Merwin the mighty

MERWINOne of the great privileges of my life — aside from being a husband and a father, of course — was meeting W.S. Merwin. He was eager to get home to Hawaii, to his wife, to his gardens, but we talked for about an hour while he was visiting Claremont McKenna College a few years ago. I had my connections to the college, and my identity as a rep for a large newspaper, and that created the kind of opportunity that only seems possible in a dream. But I was also forewarned that he was leery of interviews and suspicious of reporters because they routinely mangled the currency of his craft and took his comments out of context. I was reminded of that warning after reading a comment included in a Huff Post article about a new film of the poet's life. Merwin sounds like a person whose life is characterized mainly by "I don't...":

"He said 'I'm not going to talk about Buddhism and I'm not going to talk about my writing process,' and on top of that, he's just a deeply private person," the filmmaker says in the article. Merwin  "put some creative parameters on what the film is."

Initially, I felt the same parameters. Especially when he eyed the digital recorder in my shirt breast-pocket. He told me not to use it. What could I do?  I tried so hard to keep up with the flow of his thoughts, but I couldn't scribble fast enough.

I knew his work pretty well, especially his Purgatorio translation and early poetry, and the lovely little book about his years in Provence. I asked him question after question. Maybe that made a difference.

I also started expressing my  frustrations over the fate of a manuscript, and he didn't hide his irritation at the whole marketing process, either. It was a revelation. The whole thing bothered him--Him!--too. When he talked about visiting Ezra Pound at St. Elizabeth's, it felt like a flash-bomb had gone off in my face -- Pound, for God's sake, he knew Pound!

He was as generous to me, and as passionate about his work, as the young Princeton student who once talked poetry with John Berryman:

I asked how can you ever be sure that what you write is really any good at all and he said you can't

you can't you can never be sure you die without knowing whether anything you wrote was any good if you have to be sure don't write

And suddenly I heard those words that I'd never expected to hear. He pointed at my recorder and said,  "ok, you can let it run a little."

 

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'You have to want the story': A.R. Williams on writing (pt. 2)

Screen Shot 2013-11-25 at 9.34.45 AM In part one of my interview with A.R. Williams here at Call of the Siren, she discussed the background of her splendid dystopian novel "The Camellia Resistance."

But something else happened in the process. She provided two interviews: one about her novel and one about the craft of writing. As all of you consider your own projects, you may find Williams' perspectives in(con)structive, too. What is her best insight on the craft of writing? For me, it's this line:

You have to want the story itself, not the outcomes.

That's a point that's so easy, in the frenetic publishing marketplace, to forget.

There's no better inspiration than the perspectives of a writer newly-emerged from a successful project. (Case in point: The letters of Walker Percy and Shelby Foote.)  That's what you'll find in the Q & A below, and I hope it helps you, my friends!

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Is this your first novel? 

This is my first completed novel. There have been other attempts at novel-writing, but this is the one that insisted I stick with it all the way through to publication. I have a couple of other things out – a novella and a collection of short stories, but those are both decidedly adult in nature.

Non-writers don't realize how labor intensive a story - whether it's a short story or full novel - can be. How long did 'The Camellia Resistance' take to write? 

I started planning the book in the fall of 2009 and wrote the first draft in November of 2009. It took another three years (and the dedicated support of my editor and best friend) to get it ready for publication.

There was a lot of rewriting involved, and the story arc for the (planned) trilogy didn't really settle into place until early in 2012. Once that became clear to me, it was a lot easier to see the first book through to completion.

When did you find the time to complete it? 

For me, wanting to write a book wasn't enough. I needed two things: the first was a story that wouldn't let me go until I'd gotten it right. And by not letting me go, I mean that [the main character ] Willow and her world were always nudging me.

Even when you weren't writing, you were still thinking about the story, right?

Yes, I'd be commuting to work and visualizing some of the scenes that served as anchors to the story - like when Willow and Ianthe ride their bikes through an abandoned and crumbling Chicago. That scene demanded that I replay it over and over again until it felt as real to me as any of the trips I've ever made to the present-day Chicago.

The second thing that kept me motivated were my early readers. My editor and best friend read the first 50,000-word draft and insisted that I keep going. I had three more friends that looked over the first draft and were adamant about wanting to know what happened next. I'm not sure I could have finished it without their investment and interest.

For anyone struggling to write a book and facing a very hectic life, what words of encouragement would you give them?

As for encouragement, there's no way around it: writing is a lot of work. It's not glamorous like it is in the movies. You don't get to the end of a draft, tap in that last period and send it to an editor who promptly sends back an invitation to their house in the Hamptons and an advance check for millions. You have to want the story itself, not the outcomes. No matter how tightly your idea is hanging on to you, there are days when you are going to hate it. But if you've got that story that won't let you go, I  think you have to trust it.

And trust yourself, wouldn't you agree?

Absolutely. Be compassionate with yourself: it's going to take longer than you think to write and it's going to be terrible in its early drafts. Make sure you've got everything you need to write, whether its keeping your book notes on Evernote on your phone so you can always have your "next thing" to write with you or keeping a pen and paper with you at all times.

Be open to surprises and mistakes, they always bring you something you didn't know was there. Write because you have to, not because you think it's going to get you something. Most books are lucky to sell 2,000 copies, so if money or fame are the source of your motivation, you're probably going to be disappointed.

Let it be terrible in the first draft and just keep going. The rewrites will be just as hard as the first draft, but at least you'll have something to work with. You can't edit a book that doesn't exist, and it simply isn't possible to get it perfect the first time around. Show up for your characters (and yourself) with as much kindness as you've got... At the end of the day, if the story needs telling, you'll get there.

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Season's readings: coming soon to Call of the Siren

As the calendar year nears the end, media book departments have one goal in common: to produce lists of books to give as gifts and for one's own reading pleasure. Piles of books, endless lists, captions, the mad rush to meet deadlines ... ah, I remember it well (too well!). Not to be outdone by the mighty moguls of literature-dom, Call of the Siren will be providing you with reviews and interviews this month on the following fantastic titles:

CAMELLIA RESISTANCE

The Camellia Resistance: A.R. Williams' novel of a dystopian future presents a vision of a world in which physical intimacy is imperiled by biological and political agents. Dystopia is such a well-plowed (over-plowed?) field, and yet Williams gives us a scenario that's uniquely, thrillingly her own.

*** 8thDay

The Eighth Day: It's not always possible to have enough time to read a novel, but there's always time to savor a good poem, especially those in Geoffrey Hartman's new selection. Take five minutes -- or even just two -- to clear your mental palate with the songs and observations of this superior lyric voice.

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xo Orpheus Bernheimer

xo Orpheus: Fifty New Myths: It isn't the myths that are new in this anthology edited by Kate Bernheimer, it's their retelling/reimagining by some of the best contemporary writers around that's exhilarating and intriguing. In their hands, old myths are anything but old news.

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Screen Shot 2013-11-05 at 4.20.50 PM

The Art of Youth: In his latest study of artists, novelist/critic/essayist Nicholas Delbanco investigates the springs of creativity in three individuals  -- Stephen Crane, Dora Carrington, George Gershwin -- who achieved so much in so short a span of time.

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One of the great joys of no longer belonging to one of those large media outlets is freedom. I can pick only the books that are worthy of attention, only the books that speak to me. To have that kind of flexibility is a real gift during the holidays and at any time of year! Stay tuned, my friends.

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'When a warrior is gone'... Seamus Heaney

GONE FAR TOO SOON: The master in 2009. Ah God, I thought we'd have Seamus Heaney for at least a few more years. The wispy white-haired Irish laureate died in Dublin today, at the age of 74, according to various media reports, and there are no words to properly express what he contributed to poetry and language during his immense career.

He was a makaris; an archeologist of peat bogs and Latinate etymology; a singer of old songs ("Antigone," "Beowulf," from Virgil) in a thrilling modern idiom... and on and on. He was a wonder.

I'm wrong about one thing, though. There ARE very good words appropriate for this moment of loss  -- his own, taken from his best-selling translation of "Beowulf":

It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning. For every one of us, living in this world means waiting for our end. Let whoever can win glory before death. When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark.

He won plenty of glory, didn't he? I wonder if the thought ever crossed his mind, as he worked on these lines in his farmhouse years ago, that such words could apply to him and his career.

Rest in peace, old artificer.

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Rowdy...robust...r.i.p. ... poet John Hollander

poet-john-hollander Well, John Hollander couldn't live forever, could he?

I thought he might. His poetry's  so rowdy and so robust that I figured, if the Grim Reaper showed up at his door, Hollander would tell him to #$%&@ off, and the Reaper would have to listen.

Alas, that didn't happen. The New York Times reported the passing of a great contemporary American poet this Saturday at the age of 83. I have little to add aside from saying that I worked on some edits to an article with him once -- he was the soul of kindness, by the way --  and sharing a poem of his that mixes the high and low as he muses on the battle of the sexes. I hope you enjoy it, my friends.

The Lady's-Maid's Song

When Adam found his rib was gone He cursed and sighed and cried and swore And looked with cold resentment on The creature God had used it for. All love's delights were quickly spent And soon his sorrows multiplied: He learned to blame his discontent On something stolen from his side.

And so in every age we find Each Jack, destroying every Joan, Divides and conquers womankind In vengeance for his missing bone. By day he spins out quaint conceits With gossip, flattery, and song, But then at night, between the sheets, He wrongs the girl to right the wrong.

Though shoulder, bosom, lip, and knee Are praised in every kind of art, Here is love's true anatomy: His rib is gone; he'll have her heart. So women bear the debt alone And live eternally distressed, For though we throw the dog his bone He wants it back with interest.

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