reluctant to teach until I was 28. I was then harvesting grapes in a Tuscany vineyard and the neighbor kept showing up with a sketchbook to get some ideas for exercises. He started coming with a friend of his and said he knew ten other interested persons. I started teaching for them and more and more requests kept getting in. I thought that if I gave it a try I might be able to earn a decent living. I started traveling as a drawing teacher all around Italy and became quite passionate about it. It allows for very transparent relationships with people. Now I do not teach as much as I used to, only at ISLA, a private university in Siena.
Who would you say influenced you the most?
In life? My parents. Their value system, their struggles, their victories. Relationships with my siblings. One of my best friends, a Buddhist monk. And various others in which I could observe an overlooked form of courage.
In writing, I would say Friedrich Nietzsche, Marguerite Duras, Paul Auster, Maurice Blanchot, Nicolas Bouvier, Christian Bobin, J.K. Rowling.
What drives you?
A blind faith in beauty. The quest for inner balance and broader horizons. Most of all, and very simply, I love writing and painting. When I can’t, I feel deprived.
Are there any links or connections between your work as a visual artist and your writing?
More and more. The Chinese tradition says that literature and painting have opposite qualities: literature must show concrete things with abstract tools; paintings must evocate the invisible with visible tools. I think of myself as surfing on those two crests, which are very complementary and seem to meet in a kind of middle way.
It brings me, for example, to write from very vivid mental images. Recently, I have also started putting images with my words, in an art-book and in attempts at illustrating my own children stories. I also wrote unending texts about my paintings when preparing the two last exhibitions, one of which was actually inspired by Samuel Beckett.
So there is an intricate relationship between the two disciplines, both in the work and in the creative process. They even allow me to procrastinate with one when I feel stuck with the other. Adults have always told me that, sooner or later, I would have to choose between them; as a child, I wouldn't understand why, and I must confess that I still haven't.
What are your main concerns as a writer?
Trying to reach people in areas that they are often required to hide, hoping that it can be useful for them that words are being provided. As with painting, writing is an activity in which I feel true and I, it is probably the best way I can contribute.
Being faithful to what I am right now and to the specific way in which things move me. I couldn’t write the same book twice.
Trying to use each and every bit of inspiring material around me; sometimes a person, sometimes a landscape, sometimes just an object falling in a bin, or the angle of a clothesline. Going as far as possible when starting on one of those paths, not censuring myself nor fearing to go the wrong way. As a result, I write loads of crap but I have masses of fun.
How long did it take you to write the stories that make up, Ni sol ni ciel?
It is very difficult to say how long is needed to write something. I could say that I started when I was two years old and finished when I was twenty-four.
Technically, it took a year and a half to write the title story, and about two blissful weeks for the five others.
What would you say unifies the stories that make up the collection?
I discovered it afterwards. In all stories, the main character has a language problem that originates in a hidden traumatic memory.
Are there any plans for an English translation of the short story collection?
Not that I know of.
How was Le cercle parfait conceived? How did the idea of the novel come to you?
The novel needed to come out as a healing process from a broken relationship. It was combined with my newly discovered love for Italy. They merged in a narrative where a split character writes about herself in the third person for means of reconstruction. It was a difficult period for me and two friends insisted that I should sit and write something. My father told me to go get myself a notebook, and said he would pay for it even if it cost 50 cents. I didn’t have a computer at the time. I took a part-time job in the afternoon and wrote all morning.
How long did it take you to write it?
It took eight months to write the bulk of it, but I re-read it every six months for three years before I decided to submit it to L'Instant meme. By then, only a third of the original text remained. It thought that if I didn’t send it, it was bound to disappear completely.
What was the most difficult part of the work that went into the novel?
Distancing myself from the pain. Trying to transform anger into irony.
Which did you enjoy the most?
Describing Italy.
How would you compare the collection of short stories to the novel?
The novel has less magical or synchronicity components to it, but it contains more hope. Italy confers a light to it, which I hadn’t experienced yet when writing Ni sols ni ciels.
Which would you say was easier or more difficult to write than the other? Why is this so?
Ni sols ni ciels was more difficult because I was filled with doubt about the value of the work. That it was later rejected by thirteen publishers didn’t make it better. With Le cercle parfait, I just intended to heal, not to write a book, so there was an intrinsic value in my writing sessions, and that made it easier.
What was your first reaction when you heard that Sheila Fischman was interested in translating it into English?
I was introduced to her two minutes before I was told that she was likely to be my translator. I was absolutely charmed by her person and that made me all the more enthusiastic.
How do you feel about the idea now?
Sheila Fischman has been very generous in letting me take some part in the process, and there hasn’t been a sentence in which I haven’t felt understood and respected. She produced a great work and I am very grateful for the Giller nomination she brought to us.
In an article published in the Globe and Mail, Andre Alexis says, “A novel comes from a language and a tradition. It is written with a language (or languages) in mind, and taken from its original linguistic contexts, it does not have the same resonance, or the same meaning.” What are your views on this?
I agree that it does not have the same resonance or meaning, but this is not to say that it has none. The translation of Le cercle parfait into The Perfect Circle was my first experience in being translated, and I found it uncanny but not unfriendly. I discovered new things about my text, about my way of writing and about my syntax habits, as if they were suddenly revealed to me. It was fascinating to witness some changes of rhythm that were providing new colours to the background. I do think that a translation is bound to be in a different place, but I feel that Sheila Fischman took my words in a safe and familiar one. A good translation is bound to stand on its own and have a value in itself. Maybe a good translation is precisely one that doesn’t try to be an identical twin to the original text.
This article was first published on OhmyNews International.
Related item: L. Ron Hubbard Is the Most Translated Author, Kimberly Maul, The Book Standard, Nov. 9, 2005.
,
She lives in England and Italy, where she paints, writes, and teaches visual arts. Her work has been exhibited in both Canada and Italy.
She first entered the literary scene with Ni sol ni ciel (2001), a collection of six short stories.
She followed this up with her highly acclaimed novel, Le cercle parfait (2003), which won the Governor General's Literary Award for French Fiction. The novel was subsequently translated into The Perfect Circle, in English, by Sheila Fischman and was short listed in the 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Pascale Quiviger spoke about the many facets of her work and the connections that run through them.
You are a teacher, a visual artist and an author. How did it all begin?
I was passionately writing and drawing as a child, and it just never stopped. I have been encouraged by my parents in any way they could. I went on studying philosophy and painting, it just made sense to do so.
I was reluctant to teach until I was 28. I was then harvesting grapes in a Tuscany vineyard and the neighbor kept showing up with a sketchbook to get some ideas for exercises. He started coming with a friend of his and said he knew ten other interested persons. I started teaching for them and more and more requests kept getting in. I thought that if I gave it a try I might be able to earn a decent living. I started traveling as a drawing teacher all around Italy and became quite passionate about it. It allows for very transparent relationships with people. Now I do not teach as much as I used to, only at ISLA, a private university in Siena.
Who would you say influenced you the most?
In life? My parents. Their value system, their struggles, their victories. Relationships with my siblings. One of my best friends, a Buddhist monk. And various others in which I could observe an overlooked form of courage.
In writing, I would say Friedrich Nietzsche, Marguerite Duras, Paul Auster, Maurice Blanchot, Nicolas Bouvier, Christian Bobin, J.K. Rowling.
What drives you?
A blind faith in beauty. The quest for inner balance and broader horizons. Most of all, and very simply, I love writing and painting. When I can’t, I feel deprived.
Are there any links or connections between your work as a visual artist and your writing?
More and more. The Chinese tradition says that literature and painting have opposite qualities: literature must show concrete things with abstract tools; paintings must evocate the invisible with visible tools. I think of myself as surfing on those two crests, which are very complementary and seem to meet in a kind of middle way.
It brings me, for example, to write from very vivid mental images. Recently, I have also started putting images with my words, in an art-book and in attempts at illustrating my own children stories. I also wrote unending texts about my paintings when preparing the two last exhibitions, one of which was actually inspired by Samuel Beckett.
So there is an intricate relationship between the two disciplines, both in the work and in the creative process. They even allow me to procrastinate with one when I feel stuck with the other. Adults have always told me that, sooner or later, I would have to choose between them; as a child, I wouldn't understand why, and I must confess that I still haven't.
What are your main concerns as a writer?
Trying to reach people in areas that they are often required to hide, hoping that it can be useful for them that words are being provided. As with painting, writing is an activity in which I feel true and I, it is probably the best way I can contribute.
Being faithful to what I am right now and to the specific way in which things move me. I couldn’t write the same book twice.
Trying to use each and every bit of inspiring material around me; sometimes a person, sometimes a landscape, sometimes just an object falling in a bin, or the angle of a clothesline. Going as far as possible when starting on one of those paths, not censuring myself nor fearing to go the wrong way. As a result, I write loads of crap but I have masses of fun.
How long did it take you to write the stories that make up, Ni sol ni ciel?
It is very difficult to say how long is needed to write something. I could say that I started when I was two years old and finished when I was twenty-four.
Technically, it took a year and a half to write the title story, and about two blissful weeks for the five others.
What would you say unifies the stories that make up the collection?
I discovered it afterwards. In all stories, the main character has a language problem that originates in a hidden traumatic memory.
Are there any plans for an English translation of the short story collection?
Not that I know of.
How was Le cercle parfait conceived? How did the idea of the novel come to you?
The novel needed to come out as a healing process from a broken relationship. It was combined with my newly discovered love for Italy. They merged in a narrative where a split character writes about herself in the third person for means of reconstruction. It was a difficult period for me and two friends insisted that I should sit and write something. My father told me to go get myself a notebook, and said he would pay for it even if it cost 50 cents. I didn’t have a computer at the time. I took a part-time job in the afternoon and wrote all morning.
How long did it take you to write it?
It took eight months to write the bulk of it, but I re-read it every six months for three years before I decided to submit it to L'Instant meme. By then, only a third of the original text remained. It thought that if I didn’t send it, it was bound to disappear completely.
What was the most difficult part of the work that went into the novel?
Distancing myself from the pain. Trying to transform anger into irony.
Which did you enjoy the most?
Describing Italy.
How would you compare the collection of short stories to the novel?
The novel has less magical or synchronicity components to it, but it contains more hope. Italy confers a light to it, which I hadn’t experienced yet when writing Ni sols ni ciels.
Which would you say was easier or more difficult to write than the other? Why is this so?
Ni sols ni ciels was more difficult because I was filled with doubt about the value of the work. That it was later rejected by thirteen publishers didn’t make it better. With Le cercle parfait, I just intended to heal, not to write a book, so there was an intrinsic value in my writing sessions, and that made it easier.
What was your first reaction when you heard that Sheila Fischman was interested in translating it into English?
I was introduced to her two minutes before I was told that she was likely to be my translator. I was absolutely charmed by her person and that made me all the more enthusiastic.
How do you feel about the idea now?
Sheila Fischman has been very generous in letting me take some part in the process, and there hasn’t been a sentence in which I haven’t felt understood and respected. She produced a great work and I am very grateful for the Giller nomination she brought to us.
In an article published in the Globe and Mail, Andre Alexis says, “A novel comes from a language and a tradition. It is written with a language (or languages) in mind, and taken from its original linguistic contexts, it does not have the same resonance, or the same meaning.” What are your views on this?
I agree that it does not have the same resonance or meaning, but this is not to say that it has none. The translation of Le cercle parfait into The Perfect Circle was my first experience in being translated, and I found it uncanny but not unfriendly. I discovered new things about my text, about my way of writing and about my syntax habits, as if they were suddenly revealed to me. It was fascinating to witness some changes of rhythm that were providing new colours to the background. I do think that a translation is bound to be in a different place, but I feel that Sheila Fischman took my words in a safe and familiar one. A good translation is bound to stand on its own and have a value in itself. Maybe a good translation is precisely one that doesn’t try to be an identical twin to the original text.
This article was first published on OhmyNews International.
Related item: L. Ron Hubbard Is the Most Translated Author, Kimberly Maul, The Book Standard, Nov. 9, 2005.
,
Monday, May 7, 2007
[Interview] Cindy Jefferies
Even as a small child, Cindy Jefferies wanted to write. "As soon as I learned to read I wanted to write stories," she says on her website. "I was always telling tall tales to my two younger sisters, and I still have a 'newspaper' I wrote about my older brother's friends, including Colin Flooks, who later became the famous rock drummer Cozy Powell.”
She says at school a teacher called Janet Hurst nurtured her love of literature. "I also used to write plays, and one about Charles the Second was performed by my class at primary school. My favorite lessons were always English, History and Art."
But it wasn't until after leaving school, raising a family, working in a variety of jobs, and setting up her own business that she decided to make a serious effort to write. "I started grumbling to my family about still being a frustrated writer. My youngest son suggested I wrote a book for him, so I did."
The result was an historical fantasy, based on the old farmhouse the family lives in, and the ancient standing stones at Avebury. "I loved doing the research, and turning it into a fantastical story. That story became Sebastian's Quest, and was published by Barry Cunningham, the person who discovered J.K. Rowling. I sold my business and concentrated on writing."
She says her personal experiences have given her a huge store of memories to draw on when she writes. Her latest novel, Christmas Stars, draws on her musical background and is part of Fame School, a series of novels for children, about the dreams and ambitions of a group of aspiring pop stars. The novels are set at Rockley Park, a school for talented young performers.
So far the Fame School series is made up of Solo Star, Reach for the Stars, Rising Star, Secret Ambition, Rivals, Lucky Break, and Tara's Triumph. "It's fiction for children, and is about popular music. It's pretty similar to the last seven books I've written. The characters are the same, and so is the setting," she says.
Christmas Stars came out at the end of October in England and will be available shortly in Ireland, Poland, New Zealand, and Australia. The series is also having great success in Spain.
Cindy Jefferies' work has also appeared in The Kingfisher Book of Horse and Pony Stories, a collection of exhilarating and moving stories about horses. "I also wrote a rather bleak poem for the anthology Lines in the Sand [a collection of over one hundred and fifty poems, stories and pictures about war and peace]," she says.
,,
She says at school a teacher called Janet Hurst nurtured her love of literature. "I also used to write plays, and one about Charles the Second was performed by my class at primary school. My favorite lessons were always English, History and Art."
But it wasn't until after leaving school, raising a family, working in a variety of jobs, and setting up her own business that she decided to make a serious effort to write. "I started grumbling to my family about still being a frustrated writer. My youngest son suggested I wrote a book for him, so I did."
The result was an historical fantasy, based on the old farmhouse the family lives in, and the ancient standing stones at Avebury. "I loved doing the research, and turning it into a fantastical story. That story became Sebastian's Quest, and was published by Barry Cunningham, the person who discovered J.K. Rowling. I sold my business and concentrated on writing."
She says her personal experiences have given her a huge store of memories to draw on when she writes. Her latest novel, Christmas Stars, draws on her musical background and is part of Fame School, a series of novels for children, about the dreams and ambitions of a group of aspiring pop stars. The novels are set at Rockley Park, a school for talented young performers.
So far the Fame School series is made up of Solo Star, Reach for the Stars, Rising Star, Secret Ambition, Rivals, Lucky Break, and Tara's Triumph. "It's fiction for children, and is about popular music. It's pretty similar to the last seven books I've written. The characters are the same, and so is the setting," she says.
Christmas Stars came out at the end of October in England and will be available shortly in Ireland, Poland, New Zealand, and Australia. The series is also having great success in Spain.
Cindy Jefferies' work has also appeared in The Kingfisher Book of Horse and Pony Stories, a collection of exhilarating and moving stories about horses. "I also wrote a rather bleak poem for the anthology Lines in the Sand [a collection of over one hundred and fifty poems, stories and pictures about war and peace]," she says.
,,
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Lauri Kubuitsile writes romances novels; crime fiction; books and stories for children and teenagers; and, literary fiction. She was shor...