Oxfam Bookfest Readathon & More About Reading

This is me taking part in the Oxfam Bookfest 24-hour Readathon at Oxfam Books in Marylebone High Street in London last Monday. I don't normally like pictures of me at all, but I like this one, taken by the Oxfam photographer - an action shot! I read for 20 minutes - I had thought I'd read 3 flash stories and then realised I would need rather more than that so ended up reading 9. They seemed to go down well, I think, despite the traffic noise in the background and the general hubbub in the shop, and it was a real honour to be involved.

An added bonus was when I discovered that the reader after me was Kate Mosse, founder of the Orange Prize. I risked missing my bus back to Bristol to stay and hear her read, and then accosted her afterwards to thank her personally and tell her how being commended for the Orange Award for New Writers last year changed my life. It really did. She was lovely, gave me a hug - and was kind enough to mention me in her article about the Readathon in today's Guardian Review!

Talking about reading, I am in the thick of reading entries for the Sean O'Faolain short story competition (deadline July 31st, 3000 words max, no minimum, get your entries in now). It is quite a daunting task but certainly has taught me a thing or two about what it takes for a short story to grab me. As an illustration, I picked up the new Granta magazine today and intended to just flip through it before settling down. But I read the opening paragraph of the first story, Missing Out by Leila Aboulela and it was as if the story grabbed me by the throat. I had this overpowering physical sensation that I just couldn't stop reading. It was amazing, this had never happened to me quite like that. I kept reading and there was never any point at which the writer allowed me to stop. Just wonderful. 

I thought about this afterwards. What is it about words on a page that can actually compel the reader physically? I mean, the whole magazine is printed in the same font, the layout looks the same, but this particular arrangement of letters seized me somehow. This happens to me very very rarely and what I think I can put my finger on is that Aboulela threw me right into the action - no explanation, no preamble, no introduction, just two characters, a mother and a son, in the midst of doing what they were doing - and this is what drew me so far in in just that opening paragraph that I felt I was already inside the story and simply had to know what happened. The plot was also something that intrigued me, otherwise I am sure I wouldn't have continued. 

Of course, this experience is utterly subjective. I am certain that other people wouldn't have been grabbed in this way. Sadly, this has happened to me only extremely infrequently with all the short stories I have read this year, a number that has probably topped 300 so far, and with perhaps another 300 or more to go. So many writers seem to feel the need to introduce, set the scene, but the risk here is that your reader, who doesn't actually need to read this story, won't have the patience to wait for the action to start. Should you take that risk? 

My preference - and once again I say that I can only speak for myself - is for stories that don't do this. I prefer not to know, to preserve that sense of mystery that will keep me reading. I like to be made to think, "Ah, who is this? What's happening here?" rather than to find it all out at once. But there is a fine line between intriguing mystery and utter confusion - you need to drip-feed the reader enough so as not to cross over that line. I might make it through a page without really knowing exactly what is going on, but I might not be prepared to go for a 2nd page in this state - unless the voice telling the story is so completely irresistible!

So, no real "rules" there for writing a short story to please everyone! Just a few thoughts that came up for me as I plough on with my Mammoth Year of Short Story Reading. I'm incredibly lucky, I am the sole judge of the Sean O'Faolain short story competition which means I get to pick only the stories I love, the ones that grab me. I have definitely found several already, and looking forward to more - of any length up to 3000 words! (Do stick to the max word limit, stories that go over this limit won't be considered.)  Looking forwarding to being delighted by your entry - in an entirely anonymous way, of course!

Interview with Ann Weisgarber, one of the judges of the Waterstone's Perfectly Formed Short Story Competition

I "met" the lovely Ann Weisgarber on that earth-shattering day last April when I woke up to discover that The White Road and Other Stories had been commended by the judges of the 2009 Orange Award for New Writers. Trembling somewhat, I wrote a blog post about it in which I mentioned the shortlist, which included Ann's book, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree. And up pops Ann in the comment box with a lovely comment! Turns out Ann was going for the Orange "double: her book was in the running not just for the Award for New Writers but for the Orange Prize for Fiction too, not bad going! I was somewhat in awe...

We stayed in touch and finally met in the flesh at the awards ceremony. I blogged about what a disappointing experience the ceremony was, especially for short story writers. But meeting Ann, her husband, and her publisher, Will Atkins from Pan Macmillan New Writing, were the highlights, it's a shame we couldn't spend more time talking in an atmosphere slightly less like a disco!

Ann's novel is so wonderful, the extremely moving story of Rachel, a young black woman who is struggling to keep her family alive in the badlands South Dakota in 1917, that I asked if I could interview her. We have been chatting for a few months about creativity etc... and she is also one of the judges of the Waterstone's Perfectly Formed short story competition - which closes on July 1st! - so running the interview now seemed like ideal timing.




Tania: You said to me in a recent email that "revision is fun for me since I'm not creative.  Coming up with a story line is agony since I just don't know what event should next happen.  Once I have that down, then I can explore emotions.  Dialogue is the most fun for me, and is my flash fiction.  I love short pithy lines.  When one or two pop out on the page, my heart soars." If you don't think you are creative, then how would you define "creative"?

Ann: For me, "creative" belongs to those writers who make up places that don't exist or tell stories about events that never happened.  Your "North Cold" is my idea of creative.  You developed a character and had him give warmth to a cold city by placing a metal ball on a windowsill.  I never would have thought of anything so original.  I had to close your book for a few days to let my mind settle after reading that story as well as others in your The White Road.

I have to start with real places.  I discover small events that actually happened and then try to show those events through the eyes of characters.  That calls for imagination, yes, but I start with an event handed to me.  That applies to my characters as well.  I need photographs of real people.  I need to read diaries or newspaper articles.  I can't spin a story without grounded facts.

There's one other thing behind my inability to describe myself as creative.  When I was a kid, a teacher -- a Catholic nun -- stated with complete certainty that only God was creative.  Humans were not, case closed.  I've not forgotten that.  Every time the creative issue is raised, I hear her thundering voice and see her narrowed eyes.  I don't believe her now, but I'm not taking any chances.  If the nun's purpose was to strike the fear of God in a little kid's heart, she accomplished her mission.  I have a good imagination, but others are creative.

T: thank you for your brilliant answer. Much much food for thought. In Judaism, there is an idea that we are all created in God's image so that means we are all creators, in our own way. I hate what that nun said to you, the ramifications it had. But...what you did so wonderfully in Rachel DuPree is to fully inhabit your characters, imagine and create their voices, their lives. Is that not a creative act, regardless of how it started? I can't use real life, real facts, I wish I could.

Also, another question: it does seem that there are at least two "types" of fiction writer, those how make it all - or most of it - up, and those who write "thinly veiled autobiography" or perhaps, in your case, biography. Do you think these should all fall under the same heading of fiction? Readers seem to get very confused - what is memoir, what's "real", and what is "fiction". Is there a distinction? Does it matter?

A: Now for your question (I'm stalling here).  This is a tough one. The idea of "thinly veiled autobiography" as fiction has me thinking.  I suppose it comes down to balance.  If a story's foundation is autobiographical, but an equal portion is not based on the truth, then it works as fiction.  But if the great majority of the story is true, I don't see it as fiction.  If it's 50/50, well, I really don't know.  Maybe we need a new label such as mixed non-fiction/fiction.  In any case, authors need to be honest about their work.  Come right out and say that it's a mix.  Why do people feel they have to cover their work?

In the case of my novel, the towns actually exist and I did use some real historical figures.  However, most of these figures were seen through the eyes of my characters.  The one exception was the scene where my main character met Ida B. Wells.  I imagined this meeting and it was not based on an actual event.  Was it possible these two could have come together?  I believe so.  Both lived in Chicago at the same time and Wells did speak before groups.  Did it happen?  No.  My main character never existed.  She was inspired by a photograph I found.  I didn't have a name, date, or any information about her.  I took that photograph and gave her a life.  I consider the novel 90% fiction and 10% non-fiction.    

The mix of fiction and non-fiction is confusing for readers.  So often authors say their fiction is based on their grandmothers' or distant relatives' real lives.  Such claims lead readers to believe the entire story is true.  Memoir claims to be true and yet, who can remember all the details such as the color of a bedspread or every word of a conversation?  Perhaps we are coming to a point where books require Author's Notes to explain away the confusion.  It's never good when readers feel manipulated or cheated.  Authors, regardless of genre, have a responsibility to readers.  Honesty about one's work is one of those responsibilities. 

T: thank you, very interesting! Even more proof, to me, of how creative you are! For me, I don't care about "truth", it's subjective. I am more interested in the quality of the writing and the telling of the story. I do tend to read books that are labelled "fiction", but don't question beyond that how much is true. As a reader, I don't care.

Your book is, to me, a great counter-argument to the old "write what you know" adage. Did you ever consider that readers might question how you, a white woman, could write from the point of view of a black woman? Did you worry about this? Your book has been very well received, especially by the Orange Prize judges! But what feedback have you had from readers?

A:I'm so enjoying our conversations... It's interesting that you don't worry about the truth behind fiction.  I had guessed the opposite since you have a science background.  It's great that you let go of labels and read for the joy of reading.  I just finished Mantel's Wolf Hall and believed every word of it.  I also marveled at the sheer size of it.

Now for your last question.  I did worry about assuming the voice of a black woman and for a long time I didn't tell anyone about this project.  When I finally gathered the courage to take an creative writing workshop, the instructor told me I had no business writing this story.  I ignored that since publication was not my goal.  I simply wanted to see if I could write a beginning, a middle, and an ending.  I didn't want to write about my life (boring), and I wanted to learn about someone else's point of view.  It was hard work, but fun. 

I worried equally about my Indian characters.  Indians are often misunderstood even today, and some resent the old-fashioned portrayals of being warriors with tomahawks.  Also, the word "squaw" is derogatory.  I worried about using it but had to keep with the times.  Based on my research, I tried to present one of the characters as a modern Indian who dreamed of going to California and did not want to be a nurse. 

For the most part, black readers have accepted Rachel DuPree and tell me they appreciate a different story about black Americans.  Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple, graciously wrote a lovely quote for the upcoming U.S. edition.  This validated the book, and I'm most grateful to her.  My U.S. editor asked several Native Americans authors for quotes but we didn't hear from them.  I'm trying to not read anything into that.  

T: what's the book you are working on now? Just a few hints!

A:The next novel takes place in 1900 in Galveston, Texas, an island about a mile from the mainland.  The story revolves around a college-educated woman who marries a dairy farmer.  The story begins two months before the 1900 Storm, a historical hurricane that killed over 6,000 people.    

T: With the announcement of the recent Orange shortlists etc... there's this discussion again about the merits of women-only prizes. Do you have any response to this? What did your Orange short- and long-listings do for you?

A:To better answer this question, I looked at today’s New York Times Book Review.  Twelve novels or short story collections were reviewed in this May 16, 2010 edition.  Eight of those books were written by men.  I looked at today’s book review section of The Houston Chronicle.  Two novels were reviewed and both were written by men.  I understand this is not a fair sample but it does give pause.  Until books written by women receive the acknowledgment they deserve, the Orange Prize is the one competition that celebrates women writers and their books. 

The short- and long-listings resulted in reviews for The Personal History of Rachel DuPree, something that hadn’t happened before.  I’m convinced the publication deal with Viking in the U.S. happened only because of the listings.  Best of all, Will Atkins, my editor, and his remarkable team at Macmillan New Writing received well-earned international praise and recognition for daring to publish an unagented debut author. 

T: And finally, I wanted to tie this in with you being one of the judges of the Waterstone's Perfectly Formed short story competition. What does your "perfectly formed short story" look like?

A: I don’t write short stories, but I’m a reader and admirer of the form.  I particularly like short stories that are narrow in topic but rich in character development.  Short story writers must get to the heart of the matter quickly.  Once into the conflict, they can take the reader deeper into the psychology of their characters.  I love that moment when I think "the mood has shifted, something has changed."  Since the beginning of the story is often fresh in the minds of readers, I admire writers who end their stories with a nod, subtle or overt, to the beginning.      

I think you'll agree that there is so much food for thought here, about fiction and biography, about women-only prizes, about writing "what you know"...and when you read The Personal History of Rachel DuPree you will be in no doubt about Ann's astonishing creative talents. I can't wait to read her second book. Don't forget to enter the Waterstone's Perfectly Formed short story competition!

Small/Big Moments of Joy

This came in the post this morning from my delicious publisher, Jen, at Salt.

Can you see what it says at the top? It's the new print run, and it says "Commended by the Orange Award for New Writers 2009"! Click on the pic and you get the enormous version.

My little/big thrill of the day.

Wheee!

Orange Prize "Forgets" It Ever Remembered Short Stories

When I was one of two authors commended for this year's Orange Award for New Writers, I was stunned. To be singled out, together with the 3-book shortlist! I didn't even know The White Road and Other Stories had been put forward. And while this was something that was very hard for me to internalise on a personal level, not being one of those who thinks her stories are better than anyone else's, it was instantly obvious to me what a wonderful thing this was both for short story collections and for small independent publishers. All around me were novels and mainstream publishing houses. And there was my little book!

There was already a slight tinge here because in the press release announcing the shortlist, C E Morgan and I were commended with wonderful words but our books were not mentioned. Had people seen that something which had "and other stories" in its title was being given a special mention, what a boost this would be!

The Award for New Writers is for: "all first works of fiction, including novels, short story collections and novellas, written by women of any age or nationality and published as a book in the UK." In the Award's first year, in 2006, Nell Freudenberger was shortlisted for her story collection, Lucky Girls. The following year, Yiyun Li's Ten Thousand Years of Good Prayers made the shortlist. Since then, no story collections have been shortlisted. No novellas have even made it to a shortlist.

I went to the Orange Prize ceremony tonight full of joy: joy at my book having been given the kind of attention I never dreamed of, and more than that, joy at the spotlight being shone on short stories. First, I was pretty surprised by the event which was less a literary celebration than a party where the champagne flowed and pretty young things in very short skirts hung around and chattered amongst themselves. Here and there were well-known faces, but it wasn't quite what I was, perhaps naively, expecting. And it wasn't really a celebration of literary fiction: the awards part of the evening was done in less than half an hour, a very quick affair - no readings from any of the books, no taste of beautiful words to whet our appetites.

Of course, I had hoped that C E Morgan and I would get a quick mention. After all, Kate Mosse, co-founder of the awards (and the only person to say the phrase "short stories" all night) talked about how the New Writers Award was to give writers with potential some recognition, a little (or quite big) push. The Award's judges had thought we deserved a little bit of the fairy dust, right?

Nope. One of the judges talked about the judging process before announcing the winner, mentioning that there were 80 books that she and her fellow judges had to choose from. I waited, breath held, as she talked about what a shame it was to whittle it down to three. Three? I thought. But... but... We had been forgotten.

And not only that. When she talked about how she had read the 80 nominated books during her work trip in Africa, she said that the 80 "first novels" had really kept her going.

I felt like I had been slapped in the face. A double blow. Was mine the only short story collection in the 80? I highly doubt it. But we had been "disappeared", swallowed up. You remember us... and then we're gone. We're too short, perhaps. Too slight in comparison. Maybe it is about everything we - and the poor forgotten novellas - are not. How hard would it have been to have taken that extra 30 seconds... to have remembered?

I was deeply upset. I was nearly in tears on the bus home. But not for me. This has already given me a boost, taken me to a new place, gained me entry to rooms I would not have been allowed into. But in this week when my wonderful and tireless publishers, Salt, are desperately trying to survive and are forced to beg people to buy Just One Book, when those who seek great writing should be flocking to Salt and all the other independent publishers out there - in this week, what would a mention have done for them? What could it have done? There were journalists there, I could have talked about Salt, this would have been a story, something a bit different in this world dominated by novels and large publishing houses.

Don't think for a moment I begrudge the novels anything. I have read one of the shortlisted, The Personal History of Rachel Dupre, by Ann Weisgarber, and it is beautiful, powerful. I love great writing, however it comes, in whatever shape or size. But don't mention us, don't look for one second into the corner that short stories are so often made to sit in, don't shine that light and then so rudely turn it off, turn your back. It is as if you never noticed us at all.

What all this makes me wonder is why - when it is hard enough to try and compare one book with another and to call one the "best" - we writers of short stories and novellas allow ourselves to be packaged together with the novels? Short stories should stand alone, or, at the very least, put us with the poets, please. We shouldn't have to compete in this way. Don't make us think we're important, and then so clearly show us that you really don't care. It's cruel. It really is.

Griff Rhys Jones boosts Salt

How wonderful, the week after I watch his great program on Why Poetry Matters, here is Griff himself:

Griff Rhys Jones says:

“Support the good work here. Don’t let Salt fall. If the recession is going to take things down, let it be motor manufacturers, let it be bad banks, let it be chains of fast food restaurants. We can lose a few of them, but we don't have enough small independent and daring publishers like Salt. I think I can be a little more forthright than Chris and say ‘Just six books’. Buy dozens why don’t you? It’s a great list. And apparently you will help the economy in many subtle ways too complicated for studious folk like us.”

Thank you, Griff!!

I am in watery London sunshine, enjoying being reunited with J and hanging out in much cooler weather. Tonight we are very privileged to be attending the Orange Prize awards ceremony, sharing oxygen with such luminaries as Marilynne Robinson, shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction for her novel, Home, and Ann Weisgarber, author of the wonderful The Personal History of Rachel Dupre, shortlisted for the Orange Award for New Writers, the award that the White Road and Other Stories (or me, not sure which!) received a commendation for. It's lovely to be going and not to be anxious about winning anything, just to be purely delighting in being there. Will be putting on my posh stuff, and trying not to do anything silly at the champagne reception! Details to follow....!

I Was All Set to Write And Then...

I was feeling great this morning, woke up chirpy, checked email, switched on the fiction-only laptop (yeah, yeah) and was about to get some work done before 10am, which is rare for me. Then I got a Google alert for my name (everyone does those, right?). I click on the link. And it's this...

Orange Award For New Writers Announces 2009 Shortlist

No, I'm not on the shortlist (luckily, I think I would have had a heart attack), but...

She continues," We would also like to commend two other authors, Tania Hershman and CE Morgan, whose work stood out for its remarkable quality. We look forward to seeing more of their writing in the future."

And now my heart is beating wildly, I am trembling. And I can't write. Nope. Can't write right now. Not at all. I may have to go shopping instead. If I can breathe. Feeling a bit sick. Oops.

PS Yes, everything's backwards today, but massive congratulations to the shortlist! Are you all breathing right now?

Francesca Kay - An Equal Stillness (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

Nami Mun - Miles From Nowhere (Virago)

Ann Weisgarber - The Personal History of Rachel DuPree (Macmillan New Writing)

Addendum: Now I have had time to gather my thoughts, I see that I am the only short story writer among novelists here, and the only small-press-published author, so a lovely boost for short stories and small presses, yay!