Book Talk: You Know What is Right by Jim Heynen
As I wrote on Wednesday, I had the great good fortune to study under Jim Heynen at the MFA program with Pacific Lutheran University and Jim is simply a delightful human being and an extraordinary teacher. Thanks to one of his suggestions, I made a change to the point of view in chapter 13 if my upcoming book, Found: A Memoir and it made that section sing. He has great instincts.
[image error] Jim has written so many books, it's a bit daunting but I'd like to feature You Know What is Right and I found this sweet little blog post by fellow Oregonian/Writer Matt Briggs that sums the book up in such a lovely way:
Everything I know about what is called the short short or flash fiction or whatever you want to call it, I learned first from reading a small red hardback with a yellow dust jacket I found at a used bookstore in Seattle in the early 1990s called You Know What is Right by Jim Heynen. It had been published years before, in 1985, by a small press named North Point Press that, in turn, was bought by Farrar Straus and Giroux in the nineties where the name continues to exist as an imprint.
Heynen writes mostly about farms and rural life in the midwest. I guess these are regional stories if you want to get right down to it. They are written in a kind of plain and laconic style that reminds of the kind of talk used by my relatives from Iowa. Compared to the nattering rush of my Kentucky relatives, my great aunts and uncles from Iowa are reticent, even mute. When they make an observation it cuts to the quick. They say what they mean. They don't mess around with problems of context or irony. They have faith in language's ability to describe what they see...
...Each story executes a transformation. They occur in less than two pages or 500 words, and yet they are complete stories with beginnings and middle and ends. Unlike so many very short stories, Heynen's stories are not crushed into sharp fragments. They seem almost leisurely, belying the great skill and literary cunning necessary to create such fully-formed narrative in such a brief space.
To read the full posting, go to this link. Matt does a great job with his insights.
In speaking with Jim and his philosophy on words and storytelling, I learned a great deal about word choice and the importance of being thoughtful with each word. Jim offers this teaching in his own writing, time and time again. A few of his titles include:
Sunday Afternoon on the Porch (2008), University of Iowa Press.
Old Swayback (2006) Midnight Paper Sales.
Schoolhouses of Minnesota (2006), Minnesota Historical Society Press.
Harker's Barns (2003), University of Iowa Press
The Boys' House: New & Selected Stories (2001), Minnesota Historical Society Press
Standing Naked: New and Selected Poems (2001), poems, Confluence Press
Why Would a Woman Pour Boiling Water on Her Head? (2001), Tribolite Press
Read more about Jim's books and his philosophy at his web site!
[image error] Jim has written so many books, it's a bit daunting but I'd like to feature You Know What is Right and I found this sweet little blog post by fellow Oregonian/Writer Matt Briggs that sums the book up in such a lovely way:
Everything I know about what is called the short short or flash fiction or whatever you want to call it, I learned first from reading a small red hardback with a yellow dust jacket I found at a used bookstore in Seattle in the early 1990s called You Know What is Right by Jim Heynen. It had been published years before, in 1985, by a small press named North Point Press that, in turn, was bought by Farrar Straus and Giroux in the nineties where the name continues to exist as an imprint.
Heynen writes mostly about farms and rural life in the midwest. I guess these are regional stories if you want to get right down to it. They are written in a kind of plain and laconic style that reminds of the kind of talk used by my relatives from Iowa. Compared to the nattering rush of my Kentucky relatives, my great aunts and uncles from Iowa are reticent, even mute. When they make an observation it cuts to the quick. They say what they mean. They don't mess around with problems of context or irony. They have faith in language's ability to describe what they see......Each story executes a transformation. They occur in less than two pages or 500 words, and yet they are complete stories with beginnings and middle and ends. Unlike so many very short stories, Heynen's stories are not crushed into sharp fragments. They seem almost leisurely, belying the great skill and literary cunning necessary to create such fully-formed narrative in such a brief space.
To read the full posting, go to this link. Matt does a great job with his insights.
In speaking with Jim and his philosophy on words and storytelling, I learned a great deal about word choice and the importance of being thoughtful with each word. Jim offers this teaching in his own writing, time and time again. A few of his titles include:
Sunday Afternoon on the Porch (2008), University of Iowa Press.
Old Swayback (2006) Midnight Paper Sales.
Schoolhouses of Minnesota (2006), Minnesota Historical Society Press.
Harker's Barns (2003), University of Iowa Press
The Boys' House: New & Selected Stories (2001), Minnesota Historical Society Press
Standing Naked: New and Selected Poems (2001), poems, Confluence Press
Why Would a Woman Pour Boiling Water on Her Head? (2001), Tribolite Press
Read more about Jim's books and his philosophy at his web site!
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![[image error]](http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/english/faculty/images/heynen.jpg){kind=link}