|
The Equality Herald - East Tennessee's source for LGBT community news |
|||
|
|
|||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Books and Flicks Local award-winning author speaks to style, perspective An interview with Julia Watts, book signing coming up on January 13 Knoxville literary and film writer The first time I heard author Julia Watts read was at Knoxville Pride’s Heritage Night in 2000. The event was held at the Candy Factory, and the room was packed with queers of all shapes and sizes. On the bill for the evening were a dozen or so “gay and lesbian” writers of varying talent from east Tennessee, and sandwiched in the middle of the revue was Watts, who stood out as clearly the most accomplished writer of the bunch. What I remember most about her was her energy. At four feet eleven inches with a bob of red hair, she reminded me of that smaller than normal single Lady Finger firecracker that looks so innocent before a match is held to its fuse. Even though I could scarcely see her behind the lectern, she seemed to be the biggest thing in the room. Animated, appropriately dramatic, Watts’ reading brought her characters and their story to life. After six novels, a few novellas, many book reviews and readings of her work, Watts continues to produce finely crafted, intriguing work which generally explores the lives of young adult dykes and women coming out of the closet. In a recent interview, Watts commented on the craft of writing, the writing life, what it means to be a lesbian novelist, and her seventh and latest novel, Women’s Studies. One on one, Watts is lively but thoughtful. Instead of a firecracker, she impressed me as a Japanese maple, an exotic ornamental with finely sculpted crimson leaves revered by the Japanese for its delicacy and beauty. And yet, this beauty is often brought out by the violence of nature according to the Japanese tanka poet Noin: By the wind storm's blast From Mimuro's mountain slopes Maple’s leaves are torn, Which turn Tatsuta River Into a rich brocade. Watts will read and sign copies of Women’s Studies on January 13, 2007, at Carpe Librum Booksellers in Knoxville. Malone: Truman Capote is an author/personality you admire. What is it about Capote’s work that interests you? Watts: My hope is that recent films about Capote have made some readers discover – or rediscover – the greatness of his writing. As a child of the ‘70’s, I was aware of Capote the personality before Capote the writer – he was one of the fabulous, funny gay men you sometimes saw on ‘70’s TV. In my child’s mind, I probably put him in the same category as Paul Lynde and Charles Nelson Reilly – a category I loved, by the way. But as a teenager, I was introduced to Capote the writer, first through Other Voices, Other Rooms. I was blown away by both his lyricism and his wit, but what made the biggest impression on me was how he was writing about the South as an outsider, not a geographical outsider, but an emotional outsider. Capote said that part of the basis for his friendship with Harper Lee was that he recognized in her an “apartness” that he felt himself. I guess Capote’s work speaks to my “apartness. Malone: Would you comment on the following Capote quote? “Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the backyard and shot it." Watts: It’s a great quote, but if I thought about my books like that, I’d never finish one. I guess for me finishing a book is like that moment in a nature documentary in which the mama bird pushes the baby bird out of the nest. Maybe it will fly, and maybe it’ll crash, so you hope for the best. Malone: The poet Louise Gluck has commented that before she begins a new book, she reviews her previous work to identify writing habits that she needs to abandon for fresh approaches. How do you challenge yourself as a writer to move beyond your previous work? Watts: For me, it’s about what I want to explore in terms of style and theme. In Women’s Studies, for example, I wanted to try something new with point of view and structure…well, something new for me anyway. Thematically, I wanted to explore the time in life when women still have the majority of their choices lying ahead of them. Malone: What is your favorite part of the writing process and why is it your favorite part? Watts: I really have two favorite parts: the early, exciting phase when an idea is first taking shape and revision, when I start to get some control over the mess that my first draft always is. Malone: How has teaching impacted your writing? Watts: Teaching and writing are very complementary, I think. Helping students think about their writing helps me think about my writing as well. Also, interacting with students helps me overcome some of the hermit-like tendencies, which I think can be unhealthy for a writer. Malone: In your latest novel, Women’s Studies, humor is present, but it seems to be less important than in your previous work. Was this a conscious choice, or did the characters dictate the change in tone? Watts: I’m reminded of that scene in Woody Allen’s “Stardust Memories” where the aliens land and tell Woody that they liked his earlier, funnier work. I actually found Women’s Studies pretty funny as I was writing it, but the humor is darker and less broad than the humor in my earlier novels. And yes, I do think the tone is dictated by the characters. I wanted humor in the book, but I also wanted emotional complexity. Malone: The three protagonists in the novel share the same first name, Elizabeth. Do you see each woman as a persona? How much of yourself do you write into your characters? Watts: I don’t really see the characters as personae, but there are emotional similarities between each character and me. Liz is the character who’s closest to what I was like at twenty, though her background and her choices don’t mirror my own. Elisa is more different from me than she is similar, but there are still things she has in common with my twenty-year-old self: the insecurity of being a country girl who wants to be sophisticated but is always afraid she’ll say the wrong thing or wear the wrong thing and give herself away as a hick. What was most surprising to me was that I sometimes identified with Beth and her fears, even though she – as a closet-case sorority girl – is radically different from me. Malone: Each protagonist in your new novel seems to represent a different socio-economic class. How important is this to your writing? Watts: I think the theme of social class runs throughout my work, and I’m interested in the ways that social class affects sexual identity. It’s hardest, of course, to be poor and queer, since that makes you a member of two highly stigmatized groups. It also interests me, though, how being upper class – particularly in a conservative, Bible Belt area – can influence one’s sexual identity. The pressure to stay in the closet is great because a lot of privilege is conditional upon “appropriate behavior.” Beth is a victim of this phenomenon; she feels that she and her family would have a lot to lose if she were open about her lesbianism. Malone: Was it fun setting the new novel in Knoxville? Watts: It was great fun. And it was even more fun setting the novel in the Knoxville of 1990 when I was a UT student. It’s fun to write an “historical novel” about a period you actually lived through. Malone: Are you concerned with portraying lesbian identity to serve a political purpose? How do you feel femininity is characterized in your writing as compared to that in other lesbian novels? Do you consider yourself a lesbian novelist? Watts: I think writing is an innately political act, and so while it’s character, not politics, first and foremost on my mind as I write, the political content is still there. And in a homophobic society, writing humanizing portraits of lesbian and/or gay life is an especially political act. I also feel that I was more overtly political in other ways in Women’s Studies than I have been in my other work. I used the 1990 setting and the Gulf War as a way to get my digs in at the current administration and “The Gulf War: The Sequel.” In terms of femininity in my work, that’s an interesting question but not one I know how to answer well. I will say, though, that writers such as Dorothy Allison and Leslea Newman and Joan Nestle have been big influences on me in terms of explaining my femme self in fiction – and other femme selves as well. And of course, I’m also very interested in exploring butch women…though that’s a statement that could be taken badly out of context! Not all my lesbian characters are identifiable in butch-femme terms, of course, but I’m always interested in how people fit into the gender continuum. I guess I’m more comfortable calling myself a queer novelist than a lesbian novelist. Gay men are included in all my novels, and I like to reflect diversity in terms of ethnicity and social class. I also like how all-encompassing the term “queer” is; it reflects that kind of “apartness” that Capote mentioned – an apartness that can emerge for a number of reasons. Malone: Early lesbian novels such as Ann Bannon’s I Am a Woman provided readers with distorted and often cruel portrayals of lesbian life: the predatory lesbian and the miserable lesbian, two common stereotypes. How have lesbian novels changed since the 1950’s? Watts: I met Ann Bannon at a conference this summer and she is a lovely person. I also think that compared to the other lesbian pulp authors of the time, Bannon’s depictions of lesbian life were comparatively positive, given the horizon of expectations one can have for the 1950’s. Rubyfruit Jungle, of course, was the first big sea change in lesbian literature, which was wonderful. But a lot of the ‘70’s era lesbian literature almost overcompensated for the vilification of the ‘50’s pulp novels by making lesbians so unfailingly noble and heroic that they were downright boring. The great thing about the way lesbian literature has evolved from that time is that it embraces the diversity and the complexity of lesbian lives. Malone: Are you working on a project now? What is it? Watts: Yes. But I’m so early on in the project that “What is it?” is a tricky question. I will say, though, that it’s a young adult novel, and it’s set in Tennessee. Malone: If you were a tree, which tree would you be? Watts: Well, Barbara, I would be a palm tree because they are made to bend, not break, in the face of storms. And also, I would like for Keith Richards to climb me and fall off. Caroline Malone teaches composition and writing at South College in Knoxville. She occasionally plans Knoxville Lesbian Social Group events and produces content for its Web site.
|
\
Register for Equality Herald email updates
|
|
|
|
|||
|
HOME-NEWS-VIEWS-FEATURES-PHOTOS-WEATHER-LETTERS-SPIRITUALITY-SPORTS-CLASSIFIEDS-ADVERTISING-LINKS-ABOUT US-CONTACT Copyright 2006-2007 Equality Herald All rights reserved |
|||
