Quote of the Month - May 2015

“Stories and poems don’t just appear on a page; they germinate, grow and are crafted.”
by Amal Chatterjee, ‘Editor’s Preface’

“Writing before all, is communication. It is communication with oneself and one’s inner life even before it is communication with another. More broadly than that even, writing achieves something. It externalises what was previously internal and half-recognised. It allows thought to create itself by leaving a trail.”

by Kathryn Heyman

“The short story is that rare form of literature that follows just one rule, which is that there is no rule. It is fluid like water, can flow in any direction or be stagnant. It is like a fleeting feeling, a glimpse, a moment in time. It is not meant to satisfy but to whet your appetite for more good writing,[...].”
by Sabyn Javeri

“When you let language lead rather than trying to constrict its movement, it frees the language and allows it to express itself in new ways through you, through your individual voice. It is this that identifies the individual, gives the individual identity within the tradition. And it is this that makes writing creative and original.”

by Colm Breathnach

“But just as in our non-writing life we never truly know what is going to happen next, what I was looking for each time was the poem beyond the poem I sat down at first to write. [...] So the process of feeling in the dark for a poem begins.”

by Jane Draycott

“It is as if the story is not quite complete without a discussion about it. This may be in recognition of the reader writer duality that surrounds the story; that after the story is written it needs to be read to complete its cycle of being.”

by Fred D’Aguiar

 
All quotes from Creative Writing, Writers on Writing edited by Amal Chatterjee




 

"Creative Writing - Writers on Writing"

Time again for a slight exception to have only female writers presented on this blog. And with it, this ‘month’s quote’ from the book Creative Writing, Writers on Writing offers not only the presentation of eight remarkable writers (four women & four men) and their work - it additionally offers eight unique points of view on the very individual writing process. Rewarding on several levels!  And that makes the book so exceptional and worthwhile to mentioning here. 

First of all I tried to 'name' the book: it is an anthology for it presents eight very individual pieces of writing. At the same time it is a collection of essays, for each writer reflects on her/his unique writing process of the published piece of writing.
Next, the book is aimed at writers in general to give an inspiring insight of the diverse and very individual approaches to writing. At the same time, as a reader, this is a captivating collection of pieces by eight distinctive writers with a variety of languages and backgrounds (e.g. Australia, USA, India). So, whatever name I'll might try on the book it remains a fascinating and inspiring collection of pieces of writing supplemented by essays.

Take for example Fred D'Aguiar's short story on his grandfather. As a non-native speaker I had to wade through it with a dictionary close by. But as with a lot of walks in life: the story that unfolds before you rewards all the strain. For Fred, Guyanese by background, doesn't use the regular linear time progression but the lyric time as he explains in his supplementing essay: "I prefer to explore the motives behind the character's impulse to sow chaos in the story."

Emily Raboteau, in contrast, has chosen to use a personal experience for her short story to show how she 'transforms' her experience into a story: "I [...] knew that at its heart this story was about the cataclysmic transformation of becoming a parent. [...] The difference between the journal entry and the short story is structure. Real life is chaotic and, if not meaningless, plotless [sic]. Plot is the thing we impose upon real life to create story." I should say, completely the opposite to Fred D'Aguiar's point of view, isn't it?

Whereas Philip Gross reflects on his poem: "It is a journey, the oldest story-shape of them all [...]."

Another point of view?

"For me, characters are the backbone of the story. My stories lean heavily on the character rather than the plot, sometimes at the cost of slowing down the pace of the narrative." Sabyn Javri, Pakistani-born writer on her short story: "As the people in my stories reveal more about themselves, the story unfolds."

And then there is poet Colm Breathnach, from Ireland: "All creative writing starts with language, not with ideas, plot outlines, rhythms or literary theories but simply with language itself, with words and the desire to use words in a particular way." Which made Colm realise that he can best express the meaning of a word in his mother tongue, Irish.

So you see, a wide range of points of view. And these are only quotes from the reflections! The stories and poems are at least as rewarding making it a matchless anthology/collection (see foto).

All in all the book is a well-composed collection of eight idiosyncratic pieces of writing with their supplementary essays. A unique combination which makes it a unique chance to listen to writers and their individual approaches to that particular writing itself.

A book, as mentioned, which is not easily named, registered or labelled but certainly worth expanding. So, my humble advice to the publisher: seriously think about making it a series.
 

 

Quote of the Month - April 2015

"Her mother comes back. As she walks past, she removes the sheet covering the hall mirror, folds it up, and carries it into the baby's room. She lays it at the bottom of the suitcase she's brought along for just this purpose, then takes the child's things from their drawer and puts them in the suitcase with the sheet. During the months that proceeded the child's birth, all of them - the pregnant woman, her mother, and her grandmother - sewed, knitted, and embroidered these jackets, dresses, and caps. Her mother now shuts the empty drawer. On top of the chest is the toy with the little silver bells. When she picks it up, the bells make a jingling sound. They jingled yesterday as well, when her daughter was still a mother playing with her child. The jingling hasn't changed in the twenty-four hours that have passed since then."

From The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck (Portobello Books; translation Susan Bernofsky)

Jenny Erpenbeck *1967

To regular visitors of my blog, Jenny Erpenbeck isn't actually an 'unknown' author anymore. I had her already presented on my blog after I saw her at the EdBookFest in 2011 (read here). That time it was her then recently published book Visitation (org: Heimsuchung) which was in focus then.

So, why presenting the author another time?

Well, times fly and Jenny Erpenbeck is nominated for the "Europese Literatuurprijs 2015" with her latest book Een handvol sneeuw (orig: Aller Tage Abend (2012)/ UK: The End of Days).
This particular literary prize is a Dutch/Flemish cooperation and an initiative to highlight books by European authors and their Dutch/Flemish translators (see regulations (Dutch only)). The longlist 2015 highlights on 20 authors from 11 European countries: Portugal, Spain, France, UK, Finland, Norway, Germany, Iceland, Switzerland, Greece and Italy whereas the translation spans even further as Mikhail Pavlovich Shishkin writes in Russian though living in Switzerland.

Additionally, Jenny Erpenbeck crystallises more and more into a young, diligent high-class author. An author in the league of a Kamila Shamsie and Kiran Desai, a family background of writers included. She has such a unique voice of her own, her style of writing is brilliant, her use of words polished and refined, while her approach to the chosen subject is remarkable and singular. 

So it is with her latest book The End of Days, nominated for the above mentioned literary prize: WHEN comes the end of days? As a child? As a young girl? As a young woman? As an elderly lady? Jenny uses five possibilities as a canvas to describe the lives that might or might not have taken place beforehand. As a reader we are five times lead into some metaphorical dead-end streets. Yet the narrator knows a rat run each time that takes us four times back again on to the main road.

Typically Jenny, the book is written in a minor mode, quietly moving ahead, very introverted, inside orientated. It's like she takes you along an inner search to the essence of life while creating five times a possible pattern that might lead to a possible end.

And it is about loss. Especially the last chapter echoes the loss when one realises that there won't be and cannot be another rat run to the main road. It's a loss not only of dear ones but losses that span generations, closing a circle, reminding me of her other book Things That Disappear (orig. Dinge, die verschwinden (2009)). A circle that starts and ends with objects and stories emerging and re-emerging, echoing in the reader's ears reminding one on how everything started.

A quiet and simple story; one could also read it as a philosophical hi-story refuting the idea that history is a linear progress as the Western world strongly believes. In her novel Jenny resounds the philosophy of the Eastern world that hi-story is a cyclic progress resuming at 'the end of days'.

The more I read by Jenny the more I grow fascinated by her style, her tone, her writer's idiosyncrasy, though there seems a familiarity of characters. A strong novel from a noteworthy German author.

The other titles nominated for the prize are certainly as strong, all of them first-class literature by authors as Finnish writer Sofi Oksanen, French writer Karine Tuil, or Greek author Yannis Kiourtsakis with his classic Double Exile (NL: Bij wijze van roman) actually also listed as a 'rediscovery' by schwob, another Dutch/Flamish cooperation (zie here). By September we should learn who won the prize. I'll keep you informed.

P.S.: For those living in the Netherlands and interested in meeting the various translators there are a variety of possibilities. Just check the site www.europeseliteratuurprijs.nl for more information.

Quote of the Month - March 2015

"By and by she cleared out her room, the same way she had cleared out her house. Or she walked between things never touching them. Only sometimes did she stop midway and had a notion of what she was missing. The things she then searched for were in eerie disproportion to the things she had actually lost.
I had assumed that my mother's personality would always stay the same until the very end."


from Okaasan. Meine unbekannte Mutter ("Okaasan. My unknown Mother") by Milena Michiko Flašar (2010, Residenz Verla; my translation)

Milena Michiko Flašar *1980

I called him Necktie

Milena has been one of the many authors present at the Writers Unlimited Festival in Den Haag this year. Quietly and very politely listening to her colleagues she did not stand out immediately. But the things she had to say left an imprint on me to get at least curious. As Milena is Austrian and writes in German, I bought the original title of I called him Necktie = Ich nannte ihn Krawatte which had been in focus at the festival. A pretty book introducing a Japanese phenomenon called 'hikikomori': someone who withdraws from all social life and tries to live in isolation, mainly young adults still living with their parents. In the book itself, we meet two characters: one withdrawing from his former social life and one going the opposite way. A simple story it seems of two lost souls telling their lives to each other in the course of a few weeks. The narrator is very kind and understanding of the two characters' diverse situations. As a reader you feel all sympathy for the two men. But actually they cannot be trusted. The his-stories behind the characters are cruel, sometimes ugly, heartless and unsympathetic. Yet, as a reader you feel all the sympathy for their doings which leaves one torn between rejection and acceptance. Mainly, because you feel trapped by the conflicts they had to deal with in the past. The actions taken or not taken are so recognisable that one feels reminded of similar situations of one's own past. How much can you forgive yourself and/or the characters? Though the characters are clearly Japanese in their setting, their acts are universal - and with it all the book's perfect use of language and rhythm makes it more than brilliant.

And how come that an Austrian writes about a Japanese phenomenon? Milena was born in St. Pölten, Austria, to a Japanese mother and an Austrian father. That might give us some idea.

Her second book Okaasan. Mein unbekannte Mutter ("Okaasan. My unknown Mother"; not yet translated) is actually focusing on her Japanese mother, though in the book it is only a side track which doesn't stand central. As the title indicates, it is mainly about mothers in general. In the first part we are drawn into the life of the narrator but also learn about various other characters and their, obviously, complicated relationships with their mother. Non is true to the main character: she seems to have (had) a good relationship with her mother. Evidently, that relationship is undergoing massive changes as her mother is 'changing' herself. 
Also in this book, the author's craft of the use of language is palpable. It has an energy, strength and rhythm which I compared at some stages to David Grossman's book Falling out of Time which is similarly beautiful in its concept and language. Unfortunately, I was a bit at a loss with the second part of the book when the narrator steps on a plane to stay at an ashram in India for some time. There was some logic in it and the end of the story closes a circle but it somehow didn't fit.

Nevertheless, the author, who studied Comparative Literature, German and Romance philology in Vienna and Berlin, is a very promising author with an exceptional craft in the use of language. Probably, because she is bilingually educated and learned to live in at least two concepts of the world and its languages. Additionally, Milena is also trained as a teacher in 'German as a Foreign Language' (DAF) and is very much aware of language structure. All in all, a splendid background supporting her brilliance in language. 
Her first novel, [ich bin] ("I Am"; no translation) is similarly intriguing and strong in its language use. Unfortunately, only the latest novel has been translated into English (and Dutch). Time to do some more translation, I should say.

Quote of the Month - February 2015

"The finest international literature festival of the Netherlands 

celebrates its 20th anniversary"

by Ton van de Langkruis, director and founder of the festival

Writers Unlimited - international literature festival 15 - 18 January

Charles Atlas, né Angelo Siciliano, the self-made muscleman on the cover of the 20th edition of the literature festival in Den Haag: from a scrawny weakling to a popular idol - a metaphor? 

The Writers Unlimited winternachten internationaal literatuurfestival: from an aside show of writers from Indonesia to the finest international literature festival in the Netherlands with an ample range of international writers? From the happenstance to a vibrant meeting of writers and audience? 

Yes, that's it!

The original concept of 20 years ago still stands central at the festival: to bring writers from wide-ranging countries and backgrounds together to discuss and analyse (political) events. Selling books and titles is a welcoming side effect of the festival but the vital idea is to hear and listen to authors who dare to speak up and discuss with each other their point of view.

As usual the central idea is reflected at the opening night: it was more than ever important to start the festival with the award ceremony of the Oxfam Novib/PEN Awards for freedom of expression under the title: "Free the Word!". How significant to give writers the platform to speak up and be made known. Unfortunately, I couldn't be present the evening but you can find all information on the site of PEN international.

I had only two days this year to attend - still I enjoyed a wide variety of authors: Tao Yue from China, Witold Szabiowski from Poland, Muhammad Aladdin from Egypt, Dinar Rahayu form Indonesia, David Grossman from Israel, Karen Armstrong from the UK, and Leela Corman from the USA, to name just a few! And as many authors, as many approaches to the main theme of this year's festival: "At Home". For example a discussion between Israeli author David Grossman, Ethiopian author Maaza Mengiste and American/Mexican writer Jennifer Clement under the title "Home is Where the Hell is": a friend of mine was certain to not read the books by Maaza Mengiste or Jennifer Clement: the excerpts they've read where too much for her to bear. But then again, they only wrote about what people actually have to bear daily. How much can you endure - reading about it or living it?

And if you don't like the way things are - assimilate or walk off? 

A lively discussion developed between two verbally well-versed Dutch authors: Nuweira Youskine and Adriaan van Dis. Muhammad Ali or Max Schmeling couldn't have been better with their fists compared to what the two authors did with words. Brilliant!

Actually, are these the only two options? Conform or leave? As David Grossman said in an interview with Lex Bohlmeijer: "I don't like how things are done in my home country and I am not particular happy but still I couldn't think of any other place to be". 

 But what to do if your 'home' blends various colours? Milena Michiko Flasar, born in Austria with a Japanese mother, Tao Yue, born in China, living now in Amsterdam, Karin Amatmoekrim, born in Suriname with a Javanese mother and a Chinese-Creole father living in NL. Adopt or leave? To where?
What about the host country? I still remember grande dame Cynthia McLeod informing about holiday arrangements in Suriname the time a solemn Christian holiday coincided with a lively and joyous Hindu festival. How long will it take to have Bayram/the Sugar Feast acknowledged as an offical holiday in Europe? A daring, maybe outrageous, thought or a welcoming idea?

But still the literary aspect is as important to the festival as the discussions are. Most remarkable again (as last year) - the poetry events on Friday and Saturday night took place in the largest hall of the festival and were packed with attentive listeners. A wonderful opportunity to realise that poetry is vibrant and alive! Not to forget the various musicians who rounded up the festive programmes as Cristina Branko, Fado singer from Portugal interpreting Remco Campert, a Dutch poet, or Anna Montan with bassist Patrick Lauwerends and their mix of jazz and Indonesian kroncong.  

The festival has been again an impressive opportunity to have audacious remarks and ideas triggering your thinking. Even the most simple one as how to 'shorten' a name as Nii Ayikwei Parkes? Just call him 'Nii'? As happened with Belgian author David Van Reybrouck, making him a 'Mr. Van'?!  

A wide range of alert authors shaping an awareness for each other's point of view, generating more questions than answers. This mix makes the festival definitely one of the finest literary meetings. One could actually rename it to a literary 'think tank' festival.  

I am definitely looking forward to the 21st edition, 14 - 17 January 2016! 

P.S.: For those who cannot wait that long: you actually have the option to join the 'Writers Series' at the public library in Den Haag or, newly established, the 'Science Series': a group of scientist in discussion at the library in DH. Find all information here on their website.