From: Maia Cheli-Colando <maia>
Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 08:34:53 -0700

I'm excited to move into the works of Angela Johnson; simultaneously, I'm sad that the discussion of regional literature, which I had been eagerly anticipating, fell at such a rotten time. CCBC-ers, I do hope that you reschedule this topic at some not to distant point in the future!

Before we move over to Johnson's work, I just want to highlight this question by Norma Jean, which I didn't see answered (but may have missed). I think it addresses that toughest of critical questions: what belongs to whom, and how do we know which voices are "real"? This month's Poet's & Writers magazine includes an article by Ginger Strand on "The Perils of Writing Close to Home." She starts with "At no time on my book tour did I jump up and down, wave my fists and scream, 'It's a /novel/! That means /fiction/!'" But it is clear that she wanted to do so, as audiences continually tried to paste her personal reality -- from which she has drawn heavily -- on top of her story. "... The local newspaper had run a feature pointing out some of the similarities between /Flight/ and my life, and that was what people wanted to hear about. I began to sense a creeping frustration. Why were people so interested in the reality behind the fiction? Why weren't they paying more attention to the craft of what I had done?"

I understand Strand's dilemma (with which she does find some peace before article's close), but I must admit that I am soothed by knowing from which quarters an author's mind has blown. I confess to being one of those sorts who reads the book blurbs and back pages quite avidly before picking up a new author. (Well, and the endings too. <g>) We got a bit into this topic during a writer's workshop at CLNE one year; what prerogatives can we, as writers, assume? Can I write about the American south if I study it enough, but haven't ever been there? Can I write about Florida if I've overwintered in Mississippi? Well, of course I can, but should I? And how do we all, as readers, know the veracity of our writers' works?

I would most appreciate when we pick this topic up again if we could get into the heart of this challenge: How /does /one go about critiquing and assessing regional literature? And then, to have us all share the very best regional fiction that we ourselves can authenticate. E.g. I know this book, it is written about my hometown, and it accurately represents a portion of life where we live. (Or... I know this book, it is written about my hometown, and these are the reasons I think this author has never been here!)

Thanks to everybody who offered Gulf Coast titles, and especially to Art who snuck in just before the conversation ended with his notes about writing in Saskatchewan. A review I read last night of an Icelandic film began "A solid example of why foreign film lovers adore foreign films." Perhaps it is exactly for that -- the world beyond McDonald's at the gate. (It's a shame you weren't able to leave in your toques... once upon a time, people thought it was a good thing for a child to read new words...)

Maia

p.s. P&W this month also has an article on Naomi Shihab Nye, and a lovely photo piece on Nancy Crampton's author-portrait book, /Writers/.


Norma Jean wrote:

>Set in rural North Carolina, Where the Lilies Bloom by Vera and Bill
>Cleaver, published in 1969, is still a favorite. If a novel is well crafted
>in terms of characterization, plot, etc., be it one for kids, or adults, how
>does one know if the voice, and sensibility accurately reflects the region?
>Does one rely wholly upon reviews, or does the accuracy of the
>people/sensibilities of the region portrayed not matter? Norma Jean
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Received on Fri 16 Sep 2005 10:34:53 AM CDT