On Fiction, Nonfiction and Femininity

Dear serious (and frivolous) ladies and gentlemen: welcome to my blog. As a writer of short fiction, nonfiction and poetry with a first collection of short stories out this spring, my intention here is to explore and examine short fiction, amongst other concerns, e.g. the world, along with writing in other genres (poetry, nonfiction) from a female, writerly and idiosyncratic angle and to refrain from gushing on too much about How Great it is to Be in Print (which, of course, it is, but that’s beside the point). Seeking a title and muse for this lofty enterprise I lit upon the marvelously fucked-up genius Jane Bowles and her irreducibly peculiar novel, Two Serious Ladies, published to praise and derision in 1943. In particular, I was drawn to Bowles’s use of the word “serious.” To quote Lorna Sage, “[Bowles] attached a special, semi-private meaning to the word ‘serious.’ For her, being serious meant risking the possibility that you were meaninglessly weird, an existential Calamity Jane… It also, however, meant writing with panache, hilarity and devastating insight on the very edge of that particular abyss.” My intention here is to write both with and about such very vexing and, perhaps, uniquely female forms of seriousness as they can be addressed through short stories in particular and literature in general, and along the way not take myself too seriously, in between being very serious indeed. I will begin by focusing on a series of stories written by a variety of serious ladies who both inspire and aggravate in equal measure, and in doing so hopefully uncover some interesting insights. I will also reflect on my own writing and reading processes, the fabulous, perilous enterprise of publication, and beyond that, the conundrums of making art that seeks both to unsettle and entertain.  I hope to have fun, spark some interesting dialogue and make good use of the energy this space is. If any of this intrigues you, do check back.