Elizabeth Rosner's work includes two novels, Blue Nude and The Speed of Light, and a poetry collection, Gravity. She spent many years teaching creative writing and composition, and frequently leads writing workshops. She lives in Berkeley, California.
Q: How did you come up with the characters of Danzig and
Merav in Blue Nude, and what do you see as the role of art in the story?
A: Inspiration for my second novel, Blue Nude, emerged from a
blending of two very different yet ultimately related life experiences.
First, I was curious about exploring my memories of working
as an artist's model (during my undergraduate years at Stanford).
And second, I was profoundly impacted by my participation in
a series of workshops called Acts of Reconciliation. Led by a drama
therapist named Armand Volkas, this project brought together Jewish descendants
of Holocaust survivors (like myself) and German descendants of Nazis, in order
to confront our "shared legacy" from the Second World War.
Eventually I realized that creativity was an essential
ingredient in transforming my own inherited grief and trauma. The
complicated and hopeful relationship between the characters of Danzig and Merav
--- while not meant to represent entire categories of people, whether Germans
or Israelis --- reflects my belief in the healing power of art.
I can say a lot more about how that particular truth is
revealed in the book, but I hope readers will discover the process for
themselves!
Q: On your website, it states,"Ms. Rosner's writing
reflects her efforts to come to terms with the impact of her parents'
experiences [as Holocaust survivors] on her own life, the indelible imprints of
their history on her language, her identity, and her imagination." What
are some ways in which this subject has affected your work?
A: My first novel, The Speed of Light, took me 10 years to
write. I tell people that the book is "emotionally
autobiographical," by which I mean that the events and characters and
storyline aren't entirely fact-based but do reflect my own inner experiences
and insights.
All three of the featured characters in The Speed of Light
are intensely affected by tragedy in their family; each one finds a distinct
way of coping with those effects. Two of the protagonists are a brother
and sister who grew up with a Holocaust survivor father, and the third main
character is a refugee from government-sponsored massacres in Central
America.
As the epigraph to that book says, "Hasidic teaching
says there are three ways to mourn: through tears, through silence, and
by turning sorrow into song."
My poetry collection Gravity is very much focused on post-Holocaust
material as well. I call it the "autobiographical companion" to
my novels.
The poems contain ghost stories, incomplete conversations,
unanswerable questions, unforgettable images, and resonant echoes. While
all of these qualities can be said to relate to the Holocaust, I also believe
that most families have their own secrets and sorrows.
Each time I write about being a daughter of Holocaust
survivors, I think that I'm finally "finished" with the
subject. Yet somehow, more layers keep revealing themselves.
Q: Do you have a favorite among the characters you've
created?
A: In truth, I am inordinately fond of all of my
characters. But I have a special affection for the character of Sola,
from The Speed of Light. She is a kind of role model for me, in the way she has
learned how to live in the present, while holding the past very gently in her
open hands.
Q: Do you prefer one form of writing to another?
A: Each form has its own challenges and rewards. I love the
density and brevity of poetry, and I love the elongation and evolution of long
fiction. Essays force me to figure out exactly what point I want to make,
and why.
It seems to me that all forms of writing can provide a
chance to get to know myself and the world in an intimate and illuminated way.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I'm revising (for the hundredth time) my newest novel, Electric
City. It will be published in October 2014.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: In addition to writing books and articles and poems, I
also lead writing workshops in all sorts of beautiful locations. Weeklong
retreats in Montana and on Martha's Vineyard, for example. Next year, I'll be
on faculty at a writers conference in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and
another one in Mendocino, CA.
Also, I truly love meeting with book groups, whether in person
or via Skype!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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