Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 42

A Writer's Moment: 'Fasten your seat belt and write on'

A Writer's Moment: 'Fasten your seat belt and write on':   “I think we have a great deal of mythology around writing. We believe that only a few people can really do it. I wrote a book called  The ...

A Writer's Moment: 'A dance for success'

A Writer's Moment: 'A dance for success': “My inspiration for writing (was) all the wonderful books that I read as a child.   For those of us who write, when we find a wonderful book...

'A dance for success'

“My inspiration for writing (was) allthe wonderful books that I read as a child.   For those of us who write,when we find a wonderful book written by someone else, we don't really getjealous, we get inspired, and that's kind of the mark of what a good writeris.” –  Patricia MacLachlan

 

Born in Cheyenne, WY on this date in1938, MacLachlan won the Newbery Medal her inspiring novel (and series ofbooks) Sarah, Plain and Tall, also adapted into a “Hallmark Hall ofFame” television movie.

 

The author of some three dozen books,the last published in 2022 the year of her death, she was a longtime boardmember of the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance and tirelessspokesperson on behalf of literacy, literature, and libraries,

 

MacLachlan said growing up “on theprairie” shaped both who she was and how she learned to portray things.    And while her “Sarah” series earned her themost acclaim, her 2015 novel The Truth of Me also earned manyawards.  That book is a celebration how unique "smalltruths" make each of us magical and brave in our own ways, and a wonderfulexample of her poetic and poignant style that won her legions of followers.

“I have greateditors and I always have,” shemodestly said of her writing success. “Somehow, greateditors ask the right questions or pose things to you that get you to writebetter. It's a dance between you, your characters, and your editor.”

A Writer's Moment: 'From the deep thickets of self'

A Writer's Moment: 'From the deep thickets of self':   “One reason to write a poem is to flush from the deep thickets of the self some thought, feeling, comprehension, question, music, you didn...

'From the deep thickets of self'

 

“One reason to write a poem is toflush from the deep thickets of the self some thought, feeling, comprehension,question, music, you didn't know was in you, or in the world.” – JaneHirshfield

 

Born in New York on Feb. 24, 1953,Hirshfield has authored 10 award-winning books of poetry.  Her most recent is 2023’s The Asking: New& Selected Poems.  She also has donea number of major translations and wrote or edited several collections of essays.  ForSaturday’s Poem, here is Hirshfield’s,

 

                             A Person Protests to Fate

 

                                 A person protests to fate:

                                    "The things you have caused
                                    me most to want
                                    are those that furthest elude me."

                                    Fate nods.
                              Fate is sympathetic.

                                To tie the shoes, button a shirt,
                                are triumphs
                                for only the very young,
                                the very old.

                             During the long middle:

                                conjugating a rivet
                                mastering tango
                                training the cat to stay off the table
                                preserving a single moment longer than this one
                                continuing to wake whatever has happened the day before

                             and the penmanships love practices inside the body.

A Writer's Moment: The 'unacknowledged historians'

A Writer's Moment: The 'unacknowledged historians':   “In a certain way, novelists become unacknowledged historians, because we talk about small, tiny, little anonymous moments that won't ...

The 'unacknowledged historians'

 

“In a certain way, novelists becomeunacknowledged historians, because we talk about small, tiny, little anonymousmoments that won't necessarily make it into the history books."  –Colum McCann
 

Born on this date in 1964, McCann isa native Irishman who now makes his home in New York City where he isDistinguished Professor of Creative Writing in the Master of Fine Arts programat Hunter College.

 

His work has been published in 40languages and has appeared in the New Yorker, Esquire,and the Paris Review.  McCann has written 8 novels,including TransAtlantic and the National Book Award-winning Letthe Great World Spin.  He also has written 3 collections of shortstories, including the multiple-award winning Thirteen Ways of Looking.  His newest book, Twist, is due out inMarch.

 

 “Every first thing is always a miracle,"he said. “The first person you fall in love with. The first letter youreceive. The first stone you throw. And in my conception of the novel, theletter becomes important. But what's more important is the fact that we need tocontinue to tell each other stories.”

'Payment is in the process'

 

“No writer need feel sorry forhimself if he writes and enjoys it, even if he doesn't get paid.” – IrwinShaw

Born in New York City on this date in 1913, Shaw grew up in Brooklyn where hestudied writing at Brooklyn College, wrote his first successful stage play atage 21, and went on to become one of America’s most popularwriters.  Over his long successful career he wrote 10 novels, 10works for the stage, 15 screenplays, and a dozen short storycollections.  He was twice honored with the prestigious O. HenryAward for his short story writing.  He also did a number ofnonfiction works and had several of his stories made into successful movies,led by The Young Lions and Rich Man, Poor Man.

 

The Young Lions,which starred Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift, was based on Shaw’s ownexperiences serving as an Army Warrant Officer in Europe duringWWII.    Blacklisted after standing up to the infamousMcCarthy Commission in the mid-1950s, he returned to Europe and lived out his lifethere, dying in Switzerland in 1984.  

 

While Shaw often praised the work ofhis editors, he also said that “A good editor understands what you're talkingand writing about and doesn't meddle too much.”

“I haven't stuck to any formula,” he said. “Most great writers stick to the same style, but I wanted to be morevarious in what I did.”

 

A Writer's Moment: 'Payment is in the process'

A Writer's Moment: 'Payment is the process':   “No writer need feel sorry for himself if he writes and enjoys it, even if he doesn't get paid.” – Irwin Shaw Born in New York City...

'The greatest of the arts'

 

“I have come to believe that a greatteacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any othergreat artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the mediumis the human mind and spirit.” – John Steinbeck

 

Winner of the Nobel Prize forLiterature, Steinbeck, who was born on this date in 1902, has been referred to as“The embodiment of 20th Century American writing,” cemented by his masterpiece, TheGrapes of Wrath.  Author of 27 books – 16 novels, 5 collectionsof creative short stories, and 6 wonderful books of non-fiction including oneof my favorites, Travels With Charley – Steinbeck’s works canbe found around the globe, published in virtually everylanguage.

 His writings have sold inexcess of 200 million copies and a remarkable 17 of them have been adapted into movies.

 

A native Californian who set many ofhis works there, he also did more to document the ravages of The GreatDepression than any other writer.  Those stories, though, took theirtoll.  “In utter loneliness,” he wrote, “a writer tries to explainthe inexplicable.”

 

Despite his many awards, he oftenquestioned his own achievements.  “The writer must believe that whathe is doing is the most important thing in the world,” he oncesaid.   “And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows itis not true.”