An open letter to Mehreen Ahmed
MoiraeAn open letter to Mehreen Ahmed from Joan Eyles Johnson, winner of the Earnest Hemingway Prize for short fiction, 2016: Moirae by Mehreen Ahmed.
11
FEB
Dear Mehreen,
As an English teacher, I found some of it disturbing with spelling errors and switching back and forth with punctuation and long passages that seem unconnected. In other words, it is confusing and difficult as an English teacher to read.
Now as a writer, I am impressed by the literary references, the beautiful and often lush descriptive metaphors and strong storytelling talent that continues throughout the book. I see the stream-of-consciousness and juxtaposition of styles as following Ezra Pound’s “Make it new.”
As a teacher of creative writing, I would tighten up many spots that I see to jar the reader or even yank the reader violently from one narrative to another.
Over all, Moirae is a beautiful example of an earnest attempt at a new kind of writing, and that is commendable, however, I wish I could talk with you as you completed each chapter, which by the way is beautifully divided and managed. I like the Faulknerian switch in point of view from first chapter to the second. I would have asked you delineate the characters in such a way that their family relationships were made even more clear. The thing I most liked was the strangeness of the setting, the fact that I was never sure of what and where and if in your novel. I like that very much. I like your voice, Mehreen.
11
FEB
Dear Mehreen,
As an English teacher, I found some of it disturbing with spelling errors and switching back and forth with punctuation and long passages that seem unconnected. In other words, it is confusing and difficult as an English teacher to read.
Now as a writer, I am impressed by the literary references, the beautiful and often lush descriptive metaphors and strong storytelling talent that continues throughout the book. I see the stream-of-consciousness and juxtaposition of styles as following Ezra Pound’s “Make it new.”
As a teacher of creative writing, I would tighten up many spots that I see to jar the reader or even yank the reader violently from one narrative to another.
Over all, Moirae is a beautiful example of an earnest attempt at a new kind of writing, and that is commendable, however, I wish I could talk with you as you completed each chapter, which by the way is beautifully divided and managed. I like the Faulknerian switch in point of view from first chapter to the second. I would have asked you delineate the characters in such a way that their family relationships were made even more clear. The thing I most liked was the strangeness of the setting, the fact that I was never sure of what and where and if in your novel. I like that very much. I like your voice, Mehreen.
No comments have been added yet.
