IFOA Sat
Topic: Writing Outings
Monday 12:34pm 23Oct06

The big bonus is that Starbuck's is giving out complimentary coffee during the festival. Can we say, too much Decaf? Yup!

Mark Z. Danielewski
wrote House of Leaves... add to my wish list.

Jonathan Safran Foer questioned Mark about what the Z in his name stood for. Mark said that he'd decided that he wouldn't reveal it until he told his wife of which he hasn't met yet. That went into a conversation about that which is hidden. Closed Doors - What is behind those closed doors? Family history that is behind closed doors or kept secret. His father was in a work camp (concentration camp) in Dachau. He went from being in a work camp to becoming an avant garde film maker. His dad, in his younger days performed in other languages that he couldn't speak in. He'd learn the piece and could perform it like it was his language. Fascinating the spirit of humans. What we can do when we're motivated and possessed.

In my notes I wrote... Language he could perform but not understand.

Questions posed to think of when writing:
How will I show things that are private to me?
Who is the witness of this story?

The act of looking. Looking for the history. Looking behind closed doors. Looking for the secrets. He said that his father used to call him the drill because he'd drill him daily about his life prior to coming to the States. What stories families tell.

He talked about enjoying things now that you know that your dead parent would enjoy. That his dad would be into ipods and downloading and all the gadgets. I think in the same way about my mother.

Empathy starts in the imagination.

Style seemed to be the theme of the weekend as a whole. Things that I want to do in my writing. A novel that is set up like a scrapbook and the more you delve into the scrap book the more the story is revealed.


Gay Talese
interviewed by Sandra Martin

What is my true home? another theme that ran through the weekend. When you are from somewhere else and you reach a point where you're not of that place nor of this place.

What is it about others I can relate to, find myself in?
Of course Gay is for immersing in the area that he wants to cover. Living with the people etc.

He read from his book, The Writer's Life... my wish list!

His piece was about going to Calabria which made me chuckle to find out that he was Calabrese (or Calabrian). All the Italians I know that are Calabrese never say they are Italian they always say they are Calabrese. He even mentions that in his piece. We're so attached to where we come from.

He discussed eavesdropping on the stories of others. Personal stories. Knowing the personal info of others. You can see how he could become the type of writer that he became.

He uses fictional techniques in non fiction.

"Work is like the art of hanging out."

He likes subjects an Historian wouldn't write about. Writing about the ignored people. People on the fringes. The lady that carried Frank Sinatra's hair pieces. The third horn player in his band. People that were not known but were affected by his life.
He said that the history we most think about was written by fiction writers.

Both Gay and Mark Danielewski mentioned Herman Melville - not successful as a writer while he lived but the audience, the readers decided after his death that he was a worthwhile writer.

Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian
Graphic Novelists.
They work together. They showed some drawings trying to explain how they work together. One drawing of two guys sitting across the table from with both of them holding on to the same pencil. Another one showing one guy drawing with the head of the other on top of his.

They said they can't really explain how they work together other than saying that they sit down and discuss the story and from there one starts to draw, the other adds to it and it keeps going that way until it's done.

I especially want to add them to my wish list...
Imagine if I bought every thing I wanted?

Their comic series Monsieur Jean basically started with the idea of a 17 year old writing a letter to the man he'll be in his 30's.

They are interested in telling really sad stories in a funny way; building bridges between the past and the present; loners, outsiders, bohemians.

Jaime Hernandez
of Love and Rockets fame. - hmm - Wishlist!

the characters write it I just have to take them somewhere
Kill someone you know not a character that just arrived in the last issue.
Our duty to have characters of our own ethnicity. We have lots of stories to tell. Yes he discussed that when he and his brothers were delving into comics that all comic characters were white. That they couldn't come up with many stories for white characters but when they made their characters Hispanic they had lots of stories to tell. They realized that if they didn't write stories with their own people no one else would.

Ran into Paul Quarrington and asked him about his musical recommendation that I know he tells his students. He said that he recommends listening to symphonic music to help with structure.
it's a good thing I bought all those Beethoven !

EY