Tiah Beautement's Blog, page 83
February 9, 2014
On Stardust
Neil Gaiman, Stardust - Sometimes Tristran would look up to see his mother staring at him intently, as if she were trying to tease some secret from his face. - - At age fourteen, by a process of osmosis, of dirty jokes, whispered secrets and filthy ballads, Tristran learned of sex. - - 'Well,' he said. 'We're probably doomed, then. But we may as well have a look around while we're up here. - - Adventures are all very well in their place, he thought, but there's a lot to be said for regular meals and freedom from pain. -...
February 7, 2014
On reality
They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn't. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality. - Frida Kahlo
February 6, 2014
On literary wealth
“I wrote that book, I can sign it for you.” She looked at me and this time decided to answer, “Wena?” pause. “Zukiswa Wanner?” very pregnant pause. “If you wrote this book, uyenzeni etaxi?” You? Zukiswa Wanner? If you wrote this book what are you doing in a taxi*? - Zukiswa Wanner, I am Mandela's youngest biographer *In RSA a taxi is cheap transport via minibus
February 4, 2014
On Gardening at Night
Diane Awerbuck, Gardening at Night - When I was fifteen I stopped waiting for the Second Coming. My mother has never stopped. She believes in love. There have been second comings and second marriages and second chances, but no saviours. I believe in the redeeming power of margheritas, especially two or three margheritas. - - There is a series of books that starts with Clan of the Cave Bear and ends up ensuring lifelong sexual dysfunction because only ten-year-olds can stand to read them. - - In real life, all her children look like her, with her green eyes and...
February 3, 2014
On being an African writer, or not
In the preceding year, [Olufemi Terry] had had several encounters with readers of his story who had confronted him with certain expectations on matters of craft that were presented in the vocabulary of social responsibility. Terry felt that the encounters confirmed my sense that there are a great many pitfalls that a so-labeled African writer must avoid. Among these: a preoccupation with authenticity – with subjective realness, with being African – rather than with imaginativeness or breaking new ground; retreading well-worn terrain; and attempting to redress negative news out of the continent by writing stories of upliftment. Yes. It must...
February 2, 2014
On The Spiral House
Claire Robertson, The Spiral House - As you know, a head is a deal heavier than it looks. - - She was not wholly deaf, not like Doof Hendrik, and she yet lifted her head and listened for the sound she listened for - the wind, or something under the wind. - - There was an impulse that ran through me in those days, a question, a quest, that coloured how I saw myself and other people, other women and girls in particular, and it was this: how to be. - - Americans? Everyone knows they are not real outside...
January 29, 2014
On writing vs publishing
Oh, and [Self-publishing] damn sure isn’t a place to improve your craft. That’s called “writing.” Writing is how you improve your craft — by doing a whole lot of it, by reading, by having your work read by friends and family and by other writers and by editors. Publishing is not where you improve your craft. You don’t learn to pilot an airplane by taking a job with U.S. Airways. A job as an executive chef is not analogous to a cooking class. You wouldn’t expect that of other careers, so why are we okay with it when it comes...
January 28, 2014
On editing
So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads. ― Dr. Seuss
January 26, 2014
On The American Woman in the Chinese Hat
Carole Maso, The American Woman in the Chinese hat - I have given up too much, I think, to write the handful of stories I have written. I have given up too much to be the person capable of writing them.- - One does whatever one must. One walks through fire if necessary, thought the light. Attracted to it like moths. One swims in treacherous waters like poor trout, brochette. Attracted to it like salmon to their deaths. - - The stories said: I exist. Even though they were mostly sad. It was something. The stories said: I am alive....
January 24, 2014
On Short Story Day Africa in the news
Yesterday Books Live posted an exclusive interview with Rachel Zadok and myself. Quotes from the interview: 1. Why should we bother publishing African short stories? RZ: I’ve been asked this question a lot since I founded SSDA, and every time it throws me. It’s like asking if the experience of being African or living in Africa is a valid one. The reasons we have to publish African stories are the same reasons we have to publish European or American (both North and South) stories, or any other continent’s stories. People live there. They have stories to tell. If the stories...
