Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 19

A Writer's Moment: 'Out of the corner; onto the main drive'

A Writer's Moment: 'Out of the corner; onto the main drive':   “Publishers have published women's fiction into a corner, and now we are all trying to punch our way out of it. We just have to write ...

A Writer's Moment: 'A perfect match between writer and reader'

A Writer's Moment: 'A perfect match between writer and reader':   “When you're watching somebody read your material and they smile and nod, you know you've found that place where your experience a...

'A perfect match between writer and reader'

 

“When you're watching somebody readyour material and they smile and nod, you know you've found that place whereyour experience and their experience match, even though they aren't the sameexact experience.” –  Chris Crutcher

Born in Dayton, Ohio on this date in 1946, Crutcher combineda successful career as a family therapist (in his adopted city of Spokane, Wash.) with an equally successful career asa writer for teens, his work being honored by the American Library Association with its coveted Margaret Edwards Award (recognition for writing for teens).

 

Many of his novels concern teenagedathletes (especially swimmers) who face major problems and get the help andsupport they need from wise, caring adults – usually either a teacher or acoach.   His writings have tackled such issues as abusiveparents, racial and religious prejudice, mental and physical disability, orcrushing poverty. 

 

One of his most honored books, Deadline,is the story of a high school senior dying from a rare blood disease who haskept that fact a secret so that he can pack a lifetime of full living into his final year.  His most recent bookis Losers Bracket.

 

“What I hope my writing reflects...is a sense of the connections between all human beings... and a differentperspective on the true nature of courage,” Crutchersaid.   “For me, those are things worth exploring and writingabout.”

'This is where we must go'

 

“I try for a poetic language thatsays, ‘This is who we are, where we have been, where we are. This is where wemust go. And this is what we must do.’” – MariEvans

 

Born in Toledo, Ohio on this date in1923, Evans was and remains one of America’s most influential Black writers,authoring poetry, children’s literature and plays, and editing countless worksof others.  She also edited the definitive and award-winning BlackWomen Writers (1950–1980): A Critical Evaluation. 

 

Evans, who died in 2017, attendedthe University of Toledo and taught at Purdue and Cornell.  In 1968she wrote AND produced the award-winning television program, “The BlackExperience.”   Her poem “Who Can Be Born Black” – oftenanthologized – was part of the collection Where Is All the Music? andestablished her as a major poetic writer. Then her collection, I Am a Black Woman, earned herworldwide acclaim.

 

I Am A Black Woman notonly resonated with the power and beauty of Black women but set the bar formany of her fellow female Black writers in the latter part of the 20thcentury.  

 

“I am a black woman,” Evans wrote,“tall as a cypress, strong beyond all definition, still defying place and timeand circumstance, assailed, impervious, indestructible.”  

A Writer's Moment: 'This is where we must go'

A Writer's Moment: 'This is where we must go':   “I try for a poetic language that says, ‘This is who we are, where we have been, where we are. This is where we must go. And this is what ...

A Writer's Moment: 'Just a spot in history'

A Writer's Moment: 'Just a spot in history':   “To me, fantasy has always been the genre of escape, science fiction the genre of ideas.   So if you can escape and have a little idea as ...

'Just a spot in history'

 

“To me, fantasy has always been thegenre of escape, science fiction the genre of ideas.  So if you can escape and have a little idea aswell maybe you have some kind of a cross-breed between the two.” –Sheri S. Tepper

  

Born in Littleton, Colorado on thisdate in 1929, Tepper wrote science fiction, horror and mystery novels, perhaps best known for her science fiction with an eco-feministslant.  Her novel Grass is considered a classic onthis theme.   Tepper started writing under the name SheriStewart Eberhart, first doing children’s books and poetry but then finding herniche in the sci-fi/fantasy world, where she used several other pen namesincluding A. J. Orde, E. E. Horlak, and B. J. Oliphant.

 

Among her top selling books were TheRevenants, the Locus-award winning Beauty, and two best-sellingmultiple-award winning trilogies: The Marianne Series and TheArbai Trilogy.   All told, she wrote 40 novels, 3 books ofpoetry, and many short stories and essays. Shortly before her death in 2016 shewas honored with the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

 

““I have always livedin a world in which I'm just a spot in history,” she said. “My life isnot the important point. I'm just part of the continuum, andthat continuum, to me, is a marvelous thing.”

 

 

'Fates that are intimately linked'

 

“When I write stories I am likesomeone who is in her own country, walking along streets that she has knownsince she was a child, between walls and trees that are hers.” –Natalia Ginzburg

 

Born in Italy on this date in 1916,Ginzburg explored family relationships and politics during and after theFascist years and World War II.   The author of novels, shortstories and essays, she won numerous awards including Italy’s two majors, theStrega Prize and the Bagutta Prize. 

 

Perhaps best known for hernovels Voices in the Evening and Family Sayings (alsopublished as The Things We Used To Say), Ginzburg also wrote anumber of plays including a much-performed duo, The Advertisement and ATown By The Sea.

 

In her later years, she got involvedin politics and was elected to the Italian Parliament in 1983 (she died in1991).  Many of her essays from that time focused on theinterdependence of countries as the world grew smaller from technologicaladvancements.

 

“Today, as never before,” she wroteshortly before her death, “the fates of men are so intimately linked toone another that a disaster for one is a disaster for everybody.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Fates that are intimately linked'

A Writer's Moment: 'Fates that are intimately linked':   “When I write stories I am like someone who is in her own country, walking along streets that she has known since she was a child, between...

Poetry 'discovered'

 

“Isn't it amazing the way the futuresucceeds in creating an appropriate past?” – JohnLeonard

 

Born in Great Britain in July of1965, Leonard now makes his home in Australia where he served as poetry editorof the magazine Overland.   My first encounter withLeonard was seeing one of his lines etched onto a rugged piece of rock in agift shop, the words reading: “It takes a long time to grow an old friend.” 

 

Among Leonard’s most celebrated works are Thinkof the world: Collected poems 1986-2016 and Missa Mundi,alternative texts for the four pieces of the Catholic liturgy most commonly setto music.   More about Leonard and his many writings can befound at http://www.jleonard.net/   For Saturday’s Poem, from BraidedLands, here is Leonard’s,

 

You Don't Write a Poem

Youdon't write a poem-

Whatyou do is discover

Thatthere is a world,

Quitesimilar to our own,

Exceptthat it contains

Thisone extra poem.

 

Andwhat you recognize

Isthat this one poem

Makesall the difference