 |
| Write Your Own Academic Sentence |
Just posted, a new podcast of an interview with my amiga, the amazing writer Solveig Eggerz, about her poetic novel, Seal Woman-- and Iceland, writing, publishing, facebook, and more.As part of the new series of occasional conversations with other writers, C.M. Mayo talks with Solveig Eggerz, author of the fiercely poetic novel Seal Woman. Inspired by the Icelandic fairytale of the seal woman and the true story of some 300 German war widows brought to Iceland to marry and work on the remote farms, Seal Woman has been widely praised and translated into both Hebrew and Icelandic. The conversation ranges from the author's unusual background (from Iceland to England to Germany to Alexandria, Virginia), Iceland's book culture, fairytales, advice for writers, and more. Visit Solveig Eggerz at www.solveigeggerz.com
Is Iceland’s Collapse a Harbinger for What’s to Come in America?
I hear two things a lot here: “Kreppa,” which means “depression” in Icelandic. And, “We’re waiting.” That sums it up. Waiting. The first weekend after the crash, the partying was loud, as it always is. Then it got quiet. The AA meetings, always well-attended, have reached overflow capacity.
Iceland’s banking system was the first to go. You saw the same headlines they did on October 2nd: “Icelandic Banks Collapse!” “Billions Frozen!” “Icelanders See Icarus-Like Fall of Greed!”
The nation’s stunning economic implosion tipped off the domino chain that’s cascaded around the world. So does the aftermath of Iceland’s spectacular collapse foreshadow what’s to come for the rest of the world?
Until food and supplies run out, the country remains in the quiet before the storm...
READ MORE.
As a writer of historical fiction myself, when I got the announcement that my fellow American Independent Writer Association member, Solveig Eggerz, was to give a "pubspeak" on history and fiction, I was intrigued. And when I mosied on over to her website, http://www.solveigeggherz.com, I was fascinated. The author of the just-released novel, Seal Woman, set in World War II-era Iceland, Solveig Eggerz is a native Icelander with some impressive literary roots. In her own words:"My great-great grandfather, Friðrik Eggerz, a farmer and a protestant minister, wrote his autobiography when he was in his eighties, a book that documented 19th century Icelandic regional history; my grandfather, Sigurður Eggerz, twice prime minister, wrote plays and essays. My father, Pétur Eggerz, a foreign service officer, wrote fiction and non-fiction until the day he died at age 80."
In reading fiction, I like two different ways of examining the past. One focuses on how the past can pervade the present. Charlotte in my novel, Seal Woman, carries the past within her heart to the point where it guides actions in the present. The other approach involves capturing the essence of the past—but without sacrificing the characters to the details of history.
Two examples of the past pervading the present: A Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee presents a character who leads a routine life in a California suburb, but his imagination pulsates with violent memories from World War II in Korea, edged by his own culpability.
The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa brings two time periods together, 1961, the year of the assassination of the brutal dictator of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo, and 1996, the year when a fictional character, a Trujillo victim wreaks revenge on the tyrant. Vargas brings the timelines ever closer until they finally collide, laying bare the unsavory truth.
How did capturing and shackling humans in Africa corrupt the character of the crew members on an 18th century slave ship? Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth offers the bitter lesson: “it could have been me” from several points of view.
Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks and Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky both describe German-occupied France in World War II, especially its deadly impact on foreign-born Jews. The difference lies in the author’s proximity to the events. Faulks describes the occupation and the resistance from the hindsight of the present. Nemirovsky records events as they are occurring, ceasing only when the French police knock on her door July 13, 1942. She dies August 17, 1942 in Auschwitz.
---Solveig Eggerz
Combining History and Fiction:Read about the event at www.washwriter.org
Is it a Genre or a Sneaky Means for Imposing History on Readers? Your novel’s set in a particular time. Is it historical fiction? Solveig Eggerz, author of the novel Seal Woman, discusses this vaguely defined genre, exploring the importance of authenticity, research, and the relationship between historic timelines and the personal timelines of characters.
Seal Woman is set against the backdrop of Germany, Iceland, and Poland, 1930-1959. The main character, Charlotte, escapes bombed-out Berlin to work on a farm in Iceland. She’s part of the 1940s migration of some 300 Germans, most of them women, to Icelandic farms.
Off to Iceland for New Year's. Back a-blogging in early January--- and with a long post on my latest taxonomy of literary blogging. On February 9th I'm to chair a panel on writers's blogs as a new literary genre at the Washington Independent Writers Conference All-Day Fiction Seminar. I'll also be leading the one day literary travel writing workshop via Dancing Chiva in Mexico City this Jan 19th. Much news, too, from Tameme... More anon.
...are superb. They include: Travelers in 19th Century Iceland and a wonderful gallery of his photographs. See also the cram-packed webpage maintained by Halfdan Helgason, Emigration from Iceland.
Mexico City is, like, wigging Madam Mayo out. So she's been watching Icelandic movies. Reykjavik 101; The Seagull's Laughter; and, best of them all, Noi Albinoi, which, actually, is depressing and wierd and shot in this peculiar watery monkey-vomit green tint. But the sound track is sublime, the acting superb, and the director's interview at the end inspiring. As for Icelandic fiction, Halldor Laxness's Atom Station made it onto Madam Mayo's top 10 books for the year, even though she quit reading it half way through. First person to be resumed shortly. More anon.
