In the last week I have had three different and interesting encounters with writers.
On Tuesday March 20 Hong Kong International School, a K-12 institution where my wife is an administrator, hosted the novelist Chang-Rae Lee for a day or two as a visiting artist. I was lucky to be able to attend a talk he gave to a group of parents, faculty and high school students. Lee came to the USA from Korea in 1968 at age 3. He has published four award-winning novels and directs the creative writing program at Princeton.
As one might expect from such a thoroughbred author, he spoke from a finely prepared script talking about his family life, his education, his decision to abandon a nascent career in finance for his real love, writing. His talk included a recitation of a long, vivid and moving passage from his first novel Native Speaker. Lee acquitted himself well in a long Q&A session but it is clear that he is most comfortable with the well polished written form rather than improv. He had lots of helpful remarks for the aspiring writers in the audience, but is was clear that by writer he mean one composing fiction. His response to my question about whether he had anything to offer writers of non-fiction was superficial. You can learn more about Chang-Rae Lee here and here.
As one might expect from such a thoroughbred author, he spoke from a finely prepared script talking about his family life, his education, his decision to abandon a nascent career in finance for his real love, writing. His talk included a recitation of a long, vivid and moving passage from his first novel Native Speaker. Lee acquitted himself well in a long Q&A session but it is clear that he is most comfortable with the well polished written form rather than improv. He had lots of helpful remarks for the aspiring writers in the audience, but is was clear that by writer he mean one composing fiction. His response to my question about whether he had anything to offer writers of non-fiction was superficial. You can learn more about Chang-Rae Lee here and here.
The day after meeting Lee I caught up with the ghost of John Updike in the form of a rebroadcast of two interviews by Terry Gross on her NPR Fresh Air program. Updike died in 2009. The program was to mark his 80th birthday on March 18. Listening to this grandmaster in the last years of his life reflect on such a long career was a bright counterpoint to the rising star. You can listen to the Fresh Air interviews here.
Finally, on Sunday the New York Times Magazine carried "Why Talk Therapy Is on the Wane and Writing Workshops Are on the Rise". I have had a few friends who worked through their mid-life crises by taking sabbaticals from mainstream careers to enroll in creative writing programs. So far all who have taken this cure have eventually returned to the dark side. However, one of them is still undergoing treatment. I'm rooting for him to stay the course.
(ps-For readers who think I was either an engineering or accounting major: Nope--English and my second choice was physics.)
(ps-For readers who think I was either an engineering or accounting major: Nope--English and my second choice was physics.)
1 comment:
Stephen and I had the opportunity to hear Chang-Rae Lee speak at a Princeton Town Hall meeting in Philadelphia. We found him to be dynamic and charismatic when he was speaking about the creative writing program at Princeton. Interestingly, his demeanor was completely different, and oddly less engaging, when he was reading his own work.
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