March 27, 1926: Frank O'Hara born.
Friday, March 27, 2020
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Q&A with Beth Lisick
Beth Lisick is the author of the new novel Edie on the Green Screen. Her other books include Everybody Into the Pool, and her work has appeared in various anthologies, including Best American Poetry and Santa Cruz Noir. Also an actor, she's from the San Francisco Bay Area.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for Edie on the Green
Screen?
A: The first seed of it came a long time ago. Probably more
than 10 years ago. San Francisco had changed so much and it occurred to me
that people (myself included) had been complaining about that for what seemed
like forever.
There's something very dispiriting about all the evictions,
so many people living on the streets, artists and working-class people not
being able to afford to live in the city they love.
But there's also something dispiriting about all the
complaining. I wanted to take a character who couldn't stop complaining, who
wasn't engaged in finding solutions or giving back, and try to help her move
away from that.
Q: The novel takes place in the San Francisco Bay Area. How
important is setting to you in your work?
A: It's everything to this book. I think people in other
cities that have been changed by the influx of money will be able to relate,
but I grew up in the Bay Area and lived my whole life there until I was in my
mid-40s.
Writing about a place that I know so well is very grounding.
At least I know I'm getting that part right.
Q: How was the novel's title chosen, and what does it
signify for you?
A: In 1999, during the first dotcom boom, I worked as a
writer an animation company that had a motion capture suit and a green screen.
Trying to come up with ideas was a little paralyzing at first because it could
literally be anything. But then it's also nothing. Blank. Love
that.
Q: Your writing has been praised for its humor. What role do
you see humor playing in this novel?
A: Edie is in such a bummer zone, stuck and depressed, and I
liked the challenge of finding the humor in her story.
There's a scene where she's lamenting the fact that she
hasn't had sex in a long time so she tries to conjure up scenes with former
lovers. But she can't remember anything! She assumed she'd always be having
that much sex so she never thought to reflect on it before. That's kinda sad,
but also very funny if you think about it.
This book has a lot of bummer humor. Noticing the lightning
strikes when you're in the toilet.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I'm working on a few screenplays and another book of
fiction. All collaborative projects with different people. Not writing alone is
really wild. I end up learning so much.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: That's a real green screen question! Everyone should try
to write. Parmesan is a great secret weapon recipe in soup. Eve was framed.
Pharaoh Sanders is still alive. Healthcare is a human right. Watch the films of
Kelly Reichardt.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Q&A with Gaia Vince
Gaia Vince is the author of the new book Transcendence: How Humans Evolved Through Fire, Language, Beauty, and Time. She also has written Adventures in the Anthropocene, and her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Science and The Guardian. She lives in London.
Q: In Transcendence, you write, "We are not like the other
animals, yet we evolved through the same process. What are we then?" How
would you answer that, and what initially inspired you to write this book?
A: I was inspired to write Transcendence after a 2.5-year
journey I made researching how humans are changing the planetary environment.
We are entering the Anthropocene, a human-dominated age.
This makes us unlike any other creature. We have left our
ecological niche and changed the environment we evolved in. We have transcended
the limits of our biological evolution and followed a different evolutionary
trajectory: one driven by human culture. I wanted to explore this fascinating
journey that our species made.
Q: The book is divided into five sections, Genesis, Fire,
Word, Beauty, and Time. How did you decide on the book's organization?
A: Structuring the book was incredibly difficult! I needed
to start out with genesis, with the story of the emergence from the physical,
chemical and biological constituents of the planet of a new creature capable of
cumulative culture. Ultimately, I wanted to focus on what I believe are our
four key human evolutionary drivers: energy; information-transfer; subjective
meaning; and objective truths.
Q: What would you say are some of the most common
perceptions and misperceptions about human evolution?
A: It is generally perceived as a process entirely governed
by our genes. I wanted to change that narrative to show the important role of
culture and also our environment. We are created through a human coevolutionary
triad of genes, culture and environment.
There is also an idea that humans only became like us, or a
“behaviourally modern” species, relatively recently - some 40,000 years ago. I
think that all the evidence points to us being the same species for at least
100,000 years if not 300,000.
Q: What do you see looking ahead, given technological
advances?
A: I think we might be experiencing a cultural explosion in
the number, diversity, and complexity of our technological inventions, owing to
the vast global human population and our hyperconnectivity.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m working on several projects looking at the
interactions of humanity and the planetary environment.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Transcendence is available as a physical book and also an
audiobook, and makes a great companion if you’re self-isolating...! Do check my website for updates and more.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Q&A with Beverley Naidoo
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| Beverley Naidoo, photo by Linda Brownlee |
Beverley Naidoo is the author of the children's book Journey to Jo'burg, which first appeared in 1986 and was recently reissued. Her many other books include No Turning Back. She grew up in South Africa and is based in the UK.
Q: Journey to Jo'burg was first published in 1986 and has recently been reissued--how did this new edition come about?
A: I received an email from my editor’s assistant at
HarperCollins, telling me of plans to bring out a new US edition with
additional background material. This was almost two years ago, with plenty of
time for development.
As in the UK, this little book has stayed in print in the
USA well over 30 years. Letters and questions from its readers continue to
arrive.
I was of course delighted about a new edition and happy to
help with the extra content. (My deep teacher’s streak has never left me!) So
the new edition now includes an Author’s Note, a brief history of apartheid,
meanings of the Tswana names and a copy of the original banning letter.
The book also has a striking new cover. I’ve loved it from
the time I saw a sketch.
The jacket illustrator, Laura Freeman, positions us, the
viewers, behind Naledi and Tiro. They have their arms around each other,
reflecting both anxiety and courage. We see the city, as they do, in the far
distance. The journey ahead is daunting but they must go on!
Q: How relevant today are the issues you addressed in the
book?
A: Absolutely relevant, judging from readers’ questions and
letters. What happened in South Africa under apartheid was not completely
unique. Apartheid was an extreme form of the racism honed in colonial times to “justify”
oppression. Its ideology was also was strongly linked to Nazi
beliefs.
Journey to Jo’burg tells a story that speaks to truths
that are both specific as well as universal. The new edition retains Eric
Velasquez’s marvellous illustrations, drawing on the African American
experience of racism and resistance.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?
A: Hope. In the face of intimidation and bullying, we
have to believe that it’s possible to help each other, keeping kindness and
humanity alive.
Q: How did you create your characters Naledi and Tiro?
A: In my Author’s Note, I write about the very personal
origins of this story. Stirred by a particular childhood memory, I imagined
Naledi and Tiro and the huge task ahead of them if they were going to save
their baby sister.
I made Naledi older than her brother, so she takes the
lead. I believe too little credit has been given to the resilience
required especially of girls and women in surviving oppressive situations. Tiro
is younger and quite spunky but he knows when it’s best to go along with his
strong-minded older sister.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: When you interviewed me in 2017, I mentioned that I’d
diverted from an “under wraps” project to work on a retelling of one of the
world’s oldest Cinderella stories.
I was lured into this by a wonderful picture book editor,
Sophie Hallam, and Cinderella of the Nile is now out in the world
with stunning illustrations by Marjan Vafaeien. Much of 2018 passed in helping
the brave little indie publisher Tiny Owl send our Cinderella on her way
through storytelling events, including at the Hay and Edinburgh Festivals.
I subsequently returned to my “under wraps” project which, I
hope, is now nearing completion. As with all my novels, questions around human
rights lie deep at its heart. My working title is “Children of the Stone City.”
As ever, my hope is that my characters and their story will, in due course,
enter the hearts and minds of readers.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: You’ve probably guessed that I work at the pace of
Tortoise in my writing. However, I reassure myself that Tortoise gets there in
the end.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Beverley Naidoo.
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