Interview with Bonnie Jo

 

So, I just interviewed and went to a reading from the excellent author Bonnnie Jo Campbell.

In addition to writing a book that just got nominated for the National Book Award (American Salvage) Bonnie also claims such diverse credentials as having worked for Ringling Brothers' Circus, having led bike tours of central Russia, and possessing at least one black belt in the very intimidating art of karate.

Her books tend to focus on rural Michigan, especially Kalamazoo where she grew up and now resides. Her characters cook meth, build fallout shelters for the millennium, and generally act with an exciting eccentricity that is not at all surprising once you've met Bonnie, who is herself an exciting and eccentric person.

From the interview I have culled a large number of fascinating anecdotes, which will be made available through the Rough Copy blog as soon as I get done transcribing this thing.

Interpolation on transcribing: Transcribing interviews is a HUGE pain in the ass. It involves just the right mixture of labor and tedium required to drive a person absolutely insane. My personal recommendation on the subject: avoid entering a career where transcriptions are frequently necessary, or, failing that, get an intern to do it.

Back to the meat of this: Bonnie was incredibly friendly and fascinating. She has what my grandfather would refer to as "horse sense." I enjoy talking with authors as the lack of funds involved with creating their art generally means that they have to live a much more "down-to-Earth" existence than most artistic folk. They have to work menial jobs, live in run-down, uneducated towns and deal day to day with a wide swath of the human mess. As a result they often possess (in addition to the intelligence and curiosity necessary to be an artist) a sense of humor and a realization of their own limitations that makes them far more pleasant human beings.

But anyway...

Bonnie told me some curious things about her process (she never outlines anything, not even novels) and some curious tidbits related to her life (when a horse dies you have to bury it with the feet facing up, as she apparently learned the hard way).

But check out the blog for all of that. In the meantime keep waiting with what I can only assume is handsomely baited breath.

Labor bears fruits

So, here's the first of my the interviews for the Rough Copy blog. Check it out!

As mentioned before I emailed back and forth with sculptor/photographer/all-around artiste Mary Mattingly and she had some interesting stuff to say, which you can now share in and (please) comment on.

It turned out pretty good if I may say so myself.

More info

Marty Mattingly has gotten a hold of me, fortunately (I guess she was indisposed by sickness) and the info I'm getting is very interesting. Apparently there are plans to revive Waterpod and all that lovely junk, so that's going well. I'll probably email back and forth with her a couple more times to solidify the information and then post it to the web. It's refreshing to find an interview subject who's so excited and approachable, though at this point I shouldn't really be surprised by either of those things as I think they're more or less essential to a career in the arts.

Also, it looks like Bonnie Jo Campbell is having a reading in Portland (might have already mentioned this) on the sixteenth of this fine month and I'm going to try and get a hold of her while she's in town and meet up for a beer and quick chat. This will mean I will have to transcribe the interview, which is one of the most obnoxious things in the known world, but that will be okay because she is bound to have some interesting info and it will be a good excuse to do some quality drinking. I hear that just before she was nominated for the National Book Critic's Circle Award she was more or less set on quitting writing so I'm definitely going to ask her about that one (I've long held that the one essential trait of a writer is stubborness).

And speaking of writers and stubborness...Rough Copy has just launched it's first annual fiction competition. The prize is a modest $100 but hopefully this will pull more submissions to the magazine, so I'm helping spread the word on that one. Inform the interested parties.

Anyhow, that's the update. As usual, further bulletins as events warrant.