Prague Writer's Festival, Ivan Klíma & Memories

I wish I could go . . .

Prague Writer's Festival is scheduled for 1-5 June 2008. Tariq Ali, Homero Aridjis, Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster, Slavenka Drakulić, Graeme Gibson, Natalia Gorbanevskaya, Jiří Gruša, Siri Hustvedt, Paul Kahn, Ivan Klíma, Petr Král, Günter Kunert, Antonín J. Liehm, Arnošt Lustig, Michael March, Michael McClure, Dimitris Nollas, Jiří Pehe, Igor Pomerantsev, Katerina Anghelaki-Rooke, Elena Schwarz, Ludvík Vaculík, Gary Younge.


I recently finished reading Ivan Klíma's Waiting for Dark, Waiting for Light. It's a novel that shows Czechoslovakia before and after the end of Communist rule in 1989, through the close third person point-of-view of Pavel, a documentary filmmaker. Pavel is a wonderfully indecisive character, constantly posing questions to himself and then half-answering these questions. Klíma is a master at weaving together the many strings of a story, fusing the imaginary world of Pavel with his sad reality. It's really a lovely book.

I was in Prague, for a summer ten years ago, studying Czech poetry and literature. During that time, the beloved poet and scientist Miroslav Holub died. That day all classes were canceled. I remember taking a walk to the market, to get some vegetables for dinner . . . everything was silent, all stores closed, no one on the streets, no one in the square or on the bridge, I was alone. It was eerie and beautiful and profoundly touching . . . out of respect for the life of this poet the entire town took a day of rest, of quiet. I'd never seen anything like it.

Cramped Hands Reading

I've been teaching after-school creative writing to some young, creative geniuses. I'd like to invite everyone in the area to their end-of-school reading. *Blush* I'm so proud.

Sunnyside Environmental School presents . . .

CRAMPED HANDS
A poetry and prose readingPix Patisserie
3402 SE Division St
Portland, OR 97214

Tuesday, June 3rd
5pm-7pm
free

The World We Live In

Update: The Creative Work

I haven't been able to produce as much creative work as I would've liked these last five months (due to working on the essay, I guess). I've started two new drafts of stories and worked on revisions for two others—“Blue Like Babe” and “Under the Weather.” Working with David Long has been a valuable experience for me. His comments and suggestions were articulate, insightful and generous—notes on sentence craft, narrative voice, clarity and mystery within fiction, detailing, character description, symbolism . . . scribbles on books to read, authors to look up . . . comments on writing workshops and writing process—it has been a memorable semester. I think the old “show, don't tell” adage applies to teaching as well—David's comments and suggestions have very clearly shown me how to improve as a writer and that is the most meaningful, lasting, thrilling experience that a student of writing could hope for.

STORIES ARE COMING ALONG . . .

“Blue Like Babe” has gone through some very interesting revisions, starting with 1^st POV present, and reworking itself into 3^rd POV, past tense and reworking it back to 1^st POV, present. What the heck for? Well, this particular story had a rhythm to it that was tough for me to break . . . after I stepped outside of the character I was able to see the world around her differently. Unfortunately the distance was too far . . . I went back and rewrote, working in some of the good stuff that came from the 3rd POV draft. David's notes were all helpful, especially his comments on breaking up a pivotal scene into mini-stages, slowing the pace, and taking the time to really burrow down into what the story is about. A step in the right direction, I think. We'll see what I think in another couple weeks.

My early drafts of “Under the Weather” were written in 1^st POV present and changed to close 3^rd POV, past. In this case , the story dramatically changed—I think it smoothed out a lot, but lost quite a bit of its intensity in the process. David echoed this in his notes . . . he suggested I write from more "inside" the character. I've finished three new drafts of this story so far and writing from more inside the main character has created a wonderful discovery in the story that I didn't anticipate.

BOOKS
In my reading of fiction this semester, I focused on how writers hint at the subtext of a story. The books that most influenced me were all strong examples of how subtext within narrative tone and voice: Stuart Dybek's I Sailed with Magellan, Lorrie Moore's Birds of America, and Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. Each of these books taught me the varying degrees point-of-view can offer: from the wonderfully rhythmic first-person monologues in I Sailed With Magellan to Ruth's sensitive, distilled outlook of her surrounding in Housekeeping, to the unique twist of third-person in Lorrie Moore's “People Like This Are The Only People Here,” this semester's reading has been intensely rich and has deepened my understanding of subtext and third- person narrative voice.

Other books I've read these last couple months: Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates, Waiting for Dark, Waiting for Light by Ivan Klima, Tell Me by Mary Robison, Heaven of the Moment by John Morrison, Blue Spruce by David Long, The Daughters of Simon Lamoreaux by David Long, Fiction and the Figures of Life by William Gass, The Art of Subtext by Charles Baxter, Writing Fiction by Janet Burroway, Billie Dyer and Other Stories by William Maxwell, What Is Literature? by Jean-Paul Sartre, The Triggering Town by Richard Hugo, and Eleven Kinds of Loneliness by Richard Yates.

Update : The Essay

This semester at Pacific was my essay semester—I was required to "develop a polished work in literary analysis that demonstrates clarity of thought and expression of English prose" of 15-20 pages in length. The subject I chose was subtext in fiction; the instructor I worked with was David Long.

First, let me say, that this has been a memorable semester for me in many ways.When returning to my creative work, after a short hiatus of the essay, I suddenly began to see very clearly areas in my stories that needed improvement. I think this is the inevitable culmination of: 1.) all the info gathered from 1^st and 2^nd semester beginning to sink in 2.) working with an excellent instructor/writer 3.) clearly writing about the how and why a literary construct works forced me to look at my own writing with the same standards. 4.) being allowed time to look deeply into why I love literature & why I write.

The advantage of choosing the broad essay topic of subtext—I had a lot of room to explore. Having only five months (and only 20 pages) to work on that broad topic, well, that's the disadvantage. Still, I'm glad I stuck with it. Right off, I had problems with clarity and focus. David's advice to split the essay into subsections was a huge help. I nailed down a thesis statement, divided the essay into different subcategories, and then began working on revisions (which ranged from simple line editing to completely new drafts of sections). I spent so many hours working on the essay—reading, taking notes, writing, rereading, editing, revising. I have to admit, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. But unbelievably worth it.

The single piece of knowledge gained? (It's not going to sound revolutionary, but it was to me.) To write well demands clarity and focus— and if your a mysterious writer, even more so—and if your writing an essay about subtext—even more so.

To sum up: it's been a deliriously gratifying semester.

Okay, here's a taste . . .

The poison ivy grew green and lush in the field behind our cabin. I was ten years old and bare-legged, sprinting through the sprawl of vines and tall grass, headed for water. It caught me, the ivy. Tiny red bumps started around my ankles and quickly spread up my thighs to my stomach and chest, growing into large welts and soon high fevers, chills and difficulty breathing. A severe allergic reaction, the doctor said. In bed, under damp towels, arms coated with the pink clay of Calamine, I summered alongside The Trumpet of the Swan, The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo, The Chronicles of Narnia and tattered copies of my mom's old Nancy Drews. The sheets below me felt like sandpaper; red light seeped in from the shades as if the whole room were poisoned and infected.

Years later, during my freshman year of high school, I read Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis. Instantly, I recalled my poison ivy summer, and became fascinated and mystified by how Kafka was able to evoke Gregor's feelings of isolation. Like many readers, I was intrigued with the concept of a man inexplicably turning into an insect, but came to realize the elements I was drawn to were far more subtle.

Charles Baxter defines subtext as “what propels readers beyond the plot of a novel or short story into the realm of what haunts the imagination: the implied, the half-visible and the unspoken” (3). When a writer communicates the thoughts or motivations of characters through implication, rather then explicit statement, she is using subtext. By exploring how writers use subtext within setting, detail, voice, comparison, dialog, and omission, I will illustrate how words whisper, hint, linger and tug at meaning just below the surface.

Your Life Work : The Librarian!

"It's a blue book and it kind-of gives the whole story, ya know?"