Seth Panitch is the author of the new novel Antique. He is also a playwright, screenwriter, and filmmaker, and is a professor of theatre at the University of Alabama.
Q: What inspired you to write Antique, and how did you create your character Grace?
A: I’ve always had a healthy obsession (at least I think it’s healthy) with Antiques Roadshow.
During the initial Covid lockdowns in 2020, I attempted sanity by getting on the elliptical in between the digital agony of the Zoom classes I was teaching, and was riveted by a particular episode I was watching while working out.
It was an older gentleman with an old but colorful rug, and when he was told that it was a Chimayo Rug worth $250,000, sheets of tears streamed down his face—not for the monetary value itself, but that someone was valuing his family at that number.
Although I was so thankful we have arts and organizations that can do that for people, I wondered why we can never seem to derive that value ourselves, without outside influence, and that was the seed of Antique.
Grace, to me, is a compilation on the women I have known (or heard tales of) on my mother’s side of the family. Many of them were in the arts, or were consumed with a passionate understanding of art’s effect on us.
Of course, I used images of the spectacular appraisers on Antiques Roadshow to fill her out, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that much of my own blood runs in her.
Q: The writer Gwendolyn Womack said of the book, “Panitch's captivating debut is a treasure trove full of magic, a grand adventure through the world of antiques, and a powerful appraisal on the resilience of the human heart.” What do you think of that description?
A: First off, it is a tremendous honor when anyone finds that sort of personal resonance in my writing, and perhaps even more so when it is a writer of Gwendolyn’s magnitude.
Her comment about the resilience of the human heart is precisely what I was after—I think in times of crisis and loss, we have a great facility with identifying what is failing within us, but we are less adept at identifying what still works; what might give succor to the darker shades of the moment.
There was something personally uplifting about writing such a journey, so perhaps that was my own much-needed reminder of how resilient my own heart can be.
And, of course, I’ve always dreamed in magic and adventure (in my sleeping hours as well as certain math classes), and if that can somehow come through the page and take readers on a similar journey, I’d be only too happy!
Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?
A: Oh, yes. Well, to be more specific, I knew the “zip code” of the ending, just not the exact house number, of that makes sense. I like to be surprised when I write, particularly climactic sequences or endings, but I need a very firm structure to have those inspirational improvisations, so I knew the facts of the ending, just not how to get there, or what the results of it would be.
I do make changes from my outline when I write—sometimes, something will happen within a scene and it necessitates a different scene than the one that might follow in my outline, so I let it lead me. So far, it has always led me back to my outline…after many, many pages, sometimes, of course.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?
A: I hope they are able to see themselves in Grace, regardless of where they are in life, or who they are—to value themselves as she does throughout her journey.
I’d love them to see a similar magic in their own lives—in the forgotten parts of themselves, in their getting older, in their failings as well as their successes.
Mostly, of course, I want them to enjoy the ride, to be refreshed in the adventure of rediscovery.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: My next novel! It’s takes place in the world of music—of singer/songwriters, and it follows a musician failing in performance and in love, as he struggles to play the exquisite music of both.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I’m a middle-aged dog learning a very new trick. I’ve been a professional actor/director/writer/professor in Theatre for my entire life, and I didn’t type my first word of fiction until I was 53. If I can do it…so can you!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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