Yvonne Battle-Felton is the author of the new novel Curdle Creek. She also has written the novel Remembered. She is an Associate Teaching Professor and the Academic Director of Creative Writing at Cambridge University Institute of Continuing Education.
Q: What inspired you to write Curdle Creek, and how did you create your character Osira?
A: I’ve been haunted by Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery for years. There’s an adaptation on YouTube where they imagine what it might be like. In their version, there were no people of color. So, I wondered what it might change if there was an all-Black, rural town with sinister traditions.
Years ago, a friend invited me to write a flash fiction piece for a crime anthology, and later a longer short story for a second and more deadly edition.
In both pieces, I imagined a version of Curdle Creek with the main characters (Osira was named Riley in that version) just shy of their first Moving On. They were nearly 16 and optimistic about change. Years later, when I found myself needing to revisit the town and the characters, it started with Osirus and who he loved most.
Passing down names can be really significant so I wanted him to give her his name, if nothing else. And Riley became Osira which feels good when I roll her name around in my mouth. It’s a name that makes me slow down, consider.
But, initially she was much younger. In between writing, when I was working on other projects, or thinking about other things, Osira sort of popped up from time to time and she was always older, a bit less idealistic.
Although writing her still felt like a returning, writing her at 16 felt like writing myself out of my own stories. So, I asked myself other questions. What might it be like long after she was 16, long after the reality had settled in? She really began to take shape then. Osira had a new story to tell. This time, she knew a lot more about pain.
Q: The writer Tananarive Due called the book a “thoughtful, sinister tour-de-force.” What do you think of that description?
A: I love that description! I love her writing and to have her describe Curdle Creek in that way is an absolute highlight!
Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?
A: No, I had no idea. So many times I wasn’t sure who was going to survive the night, let alone the book. I was always surprised by what characters were willing to do to other characters. It was a delicious feeling.
Writing the novel was full of unexpected twists. In a place like Curdle Creek everyone has a secret. It felt like writing the book was my way of figuring out what their secrets were.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for the town of Curdle Creek?
A: That’s a great question. We moved a lot when I was a kid. One of the places we lived in was a town called Sweetwater. It was a rural town, tucked away in what felt like the middle of nowhere.
There was a main road and other paved roads, but there were also dirt roads. There wasn’t a stop light. There was maybe a blinking light, hopefully somewhere before the dangerous bend in the road.
There was a creek on the way to Sweetwater. When the weather was just right, there was a mist dancing off the creek, rising up off it like a hot cup of tea. I always thought it would be a perfect place for a murder.
In life, there’s nothing sinister about the place. But in my memory of it, well, anything can happen. It felt timeless.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Thank you for asking! I’m imagining what life might have been like for my grandfather if he had followed his dreams of becoming a musician and what life might have been like for his sister if she had lived long enough to dream. Right now, it seems to want to be a mystery. I’m also writing a picture book for my grandson.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I host monthly storytelling events in person and online. Depending on where people are in the world, they might want to drop in and listen. I’m on most sites as whyiwritebattlefelton if they’d like to information about an upcoming storytelling event.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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