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It was \"The Semplica-Girl Diaries\", one of the stories in the must-read collection\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb2720927\"\u003ETenth of December\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003EIts hallucinatory defining image shattered me. For months I'd flash back to it while driving, or waiting in the check-out line at the supermarket, or taking off my makeup, each time with the same feeling of claustrophobia and dread, my heart wanting to claw its way out of my chest and the ocean roaring in my ears.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere is a hallucinatory quality to all the stories in \u003Ci\u003ETenth of December\u003C\/i\u003E, although mostly of a Salvador Dali type rather than the Goya of the Semplica-Girl Diaries. The evident love for science fiction, most noticeable for me in the echoes of Ray Bradbury, though funnier, and his having grown up in Chicago, not just a Chicagoan but a White Sox fan, led me to imagine their author as someone who would spend a lot of his time in a basement den with his computer -- or typewriter in the early days -- amid shelves full of his cult books (Bradbury? John Wyndham?) with an athletics cup or two from his high school years. A kind of a big guy, a Root Beer drinker.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstead George Saunders is kind of small, and kind of monochromatically sandy-coloured. His face is inscribed with a multitude of expression wrinkles, and the prevailing expression is quizzical and bemused. He is talkative!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-KBeolHED2Yo\/WTk4L1gkXKI\/AAAAAAAABnw\/4PJKHFpKr2IYF7GqzdVNjOfENTglgLPvwCLcB\/s1600\/Saunders%252C%2BGeorge%2B%2528credit%2BChloe%2BAftel%2529.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1242\" data-original-width=\"1600\" height=\"248\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-KBeolHED2Yo\/WTk4L1gkXKI\/AAAAAAAABnw\/4PJKHFpKr2IYF7GqzdVNjOfENTglgLPvwCLcB\/s320\/Saunders%252C%2BGeorge%2B%2528credit%2BChloe%2BAftel%2529.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPaula Morris opened by reminding us that novels have always been a form for experimentation, and in a nice twist she likened what Saunders has just done literally in \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb3245042\"\u003ELincoln in the Bardo\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003Ehis first attempt at the form,\u0026nbsp;to all novels, \"stories told by a cast of ghosts, exploring what it is to be alive\". Turning to him, she asked the long version of what appears in my notes as \"1st historical novel - planned? like Hilary Mantel?\" -- I confess I don't worry too much about getting down the exact phrasing of interview questions, unless they aggravate or stun me.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESaunders had a friendly, self-deprecating, and predictive (not predictable) reply.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENot really, he said, it was more that \"I realised when I was young I had a wedge of talent, and I've been going along on that. I'm not a natural writer. My first drafts are crummy. Though actually, it doesn't mean you're not a good writer. Writing is a craft.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs I said, predictive, because what followed was, for most of the hour, a conversation between two writers, both creative-writing professors after all, about the craft of writing, with Saunders sharing tips such as:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOn writing fiction: \"You write\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003EFrank is an asshole\u003C\/i\u003E. The gods of fiction don't like it. The gods of fiction say,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003EHow so? \u003C\/i\u003EYou explain. The gods of fiction say, \u003Ci\u003ETell us more\u003C\/i\u003E\".\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOn writing short stories: \"When I started I decided, I like Hemingway a lot and I agree with his world view, so I am going to use a Hemingway construction. It was like going on a date with index cards. In the short story, it's important not to know where it's going and let the writing take you where it wants to.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E(I actually thought for a second he said \"going on a diet with index cards\" and maybe he did. It possibly fits even better with attempting a Hemingway style.)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHe quotes Einstein, \"No problem was ever solved on the original plane of its conception\".\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHe quotes someone else as having said to him, \"The story is always talking to you. Listen to it.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHe talks about how every story has an understory, and describes it like this: \"There's something beautiful (he personifies it as a reindeer) coming up behind you, and if you keep your eyes on the table and don't spook it, the story and the understory will come together\".\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMy favourite lines came when the subject turned to the book at hand. The departure point for the book is Abraham Lincoln's little son's death from typhoid, in the middle of the Civil War. It's known that Lincoln made repeated visits to the crypt where his son's body had been laid in the days after his death. At the heart of the book, which Saunders sets in that time, is the idea that the boy is in the Bardo, the state of existence between death and rebirth according to Tibetan Buddhism, together with a cast of ghosts who, a bit like a Greek chorus, tell the story.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMorris asked Saunders, a practicing Buddhist, to tell us more about the Bardo. Is it a form of Purgatory?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"I was raised Catholic in Chicago\", he preambled -- in other words he knows all about Purgatory -- and \"Bardo is a little more. My version of the Bardo is that these people full of regret or sick with unrequited love, at the moment of death they balk at the door.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt was a thrilling image, but my true favourite line came when he was asked about Abraham Lincoln. \"I'm in love with him,\" he said simply, for once without his usual loquaciousness. He talked about the arc of Lincoln's learning and growth. \"By the time he died he was 100, 200 years ahead of his contemporaries\". He calls it Lincoln's spiritual ascension. Another Bardo, I realise.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn a rare moment of personal, as compared to professional insight (the craft of writing), we got \"I have a Pollyanna-ish tendency that gets edited out\". He says he has a sardonic view of the world, but he is also sentimental. It took him a while to allow his sentimental side to come out in his writing, now he does, and then he corrects it with his sardonic side.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWe didn't get questions or observations on some things I would have liked to hear the Semplica-Girl Diaries author on, things like fiction's subversive possibilities, or existential shackles, or fighting words. We didn't get any anecdotes like the one James T. Farrell, also a Chicago Catholic-raised writer, liked to tell about going to Ireland and hearing a local tell people that they'd lose their immortal souls if they read him.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut this wasn't bad, wryly told:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHe grew up in Chicago, the South Side, where I didn't, but where I was born, and know enough to know that it was an area where neighborhoods were called things like \"The backs of the yards\" -- the stockyards.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"Every human being is full of sentiment but where I grew up there was a lot of crimping of the excess. So it was like 'Fuck off', but it meant 'I love you'.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn that sense, I think that the best way to know the passions of George Saunders is to read him. Here, I've found you\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2012\/10\/15\/the-semplica-girl-diaries\"\u003EThe\u0026nbsp;Semplica-Girl\u0026nbsp;Diaries\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003Ein The New Yorker online.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/feeds\/4869143678639948034\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/2017\/06\/george-saunders-on-lincoln-in-bardo-at.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2501884760724421053\/posts\/default\/4869143678639948034"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2501884760724421053\/posts\/default\/4869143678639948034"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/2017\/06\/george-saunders-on-lincoln-in-bardo-at.html","title":"George Saunders on \"Lincoln in the Bardo\" at AWF 2017 "}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Karen Craig"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/18310967522076681423"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"23","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-WaLn2rFYxqE\/UNvHlimMvBI\/AAAAAAAAABY\/ceYnAw1lZEk\/s220\/The%2BLibrarian.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-KBeolHED2Yo\/WTk4L1gkXKI\/AAAAAAAABnw\/4PJKHFpKr2IYF7GqzdVNjOfENTglgLPvwCLcB\/s72-c\/Saunders%252C%2BGeorge%2B%2528credit%2BChloe%2BAftel%2529.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501884760724421053.post-7117923379309130158"},"published":{"$t":"2017-06-02T17:28:00.003+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-11-15T13:48:57.549+13:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"#awf17"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"A.N. Wilson"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Auckland Writer's Festival"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"historical fiction"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Karen"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Resolution"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"A.N. Wilson on \"Resolution: a novel of the boy who sailed with Captain Cook\" at AWF17"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-35JpZ2tZnLw\/WS6awLz7TyI\/AAAAAAAABmw\/xXqRVJyrR_4vo5ZEfxxx3iIhs_XB1pmiwCLcB\/s1600\/Wilson%252C%2BA%2BN%2B%25281%2529.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1066\" data-original-width=\"1600\" height=\"213\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-35JpZ2tZnLw\/WS6awLz7TyI\/AAAAAAAABmw\/xXqRVJyrR_4vo5ZEfxxx3iIhs_XB1pmiwCLcB\/s320\/Wilson%252C%2BA%2BN%2B%25281%2529.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EA.N. Wilson\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOh no! Not at the ASB Theatre! At the Heartland Festival Room! Run for it, Karen!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EScooting in as the Town Hall clock chimed, I felt as if I'd plunged into a revival meeting: a giant tent (later recognised as the erstwhile Spiegeltent) packed with faithful, all eyes turned to a man standing alone on a little stage, reaching up his arm, finger pointed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EUnlike the Texas tent show at the start of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003EBlood meridian, \u003C\/i\u003Ehowever,\u003Ci\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003Ethese faithful were all regular bathers, so the air reeked only of the coffees being clutched at this morning session, and the man was not a reverend, although he had at one point been on his way to becoming one. I was at the Writers Festival and the man was A.N. Wilson, historian, biographer, and novelist, about whom I'd been curious for years, seeing his name come up time and time again in connection with waspish comments, contrary opinions, literary scraps.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd here he was in person, pointing to a large digital screen above him on which was written \"George Forster, Librarian, World Circumnavigator and Revolutionary\".\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"You don't often think of librarians as revolutionaries\", he was saying. And I, of course, \"\u003Ci\u003EWhat\u003C\/i\u003E?\" He illustrated his point with a librarian in a Barbara Pym novel, whose most praiseworthy characteristic was being a wizard of something ineffably conservative, possibly cataloguing. I can't remember, I was too distracted by wondering if didn't he know that Audre Lorde was a librarian? that Mao was a librarian, well, not quite, but assistant to a librarian, the head librarian at the University of Beijing?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorge Forster, on the other hand, was himself a head librarian, at the University of Mainz in Germany, where he was an important figure of the Enlightenment and then active in the Jacobin movement, travelling to Paris after the revolution. One of his friends there was a certain Adam Lux -- just as I was thinking, what a fine name for a revolutionary, Wilson commented \"a nice name if you don't think of soap flakes\" -- \u0026nbsp;who unwisely wrote a poem about the death of Marat. Dryly, \"We don't know what was in his head, because his head was chopped off.\" Forster, by now outlawed from returning to Germany, died penniless in Paris -- of pneumonia, not the Terror, aged only 40.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut the book A.N. Wilson was there to talk to us about, his new historical novel \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb3235616\"\u003EResolution\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E, picks up Forster at a much earlier time, a time it would be tempting to call a happier time if it weren't so hard to use the word 'happy' with George.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.syndetics.com\/index.php?isbn=9781782398271\/lc.jpg\u0026amp;client=elgar\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/www.syndetics.com\/index.php?isbn=9781782398271\/lc.jpg\u0026amp;client=elgar\" data-original-height=\"400\" data-original-width=\"258\" height=\"200\" width=\"128\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"One of the things you knew about George Forster if you knew him was that he was the boy who had sailed with Cook around the world\" says Wilson. He was just 17 at the start of the voyage, Cook's second expedition to the Southern Hemisphere. He had been taken along as assistant to his father, Reinhold, who had landed the naturalist role on this expedition, which, Wilson was at pains to explain to us, was not about colonisation, but a hunt for knowledge.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EReinhold Forster! It was finding his journals of the voyage in a secondhand bookshop that attracted Wilson's interest. \"I couldn't stop laughing!\" he said. However, this infuriating and contentious man, despite his journals inspiring such laughter, seems to have had no sense of humour at all. On top of being dogmatic and pretentious. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHis son revealed an immense talent for illustration (superb renderings of the flora and fauna encountered on the expedition stops), observation (of much more than just the flora and fauna), and recording: once back in England, George wrote a report of the journey, which he called\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb1768002\"\u003EA voyage round the world\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003C\/i\u003EIt was a huge hit. Some people consider it the first work of travel literature.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESome also found some of George's descriptions somewhat erotic. Here's Wilson's comment, in full, worth every bit of space for how it captures his (to me extremely enjoyable) style: \u0026nbsp;\"You probably remember if you're fond of reading Boswell's life of Johnson, as I am, that Johnson loathed George Forster. In the book there was a scene about Tahitian women swimming which Boswell read over and over again. He told Johnson he liked the style. Johnson said the book had no style.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorge had little style as well, and little contentment in the rest of his life. He was ugly (and having had all his teeth fall out from scurvy on the expedition, for refusing to eat up his sauerkraut and roast penguin, didn't help), made a bad marriage, and ended his days in exile, as we have seen, and died pretty much alone.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EEvery step of the way, the A.N.Wilson wit was all that I had imagined, dry, unpredictable, as mischievous as needed without playing to the peanut gallery. On the occasion of the usual 'wait for the roving mike' line, we had \"Roving Mike sounds like an Irish tinker\".\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut then, just before the end, he gave us another side of himself. One of the main reasons he decided to write the story as a novel, he said, was to explore George's relationship with his father, his shame at his father's idiotic ways. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"I was a much younger son of a father who was more than fifty when I was born, and I spent a lot of time with him. I saw that other people saw him differently than I -- I saw later that they thought he was a terrible bore, and I now see he was, among other lovable things.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd then, before anyone could descend into sentimentalism, he looked straight at us, put down the imaginary pointer he had seemed to be holding, and smiled at us. \"I think we've reached the end of the Knickerbocker Glory\" he said.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/feeds\/7117923379309130158\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/2017\/06\/an-wilson-on-resolution-novel-of-boy.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2501884760724421053\/posts\/default\/7117923379309130158"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2501884760724421053\/posts\/default\/7117923379309130158"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/2017\/06\/an-wilson-on-resolution-novel-of-boy.html","title":"A.N. Wilson on \"Resolution: a novel of the boy who sailed with Captain Cook\" at AWF17"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Karen Craig"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/18310967522076681423"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"23","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-WaLn2rFYxqE\/UNvHlimMvBI\/AAAAAAAAABY\/ceYnAw1lZEk\/s220\/The%2BLibrarian.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-35JpZ2tZnLw\/WS6awLz7TyI\/AAAAAAAABmw\/xXqRVJyrR_4vo5ZEfxxx3iIhs_XB1pmiwCLcB\/s72-c\/Wilson%252C%2BA%2BN%2B%25281%2529.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501884760724421053.post-7129559419445899820"},"published":{"$t":"2017-05-31T22:00:00.000+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-06-03T11:12:04.658+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"#awf17"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Amber"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Auckland Writer's Festival"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Chris Kraus"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"I love Dick"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Lost Properties"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Chris Kraus with \"I love Dick\" and \"Lost Properties\" at AWF17"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ci\u003EThanks to Amber from Parnell Library for this spirited (as befits its subject) post relating her best Writers Festival experience.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-tOr0vByJ3vM\/WS6mCBhzy5I\/AAAAAAAABnA\/oOWMzh7pzZ04JSWUGRO9REYQcQtkIVRXACLcB\/s1600\/Kraus%252C%2BChris%2B%2528credit%2BReynaldo%2BRivera%2529.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"977\" data-original-width=\"1600\" height=\"195\" src=\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-tOr0vByJ3vM\/WS6mCBhzy5I\/AAAAAAAABnA\/oOWMzh7pzZ04JSWUGRO9REYQcQtkIVRXACLcB\/s320\/Kraus%252C%2BChris%2B%2528credit%2BReynaldo%2BRivera%2529.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EChris Kraus (photo Reynaldo Rivera)\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EFor me, Chris Kraus was definitively the highlight of the Auckland Writer’s Festival this year. However, it wasn’t the Saturday “I Love Dick” session that won it for me. It was the free event “Lost Properties” that left me feeling like I’d really *encountered* Chris Kraus and which was engaging, inspiring and funnily enough, valuable.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESaturday’s talk was fine. I thought Kevin Rabalais was a total let down as chair - painfully well rehearsed to the point of being robotic, though truthfully in itself this was fairly entertaining. The questions were fine (standard) and Chris was great (obviously) but I felt like she deserved a less stiff counterpart!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENevertheless, there were highlights: Chris read a piece from her novel \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb3359645\"\u003ETorpor\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003Ethat was spectacularly uncomfortable and witty and strange.  She talked a lot about her life as a filmmaker (average successes) and how she pretty much accidentally began to write for a living, following these average successes and after instigating the bizarre correspondence that makes up \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb2785411\"\u003EI Love Dick\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E. She mentioned the influence of commedia dell’arte, which immediately had me drawing parallels between the extravagant archetypes in \u003Ci\u003EI Love Dick\u003C\/i\u003E and those of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb1200446\"\u003EAphra Behn\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb2614684\"\u003EThe Country Wife\u003C\/a\u003E, etc (for those that may have studied Restoration era theatre at university!). As she basically writes theory-heavy, intellectual soap operas, these comparisons deeply enriched my appreciation for her work (if I can say ‘soap opera’ and ‘deeply enriching’ together in a sentence). \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere was mention of a phone-based BDSM affair that made it to the pages of her novel \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb2727425\"\u003ESummer of Hate\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E, her Kathy Acker biography (I can’t stand Acker but I’m excited to read it) and the pilot for the television adaption of \u003Ci\u003EI Love Dick\u003C\/i\u003E – which, starring Kevin Bacon as ‘Dick’, may seem dubious but nonetheless boasts an all-female writers room. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd then there was the discussion of all the other things that are great and infinitely relatable (as an arts or humanities student, as a woman, as a person who dates) about Chris Kraus’s work: living and breathing theory but feeling isolated by academics and “intellectuals”, the abnormalities of romantic relationships, really deeply loving the terrible adolescent art of men you’re interested in. And, most pertinently: the idea that by ignoring you, it’s possible for a person to become “the perfect listener”, an audience for which you can perform perpetually. Obviously, the whole “lonely girl phenomenology” thing means a lot to me. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHowever, I maintain that Chris’s “Lost Properties” session was even better – if you can imagine such a thing! \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt was an uncommonly informative lecture with a unique perspective, encompassing living creatively (ardently, critically and innovatively) whatever it is that you’re doing, especially if what you’re doing is dealing with the “certainty of hopelessness” that haunts any arts or humanities graduate, ie serious debt. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EKraus discussed why it is exactly that there are so many arts and humanities graduates nowadays, why the hell we think we need four years of formal training to write about or create art, and what we’re supposed to do when we find ourselves “overeducated and underpaid”.  If you’re not completely cynical, there was a lot to give you hope and a lot to inspire you, as well as a lot to concern you - for example, threats to student loan forgiveness schemes. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIf you couldn’t make it to her sessions, don’t worry – she’s as compelling on paper as she is in real life, and as accessible to those who live by theory as she is to those who are vehemently anti-theory. Read some of her writing and experience her for yourself!  While the book which lent its name to the second session, \u003Ci\u003ELost properties\u003C\/i\u003E (produced for the 2014 Whitney Biennial), is out of print – you can (and should!) borrow many others from Auckland Libraries \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/search\/C__SKraus%2C%20Chris.__Orightresult?lang=eng\u0026amp;suite=def\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E."},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/feeds\/7129559419445899820\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/2017\/05\/chris-kraus-at-awf17.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2501884760724421053\/posts\/default\/7129559419445899820"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2501884760724421053\/posts\/default\/7129559419445899820"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/2017\/05\/chris-kraus-at-awf17.html","title":"Chris Kraus with \"I love Dick\" and \"Lost Properties\" at AWF17"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Karen Craig"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/18310967522076681423"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"23","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-WaLn2rFYxqE\/UNvHlimMvBI\/AAAAAAAAABY\/ceYnAw1lZEk\/s220\/The%2BLibrarian.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-tOr0vByJ3vM\/WS6mCBhzy5I\/AAAAAAAABnA\/oOWMzh7pzZ04JSWUGRO9REYQcQtkIVRXACLcB\/s72-c\/Kraus%252C%2BChris%2B%2528credit%2BReynaldo%2BRivera%2529.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501884760724421053.post-1925876511047348682"},"published":{"$t":"2017-05-30T12:45:00.000+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-05-30T12:45:06.557+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"#awf17"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Adam Dudding"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Auckland Writer's Festival"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Louise"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"memoir"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Sarah Laing"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"\"A personal take\" with Adam Dudding \u0026 Sarah Laing at AWF17"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Louise from our Collections team went along to hear Sarah Laing and Adam Dudding (whose book featured on our \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz\/EN\/New\/top100\/Pages\/top100.aspx\"\u003EAuckland Libraries Top 100 of 2016\u003C\/a\u003E) talk with Geoff Walker about their personal takes on the personal take. Here's Louise's personal take on the session:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-7uwwEczs14w\/WSy877nlhMI\/AAAAAAAABmA\/sZToIHqs7XM7iP_URb_l7S3xExU-tVV-QCLcB\/s1600\/Laing%2Bcropped.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1600\" data-original-width=\"1072\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-7uwwEczs14w\/WSy877nlhMI\/AAAAAAAABmA\/sZToIHqs7XM7iP_URb_l7S3xExU-tVV-QCLcB\/s320\/Laing%2Bcropped.jpg\" width=\"212\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-URD8uKKjPJA\/WSy61dk47UI\/AAAAAAAABl0\/R8BvjALMOYw25263jo6TxJOgCpkynbzhACLcB\/s1600\/Dudding%2BAdam%2B%2528by%2BLawrence%2BSmith%2529.jpeg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1600\" data-original-width=\"1067\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-URD8uKKjPJA\/WSy61dk47UI\/AAAAAAAABl0\/R8BvjALMOYw25263jo6TxJOgCpkynbzhACLcB\/s320\/Dudding%2BAdam%2B%2528by%2BLawrence%2BSmith%2529.jpeg\" width=\"213\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDudding and Laing were brought together for this event because they both wrote memoirs, but memoirs of completely different styles. I’ll admit I was 100% there for Sarah Laing, whose book I adored, but Dudding and Laing together were a great combo. Adam Dudding wrote\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb3264651\"\u003EMy Father's Island\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E, a biography of his father, formidable literary editor\u0026nbsp;and journalist Robin Dudding who founded the influential literary journal \u003Ci\u003EIslands\u003C\/i\u003E. Laing wrote a graphic novel memoir of herself and legendary short story writer Katherine Mansfield, \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb3240621\"\u003EMansfield and Me\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaing spoke passionately and personally. She wore a vintage dress and had a sort of old fashioned Mansfield-y hair style. I personally love it when a writer really looks the part. (I apologise, I have no memory of what Dudding wore.) Laing’s connection to Katherine Mansfield was not a contrived one. She was drawn to Mansfield’s writing from an early age, but Laing hadn’t always thought of herself as an aspiring writer. Her graphic novel described her journey as a reader and artist, a woman living in Wellington, and other parallels with her life and that of Mansfield’s.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaing reflected on moments of her youth to assemble a story of how she moved towards becoming a “real” writer. Laing said Mansfield was a “taunting trickster spirit” for her, a mentor and constant presence. Both Mansfield and Laing grappled with idea of “only” writing short stories or “only” writing comics and both wanted to do serious work. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDudding talked about his initial writing process: it was encouraging to hear a writer say that to figure out how to tell the story of his father he literally googled books about fathers and read a lot. He discussed his struggle with a long format, and partly because of this difficulty, his book was not written chronologically. He describes within the book the things he got wrong, comparing people’s conflicting memories of his father. He said he found wrestling with the uncertainties really interesting. Robin Dudding was revered in the New Zealand literary scene but privately he could be severe, a perfectionist, a man of kindness but also of darkness. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere was a general discussion of what to include and also what to leave out of a memoir. Laing wanted a visual understanding of Mansfield’s physical life: the food she ate, the house she lived in, her clothes and furniture, details that are often omitted from written biographies but necessary in a visual one. Dudding said how horrible things are really interesting, which the audience appreciated.  Laing said as a memoirist you have to be hard on yourself and Dudding spoke of a moral contract: you have to forgive yourself for betraying others. You reveal yourself in the memoir but only as much as you want.  You don’t ask permission from a dead person – ultimately it is your words, your ideas and your truth as a writer or artist.  \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.syndetics.com\/index.php?isbn=9781776560691\/lc.jpg\u0026amp;client=elgar\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/www.syndetics.com\/index.php?isbn=9781776560691\/lc.jpg\u0026amp;client=elgar\" data-original-height=\"400\" data-original-width=\"272\" height=\"200\" width=\"135\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.syndetics.com\/index.php?isbn=9781776560820\/lc.jpg\u0026amp;client=elgar\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/www.syndetics.com\/index.php?isbn=9781776560820\/lc.jpg\u0026amp;client=elgar\" data-original-height=\"400\" data-original-width=\"262\" height=\"200\" width=\"130\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/feeds\/1925876511047348682\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/2017\/05\/a-personal-take-with-adam-dudding-sarah.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2501884760724421053\/posts\/default\/1925876511047348682"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2501884760724421053\/posts\/default\/1925876511047348682"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/2017\/05\/a-personal-take-with-adam-dudding-sarah.html","title":"\"A personal take\" with Adam Dudding \u0026 Sarah Laing at AWF17"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Karen Craig"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/18310967522076681423"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"23","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-WaLn2rFYxqE\/UNvHlimMvBI\/AAAAAAAAABY\/ceYnAw1lZEk\/s220\/The%2BLibrarian.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-7uwwEczs14w\/WSy877nlhMI\/AAAAAAAABmA\/sZToIHqs7XM7iP_URb_l7S3xExU-tVV-QCLcB\/s72-c\/Laing%2Bcropped.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501884760724421053.post-4379772867298061741"},"published":{"$t":"2017-05-28T18:50:00.000+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-06-01T10:04:21.965+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"#aklwritersfest"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"#awf17"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Amber"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Auckland Writer's Festival"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bill Manhire"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Must Not Reads"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Roseanne Liang"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Stephanie Johnson"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"\"Must Not Reads\" at AWF17"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EAmber from Parnell Library also went to hear the \"Must Not Reads\" session at the Writers Festival, where a panel of writers presented their choices of writing you should never read. Here's the post she wrote for us about it \u0026nbsp;-- definitely not a \"Must not read\"!\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\"\u003EAs someone who loves – LOVES – to complain, I was pretty amped for \"Must Not Reads\". What I imagined was four writers griping for an hour, unstructured, just bitching. I wanted to hear what they hated and who was a total waste of time and just a terrible writer and really sexist, derivative, totally phoned in etc.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt wasn’t really like that at all, but it was still pretty good. Chaired by Rosemary Tan, the four panel members were: Brannavan Gnanalingam, Roseanne Liang, Bill Manhire and Stephanie Johnson.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EStephanie began with a truly retro passage from a Harold Robbins book (forgive me for forgetting particulars) that featured all of the elements of your standard vintage popular fiction love scene: breathiness, women begging to be hurt and saying things like “you’re so strong!” to their dour male suitors. It was gross and I’m glad I mostly read Goosebumps and Horrible Histories as an adolescent – although, her story about a cousin who used to charge other kids money for finding and reciting the dirtiest bits in these kinds of books was very impressive.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-SqUeoLoTMiM\/WSpg4p81Y9I\/AAAAAAAABk0\/z2WadMJFk2gdU91LM7hHJmM_DiHcd4YBgCLcB\/s1600\/Johnson%252C%2BStephanie.tif\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1600\" data-original-width=\"1119\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-SqUeoLoTMiM\/WSpg4p81Y9I\/AAAAAAAABk0\/z2WadMJFk2gdU91LM7hHJmM_DiHcd4YBgCLcB\/s200\/Johnson%252C%2BStephanie.tif\" width=\"139\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EStephanie Johnson\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003EThis was followed by a fairly predictable but quite understandable pick: \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb2670388\"\u003EFifty shades of Grey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E– Roseanne Liang’s choice. Bill Manhire was invited to read out an appropriately carnal passage which naturally is scorched into my memory and will resurface periodically until I die – thanks for that, Bill.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-xNk4tcNQ6pQ\/WSpuWbToQgI\/AAAAAAAABlc\/BAOPnH5CKz0xxqLqeCZITL8sjbgpNA_RACEw\/s1600\/Liang%252C%2BRoseanne.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"768\" data-original-width=\"591\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-xNk4tcNQ6pQ\/WSpuWbToQgI\/AAAAAAAABlc\/BAOPnH5CKz0xxqLqeCZITL8sjbgpNA_RACEw\/s320\/Liang%252C%2BRoseanne.jpg\" width=\"246\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003ERoseanne Liang\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EBrannavan Gnanalingam chose V.S Naipaul’s \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb1178107\"\u003EA bend in the river\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003Edrawing comparisons to \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb1006351\"\u003EHeart of darkness\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E and reasoning that if it were written by a white man it might have been seen a little differently – ie it might have been assessed as racist in its depiction of Africa as a fundamentally violent and ill-fated expanse. And that it probably wouldn’t have been nominated for the Booker Prize either – apparently Paul Theroux had a hand in ensuring \u003Ci\u003EA bend in the river\u003C\/i\u003E\u0026nbsp;didn't win (due to its lazily racist slant), which I found confusing because in my very minimal experience with Theroux I found him to be scornfully racist? \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGnanalingam also cast aspersions on one Ian McEwan book in particular which again I cannot remember – stating that that if you like McEwan you will not like his books. Gnanalingam got as close to the kind of popping off I was hoping for, so I’ve decided I have to read his books – he seems like a great guy, and I always found McEwan a bit boring.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-fqazxO3YpQI\/WSpq8J0EvjI\/AAAAAAAABlE\/QgssChxJsTcYPJvzoVOl0HmMCSof3gpzgCLcB\/s1600\/Gnanalingam%252C%2BBrannavan%2B%2528by%2BCandy%2BCapoco%2529.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1600\" data-original-width=\"1067\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-fqazxO3YpQI\/WSpq8J0EvjI\/AAAAAAAABlE\/QgssChxJsTcYPJvzoVOl0HmMCSof3gpzgCLcB\/s320\/Gnanalingam%252C%2BBrannavan%2B%2528by%2BCandy%2BCapoco%2529.jpg\" width=\"213\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EB. Gnanalingam (photo Candy Capoco)\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EBill Manhire complained mostly about small annoyances like poems being butchered for garden advertisements and newsletters – rearranged to look all nice and properly “poem” like, totally obliterating any of the original structure. I can definitely get behind this kind of grievance. He also mentioned \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb2634866\"\u003EThe Three Christs of Ypsilanti: A Psychological Study\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E by Milton Rokeach which no longer feels quite right to him morally. I on the other hand added it to my “Must Read” list (yes it does seem rather cruel to stick together three psychiatric patients who all think they’re Jesus, but it also sounds like a great read!).\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-TXB4dFc30H4\/WSpsAj4HIqI\/AAAAAAAABlM\/xc4KELyE-YQACeyVe8JqlLZAaj6vxBNbACLcB\/s1600\/Manhire%252C%2BBill%2B%2528on%2Bsofa%2Bby%2BGrant%2BMaiden%2529.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1067\" data-original-width=\"1600\" height=\"213\" src=\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-TXB4dFc30H4\/WSpsAj4HIqI\/AAAAAAAABlM\/xc4KELyE-YQACeyVe8JqlLZAaj6vxBNbACLcB\/s320\/Manhire%252C%2BBill%2B%2528on%2Bsofa%2Bby%2BGrant%2BMaiden%2529.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EBill Manhire (photo Grant Maiden)\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EStephanie’s second choice was \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb2773982\"\u003EZealot: the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E by Reza Aslan, which apparently ruined the last fragments of long abandoned Christianity she was clinging to. She talked a lot about it, but really all I could think was: “Boohoo?” \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ERoseanne’s second choice was Lena Dunham’s \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb2925310\"\u003ENot that kind of girl\u003C\/a\u003E,\u003C\/i\u003E which felt like “fair enough” until she admitted that it was over the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/2014\/nov\/05\/lena-dunham-statement-abuse-claims\"\u003Emolestation controversy\u003C\/a\u003E, which the other panel members judged as seeming very far-fetched and willfully dense (an opinion to which I generally adhere, although in the the context of the book it’s endlessly debatable) and to which she sort of went “Yeah, like I liked it and I used to like her but then that happened so… idk?”. If I was looking for something to classify as phoned in, it would be that choice of \u0026nbsp;“must not read”.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EThere were some classic arguments raised throughout the evening – the death of the author, whether or not we need to care that our literary and cinematic heroes might be pedophiles or racists, whether “trigger warnings” are ridiculous (Hi Stephanie – they’re not! Love from a delicate millennial).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAll in all, it was a pretty enjoyable evening, but I’d have appreciated some teeth – so it’s lucky that I love to complain!\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/feeds\/4379772867298061741\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/2017\/05\/must-not-reads-at-awf17.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2501884760724421053\/posts\/default\/4379772867298061741"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2501884760724421053\/posts\/default\/4379772867298061741"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/2017\/05\/must-not-reads-at-awf17.html","title":"\"Must Not Reads\" at AWF17"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Karen Craig"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/18310967522076681423"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"23","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-WaLn2rFYxqE\/UNvHlimMvBI\/AAAAAAAAABY\/ceYnAw1lZEk\/s220\/The%2BLibrarian.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-SqUeoLoTMiM\/WSpg4p81Y9I\/AAAAAAAABk0\/z2WadMJFk2gdU91LM7hHJmM_DiHcd4YBgCLcB\/s72-c\/Johnson%252C%2BStephanie.tif","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501884760724421053.post-8103612463127677485"},"published":{"$t":"2017-05-27T16:16:00.000+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-06-07T21:47:22.505+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"#awf17"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Amber"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ashleigh Young"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Auckland Writer's Festival"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Roxane Gay"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Teju Cole"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Teju Cole, Roxane Gay \u0026 Ashleigh Young on \"The Art of the Essay\" at AWF17"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ci\u003EAmber from Parnell Library shares her experience of hearing Teju Cole, Roxane Gay and Ashleigh Young talk about the art of the essay.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;I attended \"The Art of The Essay\" with the highest of hopes and the shiniest of eyes. I love Roxane Gay and I love Ashleigh Young. Having only recently been introduced to Teju Cole by way of his presence at the Auckland Writer’s Festival this year, I was thrilled to see him - because I believe that anyone that mentions Italo Calvino as a source of inspiration is immediately worthy of my time. And most importantly: I love to read essays. More than fiction, more than poetry, about as much as I love reading short stories. I had expectations.  \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-74_IaeMRKp4\/WSjwHURx5LI\/AAAAAAAABkM\/htrPu7xEt0Upc-G3WusZM3xTmw1DbvebQCLcB\/s1600\/Teju%2BCole.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"936\" data-original-width=\"1421\" height=\"210\" src=\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-74_IaeMRKp4\/WSjwHURx5LI\/AAAAAAAABkM\/htrPu7xEt0Upc-G3WusZM3xTmw1DbvebQCLcB\/s320\/Teju%2BCole.JPG\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003ETeju Cole\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003EThe panel members did not disappoint me! And the turnout was very impressive – apparently the queue was huge even at 10am, in anticipation of a 10:30am start (confession: I say apparently because I was late – in fact the very last person admitted, thank god). \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe first question of the hour was ‘Where to start?’. Teju Cole began by affirming the importance of having the time and privilege to actually sit down and write an essay (and yes, this does always need to be mentioned!) and when the adage “starting with the end” was raised, Ashleigh Young admitted that actually, for her it’s more like looking for an answer, or attempting to write her way “out of bewilderment”. Roxane Gay says that for her, striving to be “dazzling without being ostentatious” is the primary goal, rather than having an end in sight.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;On matters of truth, there’s a fairly unanimous agreement that there’s not really any such thing. All three panels members are seemingly more comfortable writing around truths, and for multiple viewpoints and realities. For Teju Cole, who admits he doesn’t write “super personally” (and is mostly pretty serious), this is where the art of “productive discomfort” is utilized - which I take as meaning: not telling a reader what to think or how to think, but rather demonstrating for them the potential flaws in their beliefs. For Ashleigh Young, the approach is achieved through not quite being “present” in her stories; instead observing, describing, watching and filtering (something she says she is not quite sure how to feel about, but which I personally love about her work). \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI think the very large crowd at this point can agree when the narrative power of the nominative plural “we” is exalted. Roxane Gay is asked whether or not she considers herself to be a “truth teller” to which she replies “No. I see myself as a writer.” \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-XQQHd32uADQ\/WSjyZZu_CII\/AAAAAAAABkY\/TupIVvPaPKYbNx3spkPDKsAba872b38AgCLcB\/s1600\/Gay%252C%2BRoxane%2B%2528credit%2BJay%2BGrabiec%2529.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1067\" data-original-width=\"1600\" height=\"213\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-XQQHd32uADQ\/WSjyZZu_CII\/AAAAAAAABkY\/TupIVvPaPKYbNx3spkPDKsAba872b38AgCLcB\/s320\/Gay%252C%2BRoxane%2B%2528credit%2BJay%2BGrabiec%2529.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003ERoxane Gay (photo Jay Grabiec)\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003ERoxane Gay speaks a lot of truth – a lot of unapologetic, uncomfortable, and alarming truth. But while she eschews the notion that everyone needs to be understood and listened to (“Trump fans: it’s just racism”) she maintains that she does take care to think outside of herself, and to consider how best to speak to those who do not share her views, or even are directly opposed to them. This is what I personally love about her - necessarily harsh, but charitably accessible.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThen, the host (Simon Wilson of The Spinoff ) asks - well, he asks Ashleigh and Roxane - about writing about “being fucked up”.  There’s a bit of an awkward silence – I mean, *I* am feeling awkward and annoyed at least. Does occasionally touching on eating disorders, suicide, or depression -- among many, many other things – make Ashleigh Young “fucked up”? Is Roxane Gay “fucked up” because she lets us know what a constant struggle it is to be an outspoken woman, let alone an outspoken black woman, let alone – the audacity! – an outspoken black woman who doesn’t care if you think she’s fat?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;I roll my eyes so hard I give myself a migraine, instantly.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;Roxane retorts perfectly, “Isn’t that always the project?” (yes, yes it is – always!) and she and Ashleigh agree that actually it’s about discussing vulnerability, exploring empathy, just trying to be honest – “admitting to humanity” as Roxane puts it.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;The question “What have blogs done to the essay?” is swiftly answered with a fairly unanimous “Um…not much?” The dual forces of a) democratization and b) depreciation are touched on, with all agreeing that blogging and essay writing are very different things. For Roxane Gay, they’re more like a letter. Someone says that they consider form to be merely “a conduit for presence” which I totally agree with and love – so much that I really cannot remember who said it, though my bets are on Teju Cole. All panel members use and appreciate Twitter – not for writing purposes per se, but as a sounding board, a network, a little community.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;And then the host annoys me again – this time saying to Roxane something like “You get a lot of trolls on the internet, eh?” to which she concedes, “Uh yeah, yeah I do”. This is annoying to me because if you know Roxane Gay, you know she really does suffer “trolls” on the internet but it’s more like quite disruptive and horrifying harassment. Thankfully, Teju Cole steps in and does a much better job of being host here – reminding us that while it probably seems funny, it’s a huge part of Roxane’s life and beyond what the average Twitter user can imagine.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;Overall, I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity to sit and listen to these three very talented people. I left feeling like I \u0026nbsp;understood their writing a little more having seen them\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003Eirl\u003C\/i\u003E, in the flesh. All three authors chose excerpts to read aloud that were perfect: from Teju Cole, the essay ‘What It Is’, a musing on invasive metadata in the form of an incredibly strange and offensive CNN chyron, in which something is described as ‘Literally the “Some of my best friends are black” of #NotAllMen’ – a line I will never forget. From Roxane Gay, an essay from\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb2843900\"\u003EBad Feminist\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003E“Typical First Year Professor” (“I don’t save lives – but I try not to ruin them” is a brilliant understatement in my opinion). I’ve read more of Ashleigh Young than either Cole or Gay, and yet cannot summon a stand-out line from her piece “Witches” (probably something to do with her aforementioned tendency to not quite be *in* her pieces) but it’s a beautiful, bittersweet reflection on adolescence, innocence, and the corporeal form.\u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-Ht_J2C7tsBc\/WSj0FS3IJiI\/AAAAAAAABko\/8qj8idRA2zsj4OazCBmQJtDKNMUcOUy5ACEw\/s1600\/Young%252C%2BAshleigh%2B%2528by%2BRussell%2BKleyn%2529.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1068\" data-original-width=\"1600\" height=\"213\" src=\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-Ht_J2C7tsBc\/WSj0FS3IJiI\/AAAAAAAABko\/8qj8idRA2zsj4OazCBmQJtDKNMUcOUy5ACEw\/s320\/Young%252C%2BAshleigh%2B%2528by%2BRussell%2BKleyn%2529.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EAshleigh Young (Photo Russell Kleyn)\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003EHowever, I cannot say Simon Wilson endeared himself to me. I internally cringed at his treatment of Ashleigh Young and even more so of Roxane Gay. I’m not sure if it stemmed from a lack of familiarity with Gay’s work (in which case: poor planning) or the rather more loathsome “tall poppy syndrome”. Regardless, it nearly ruined it for me and left me feeling very apologetic on behalf of Auckland.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd last of all: shout out to the man in the floral shirt who thought it was acceptable to walk up to the microphone HALF-WAY through Roxane’s essay, to stand around and fidget in preparation for his very tedious question. Seriously, thanks – it gave me something to bitch to her about at the book signing and I’d probably have been too shy to say anything otherwise. And if you were wondering – yes, you did annoy her! And yes – she did read more than she’d intended just to “fuck you off”. Which, for me, was the perfect ending. "},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/feeds\/8103612463127677485\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/2017\/05\/the-art-of-essay-at-awf17.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2501884760724421053\/posts\/default\/8103612463127677485"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2501884760724421053\/posts\/default\/8103612463127677485"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/2017\/05\/the-art-of-essay-at-awf17.html","title":"Teju Cole, Roxane Gay \u0026 Ashleigh Young on \"The Art of the Essay\" at AWF17"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Karen Craig"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/18310967522076681423"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"23","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-WaLn2rFYxqE\/UNvHlimMvBI\/AAAAAAAAABY\/ceYnAw1lZEk\/s220\/The%2BLibrarian.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-74_IaeMRKp4\/WSjwHURx5LI\/AAAAAAAABkM\/htrPu7xEt0Upc-G3WusZM3xTmw1DbvebQCLcB\/s72-c\/Teju%2BCole.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501884760724421053.post-8000027103189796534"},"published":{"$t":"2017-05-25T17:48:00.000+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-05-27T16:17:41.696+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"#awf17"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Anne Enright"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Auckland Writer's Festival"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Chelsea"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"fiction"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Anne Enright and \"The Gathering\" at AWF17"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EThanks to Chelsea from Central Library for this blog post and fan mail combo!\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-f9UdbjDcd0o\/WSZdGWOCwZI\/AAAAAAAABj8\/OcKTcwEZXDUuL3VOpYMq8fh-mQq3Dd2mwCLcB\/s1600\/Enright%2BAnne.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"997\" data-original-width=\"1600\" height=\"199\" src=\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-f9UdbjDcd0o\/WSZdGWOCwZI\/AAAAAAAABj8\/OcKTcwEZXDUuL3VOpYMq8fh-mQq3Dd2mwCLcB\/s320\/Enright%2BAnne.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIf you thought your days of pushing and elbowing your way into a theatre were behind you, think again. The ladies (and a splattering of men) of the Auckland Writers Festival were here to see Anne Enright and there was no stopping them. Even the sacred reserved seating stood no chance. If you’re unfamiliar with Anne Enright, she is Ireland’s current Fiction Laureate and winner of the Man Booker Prize for her 2007 novel \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb2224849\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EThe Gathering\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. Personally I’ve been slow to the Anne Enright party, having read only one of her books. However, said book \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb2959849\"\u003EThe Green Road\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E completely blew my mind, so I was keen to hear more of what she had to say.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EKate De Goldi, award-winning author in her own right, chaired the event and opened with a quote from \u003Ci\u003EThe Green Road\u003C\/i\u003E, “I’m sorry I can’t invite you to dinner, I’m Irish and my family is mad”. This fairly succinctly sums up Enright’s writing, with much of her work focussing on the family unit with a dose of Irish humour. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETo begin with, De Goldi and Enright discussed the roles within \u003Ci\u003EThe Green Road\u003C\/i\u003E, in particular the role of the mother. With the theme of motherhood being so important in Irish tradition and Enright being a mother herself, she has a keen interest in breaking stereotypes and exploring women in all their imperfection. Rosaleen, the mother in \u003Ci\u003EThe Green Road\u003C\/i\u003E, is a needy woman who is so angry that her adult children have all left her that she decides to sell the family home to spite them. Her self-indulgence is in contrast to her daughter’s selflessness as a dutiful wife, mother and daughter. The two sons in the novel represent Irish migration, with one being an aid worker travelling to far-flung places like the Irish missionaries did, and the other taking the traditional route of New York. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EEnright’s writing is structured and concise which is necessary in a book that spans decades. What isn’t said in Enright’s novels is just as important as what is, as when Dan’s homosexuality is not named when the reader first meets Dan as a teenager in Ireland, but when we meet him again in 90s New York, he is free to express himself. Enright explains that she did not address his sexuality at first because she ‘had to wait for the world to catch up’.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDe Goldi and Enright then touched on the novel \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/discover.elgar.govt.nz\/iii\/encore\/record\/C__Rb2584413\"\u003EThe Forgotten Waltz\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E, another book that explores the complexities in women; their loves, mistakes and sexual desires. It was at this point that Enright’s sardonic humour really shone, as she lamented the ongoing fight for feminism. Speaking of women’s rights in Ireland, she told us how the abortion referendum began in the 80s, a referendum that is still continuing today. She had the audience in hysterics when saying “We forgot that sex produces children – if you read a newspaper you’d think sex produces bikinis”. She also garnered applause when she said that by writing about families she “risks being described as domestic – another word for female and not very important. Which is bullshit”. If Enright ever runs for president she has my vote. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAfter a brief reading it was time for questions, which ironically all came from men, a fact that was not lost on my disgruntled neighbour. I couldn’t blame her, I too was thinking it strange. To be fair however, the first questioner did tell us about his love for feminism and his daughters, as well as his whole backstory, as is often the case with those daring enough to brave the microphone. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs the session wrapped up Enright praised De Goldi for her high quality questions, suitable praise for De Goldi as she had clearly done her research. Then the applause was over and the race was on again, this time to be the first in the signing queue. I somewhat regretted my choice to sit at the front of the theatre as I set my face in grim determination to make it out.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EA good twenty minutes later I had my recently purchased copy of \u003Ci\u003EThe Gathering\u003C\/i\u003E signed. I had meant to tell Enright of my love for Ireland but I became completely starstruck and barely muttered a syllable. Placing my embarrassment aside, I set off to find a strong coffee, turned the pages of \u003Ci\u003EThe Gathering\u003C\/i\u003E to its first chapter, breathed in the new book smell, and began to read.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.syndetics.com\/index.php?isbn=9780099501633\/lc.jpg\u0026amp;client=elgar\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/www.syndetics.com\/index.php?isbn=9780099501633\/lc.jpg\u0026amp;client=elgar\" data-original-height=\"400\" data-original-width=\"261\" height=\"320\" width=\"208\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/feeds\/8000027103189796534\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/2017\/05\/anne-enright-and-gathering-at-awf17.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2501884760724421053\/posts\/default\/8000027103189796534"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2501884760724421053\/posts\/default\/8000027103189796534"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/albooksinthecity.blogspot.com\/2017\/05\/anne-enright-and-gathering-at-awf17.html","title":"Anne Enright and \"The Gathering\" at AWF17"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Karen Craig"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/18310967522076681423"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"23","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-WaLn2rFYxqE\/UNvHlimMvBI\/AAAAAAAAABY\/ceYnAw1lZEk\/s220\/The%2BLibrarian.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-f9UdbjDcd0o\/WSZdGWOCwZI\/AAAAAAAABj8\/OcKTcwEZXDUuL3VOpYMq8fh-mQq3Dd2mwCLcB\/s72-c\/Enright%2BAnne.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}}]}});