I would love to take a tutorial with Toni Morrison on anything she wanted to talk about. But in particular, I would love to hear her on how to merge historical truth and narrative truth seamlessly.
I also went to see her whenever she was in town. Listening to her speak on craft or writing in general was like sitting in a masters creative writing class. I will have to reread all her work from a different perspective now.
Thank you so much for these prompts and invitations. I have a Lot to learn and I would be lucky to learn from anyone but lately I've been revisiting Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies as I read her newer work that's translated from the Italian, and I'm so admire-ous of the way she observes the tiny daily things that fill a character's heart (and the reader's heart for them), and of course her way with language and it's limitations. I wonder what each book and the ways they've been felt, interpreted, and critiqued has been like for her...
Since I've been fortunate enough to work with Cristina and other writers I admire (and while they never cease to inspire and amaze), I'd go with James Baldwin. I'd love to talk shop with him about his sentence structures, the way he unravels complex thoughts into these perfectly paced sentences as if he were unknotting a rope. And his punctuation--especially his use of semicolons--makes me want to do happy backflips. More than anything, I'd hope to soak up some of his poise and panache, his unrelenting eye for the truth, and his confidence in his ability to write what needed to be written and have that be enough. Thank you for this post, Cristina!
Clarice Lispector. I'd need to use Google Translate with her. I'd ask her about her journey as a self-taught writer, and how she came up with her experimentations with language. and structure. What was her inspiration? I'd also ask about her philosophy on life. She lived so richly, and traveled widely. A very elegant character.
I would love to take a tutorial with Toni Morrison on anything she wanted to talk about. But in particular, I would love to hear her on how to merge historical truth and narrative truth seamlessly.
I'd be right there with you, Dahlma! I had the good fortune to hear her read a couple of times. She was/is/will always be sublime.
I also went to see her whenever she was in town. Listening to her speak on craft or writing in general was like sitting in a masters creative writing class. I will have to reread all her work from a different perspective now.
Thank you so much for these prompts and invitations. I have a Lot to learn and I would be lucky to learn from anyone but lately I've been revisiting Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies as I read her newer work that's translated from the Italian, and I'm so admire-ous of the way she observes the tiny daily things that fill a character's heart (and the reader's heart for them), and of course her way with language and it's limitations. I wonder what each book and the ways they've been felt, interpreted, and critiqued has been like for her...
So lovely! And yes, the details are everything! Thanks for sharing.
Since I've been fortunate enough to work with Cristina and other writers I admire (and while they never cease to inspire and amaze), I'd go with James Baldwin. I'd love to talk shop with him about his sentence structures, the way he unravels complex thoughts into these perfectly paced sentences as if he were unknotting a rope. And his punctuation--especially his use of semicolons--makes me want to do happy backflips. More than anything, I'd hope to soak up some of his poise and panache, his unrelenting eye for the truth, and his confidence in his ability to write what needed to be written and have that be enough. Thank you for this post, Cristina!
Such a beautiful tribute!
Clarice Lispector. I'd need to use Google Translate with her. I'd ask her about her journey as a self-taught writer, and how she came up with her experimentations with language. and structure. What was her inspiration? I'd also ask about her philosophy on life. She lived so richly, and traveled widely. A very elegant character.
Ah, yes! She’s definitely in my pantheon of wishful tutorials. Thanks.