Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 79
July 18, 2024
Reflecting 'connections between all human beings'
“Whenyou're watching somebody read your material and they smile and nod, you knowyou've found that place where your experience and their experience match, eventhough they aren't the same exact experience.”– Chris Crutcher
Bornin Ohio on July 17, 1946 Crutcher combined a successful career as a familytherapist with an equally successful career as a writer for teens, earning thecoveted Margaret Edwards Award (recognition for writing for teens) from theAmerican Library Association (ALA) in the process.
Many of his novels concern teenagedathletes who face major problems and get help and support from wise, caringadults. Despite threats of censorshipbecause of his sometime graphic depictions, Crutcher has tackled issues likeabusive parents, racial and religious prejudice, mental and physicaldisability, and crushing poverty in his 14 YA books – 8 of which have beennamed in the ALA’s annual “Best Books for Young Adults” category.
His books also have earned awardsfrom the Catholic Library Association and the National Council of Teachers of English, and praise from millions of teenage readers. One of his most honored books is Deadline, the story of a highschool senior dying from a rare blood disease who has kept it a secret so hecan pack a lifetime of full living into his last year of life.
“What I hope my writing reflects... is a sense of theconnections between all human beings... and a different perspective on the truenature of courage,” Crutcher said. “Forme, those are things worth exploring and writing about.”
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July 17, 2024
A Writer's Moment: 'You don't have to get it right the first time'
'You don't have to get it right the first time'
“The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to getit right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do itbetter, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile.” – Robert Cormier
Bornin Massachusetts in 1925, Cormier was known for his brilliantly crafted yetoftentimes downbeat literature. His most popular works continue to resonatewith his mostly Young Adult audience 15 years after his death. I AmThe Cheese, After the First Death, We All Fall Down and The Chocolate War all won major awards,and I Am The Cheese is considered oneof the best Young Adult novels of the past 80 years.
Cormierbegan his professional writing career scripting radio commercials and went onto become an award-winning journalist and novelist. In hislifetime (he died in 2000) he wrote 18 bestselling novels and countless shortstories. Six of his books were madeinto movies.
Cormieralways kept the Young Adult audience and his local Massachusetts newspaper, theFitchburg Sentinel, at the forefrontof his writing efforts saying that writers should remember their roots.
“I simply write with an intelligentreader in mind,” he once said. “I don'tthink about how old they are or where they might live. And all the stories I'll ever need are righthere on Main Street.”
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July 16, 2024
A Writer's Moment: Exploring an 'Idea Genre'
Exploring an 'Idea Genre'
“Tome, fantasy has always been the genre of escape; science fiction the genre ofideas. So if you can escape and have a little idea as well, maybe you have somekind of a cross-breed between the two.” – Sheri S. Tepper
Born in Colorado on this date in1929, Tepper started writing in her 50s and was noted for her mysteries and science fiction with an eco-feministslant. Her novel Grass is considered a classic on this theme. All told, she authored morethan 50 books beginning with children’s books and poetry collections under the penname Sheri Stewart Eberhart. Much of her Sci-Fi and Fantasy was written under pen names like A. J. Orde, E. E. Horlak, and B. J.Oliphant.
Tepper's book The Revenants, written in 1984, firmly established her in the genré and in the 1990sand early 2000s she wrote a couple dozen Sci-Fi books, including the best-sellingtrilogies – The Marianne Series and The Arbai Trilogy, both multiple awardwinners. Her 1991 book,Beauty, won a Locus Award for BestFantasy.
Shortly before her death in 2016 shewas honored with the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement and in acceptingshe encouraged all writers to explore the Sci-Fi world. “Science fiction,” she said, “ . . . is an idea genré.”
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July 15, 2024
A Writer's Moment: 'The greatest task is finding reality'
'The greatest task is finding reality'
“Writingis like getting married. One should never commit oneself until one is amazed atone's luck” – Iris Murdoch
Born in Ireland on this date in1919, Murdoch grew up in London and made her literary name with novels aboutgood and evil, relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious.
She published her first novel, Underthe Net, in 1954, and was immediately catapulted onto the international literaryscene. The novel was selected by both Time magazine and Modern Libraryas one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.
Murdoch went on to produce 25 morenovels and many additional works of philosophy, poetry and drama. Among her many awards were The Booker Prize,The Whitbread Literary Award for Fiction, and the James Tait Black Award. Shortly before her death in 1999, she wasawarded the Golden PEN Award for "a Lifetime's Distinguished Service toLiterature.”
“We live in a fantasy world, a worldof illusion,” Murdoch wrote. “The greattask in life is to find reality”
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July 13, 2024
A Writer's Moment: 'Searching for order'
'Searching for order'
“For me, poetry isalways a search for order.” – Elizabeth Jennings
Born on July 18, 1926, Jennings was considered a “poetictraditionalist” and also one of Great Britain’s most beloved practitioners ofthe poetic arts.
Jennings (who died in 2001) started writing in her mid-20safter graduating from Queen Anne’s College. Her first book, simply titled Poems, came out in 1953. That won her the Arts Council of GreatBritain’s award for “Best First Book of Poetry.”
Not one to rest on her laurels, she followedwith A Way of Looking, winner of the prestigious Somerset Maugham Award,given to leading writers under age 35. Known for her lyric poetry and mastery of form, Jennings said of herwriting technique, “It’s simple. I writefast and revise very little.” ForSaturday’s Poem, here is Jennings’,
Delay
The radiance of the star that leans on me
Was shining years ago. The light that now
Glitters up there my eyes may never see,
And so the time lag teases me with how
Love that loves now may not reach me until
Its first desire is spent. The star's impulse
Must wait for eyes to claim it beautiful
And love arrived may find us somewhere else.
