Oct. 30

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Oct. 30, 1735: John Adams born.

Q&A with Eugenia Kim

Eugenia Kim is the author of the new novel The Kinship of Secrets, based on the story of her sister, who remained in Korea as a child while the rest of the family moved to the United States. Kim has also written the novel The Calligrapher's Daughter, and her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Asia Literary Review and Raven Chronicles. She teaches at Fairfield University's MFA program in creative writing.

Q: You write that the The Kinship of Secrets was inspired by your own family's story. At what point did you decide to write this novel?

A: When I went to Korea in 2010, my second time, I did some book events for The Calligrapher’s Daughter. My sister, Sun, joined me there and while I had some vague idea of writing a continuation to The Calligrapher’s Daughter, I was somewhat resistant and I wasn’t sure what the story might be.

We took a train to Busan, to look at the neighborhood where my sister spent the war years, and on that train ride I asked her what it was like for her to have come to America at age 11.

I was 6 when she came to the U.S., so I wasn’t aware of why she’d been separated from the family (the Korean War and problems with U.S. immigration) for 10 years. I had assumed that she, like many immigrants, were eager to come to America.

But her answer to my question was, “It was the blackest day of my life,” and this surprised me. I heard her story during that train ride, and additional interviews and photographs and documents helped explained this surprising answer. Her response was the key I had been seeking to enter into this story. 

Q: What did you see as the right balance between history and fiction as you wrote the book?

A: The fiction was always laid against the backdrop of history, so I suppose the balance was 50/50. A historical novel requires that one absorbs the historical period and imagine what life was like under those circumstances and with what particular period details.

We don’t think about living in a historical moment, but each passing moment contributes to what will become our history. My intention was always that if historical events rise up in the telling of the story, it would be because the characters are deeply influenced by them.

I was aware that in the book a fair amount of attention was given to a particular historical moment when the first president of the Republic of South Korea was routed out of office by a people’s uprising.

Two of the characters in the novel were in their mid-teens, an age when civil unrest would influence them greatly, so I felt it was an important moment to describe in some detail. I was also interested in their witnessing the birth of a new democratic nation, and what kinds of growing pains it would suffer. This incident was exemplary of that pain.  

Q: How was the novel's title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

A: The title came out of a few alternate titles, but when this particular combination of words arose, it felt spot on.

Kinship is a key element in this novel, between the two sisters, between the two families, and within each family dynamic. Family secrets drive intrigue among members of any family—who knows the secret, who doesn’t, and why not.

There’s a magnetic quality to secrets—much revolves around keeping it hidden, and many are drawn to discover its truth. That there is great intimacy between the sisters, but also things that are hidden, was an interesting paradox to me. 

Q: What kind of research did you do to write the novel, and did you learn anything that particularly surprised you?

A: I knew so little about the Korean War and the postwar reconstruction of South Korea. My characters live through the war and also are refugees from the invasion of North Korea into Seoul, South Korea.

Seoul was taken by the North twice. What month did these invasions happen? What was the weather? When would they have heard about the invasion and what would have spurred them to flee their home? These are questions I needed answers to.

I read dozens of books about the Korea War, some written by Koreans in translation, which were very helpful, since the American perspective is often devoted to the machinations and politics of war. I wanted to know about the civilians, and specific days when things were or weren’t known.

I developed a timeline that included things like what day of the week June 25, 1950, was and what the weather was. The war timeline was very specific because its movements would have influenced what happened to the family.

I thought that would be sufficient, but of course they lived their lives after that three-year war as well, and I had to keep track of what was happening in the U.S., too.

The research went hand-in-hand with the writing, and I was grateful for a robust Internet. I had already begun to collect Korean historical images on Pinterest, but now have about a dozen subcategories.

Most helpful was seeing snapshots of citizens during and right after the war. It gave me the visual flavor of South Korea’s transition into modernization.   

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I’m failing at my third novel so far, but there can’t be progress without failure! I have been thinking lately that my total approach to this story is off the mark, but haven’t seen my way into which is the right structure, so I’m struggling. Can’t talk much more about it than that.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: My sister supports this book, and I hope to do an interview with her, together. Since it is inspired by her life, this is a great honor for me. 

I’ll have an events schedule posted on my website. I know I’ll be in New York, Washington, D.C., Milwaukee, New Orleans, and Fairfield, Connecticut. You can follow me on Twitter or Facebook for updates on the book and events. 

Thank you, Deborah!

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Eugenia Kim.

Q&A with Mary Morton Cowan

Mary Morton Cowan is the author of the new children's book Cyrus Field's Big Dream: The Daring Effort to Lay the First Transatlantic Telegraph Cable. Her other books include Captain Mac and Timberrr.... Ice Country, and her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Highlights for Children. She lives in Maine.

Q: You write that you learned about Cyrus Field in the process of researching a different book. At what point did you decide to write about him?

A: When I was writing Captain Mac, my biography of Arctic explorer Donald MacMillan, I traveled to Newfoundland and Labrador to learn more about him. I happened to visit the provincial cable station in Heart’s Content, which I found fascinating.

But at the time, I had other projects in mind, and didn’t think of it again until my editor, Carolyn Yoder, asked me for another adventure biography.

Aha! The transatlantic cable! How could anyone lay a telegraph cable not much bigger around than a garden hose all the way across the treacherous Atlantic Ocean? And why? There had to be an adventure in there somewhere. I delved in. What an adventure I found!

Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that particularly surprised you?

A: Thus began MY adventure! I have always liked sleuthing to get “behind the scenes” stories of people and events. First I take out all the library books I can find and pore thorough them to learn where to search further. I want as many primary sources as possible.

Cyrus Field was born nearly 200 years ago, and I knew accurate research could be challenging. I often find conflict in sources, and this time was no exception.

I drove to western Massachusetts where Cyrus grew up and I hiked in the Berkshires where he had hiked as a young boy. I consulted history experts, Cyrus’s descendants, and staff at Williams College, where Cyrus received an honorary degree.

One challenging chapter was about Cyrus’s trip to South America with artist Frederic Church. Cyrus wrote little about it, so I had to delve into Church’s diaries and letters.

It was on the internet where I did much of my research. I spent many hours at the Bates College library, not far from my home. They have online access to historic newspapers and magazines, and with help from reference librarians, I found and verified hundreds of details. I was able to access speeches and letters, Cyrus’s and others’ diaries from the cable expeditions, and much more.

Another valuable online source was Atlantic-cable.com, whose webmaster helped me at many turns.

Photo research helps me “see” the world I’m writing about. My story took place before candid photography, but artists illustrated events in oils and watercolor. I found hundreds of archival illustrations and about 80 of them are included in the book.

Whenever I’m researching, I keep an eye out for quotations I might use to bring my characters to life—quotes that won’t be too stilted for young readers.

I tried one new research technique for this book which worked well—downloading calendars for the years Cyrus was attempting to lay the cable. Some sources only mentioned days of the week when events happened, yet every so often a date appeared. Making notes on old calendars helped me sort out those details.

And Cyrus took so many trips to Europe that inserting travel dates helped me keep track of when he was at home and when he was in England.

What surprised me most was Cyrus’s unbelievable perseverance and determination. He was not a robust man physically, in fact he was seasick nearly every time he crossed the ocean, but he kept going, despite many frustrating delays and problems.

When the first cable succeeded, he was celebrated as a worldwide hero, then when it failed a few weeks later, he was scorned by nearly everyone. Once he was accused of treason, the men suspected sabotage—even then, he steadfastly refused to give up his dream.

Q: What do you see as Cyrus Field's legacy today? What do you think his opinion would be of today's communication technology?

A: Cyrus Field was a pioneer in instant communication, a leader in what is considered one of the greatest achievements of the 19th century, and which became an important link in the first worldwide communications network.

He would be amazed at today’s communication technology, to watch us using cell phones, able to reach anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice. He would also be horrified at its dangers. He believed the transatlantic cable would help bring peace; he would despise our ability to manipulate and abuse our technology with evil intent.

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

A: I’d like young readers to get a glimpse of a persistent man, and to realize that they too can dream, can aspire to achieve lofty goals, and with perseverance, can achieve them.

I’d also like to have all readers know where Cyrus’s story fits into our county’s history—a time of rapid industrial growth, but also involving a horrific Civil War, complicating his dealings with Great Britain.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: The historical novel I put aside to write this biography now demands my attention. I also have several picture books in progress, and I continue to write nonfiction articles for children’s magazines.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: When Cyrus Field set forth to achieve his dream of connecting North America and Europe with an electric cable, little was known about electricity and magnetism. It was largely due to this project that the science advanced at that time, and that the scientific method in general was developed.

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Oct. 29

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Oct. 29, 1740: James Boswell born.

Q&A with Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is the author of the new story collection Friday Black. His work has appeared in publications including Guernica and Breakwater Review. He lives in Syracuse, New York.

Q: Over how long a period did you write the stories in Friday Black, and how did you decide on the order in which to place them in the collection?

A: At this point the oldest story in the collection is maybe about six years old. But the timing is hard to pin down because each of the stories have a life and growth of their own. I like to say it’s taken me 27 years to write this book. (That’s my age.)

I’m very particular about the ordering and sequencing. I like to think of the first story as the one I’d want people to read if they only read one thing. Also it’s kind of like if you can ride this ride, you can ride the rest of these. 

Then I try to watch the ebb and flow of the book all the way through. Thinking about how pieces are in conversation with each other and what it would be like to read them as a newcomer in order.

Q: You've noted, "I like to use humor to highlight the absurdity of cruelty." What do you see as the right balance between the difficult topics you tackle in the stories and the humor you employ?

A: Each story has a different balance. And also, I think each issue, based on my personal identity grants or denies me a different level of access to be able to even attempt to find that balance. I try to honor the stories as best I can within themselves and within my ability. There’s no formula.

Q: How was the book's title (also the title of one of the stories) chosen, and what does it signify for you?

A: The book originally had a different title and it was changed after some strong suggestion that I’ve come to appreciate. Friday Black was suggested by my agent and I think it works because that inversion of what is familiar speaks to a lot of the work of the book. I also think that the way consumerism and the perils of capitalism are so often revisited the title works. Also, it sounds cool.

Q: You've said that although the worlds you create in your stories differ widely, there are common themes that run through them. What would you say unites the stories?

A: I think that in all the different stories my characters are beginning to ask important questions of the world and the systems around them. They are approaching an awareness that makes them somehow different. They are sensitive, meaning they can see and sense perceptively the pain of others and themselves, in various worlds that are pretty brutal and they are trying to figure out how to survive.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: Top secret novel.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: I am grateful for the chance to answer these. Thank you very much. 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Eugenia Cheng

Eugenia Cheng is the author of the new book The Art of Logic in an Illogical World. She also has written Beyond Infinity and How to Bake Pi. She is the scientist in residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Sheffield. She lives in Chicago.

Q: In your new book, you write of today's argumentative world, "Is all hope lost? Are we doomed to take sides, be stuck in echo chambers, never again agree? No." Why do you feel that way?

A: I feel this way because I almost always feel able to understand and sympathise with people even when I completely disagree with them.

Often when I think about it very logically I can see that we are not fundamentally that different, it's just that small difference in fundamental beliefs develop into big differences in real life, a bit like someone braking on the highway causing a huge tailback hours later. It is hard to prevent the traffic jam but easier to stop someone braking unnecessarily.

Q: How do you define logic?

A: Logic is a process of rigorous deduction, where you start with some statements, and see what definitely has to be true as a result of those statements, not because of tradition, hope, statistics, or past evidence, but by something more inherent and unchanging.

Q: What do you see as the relationship between logic and emotion?

A: I see this relationship as unnecessarily adversarial. It is often thought that logic and emotions cannot coexist, that if you're emotional that shows you're not logical, and vice versa.

This gets thrown around in unhelpful arguments, often (but not always) between a man accusing a woman of being illogical, and the woman counter-accusing the man of being unfeeling.

However, I am highly emotional and also very logical - I am a professional mathematician after all. I think that if we pit logic and emotions in a battle then logic can't win.

But we don't need that battle. Logic and emotions can work together. I think we need logic to help us verify the rigour of our arguments, but we need emotions to understand other people and to persuade them of anything.

Q: Looking ahead, what role do you see for logic in what your title describes as "an illogical world"?

A: I think that logic plays a surprising role in helping us understand other people. If we find that someone holds a view with which we completely disagree, we can use careful logic to work our way backwards through their beliefs to find out where they come from.

We can then acknowledge the logic of their argument, from their point of view, using their fundamental beliefs, without agreeing with them. I think we can then use logic to examine our fundamental beliefs and theirs, and find ways to discover in what ways we think alike, instead of just thinking about how we differ.

Finding points of commonality will help us work towards a less divisive world, as we discover that most of us are really on a grey area between extremes, and that most of the issues in the world are not at all black and white.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I am still teaching math to art students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and doing research in category theory, as well as writing the Everyday Math column for The Wall Street Journal, travelling around giving public talks and visiting schools, making art, playing the piano and starting research for my next book.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: I am often asked how we can possibly change the minds of people who don't believe in truth, facts, logic or science. People tell me it is surely futile.

However, first of all I think our aim shouldn't be to change people's minds, but to understand why they think the things they do. Secondly, it is true that there are some very extreme people who will never be convinced about anything they don't already believe.

However, I think there are plenty of less extreme people, including those who believe in logic but want to get better at it, and those who are logical but have very different starting points from ours, and we can definitely reach greater understanding with them.

If we try to reach the whole world at once then it will indeed seem futile. But if we start by reaching the people nearest us, those people can help us reach the people a little further away, and so on.

Even if we don't persuade everyone to be logical and empathetic, if we can at least shift the weight further in that direction then I think the world will be a better place for us all.

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Eugenia Cheng.

Q&A with Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, photo by Jack Paccione Jr.

Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch is the author, with Van Ho, of the new children's book Too Young to Escape: A Vietnamese Girl Waits to be Reunited with Her Family. It connects to her book Adrift at Sea, which focuses on the same family; Van Ho, the youngest child in the family, was left behind when other relatives departed from Vietnam. Skrypuch lives in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.

Q: You note that the idea for Too Young to Escape emerged from your book Adrift at Sea. At what point did you decide to collaborate with Van Ho on her story?

A: My very first audience for Adrift at Sea were the primary students at the American International School of Bucharest. Here's a link with pics of that trip, including me reading to the Primaries.

The librarian, Stacey, had introduced the story just days before my arrival and let me know that her young students loved Tuan's [Van's brother's] story but were very concerned about Van and how she was doing now. So just before I left for the airport, Vanessa kindly sent me a smiling photo of herself with her husband and children. I shared it with the students and they were relieved!

During presentations in Canada over the next months, this response was repeated, especially when I presented Adrift at Sea to Primaries. Older students were not as worried, but young kids could see themselves in Van.

I asked Van if she would agree to do a book about her childhood with me. It took her a bit of time to get used to the idea and to agree -- and I'm so glad that she did.

Q: Adrift at Sea is a picture book while Too Young to Escape is not. How did you choose the format for this book?

A: Too Young To Escape is an introspective journey, about the feelings of a young girl who is without her family, with her emotional response being as important as the actions themselves. A picture book couldn't convey that introspection in the same way as a chapter book can.

My biggest challenge was to write it as simply as possible, yet to convey the complex feelings that Van experiences.

With Adrift at Sea, Brian Deines' oil paintings beautifully captured the physical nature of that journey -- the vastness of the ocean and just how small and vulnerable their boat was. While Tuan's journey was also an emotional one, it wasn't introspective in the way that Van's was.

Q: How did you and Van Ho work together on the book?

A: We initially spoke on the phone, and then we met for one giant-long interview face-to-face. After that, as I wrote each chapter, I would email it to Van and she would read it and give me feedback for tweaking. She also would send it to her siblings and parents so they could comment too.

Once, Tuan was so caught up in reading it that he totally missed his subway stop so his wife had to pile their daughters into the car and go get him!

There were also many late-night phone calls when I had written myself into a corner!

Q: Did you need to do additional research to write Too Young to Escape?

A: Yes. For basic things like the interior of her house, the interior of the Buddhist Temple, the route she took to get to school, the school yard and interior of the classroom. These are visuals that I needed for the story, but a 4-year-old tends not to observe specific details like that.

So I would find various historical images and street views and show them to her and that would tweak her memory and she was able to show me what was the same or different from what I was showing her so I could visualize and then write the scene.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I'm in the midst of writing books 2 and 3 of my second WWII trilogy.

Scholastic US is releasing Stolen Girl (Stolen Child in Canada), the third novel in my first WWII trilogy, in Feb 2019. And is releasing Don't Tell the Nazis (Don't Tell the Enemy in Canada) in the fall of 2019.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: Van's story is of course a very personal one for her and her family and I am so grateful that she allowed me and readers in. She has given us all the opportunity to feel what it's like for a very young child to be separated from parents because of political turmoil.

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch.