Pasadena’s own literary extravaganza, LitFest Pasadena, premieres Saturday at Central Park in Old Town Pasadena. It won’t be shy of local literary talent, including quite a few Altadena residents.
Among them will be novelist and Altadena native Michelle Huneven, whose third novel, Blame, was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Huneven joins novelist Janet Fitch (White Oleander) in a joint interview about the writing life by Pasadena Star News editor and LitFest founder Larry Wilson.
We had a chance to ask her some questions:
So what IS the writing life?
It’s a mixed bag, the writing life. It’s what I’ve always wanted — and be careful what you’ve wished for.
The challenges are using time responsibly, not playing online Scrabble, Facebook, online games, or in my case wandering aimlessly around the yard deadheading roses. Knowing what’s process and what’s pure sloth.
You just returned from teaching at the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop. You were also a student there, graduating in 1977. What’s that like, to return as a teacher?
It’s like walking right back to the same conversation. It’s just fantastic. It’s a place where fiction is valued and privileged, and there aren’t that many venues for that, where you can talk about it nonstop for as much as you want. The students range in age from right out of college, 24, to — last year we had a 63 year old. This year, our oldest was 45.
What are the young students like? Their world is so about electronics and media. Or are these more book-focused outliers?
They’re outliers, but this was the first time a science fiction class was taught at the workshop. Of course, it was taught by a workshop graduate. Science fiction, fantasy, slipstream — some of them are more interested in genre because that’s where the money is. Everybody got realistic, that literary fiction is not going to make them a living.
by Timothy Rutt
Pasadena’s own literary extravaganza, LitFest Pasadena, premieres Saturday at Central Park in Old Town Pasadena. It won’t be shy of local literary talent, including quite a few Altadena residents.
We had a chance to ask her some questions:
So what IS the writing life?
It’s a mixed bag, the writing life. It’s what I’ve always wanted — and be careful what you’ve wished for.
The challenges are using time responsibly, not playing online Scrabble, Facebook, online games, or in my case wandering aimlessly around the yard deadheading roses. Knowing what’s process and what’s pure sloth.
You just returned from teaching at the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop. You were also a student there, graduating in 1977. What’s that like, to return as a teacher?
It’s like walking right back to the same conversation. It’s just fantastic. It’s a place where fiction is valued and privileged, and there aren’t that many venues for that, where you can talk about it nonstop for as much as you want. The students range in age from right out of college, 24, to — last year we had a 63 year old. This year, our oldest was 45.
What are the young students like? Their world is so about electronics and media. Or are these more book-focused outliers?
They’re outliers, but this was the first time a science fiction class was taught at the workshop. Of course, it was taught by a workshop graduate. Science fiction, fantasy, slipstream — some of them are more interested in genre because that’s where the money is. Everybody got realistic, that literary fiction is not going to make them a living.