Beth Kephart's Blog, page 51

On Why Living a 'Small Life' Is Big, interviewed by Annie Scholl, on HuffPo

On the campus of St. Albans there is this rich and purple light. There is this calm.

Yesterday morning, I talked with Annie Scholl for close to an hour by phone. Annie, a writer and photographer, is an interviewing pro. She asked questions I sometimes found difficult to answer. I was glad, in the end, to be pressed, for I knew that, with Annie, I was heard.

There are—make no mistake—deep frustrations that attend this writing life. I don't always successfully rise above them. I can sink to confusion and also to despair. I can wonder why, and also, why not? I can grow confounded.

But I'm happiest and more whole when I climb to whatever elevation is required to gain the broader view.

We talked about all of that. A fraction of that conversation is here now, on Huffington Post.
The final question is below:

You're not openly seeking to be a popular writer and make millions, but if that were to happen, how would you feel about it?
I actually think it's a scary thing to be in the glare and blare of the spotlight. I feel very lucky to have the life I have. I'm able to publish books that matter to me. I am not in the cross fire of envy. I am, in the end, enormously grateful for what I have. My ambition is to do well enough to be allowed to publish again. To remain rooted in the work. To participate in the literary conversation. Small ambitions. A fulfilled existence.

reviewing the powerful, wonderful, kind BETTYVILLE, in Chicago Tribune

How I loved this book—for its kindness, for its wisdom, for the way it cracked itself open, quietly. My full review of Bettyville by George Hodgman can be found here, at the Chicago Tribune. It will appear in Printers Row this weekend.

the ALA and my library love

Discovered on my Twitter feed. So beautifully designed.

On Being the Book Brahmin, on Shelf Awareness

A few months ago, I was generously invited to write a Book Brahmin column for Shelf Awareness, which appears here, today.

I loved that assignment. I still do.

Weeks have gone by since I set down my words. Nightstand books have been read and reviewed. Many new books have been bought and loved. To all of you whose books I've danced with in the interim, know that they matter deeply to me, too. And so do you.

Jeff Hobbs + My Spectaculars + Two Possible Quakers = Perfection

Here am I, sitting at this very desk this very morning, smiling still. My muse, She, standing tall back there in the light. The Easter orchids blooming. The books falling off their shelves. My boundary marker protecting my Qi. And a beautiful new swirl of bamboo, a gift, a remembrance, a dancer's pose.

Jeff Hobbs ( The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace ) visited with our Spectaculars yesterday, via Skype (with help, thank you, from Christopher Martin). So did two prospective Penn students, Jane and Josh (with help from the heart and soul of our operation, Jamie-Lee Josselyn, and my friend Cynthia Kaplan).

We sat in our old Victorian room, beguiled by and grateful for Jeff's authenticity, grace, talent, and emphasis on empathy. Can we ever really know another? No. Does it matter that we try? Yes. Are some conversations uncomfortable? Absolutely. Are we better people when we ask questions, remain humble, try for better every time? Am I growing rhetorical? Perhaps and indeed. It's my blog. I can.

We learn how to make great narrative nonfiction reading Jeff Hobbs. We learn the value of humility in speaking to him. Too many authors pose. Too many demand the central planks in the room. But greater is the impact, more true is the exchange, when someone who wrote something beautiful sits down with those who found the beauty, listens to the questions asked, asks questions, too. Simple as that. Profound as that. And lasting.

One Thing Stolen. Today is the (second) day. It's also the day My Spectaculars and I meet Jeff Hobbs via Skype.

One Thing Stolen has had a two-step launch—last Tuesday, this Tuesday—and that seems to fit this old amateur dancer just fine.

Today I want to thank all of you who have been so kind to this book in its early days—who took the reading risk, who made room for Nadia and Maggie, and Katherine, Florence and West Philadelphia, neuroscience and a raging flood, who wrote words of encouragement. I don't write books that fit into established patterns, and there are, of course, consequences. But I can't imagine doing books or this life any other way, and I'm so grateful to be on this journey with you. I'm grateful, too, to the entire Chronicle Books team and to my editor Tamra Tuller.

In lieu of a launch party for One Thing Stolen, I'll be traveling to a few local venues to talk either about this book or about the writing life. The events are here, below. If you are out and about, I'd love to see you.

April 18, 2015
Little Flower High School Teen Writers & Readers Festival
Little Flower High
Philadelphia, PA

April 23, 2015
Let Us Be Honest
A New Directions in Writing Memoir Workshop
Residence Inn
Pentagon City, VA
details here

May 3, 2015, 1 PM
Schulykill River/FLOW presentation
Ryerss Museum
7370 Central Avenue
Philadelphia, PA

May 20, 2105, 7 PM
Body, Mind, Heart, Soul:
The Whole Self in Contemporary YA
IW Gregorio, Beth Kephart, Margo Rabb, Tiffany Schmidt
Children's Book World
Haverford, PA

June 5 - 7, various times
Moravian College Writers Conference
Keynote Address, Panel, Conversation with A.S. King
Foy Hall
Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus
More information here

June 27, 1 - 5 PM
Arcadia University
Creative Writing Summer Weekend
Master Class/Reading/Q&A
450 South Easton Road
Glenside, PA 19038
More information here

Additionally, I am grateful for the blog tour, which begins today and was organized by Lara Starr of Chronicle Books. A schedule can be found here.

Finally, I'm grateful for these recent reviews, fragments presented here. To read all official trade reviews as well as some early blog reviews, press releases, and the official teaching guide, please go here.

BookPage
One Thing Stolen explores themes of destruction and rejuvenation, emphasizing the possibilities and hope found in disaster. This is a unique and engrossing exploration of how characters deal with the pain and beauty of the real world. — Annie Metcalf 

Sarah Laurence
One This Stolen offers no easy solutions but still leaves the reader with hope. I'd strongly recommend this literary novel to adults and to teenagers who are interested in psychology, art, history and Italy. Kephart does a marvelous job with a difficult topic.— Sarah Laurence

And now I am off to Penn, to teach my immaculate Spectaculars and to meet a few prospective Quakers who sound spectacular in their own specific ways. We're hosting the superlative Jeff Hobbs via Skype today. Jeff's The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace is a seminal reflection on possibilities and choices (my thoughts on it here), and he's going to tell us how it came to be.

my husband's artistry (prints, cards, pillows) can now be purchased here

From time to time I am privileged to share the artistry of my husband here. His photographs embellishing Ghosts in the Garden, his illustrations alive in Dr. Radway's Sarsparilla Resolvent, his graphic and typographic sensibility behind the annual reports, commemorative books, and employee publications we create for our clients.

Today I'm (very) happy to share Bill's stunning photographs of his gorgeous ceramics, which are now for sale as framed prints, gift cards, even pillows. His Fine Art America page is located here. More work—graphic, illustrative, wildly interesting—will soon be available elsewhere.

I see this work hanging in kitchens and living rooms around the world. In the backdrop of independent films. On the stages of Broadway. Floating through the US mail.

Please do help us spread the word.

My thanks.

the One Thing Stolen blog tour

   coming soon

At St. Albans, where the boys are gentlemen, and where history begins

I had been looking forward to meeting Tina Hudak and the young men (young gentlemen!) of St. Albans for a long time. Then yesterday came. The students I met were gracious, funny, engaged, and engaging. I might also use the word "charming." The teachers have ideas. And Tina herself, the librarian of the Lower School, was—is—not just a woman who knows books and gets young readers charged up about their powers. She is an artist, too, a book and paper maker, a guardian angel with energy and wings to spare.

Located on the grounds of the National Cathedral (the world's sixth largest cathedral, stretching one glorifying tenth of a mile long), St. Albans has been named the country's smartest boarding school. It was home, for a year, to Curtis Sittenfeld, of Prep. Its alums include Al Gore, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., Jeffrey Wright, Brit Hume, Jesse Jackson, Jr., and astronaut Michael Collins. And the best, I am now confident from my conversations with the young gentlemen yesterday, is yet to come.

I talked about history and how alive it can be. I talked about research and the imagination. I talked about the books these students had read—Flow, Dr. Radway, Going Over—and about One Thing Stolen and how that story had erupted.

This: Midway through the day, Tina told me about her aunt, who had lived in Florence and had, indeed, endured the 1966 flood that lies at the heart of One Thing Stolen. Tina has transcribed her aunt's notes about that time, which you can find on her blog here . An amazing coincidence, an amazing resource, or perhaps not all that amazing, for Tina and I connected long ago in ways that can't be entirely explained.

This: Before I left for cherry blossoming DC, my father told me a story about how, years ago, he had made his way to the St. Albans campus as a senior in high school. My father was hoping for the financial aid he would need to be able to attend college. His interview for a scholarship was conducted in the halls of St. Albans. Changing his life. Making room for mine.

Marking my boundaries (from Two Buttons)

At Two Buttons, the Frenchtown, NJ, store that Elizabeth Gilbert currently owns with her book-and-movie famous husband (the store is now up for sale), my husband was one determined shopper. The place is several thousand square feet and what feels like millions of on-sale items large, but he was looking for one thing.

Boundary Markers, he called them. I'm not leaving until we have one for you.

My husband had already arranged my exquisite birthday retreat. He'd already taken me to lunch at Lovin' Oven, where they put kale, apple juice, and lemon into a glass and you finally understand the word elixir. He'd already given me a respite from the enormous pressures of this spring and bought me two fine editions of high-gloss Doc Martens.

But a Boundary Marker was a gift absolute, he said. He found the cutest one.

So that's my new Boundary de-limiter, please don't keep treating me like a second class citizen buffer, please don't think I didn't notice what you just said (or didn't say) rebut-er, please be apprised that I'm fully aware that life is too short guy sitting there, right at the edge of my computer, where I need him most. Here is the official store description. I have a feeling that it was penned by Elizabeth Gilbert herself:

Boundaries and Boundary-Markers are very important in the Indonesian life and culture. Often used to literally mark land boundaries, these statues are also used to protect one's emotional boundaries as well. Carved out of lava rock from the island of Sulawasi, these wonderful individually unique statues help to support and protect your boundaries. Haven't we all had times when our boundaries needed a little help?

(Typing, I think again: Elizabeth Gilbert must be the voice behind the this merchandise.)

This is the year, my friend Kelly and I keep saying, that we turn it all around. This is the year. I'm starting by respecting myself a little bit more. And hoping that such a bold new stance will be noticed.

(and adopted by my many friends who are in need of their own boundary markers)